TP: Brinkmanship by Una McCormack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Mage]

Christopher wrote:

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I'm not sure "arrogant" is the right word there. To arrogate something is to assert a status or privilege to which one is not actually entitled. Dax has lived for over 300 years, done many different jobs, and been joined to a number of brilliant individuals. So any Trill who's joined to Dax is going to know, if not "it all," then certainly an exceptionally large percentage of "it." She's not just putting on airs, trying to act superior; she really is that smart, and she's just using what she's got, rather than resisting it as Ezri did in her first year as a joined Trill.

It's not the knowledge she has, it's the way she comes across as if everyone should agree with her, because. Perhaps that just how it comes across to me, and not how she was written. I'm just not a big fan of novel Ezri.

[Enterpriserules]

I am look forward to Ezri getting really spread her wings and get more development as a captain.

[JD]

I've enjoyed the other Una McCormack books I've read, and I'm a big fan of the Aventine crew so I'm really looking forward to this.

[Kestrel]

Mage wrote:

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It's not the knowledge she has, it's the way she comes across as if everyone should agree with her, because. Perhaps that just how it comes across to me, and not how she was written. I'm just not a big fan of novel Ezri.

I think it's mostly you to be honest; the only time she's come across poorly to me was at the start of one of This Gray Spirit, but I felt like that was just Jarman not having a handle on the character because she got better throughout the book.

I'm really excited for this book. Love Una McCormack's writing and any story with Dax and the Aventine is must-read for me!

[Una McCormack]

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm about the book! Hope you enjoy it!

[Dimesdan]

Just ordered it and hopefully it'll come in the post somewhen mid week next week.

[JoeZhang]

I didn't know this was coming out - will pick up.

[Gul Re'jal]

I just reordered mine too. 4 days 3 hours until it's available, according the the countdown

[rfmcdpei]

Una McCormack wrote:

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Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm about the book! Hope you enjoy it!

I'm quite looking forward to it. Ever since I read Scorched Earth so many years ago I loved your take on Cardassians. Here's to seeing what the new Cardassia will do in the era of the Typhon Pact!

[Thor Damar]

I have to say that from what I've read recently of the Cardassians and their relationships in the post destiny trekverse I'm both very impressed and really, really looking forward to this book.

[WarsTrek1993]

Hopefully, this will start appearing in stores soon. (Hey, it's possible. I found both The Eternal Tide and Forgotten History two days before they were released).

[Reanok]

I'm definitely looking forward to getting this novel in the next few weeks.

[rfmcdpei]

I've just read Brinkmanship.

Quick impression? It's very strong, well-plotted and well-written, and morally ambiguous in a compelling way. (I'd argue that this book does for the Tzenkethi what The Romulan Way did for the Romulans. Interesting parallels between the two books.)

More later.

[WarsTrek1993]

rfmcdpei wrote:

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I've just read Brinkmanship.

Quick impression? It's very strong, well-plotted and well-written, and morally ambiguous in a compelling way. (I'd argue that this book does for the Tzenkethi what The Romulan Way did for the Romulans. Interesting parallels between the two books.)

More later.

Wow, that was fast!
I can't wait to read your review. The Tzekethi version of The Romulan Way, huh?

[rfmcdpei]

WarsTrek1993 wrote:

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Wow, that was fast!
I can't wait to read your review. The Tzekethi version of The Romulan Way, huh?

To a certain extent.

Duane's The Romulan Way and McCormack's Brinkmanship both feature anthropologically-trained spies, surgically altered by the polities they serve to resemble the local species closely, and sent to work in low-level positions so as to get a participant's-eye perspective. Terise and McCormack's Neta each fall in love with the isolationist culture they're sent to and, when given the choice, each eventually choose to stay. Moreover, both these narratives of a foreigner's coming to feel at home in a foreign culture are embedded in a wider astropolitical context, with the Federation-Romulan disputes of the Rihannsu-verse and the Typhon Pact, respectively.

The critical area where they differ is in what I can only call Brinkmanship's harder situation. Much of the difference likely comes from the differing origins of the characters. Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto came from a 23rd-century Federation that was a stable and progressive culture, while Neta Efhany was an agent of a Cardassia only recently converted to democratic pluralism and still recovering from the Dominion War. More of the difference has to do with the nature of the cultures they were sent to: the Romulans, whether in Duane's original version of the Rihannsu, Trek literature's current consensus, or the sparser detail provided by TV and film, are a much more pluralistic and less xenophobic culture that the Tzenkethi. A case can be made that Romulan culture, while still laced with all kinds of terrible things, is compatible with Federation culture in that both cultures share many of the same norms. The terrible xenophobic claustrophobic terror of the Tzenkethi, coupled with the police state that is intrusive to the level of reproduction and cares not one whit for person freedom, isn't nearly as sympathetic.

The way Terise and Nefa reconcile themselves to their new homes is noteworthy. Terise opts of her own free will to remain attached to Rihannsu culture while retaining in secret her own identity, becoming an actor in Rihannsu civilization and even making allies with another deep-cover agent. Nefa opts to assimilate fully into Tzenkethi society without keeping her identity, welcoming her dispatch to a reconditioning facility that will strip away her identity and leave her perfectly happy with her place in a Tzenkethi society that has no room for individuality. More gruesomely, Nefa's discovered fellow agent isn't nearly as helpful as Terise; Andy instead blackmails Nefa and her friend, and in the end probably would have killed her had Nefa not won and bashed the Federation agent's head in with a rock on a cold hillside.

The thing is, despite the deeply unattractive picture of Tzenkethi civilization painted in Brinkmanship, I can still see why the Tzenkethi would like it. It's stable, it's peaceful, and it's protective of its compliant members.