TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) - Page 2

rfmcdpei · November 25 2012, 12:35 PM

Dsven43 · November 25 2012, 12:45 PM

rfmcdpei wrote:

Oh I'm not bothered either. I like the possibilities it introduces. I was just wondering if I missed something

David Mack · November 25 2012, 05:32 PM

rfmcdpei wrote:

It's not any specific vessel … yet. But that's a story that might merit a follow-up tale in which the two parallel universes clash once more….

Tirius · November 25 2012, 05:46 PM

Here's my two cents (and likely a few more) on Silent Weapons. This must have been the first book (that I can recall anyway) to hit the shelves in the Netherlands prior to the official US release date. Not that I mind... ;-)

REVIEW BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Cold Equations was mentioned as being more of a trio of standalone novels rather than a complete triology. What strikes me most about SW in comparison to its predecessor is how different the narrative felt. I suppose it's partly due to the much larger number of point-of-view characters in SW, which I cannot say I mind too much. While I must confess to not having warmed up to any of the Breen this time (they felt a bit like baddies-of-the-week), I do applaud the continuing theme of showing the true danger of the Confederacy as a whole. The multi-layered covert ops plot ("Ogres are like onions: we have layers!") left me completely guessing as to its final purpose until the very end, which a good mystery should in my opinion.

Silent Weapons is also a much more political kind of story. I've always loved Nan Bacco and reading about the workings of the Federation government, and although she's not really the star of this story, we still get plenty of the good stuff. The android assassination plot had a real bite given who the assassin turned out to be (or rather turned out to be impersonating) and I wonder what the consequences of that will be to Bacco's presidency in the long run. She has after all lost one of her most important supporters and confidants. I do hope we'll see her win the reelection that's mentioned, but I'm no longer certain that will be the case. However, what really had me excited in this part of the story was the developments between the Federation and the Gorn. The Gorn imperator's vow at the end that he'd make the Breen pay for what they'd done and that he'd do exactly what they'd want least, namely forging new ties with the Federation, brought a big smile to my face. Because, while I find the Typhon Pact situation engaging and fresh in terms of storytelling, I am also rooting for a resolution to the Federations's recent series of misfortunes. A pro-Federation Romulan-Gorn block within the Typhon Pact is something I'd very much like to see succeed, and it felt natural for Bacco, with her history with the Gorn, to be able to pull that off.

There's not much I can say about the setting on Orion; what we got matches with what you might expect based on the description of Orion society. A decent bit of world building, but I feel it's the last time we'll be welcome there. Heavens, what a mess they all left behind...

As for the developments on the Enterprise, there's two things I want to comment on. First, Beverly's issues with Picard's shifting priorities. This is perhaps the only part of the story that I had trouble understanding, namely her surprise that Picard would put her life and that of their son above his duty to Starfleet and the Federation. Even I saw that one coming, seeing how long it took for them to finally get together and how much his chance to have a family means to him. (I do understand her taking issue with her son being seen as "the captain's child", given that Wesley wasn't exactly an average child either.) Second, I also noticed that people aren't talking about Choudhury's death as much as I'd thought they might. We see definite cracks in Worf's armor, which I'm hoping will be a feature in the final volume, but that's about it. I do like Smrhova as a new character, but I did have some trouble matching the somewhat uncertain officer of Persistence of Memory to the "hit first and ask questions later" version presented in Silent Weapons. Either way, her depiction in this volume did a lot to set her apart from Choudhury and define her own character, and that I appreciated.

So, we get to grading it. I enjoyed Silent Weapons more than its predecessor, but I'm grading it the same: Above Average. I tend to reserve Outstanding for books in my "top 10 ever" list, but if the trend continues, the final volume might just make it there. A big Thank You to David Mack and the staff at Pocket for another fine read!

shanejayell · November 26 2012, 01:16 AM

Finished, liked it. Rated the book above average.

I'm wondering if the Breen are now Mack's pet project? He's certainly managed to upgrade them to a serious threat to the Federation.

Kertrats47 · November 26 2012, 09:17 PM

Absolutely loved it! Even more than The Persistence of Memory. Here's my review. (Warning: my review contains SPOILERS!)

David Mack · November 26 2012, 09:39 PM

Thanks for that in-depth and highly complimentary review, Dan!

Kertrats47 · November 26 2012, 09:43 PM

David Mack wrote:

Thanks for that in-depth and highly complimentary review, Dan!

My pleasure, believe me! I read this one too fast, though... it's going to be a long month waiting for The Body Electric.

Patrick O'Brien · November 27 2012, 04:56 PM

The kindle version is out

Enterpriserules · November 27 2012, 09:36 PM

I am just getting into it now so I can get my review up, interesting so far.

Enterpriserules · November 27 2012, 09:37 PM

Kertrats47 wrote:

Absolutely loved it! Even more than The Persistence of Memory. Here's my review. (Warning: my review contains SPOILERS!)

I can't read your review yet! I have to finish it first lol

Kertrats47 · November 28 2012, 12:26 AM

Enterpriserules wrote:

Kertrats47 wrote:

Absolutely loved it! Even more than The Persistence of Memory. Here's my review. (Warning: my review contains SPOILERS!)

I can't read your review yet! I have to finish it first lol

Most of the spoilers are for The Persistence of Memory. The spoilers for Silent Weapons are for events and moments in the book, but not really their outcomes. That said, I'd read it first too!

VDCNI · November 28 2012, 12:53 PM

I went for Above Average. I enjoyed it without loving it, perhaps because I'm still not sold on the Breen as an interesting adversary. Possibly because the character stuff didn't work for me that well - I didn't really believe in Crusher and La Forge's issues or at least thought they were overstated.

That said it was still very good with some great moments - Chen in charge of the bridge was a lot of fun and at last gave her some more to do in a Mack novel as he has generally sidelined her.

Looking forward to number 3.

Tom Riker · November 28 2012, 07:20 PM

Good job shippers! You Picard\Crusher fanatics who wanted them to get together has now ruined the career fo Jean-Luc Picard. hopefully he becoems resentful of her for making him abandon his career cuz she's a whiny harpy and it leads to the divorce we saw in All Good Things.

Jarvisimo · November 28 2012, 09:05 PM

About a quarter of the way through: loving it, a classic Mack book with a style and sense of continuity that goes right back to his A Time to... duology & Wildfire (as well as including more of his Orion work from Vanguard too). Despite being standalone, this volume links really well to The Persistence of Memory: the sense of trilogy or mini-series is good. Also, it feels like it will have HUGE consequences. And how great is it to have Data back, or new-Data present: he's different and familiar. And written so well.

View Poll Results: Rate Silent Weapons.
Outstanding	36	46.15%
Above Average	30	38.46%
Average	10	12.82%
Below Average	1	1.28%
Poor	1	1.28%
Voters: 78. You may not vote on this poll

November 25 2012, 05:46 PM	#19
Tirius Captain Location: The Netherlands	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) Here's my two cents (and likely a few more) on Silent Weapons. This must have been the first book (that I can recall anyway) to hit the shelves in the Netherlands prior to the official US release date. Not that I mind... ;-) REVIEW BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS Cold Equations was mentioned as being more of a trio of standalone novels rather than a complete triology. What strikes me most about SW in comparison to its predecessor is how different the narrative felt. I suppose it's partly due to the much larger number of point-of-view characters in SW, which I cannot say I mind too much. While I must confess to not having warmed up to any of the Breen this time (they felt a bit like baddies-of-the-week), I do applaud the continuing theme of showing the true danger of the Confederacy as a whole. The multi-layered covert ops plot ("Ogres are like onions: we have layers!") left me completely guessing as to its final purpose until the very end, which a good mystery should in my opinion. Silent Weapons is also a much more political kind of story. I've always loved Nan Bacco and reading about the workings of the Federation government, and although she's not really the star of this story, we still get plenty of the good stuff. The android assassination plot had a real bite given who the assassin turned out to be (or rather turned out to be impersonating) and I wonder what the consequences of that will be to Bacco's presidency in the long run. She has after all lost one of her most important supporters and confidants. I do hope we'll see her win the reelection that's mentioned, but I'm no longer certain that will be the case. However, what really had me excited in this part of the story was the developments between the Federation and the Gorn. The Gorn imperator's vow at the end that he'd make the Breen pay for what they'd done and that he'd do exactly what they'd want least, namely forging new ties with the Federation, brought a big smile to my face. Because, while I find the Typhon Pact situation engaging and fresh in terms of storytelling, I am also rooting for a resolution to the Federations's recent series of misfortunes. A pro-Federation Romulan-Gorn block within the Typhon Pact is something I'd very much like to see succeed, and it felt natural for Bacco, with her history with the Gorn, to be able to pull that off. There's not much I can say about the setting on Orion; what we got matches with what you might expect based on the description of Orion society. A decent bit of world building, but I feel it's the last time we'll be welcome there. Heavens, what a mess they all left behind... As for the developments on the Enterprise, there's two things I want to comment on. First, Beverly's issues with Picard's shifting priorities. This is perhaps the only part of the story that I had trouble understanding, namely her surprise that Picard would put her life and that of their son above his duty to Starfleet and the Federation. Even I saw that one coming, seeing how long it took for them to finally get together and how much his chance to have a family means to him. (I do understand her taking issue with her son being seen as "the captain's child", given that Wesley wasn't exactly an average child either.) Second, I also noticed that people aren't talking about Choudhury's death as much as I'd thought they might. We see definite cracks in Worf's armor, which I'm hoping will be a feature in the final volume, but that's about it. I do like Smrhova as a new character, but I did have some trouble matching the somewhat uncertain officer of Persistence of Memory to the "hit first and ask questions later" version presented in Silent Weapons. Either way, her depiction in this volume did a lot to set her apart from Choudhury and define her own character, and that I appreciated. So, we get to grading it. I enjoyed Silent Weapons more than its predecessor, but I'm grading it the same: Above Average. I tend to reserve Outstanding for books in my "top 10 ever" list, but if the trend continues, the final volume might just make it there. A big Thank You to David Mack and the staff at Pocket for another fine read! __________________ "Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein My Card @TiriusAvarao

November 26 2012, 01:16 AM	#20
shanejayell Captain Location: BC, Canada	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) Finished, liked it. Rated the book above average. I'm wondering if the Breen are now Mack's pet project? He's certainly managed to upgrade them to a serious threat to the Federation. __________________ Avatar: Priss Asagiri, Bubblegum Crisis

November 26 2012, 09:17 PM	#21
Kertrats47 Fleet Captain Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) Absolutely loved it! Even more than The Persistence of Memory. Here's my review. (Warning: my review contains SPOILERS!) __________________ Trek Lit Reviews (SCE #4: Interphase, Part I by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore - May 16) 2013 Pocket Books Star Trek Releases Last edited by Kertrats47; November 26 2012 at 09:34 PM.

November 26 2012, 09:39 PM	#22
David Mack Writer Location: New York, NY	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) Thanks for that in-depth and highly complimentary review, Dan! __________________ ~ David Mack \| "Where were you when the page was blank?" — Truman Capote Join me on Facebook & Twitter

STAR TREK

CSI

ABOUT US

November 27 2012, 04:56 PM	#24
Patrick O'Brien Captain Location: Brooklyn NY	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) The kindle version is out __________________ The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe. -Dr. McCoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

November 27 2012, 09:36 PM	#25
Enterpriserules Fleet Captain Location: Trek.fm	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) I am just getting into it now so I can get my review up, interesting so far. __________________ My Blog www.42lifeinbetween.wordpress.com as well as book reviewer for http://trek.fm/ as well as co-host of Literary Treks and The Orb

November 28 2012, 12:53 PM	#28
VDCNI Captain Location: London UK	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) I went for Above Average. I enjoyed it without loving it, perhaps because I'm still not sold on the Breen as an interesting adversary. Possibly because the character stuff didn't work for me that well - I didn't really believe in Crusher and La Forge's issues or at least thought they were overstated. That said it was still very good with some great moments - Chen in charge of the bridge was a lot of fun and at last gave her some more to do in a Mack novel as he has generally sidelined her. Looking forward to number 3.

November 28 2012, 07:20 PM	#29
Tom Riker Lieutenant	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) Good job shippers! You Picard\Crusher fanatics who wanted them to get together has now ruined the career fo Jean-Luc Picard. hopefully he becoems resentful of her for making him abandon his career cuz she's a whiny harpy and it leads to the divorce we saw in All Good Things.

November 28 2012, 09:05 PM	#30
Jarvisimo Lieutenant Commander Location: Edinburgh	Re: TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!) About a quarter of the way through: loving it, a classic Mack book with a style and sense of continuity that goes right back to his A Time to... duology & Wildfire (as well as including more of his Orion work from Vanguard too). Despite being standalone, this volume links really well to The Persistence of Memory: the sense of trilogy or mini-series is good. Also, it feels like it will have HUGE consequences. And how great is it to have Data back, or new-Data present: he's different and familiar. And written so well.