TNG: Indistinguishable From Magic by McIntee Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Lonemagpie]

j3067 wrote:

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^ Perhaps Star Trek Mag has been infiltrated by changelings. I thought IFM was the best trek that I have read book since Destiny.

Nah, like most of the con- comments I've seen, it's mostly down to a feeling that the guest cast is a bit fanwanky, and since that was part of the brief ("add more familiar faces" to be precise), I don't mind - just find it ironic.

[MatthiasRussell]

Lonemagpie wrote:

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Ah, the toroidal continuum fold... actually built out of a couple of real scientific thingies to produce an interesting hybrid - and who knows, maybe they can be!

I swear, though, between that and the whole Split Infinite Tipler and wormhole thing, next time I'm going to pitch something a damn sight simpler to wrap my head around...

I consider myself fairly well educated in space science and I got to say I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that one with the Hera being fluxed and such. But that is what was great about it; the concept was so alien and a challenge to our normal picture of the universe. I have always found pocket universes and similar concepts fascinating. The second half of the book was like Titan with its story wrapped around a strange scientific theory. It is the kind of idea that makes Trek special.

[MatthiasRussell]

My Complete Review:

On the whole, I have to say this is a true Trek tale and what the franchise is all about- exploring the unknown and causing you to think about your view of the universe. That said, to me the story is divided up into three parts: establishing the mystery around the NX-07 Intrepid, the Rasmussen/Bok plot, and solving the mystery of the phenomenon behind what happened to the Intrepid. Of these, I didn’t care too much about the R/B story but loved the other two. I feel the author has a pleasant writing style and weaved a good story but I did feel there were some needless conversations that went nowhere, and there were times I felt the story jumped around too much during key happenings that should had been developed more instead of cutting to a different scene so quickly. I also felt there were too many cameos to the point it seemed that the author just wanted to fit in all his favored characters and couldn’t limit his choices; that said, at first this annoyed me but later I appreciated the inclusion as it brought back so many memories from the shows.

The first part of the book set the stage for a great mystery and I enjoyed seeing the 24th century characters on the NX set as I did reading Destiny. It reminded me of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels when the tale of how a ship was lost is imagined and then the wreck is investigated later when the wreckage is key to the modern plot.

The second part of the book involving Rasmussen and Bok just plain bored me. Not that this part wasn’t well written or the characters not realistic but it just didn’t fit in with the first and third part of the book and the plot they were involved in wasn’t interesting nor were the antagonists. I only stuck through at this point because the mystery at the beginning was so well laid that I wanted to know what happened.

Indistinguishable from Magic REALLY soared in the third part involving Sela and the pretzel-pocket universe. This was the best Sela story I have read and I felt McIntee did an excellent job not only making her a realistic Romulan antagonist but also exploring the inner conflict she must have being a “half-breed” in a xenophobic society. The scientific concepts central to the plot, the living planet and spaceships as well as the torusal universe were the type of concepts Trek is all about and were quite “fascinating”. They were the type of elements you typically only find in the Titan series anymore. I enjoyed trying to grasp and explore these concepts even when I put the book down. The moss-skeleton creatures were an equally interesting idea and were a creative spin on classical zombies.

Though the middle of the book was a chore to get through to me, unraveling the mystery was so incredibly done that I was glad I read it. I went from intrigued, to bored, to excited. I recommend the book despite the parts I didn’t like. I see much potential for McIntee as a Trek writer and look forward to his future works.

[Lonemagpie]

^^ Great comments. Everybody likes something a little different, so one does try to have something for everyone in it.

[Deks]

I just finished reading the novel.
A pretty good read.
:-)
Though, one thing that I noticed (although I may have simply overlooked it) was that they never established exactly why was the NX-07's hull showing up signs of being 2 thousand years old.
To me it seemed as if that little tidbit was simply... dropped, or I somehow missed it.

[Lonemagpie]

Deks wrote:

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I just finished reading the novel.
A pretty good read.
:-)
Though, one thing that I noticed (although I may have simply overlooked it) was that they never established exactly why was the NX-07's hull showing up signs of being 2 thousand years old.
To me it seemed as if that little tidbit was simply... dropped, or I somehow missed it.

Missed it - it gets a technobabble explanation on page 88-89. Glad you liked it!

[Emh]

Lonemagpie wrote:

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OK, OK...

The Split Infinite is located in the star system Delta Five Gamma Zeta Alpha. That could be read as D5 Gamma Z Alpha - the co-ordinates for Skaro in Destiny Of The Daleks. Which by extension would make the Infinite the result of the Hand Of Omega being turned on it. Notice also there's a mention of there being rubble from twelve planets - back in the day, Skaro was in a 12 planet system.

But, really, it doesn't make difference - it's just a knowing wink to test the truly anorakish!

Oh, wow, that's really out there. I haven't seen Destiny of the Daleks in years so there wasn't any way I would have caught that reference.

[sherbertpi9]

I must say, firstly, that it was a very enjoyable read, I couldn't put it down (figuratively speaking, it was a Kindle ) so any little niggling downs or cons cannot impeach that fact.

I did like how it payed homage to so broad and varied a fanbase, kudos to David for giving us nerds something to chuckle at.
And while some may not, I did like having plenty of familiar faces around, it requires more thought and creative writing to insert existing characters than simply create new ones.

I am glad too that Geordi was not written as the same 'unluckiest character ever' that has been his way for so long, and that he finally gets the girl.

I must question, though, has there been some memo at 'Star Trekl HQ' which requires the removal of our original heroes? First Spock in the new movie and now Scotty, whats the go?

So, despite heavy sciency subjects and at times disjointed dialogue, thank you for a fun time with some of my 'golden oldie' favourite characters.

Live long and prosper, David

[Christopher]

sherbertpi9 wrote:

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I couldn't put it down (figuratively speaking, it was a Kindle )

I'm confused. Why can't that be literal with a Kindle? A Kindle is still something you pick up and hold, right? So you'd therefore put it down when you stopped reading, wouldn't you? I mean, yeah, you could then use it to read something different without putting it down in between, but you'd have to put it down sometime. Unless it's, like, some experimental new ocular-implant model.

[Lonemagpie]

sherbertpi9 wrote:

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I must question, though, has there been some memo at 'Star Trekl HQ' which requires the removal of our original heroes? First Spock in the new movie and now Scotty, whats the go?

No, I just thought it was a tad unrealistic that *everybody* (except Kirk, and even then there's the Shatner books) is still around, aged, like 200... And I figured Scotty deserved an appropriate exit, if it stays as an exit.

[JonoKyle]

Lonemagpie wrote:

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No, I just thought it was a tad unrealistic that *everybody* (except Kirk, and even then there's the Shatner books) is still around, aged, like 200... And I figured Scotty deserved an appropriate exit, if it stays as an exit.

I have to agree with you regarding the survival of the TOS characters. At least with Spock being part-vulcan it was still plausible he would still be active.

I thought I had read somewhere the typical human life-span in the Trek universe was ~120 years old, however in Fragments & Omens from the DS9 relaunch it is indicated the life-span for a human is ~150 years.

By 2383 - Uhura, Sulu (if he is still alive) & Chekov would be in their late 140's & McCoy would be late 150's. If the typical life-span is 120, by now most of them (if not all) should have been dead by now. Even if the life-span is 150 it is very unlikely they would all still be alive and as active as they are. However, except from McCoy, have any of the others been heard of since the Watraii affair (2377?)? So it is possible they could have passed on since.

At least with Scotty it was realistic that he was still active due to the 75 years he didn't age, which would have only made him in his mid-80's. IMO I like the ending you gave to Scotty.

[Ronald Held]

I can see Spock and maybe McCoy being alive, but not uhura, Chekov, Sulu. etc.

[Thrawn]

^ Why? McCoy was older than those three.

[JB2005]

But McCoy's a doctor, so presumably he'd have access to/be more willing to try experimental therapies and the like?

[BrotherBenny]

JB2005 wrote:

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But McCoy's a doctor, so presumably he'd have access to/be more willing to try experimental therapies and the like?

I'm a doctor, not a test subject, damnit!