TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Sho · March 16 2013, 07:25 PM

Greg Cox' new novel The Weight of Worlds (known for a while as The Twilight Realm) is about to beam down on March 26th and serves as the half-way mark of this year's TOS marathon. Sounds like there are significant Sulu and Uhura plots in store here, fans take note.

Blurb time:

The Ephrata Institute is an intellectual think tank at the outer fringes of the final frontier. Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs . . . even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter.

Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade’s distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.

As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

Sadly there's no excerpt available yet, but feast your eyes on the fetching new design of Simon & Schuster's book pages, and then keep that link around in case a sampling of the text does pop up early next week.

Patrick O'Brien · March 16 2013, 08:35 PM

I may vote outstanding just based on the cover art

Ronald Held · March 16 2013, 09:05 PM

Waiting for it to ship...

Greg Cox · March 16 2013, 09:35 PM

Patrick O'Brien wrote:

I may vote outstanding just based on the cover art

To give credit where it's due, the art is by Alan Dingman.

And, yeah, I'm very happy with that cover art!

JD · March 17 2013, 01:22 AM

This one sounds good.

T'Bonz · March 17 2013, 06:01 AM

Love the cover. It's icing on the cake.

tomswift2002 · March 17 2013, 12:57 PM

The cover art reminds me of the old Bantam reprint covers from the 80's, like "Devil's World".

Reanok · March 17 2013, 04:36 PM

I really like the coverart.I'm definitely looking forward to reading this book when it comes out in 2 weeks.

E-DUB · March 18 2013, 04:01 PM

Whilst it is a truism that you can't judge a book by it's cover, you can judge the cover. I love this cover. And I'm sure I'll love the book too, as Mr. Cox is one of my favorite Trek lit authors.

Sho · March 18 2013, 05:24 PM

Not to be a contrarian, but something about the torso-to-head-to-hand proportions of Kirk kind of rubs me the wrong way ... I really like the rendering quality, but there's a slight uncanny valley effect from that.

Freman · March 23 2013, 02:03 AM

So nobody has read this yet? I bought it last week, I guess somebody messed up and put it out waaaay early. I was looking at this thread and wondering why nobody had commented on it yet, then I realized the release date wasn't for a few more days.

Good book. Another fine job by Greg Cox. And no, I will not give out any spoilers to anyone, since the book's not even supposed to be out yet. Buy yer own! lol

Christopher · March 23 2013, 03:11 AM

^Well, it's not really "messing up," since there's no reason not to put the book on sale early if a store gets it early. Except for really big events like Harry Potter and such, there is no real release date for a print book, just a general range wherein it becomes available.

Greg Cox · March 23 2013, 03:20 AM

Christopher wrote:

^Well, it's not really "messing up," since there's no reason not to put the book on sale early if a store gets it early. Except for really big events like Harry Potter and such, there is no real release date for a print book, just a general range wherein it becomes available.

Exactly. Except for super high-profile events like Harry Potter (or the occasional movie novelization), there are no coordinated release dates for books the way there are for movies or record albums. The books go on the shelves when somebody gets around to cracking open the boxes the delivery guys dropped off.

Glad you liked the book, Fremen! I'll be curious to hear what people think.

indianatrekker26 · March 23 2013, 03:29 AM

i stopped by local B&N store, not out there yet. It still showed preorder in their system. So hopefully next weekend i'll have better luck.

E-DUB · March 25 2013, 12:44 AM

Got it yesterday. Just finished it. Enjoyed it immensely. Loved seeing a certain someone in the command chair for once. Let me be the first to cite an extremely minor nitpick. I believe it has been established that JTK has only one nephew. If I'm wrong, I'll be sure to hear about it.

View Poll Results: Rate The Weight of Worlds.
Outstanding	7	23.33%
Above Average	15	50.00%
Average	8	26.67%
Below Average	0	0%
Poor	0	0%
Voters: 30. You may not vote on this poll

March 16 2013, 08:35 PM	#2
Patrick O'Brien Captain Location: Brooklyn NY	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) I may vote outstanding just based on the cover art __________________ The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe. -Dr. McCoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

March 16 2013, 09:05 PM	#3
Ronald Held Rear Admiral Location: On the USS Sovereign	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) Waiting for it to ship...

March 17 2013, 01:22 AM	#5
JD Admiral Location: Arizona, USA	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) This one sounds good. __________________ Over the course of many encounters and many years, I have successfully developed a standard operating procedure for dealing with big, nasty monsters. Run away. Me and Monty Python. Harry Dresden - Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)

March 17 2013, 06:01 AM	#6
T'Bonz Romulan Curmudgeon Location: Across the Neutral Zone	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) Love the cover. It's icing on the cake. __________________ Live long and suffer! - Ancient Romulan greeting. Romulans aren't paranoid. We're merely proactively cautious.

STAR TREK

CSI

ABOUT US

March 17 2013, 12:57 PM	#7
tomswift2002 Captain	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) The cover art reminds me of the old Bantam reprint covers from the 80's, like "Devil's World".

March 17 2013, 04:36 PM	#8
Reanok Commodore	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) I really like the coverart.I'm definitely looking forward to reading this book when it comes out in 2 weeks.

March 18 2013, 04:01 PM	#9
E-DUB Commander	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) Whilst it is a truism that you can't judge a book by it's cover, you can judge the cover. I love this cover. And I'm sure I'll love the book too, as Mr. Cox is one of my favorite Trek lit authors.

March 18 2013, 05:24 PM	#10
Sho Fleet Captain Location: Berlin, Germany	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) Not to be a contrarian, but something about the torso-to-head-to-hand proportions of Kirk kind of rubs me the wrong way ... I really like the rendering quality, but there's a slight uncanny valley effect from that. __________________ TrekLit review threads, sorted by average score (discussion thread).

March 23 2013, 02:03 AM	#11
Freman Fleet Captain Location: Kenora, Ontario, Canada	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) So nobody has read this yet? I bought it last week, I guess somebody messed up and put it out waaaay early. I was looking at this thread and wondering why nobody had commented on it yet, then I realized the release date wasn't for a few more days. Good book. Another fine job by Greg Cox. And no, I will not give out any spoilers to anyone, since the book's not even supposed to be out yet. Buy yer own! lol __________________ Booyaka!!!!

March 23 2013, 03:11 AM	#12
Christopher Writer	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) ^Well, it's not really "messing up," since there's no reason not to put the book on sale early if a store gets it early. Except for really big events like Harry Potter and such, there is no real release date for a print book, just a general range wherein it becomes available. __________________ Christopher L. Bennett Homepage -- Includes purchasing links for Only Superhuman, on sale now! Updated 12/30/12 with annotations for the novel. Written Worlds -- My blog

March 23 2013, 03:29 AM	#14
indianatrekker26 Captain	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) i stopped by local B&N store, not out there yet. It still showed preorder in their system. So hopefully next weekend i'll have better luck.

March 25 2013, 12:44 AM	#15
E-DUB Commander	Re: TOS: The Weight of Worlds by Greg Cox Review Thread (Spoilers!) Got it yesterday. Just finished it. Enjoyed it immensely. Loved seeing a certain someone in the command chair for once. Let me be the first to cite an extremely minor nitpick. I believe it has been established that JTK has only one nephew. If I'm wrong, I'll be sure to hear about it.