More new blurbs - STO and Unspoken Truth

[DarkHorizon]

Once more, my checking of S&S' website has yielded new information - blurbs for The Needs of the Many and Unspoken Truth.

For The Needs of the Many:

Prior to the terror-filled times of the Long War—the seemingly endless struggle against the Undine, a paranoid, shape-shifting race once known only as Species 8472—enemy sleeper agents quietly penetrated every echelon of Federation society, as well as other starfaring civilizations throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants. The ensuing conflict shook humanity to its very core, often placing its highest ideals against a pure survival instinct. All too frequently, the Undine War demanded the harshest of sacrifices and exacted the steepest of personal costs from the countless millions whose lives the great interdimensional clash forever altered.

Drawn from his exhaustive research and interviews, The Needs of the Many delivers a glimpse of Betar Prize–winning author Jake Sisko’s comprehensive "living history" of this tumultuous era. With collaborator Michael A. Martin, Sisko illuminates an often-poorly-understood time, an age marked indelibly by both fear and courage—not to mention the willingness of multitudes of unsung heroes who became the living embodiment of the ancient Vulcan philosopher Surak’s famous axiom, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

This sounds even more exciting than I thought it would be - this looks like it's essentially a Trek history book, along the lines of the works of Antony Beevor and Niall Ferguson.

And, Unspoken Truth:

A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbed—by those who dared to cling to life—Hellguard.

One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them.

Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek.

Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.

Also intriguing.

[Therin of Andor]

DarkHorizon wrote:

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the Undine, a paranoid, shape-shifting race once known only as Species 8472

Cool!

[EJA]

Interesting stuff!

[Paris]

I was already going to get both books, but those blurbs make them sound even better. Especially the Unspoken Truth. That sounds fantastic !

[BrotherBenny]

Great stuff, I can't wait.

[Deranged Nasat]

"Unspoken Truth" sounds great; I look forward to it.

As for the STO book. Hmmm, I'll buy it because I trust Martin and because, hey, it's Trek. I'm not enthusiastic about great wars against Species 8472, although since this is in a continuity dedicated to a war game it makes perfect sense, of course. Still, I'm wary. How many planets vapourized in this one? I wonder to what extent the book's description of fluidic space and Groundskeeper (okay, Undine) culture will match that in Places of Exile/Unworthy? Still, I'll pick it up; it looks like it'll be quite unique and, as I say, I trust Martin to write a good novel.

[Paris]

^I thought Jake Sisko was writing it ...

[Reanok]

The new StarTrek Magazine has a book ecxerpt from the Needs of the Many with Jake Sisko interviewing Annika Hansen .I'm definitely planning on getting this book.And the synopsis for the Saavik novel is very intriguing.I plan on getting both of these books next month.

[Christopher]

Deranged Nasat wrote:

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I wonder to what extent the book's description of fluidic space and Groundskeeper (okay, Undine) culture will match that in Places of Exile/Unworthy?

Probably not at all. STO is doing is own thing, and this book is based on the game's continuity and needs.

I don't think the Groundskeepers/8472 as I depicted them in Places of Exile would be willing to engage in a war of the duration implied in that blurb, since the longer they continued to interact with our universe, the more it magnified their problems back home. They'd want to make it quick and devastating if they tried it at all -- and in the wake of PoE's finale, I don't think they'd see any need to. So this is probably based on a completely different set of assumptions about 8472. Which is, of course, their prerogative.

[Deranged Nasat]

Christopher wrote:

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Probably not at all. STO is doing is own thing, and this book is based on the game's continuity and needs.

I don't think the Groundskeepers/8472 as I depicted them in Places of Exile would be willing to engage in a war of the duration implied in that blurb, since the longer they continued to interact with our universe, the more it magnified their problems back home. They'd want to make it quick and devastating if they tried it at all -- and in the wake of PoE's finale, I don't think they'd see any need to. So this is probably based on a completely different set of assumptions about 8472. Which is, of course, their prerogative.

Thanks. I sort of expected as much. I suppose it will be interesting to compare their interpretation of the 8472s with yours, assuming they're described in any detail.

[JD]

Wow, both of these sound awsome. Of the two I'm more interested in Unspoken Truth since I'm a big Saavik fan. I just wish I could get my hands on The Pandora Principle first. I understand that it's not going to be a requirement to read 18 years ago, but I still would love to be able to get the extra background.

Does the whole Romulan soldier concept come from TPP or is that something new that MWB came up with?

[Christopher]

Not sure which part of the blurb you're referring to when you say "Romulan soldier concept." The basic Saavik backstory of Hellguard and the Romulan-Vulcan hybrid children was created by Vonda N. McIntyre in her novelizations of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock and elaborated on by Carolyn Clowes in The Pandora Principle (although other authors in novels and comics have done their own distinct variations on the premise, all building on McIntyre). I'm fairly certain that the Romulan claiming to be Saavik's father is original to Unspoken Truth.

[JD]

I meant their attempts to "breed the best, brightest, most loyal sodiers". I started to say super-soldiers, but then I wasn't sure if that was appropriate.

[Thrawn]

Did we already know that a war with 8472 was a part of the Path To 2409 or whatever? That seems kind of out of left field, but I'd be willing to believe I wasn't paying attention.

[Christopher]

JD wrote:

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I meant their attempts to "breed the best, brightest, most loyal sodiers". I started to say super-soldiers, but then I wasn't sure if that was appropriate.

I think that's new to this book.

Thrawn wrote:

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Did we already know that a war with 8472 was a part of the Path To 2409 or whatever? That seems kind of out of left field, but I'd be willing to believe I wasn't paying attention.

The "Path" material doesn't seem to have gone farther than 2392 yet, at least as far as Memory Beta reports. But there are hints of possible Species 8472 incursions near Federation space in the 2390 and 2391 entries.