Not at all. Diane quite explicitly described the Pathfinder as a ship that Picard had commanded between the Stargazer and the Enterprise. I considered working in a reference to that ship in TBA, but Intellivore established that the ship had never gone beyond the UFP core worlds, so it was incompatible with my intention to take Picard as far away from UFP affairs and territory as possible. Again, I disagree that it's negative, merely cautionary. Plus you're defining the characters in too limited and stereotyped a way. In fact, I profoundly disagree with your characterization of Riker. As a rule, he was the most passionate xenophile, the one who most enjoyed that which was different and alien and was most open to alternative points of view. Although, for what it's worth, pretty much the scenario you suggest did indeed occur in "The Wounded": After Picard made the statement quoted above, Worf very predictably said, "The Cardassians are without honor. They cannot be trusted." Or words to that effect.
I'm still not quite convinced she didn't simply forget the name of Picard's old ship. It's something no proofreader other than herself could ever catch, after all. And after Duane describes the Pathfinder as the ship where Picard and Ileen Maisel served together, she immediately (on the next page) moves on to describe Storennan Grace as "a short, stony-skinned Centaurrin who had also been on Stargazer with them", underlining mine. The word "also" would be quite out of place unless the two ships were one and the same. Oh, definitely agreed. Riker would be the passionate one, in good and bad - loving and hating. Picard would be the one for moderated, diplomatically bland responses, in good and bad. When Picard got openly passionate and opinionated, it was for something truly exceptional in his life. I don't think any of the characters showed categorical (or should that be category-free?) xenophobia, really. Soran the villain was made repulsive by his "don't you hate being different?" speech, and some things Pulaski or Maddox said about Data were supposed to be disapproved of, too, but the "main" heroes always had a soft spot for one alien species if they despised another. Timo Saloniemi
You know, I just reviewed the text of Intellivore, and I think you're right. There's one reference to Picard and Maisel's days on the "Pathfinder," and all subsequent references are to their time together on the Stargazer. And as you say, it makes more sense if you substitute Stargazer for Pathfinder on that one page. And I feel stupid, because I just now figured out that Maisel's complaint that the ship referred to as Pathfinder "never got out of Earth's backyard" was meant to be ironic, a way of indicating that Maisel was so fond of questing outward that even the Stargazer's deep-space tour was too close to home for her. So it's just as well I didn't reference the Pathfinder in TBA. Uhh, you're cherry-picking my words and twisting the meaning. The key word isn't "passionate," it's "xenophile." My point is that Riker was someone who was drawn to the alien, who rejoiced in diversity. He's the last person who'd be prone to vehement anti-alien sentiment.
Christopher- To the average Trek fan like me, who hasn't the patience to nit-pick about cannon and details, TBA was a superb read. Easily on par with anything I've ever read from Clarke. Between TBA and Ex Machina, you've made me a regular customer. I really do hope you get to write more books about the post TMP era. Your take in Ex Machina put the hook in me. Your vision of the Enterprise D as a spacegoing University Town was a fantastic analogy.
Oh, you could have written six and a half paragraphs on how Picard and Maisel liked to privately call their ship the Pathfinder, say, because of their longstanding argument of whether they were achieving anything new and worthwhile with her. Sorry - I only wanted to point out that a xenophile would indeed be prime material for a xenophobe. Riker wouldnt' be afraid, in the PC sense, to say what he thinks about aliens, in good and bad alike. He certainly spat on quite a few species during his seven TNG years. But one might argue that he did that in good nature. Insulting a Romulan or a Klingon might be what these folks expect and look forward to, after all - and Riker did well in that respect in "A Matter of Honor". And preempting a Ferengi's attempts at swindling would only tell the Ferengi that this particular customer knew his stuff and was forthright with his knowledge: trademarks of a customer you could rely on, and of an idiot who just volunteered a valuable ace out of his sleeve and would thus be all that more attractive a customer... Timo Saloniemi
I have to jump in here. I've recommended Ex Machina to several friends, trekkies and non-trekkies alike and most have bought the book, and really enjoyed it - then asked when the sequel was coming out. I had to tell them that it didn't sell well enough for the publisher and they muttered some inventive invective. I found TBA to be an excellent read and an interesting exploration in just how big the galaxy is and how certain events can have repercussions for millennia. Reading GTTS now and thanking the Patron Saint of Readers and Writers that you were able to...you know...the TNGR. Great stuff, and you are easily the contemporary of current scifi master Peter Hamilton too.
That's not much of an accomplishment, since "contemporary" means they're both living around the same time........
Perhaps he means they both have achieved a lot at an early age? Why, Christopher might even be a child progeny! Timo Saloniemi
Wah!! My internal thesaurus failed me yesterday. Let's just say "Easily as good as" PH, though I think Chris is better.