TOS: Allegiance in Exile by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Sho]

2013 has dawned, and the first of five monthly TOS novels to kick off the new year is Allegiance in Exile by David R. George III, hitting stores on January 29th. This is Mr. George's first TOS release in almost exactly six years, the last having been the conclusion to his Crucible trilogy, The Star to Every Wandering, commemorating the series' 40th anniversary. His works since have polarized the forum audience, earning both high levels of criticism and most recently high praise for the arc they took Benjamin Sisko through. This one's a 5YM one-off, but the blurb quite possibly hints at challenging times for yet another of the franchise's commanding officers.

Said official blurb:

Captain James T. Kirk embarks on a mission that he may soon regret in this all-new Original Series adventure from the New York Times bestselling author.

A beautiful green world, rich in fertile soil and temperate climate... a textbook Class-M planet that should be teeming with life. Scans show no life-signs, but there are refined metals, including those associated with a space-faring race…and a lone city. But where are all of the inhabitants? Captain James T. Kirk leads a landing party from the U.S.S. Enterprise, hoping to get some answers.

The away team discovers a city in ruins, covered by dust, utterly bereft of life. Tricorder readings indicate that this is no ancient metropolis – it has been deserted only for a year. And just beyond the citadel lies what appears to be an ancient spaceport... a graveyard of ships that have clearly been sabotaged.

With these ruins too far from either the Klingon or the Romulan Empires, the Enterprise crew can only wonder: Who could have done this? And could this unnamed threat now pose an imminent danger to the Federation?

And here's an excerpt, Chapter 1: http://books.simonandschuster.com/St...700229/excerpt

[WarsTrek1993]

This should be interesting, I really want to know this new threat to the Federation!

[Sho]

I really love "artifact stories" which have the protagonists explore and try to figure out some abandoned alien relic/vessel/installation, so the metropolis+graveyard stuff tickles me personally as well.

How was Crucible? I haven't read any TOS by DRGIII yet.

[WarsTrek1993]

Sho wrote:

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I really love "artifact stories" which have the protagonists explore and try to figure out some abandoned alien relic/vessel/installation, so the metropolis+graveyard stuff tickles me personally as well.

How was Crucible? I haven't read any TOS by DRGIII yet.

Yeah, I like that, too. It's kinda like Indiana Jones, with the artifact exploration, or for a more Trekkish analogy, it's similar to Christopher's The Buried Age. (Awesome book, by the way).

I've never read the Crucible trilogy, so I couldn't tell you. The only books I've read by DRGIII are the very epic Serpents Among The Ruins and his Typhon Pact books.

[Sho]

I think my favorite artifact story is Pohl's Heechee saga, exploring Gateway station and trying to figure out the controls of the docked ships was really great scifi fun, and the interspersed chapters of the protagonist bickering with his software therapist made sure it wasn't dry on the human element side either. And there's always Rendezvous with Rama of course. SCE did this kind of stuff regularly by its very nature, I still want it back ...

[ATimson]

Sho wrote:

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How was Crucible? I haven't read any TOS by DRGIII yet.

If you don't mind that the books aren't in continuity with the rest of the Marcokradiverse novels, they're good reads that show George has a strong grasp of TOS.

If you're looking for something to give you insight into the characters you see in other books, give them a pass.

[ronny]

Sho wrote:

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How was Crucible? I haven't read any TOS by DRGIII yet.

I thought the McCoy book in the trilogy was just flat out awesome. One of my favorite Trek books of all time. The Spock book is very good. The Kirk book didn't speak to me as much but still very solid.

It just doesn't bother me at all the trilogy is stand alone. In fact I think that helps it. Since it doesn't tie in with any of the other books there are some actual surprises. And TOS has never had a long history of having the novels tie into each other anyway.

[Mage]

Not sure yet. Not a big TOS fan, but I am a huge DRGIII fan. I might pick this one up.

[Kertrats47]

ronny wrote:

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I thought the Spock book in the trilogy was just flat out awesome. One of my favorite Trek books of all time. The Spock book is very good. The Kirk book didn't speak to me as much but still very solid.

Personally, my favourite was the McCoy one. I was blown away by it.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

ATimson wrote:

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If you don't mind that the books aren't in continuity with the rest of the Marcokradiverse novels, they're good reads that show George has a strong grasp of TOS.

If you're looking for something to give you insight into the characters you see in other books, give them a pass.

Or if minor canon contradictions are a deal breaker. I haven't read them yet (they're on my shelf, waiting!) but I remember when the last movie was released, and we were discussing the versions of George Kirk in Treklit, DRGIII saying that his version was never in Starfleet.

[zarkon]

Mage wrote:

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Not sure yet. Not a big TOS fan, but I am a huge DRGIII fan. I might pick this one up.

Other way round for me, but I think I'll give this a go. Always interested to see how well authors do with the kirk/spock/mccoy dialogue, since it always makes or breaks TOS books.

That said I think "now pose an imminent danger to the Federation?????????????????????????????" was a bit hyperbolic. I guess the blurb writers trying to talk it up to increase interest, but deserted cities(or worlds in this case) are always interesting to me.

[Lonemagpie]

Sho wrote:

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I really love "artifact stories" which have the protagonists explore and try to figure out some abandoned alien relic/vessel/installation,

Me too - ever since Alien came out and I read Rendezvous With Rama- but this is the first time I've heard a phrase for it. Artifact stories. Hm, yeah, I like that phrase...

[Christopher]

Books like Rendezvous With Rama and Ringworld are often called "Big Dumb Object stories" in the SF-lit vernacular.

[zarkon]

Lonemagpie wrote:

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Me too - ever since Alien came out and I read Rendezvous With Rama- but this is the first time I've heard a phrase for it. Artifact stories. Hm, yeah, I like that phrase...

I always thought the coolest part of "The Daleks" was when they were exploring the "abandoned" city.

[Patrick O'Brien]

I enjoy good TOS story, so a DRGIII book is a no brainer