Spoilers TF: The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Sho, Sep 17, 2013.

?

Rate The Crimson Shadow.

  1. Outstanding

    80 vote(s)
    67.8%
  2. Above Average

    30 vote(s)
    25.4%
  3. Average

    6 vote(s)
    5.1%
  4. Below Average

    2 vote(s)
    1.7%
  5. Poor

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. JeBuS

    JeBuS Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2013
    My opinion, having read all of The Fall books up to half-way through the last, is that Revelation & Dust is entirely unnecessary for any of the other novels. They each contain a "Historian's Note" at the beginning that wrap up R&D's major points in just a couple of paragraphs. 90% of R&D has no bearing upon the rest of The Fall.
     
  2. Mimi

    Mimi Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2013
    Location:
    Florida
    Crimson Shadow is also one of the most self-contained novels in the lot. Its more a character piece about Garak and Cardassia than anything else.

    [Which having read the others, works entirely in its benefit.]
     
  3. Enterpriserules

    Enterpriserules Commodore Commodore

    Yet it does help unravel the mystery of who is responsible for the assassination making it so important to the story line of "The Fall"
     
  4. Maj. Kira Nerys

    Maj. Kira Nerys Ensign Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2013
    Location:
    Bajor
    The assassination is the only element of Revelation and Dust that's really present in The Crimson Shadow (apart from the Castellan returning from DS9 early). The Crimson Shadow is brilliant not only in giving an interesting picture of Cardassia, its politics and people, but also in once again superbly depicting the character of Garak. You can hear him talking when you read the book. His interactions with Picard and his political debates were simply great.
     
  5. Ruaidhri

    Ruaidhri Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2001
    Location:
    Ruaidhri...Toronto in body, Philly in spirit!
    I just finished The Crimson Shadow, and between my enjoyment of the book and the above quoted post, Una McCormack is now my favorite Trek author. :bolian:
     
  6. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2001
    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    I'm perpetually 3-6 months behind, but I'm throwing my hat into the ring. This is advertised as a TNG heavy crossover novel. That's what I was expecting. What I got was something different. A fantastic Garak novel. The only really negative thing I have to say about this novel is that I had trouble keeping up with the characters outside of Garak and Garan. I also thought a lot of the beats of the story were similar to Paths of Disharmony, but it has been a couple of years since I read that one.
     
  7. j3067

    j3067 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2011
    Location:
    Prepping for the next Great Tribble Hunt
    I skipped Revelation and Dust and did not feel lost when I read the other books. I generally agree with the consensus of this board in ranking the other novels, but once I slogged through the first few chapters of Peaceable Kingdoms I might have liked it just a little more (or hated it less) than some of the other posters here.
     
  8. Gul Re'jal

    Gul Re'jal Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2010
    Location:
    Gul Re'jal is suspecting she's on the wrong space
    I think skipping it wouldn't influence much the experience of The Fall series, but it could be especially worth reading before/if new DS9 novels appear, because it brings us up to date with the station and its staff.

    That said, I'd read it anyway. It wasn't a bad book :)
     
  9. Enterpriserules

    Enterpriserules Commodore Commodore

    I definitely think it going to be very important to future DS9 stories and well worth the read.
     
  10. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 20, 2001
    Location:
    West Haven, UT, USA
    I've got a question:
    The Historian's Note says that The Crimson Shadow and Revelation and Dust take place concurrently, but I was wondering exactly how much 'overlap' there is and which book ought to be read first. Can anybody help me out (and no, I don't mind spoilers)?
     
  11. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    Read Revelation and Dust first. It was published first, and it starts first, too. R&D runs from 22 August to 2 September 2384 and The Crimson Shadow runs from 24 August to 4 September.
     
  12. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 20, 2001
    Location:
    West Haven, UT, USA
    Thanks. That's exactly what I wanted to know.
     
  13. DS9forever

    DS9forever Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    2385 actually.
     
  14. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    Whoops! Why did I type 84? :lol:

    Yeah, sorry, I meant 2385. :techman:
     
  15. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Location:
    Essex, UK
    Superb.

    I loved this when I read it a couple of weeks back but now I've read the other Fall books, it really stands out from them. It doesn't hurt that I love Garak, always a fascinating character but there's the Cardassia arc the DSN relaunch has been running since the start, which I've also liked a great deal.

    It's.... flawless, just really, really good.
     
  16. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2011
    Location:
    The Black Country, England
    I haven't quite finished it.

    It could, however, be the single best Trek novel I've read...
     
  17. kktwin

    kktwin Ensign Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2015
    Location:
    Algarve
    Just finished reading this and thought it was great. One of the best Trek novels I've ever read.

    Thanks Una!
     
  18. Kilana2

    Kilana2 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2015
    Location:
    Kilana2
    Sorry, I had to vote avarage. It's hard to reach the level of Neverending Sacrifice. The first part of the book was dragging on, the second part was definitely better. Not Una's best, but no big disappointment either.
     
  19. Alwaystrekkin

    Alwaystrekkin Lieutenant Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Location:
    Somewhere on Earth
    I voted above-average because IMO the story really did take readers right into Cardassian society, and the original characters were pretty interesting, but not Outstanding since for me the book itself didn't end up being that meaningful for my Trek psyche. Still is something I'm glad to have read; it had original aspects to it that made the experience worthwhile.
     
  20. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    I finished up TCS last night and I loved it.
    I'm a huge fan of Una McCormack and her development of the Cardassians and this was a great addition to that arc. It did a great job of tying the Cardassian arc into the Fall's story.
    Mhevet's storyline was one of the highlights of the books, it's always nice to see a different perspective on things.
    The book gave me something great that we never were able to get onscreen, scenes with Picard and Garak.
    Defintiely an Outstanding rating, and a huge improvement over the first book.
     
    Sto-Vo-Kory and Jinn like this.