TP: Paths Of Disharmony by Dayton Ward Review Thread (Spoilers free)

[shanejayell]

Got it this weekend, just finished.

I'd rate it above average, and of the Pact books it's tied for #1, IMHO. This and Rough Beasts of empire were my faves, with Zero Sum Game #2 and Seize the Fire a distant third.

[Enterpriserules]

This was the best book of the series for me. I felt all of the characters were completely well-written and in character (which was not the case with RBOTE). This was an awesome book from start to finish. I really liked the way it delved into Andorians and shed light on the Tholians and what they have been up too. This book makes me want to read more (again not something RBOTE did). So I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see the Enterprise in action in the next book.

[DarKush]

Forgive me for reviving this thread, but I just finished Paths. It was a difficult book for me, slow going, and it only really got interesting about 300 pages in. For a long while I wondered why this book was in the Typhon Pact series instead of books focusing on the TP members who already hadn't gotten books.

But the TP does play a role in events down the stretch and ultimately had perhaps the biggest impact that the TP has had thus far in any of the books; still haven't read Seize the Fire.

I especially liked that Geordi's romantic life finally improved, though at times I felt he was marginalized as an engineer and a senior officer; playing back up to new characters or getting snapped at by Choudhury. That was my major quibble with the characterizations in the book; the rest were fine enough. I also like that the story picked up on the threads from the DS9 books on Shar and Andor, though it also had me wondering why the TNG books are the best place for this. Outside of Doctor Crusher's expertise, this mission could've been handled by Aventine, or more of a DS9-flavored cast.

Overall, I think the ending saved this book for me. For long periods it felt aimless. I don't know, but maybe it's something about Dayton Ward's writing that doesn't do it for me. It took me a long time to finish the first of his Vanguard books, and that experience has cooled me on the books (even though I've bought most of them and hopefully will read them in the near future), and with Paths, I similarly struggled.

My TP rankings thus far:

Zero Sum Game (winner almost by default)
Paths of Disharmony
Rough Beasts of Empire

After reading the some of the reviews about Seize the Fire, I am reluctant to pick that one up again.

[Therin of Andor]

DarKush wrote:

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For a long while I wondered why this book was in the Typhon Pact series instead of books focusing on the TP members who already hadn't gotten books.

You know, if Dayton had focused on the Aventine and the Tholians, people woulda been complaining that it was about time we heard what Picard, Bev, little Rene, Geordi and Worf were up to.

[DarKush]

^
Well, we got some of that in Losing the Peace. Perhaps the Enterprise, with Worf and his ties to Martok/Klingons, etc. (Picard too), would've worked better in a Kinshaya-focused novel. I believe that Christopher's e-book is about the Kinshaya and featuring the TNG cast. I think that would've been a better fit.

With Shar being part of the DS9 relaunch and the DS9 books setting the groundwork for what happened in Paths, it just felt more natural to me to have those characters fit. It wasn't like Picard bought all that much diplomatic skill to the events in Path and perhaps bringing Bashir back onboard Aventine was a good enough substitute for Beverly.

Of course that would've screwed up Zero Sum Game, or had some complaining that the Aventine was getting too much exposure, so I guess you can't win for losing.

[Christopher]

DarKush wrote:

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^
Well, we got some of that in Losing the Peace. Perhaps the Enterprise, with Worf and his ties to Martok/Klingons, etc. (Picard too), would've worked better in a Kinshaya-focused novel. I believe that Christopher's e-book is about the Kinshaya and featuring the TNG cast. I think that would've been a better fit.

Worf is not involved with the Kinshaya plotline in The Struggle Within. We've already seen the Kinshaya from the Klingon POV in A Singular Destiny; I wanted to explore their culture from the inside this time.

[DarKush]

^
Thanks for the clarification. It wasn't my intention to imply that your work would be focused on Worf or the Klingons per se. I just felt that with the long running Klingon-Kinshaya conflict, it felt more like it belonged in the TNG field than the Andor plot.

[JD]

^ I still wish we could have gotten a new Klingon Empire novel for the TP Kinshaya story.

[Paris]

JD wrote:

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^ I still wish we could have gotten a new Klingon Empire novel for the TP Kinshaya story.

Agreed. I think Christopher will knock it out of the park, but a Klingon POV Typhon Pact book by KRAD featuring the Kinshaya would have been most welcome

[MatthiasRussell]

I'm rereading this one after having thoroughly discussed it and I have to admit to understanding DRG III's approach much better and seeing Sisko's perspective. The man needed direction and a place to serve.

[Paris]

MatthiasRussell wrote:

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I'm rereading this one after having thoroughly discussed it and I have to admit to understanding DRG III's approach much better and seeing Sisko's perspective. The man needed direction and a place to serve.

I think you may have posted this in the wrong thread. This thread is about Dayton's Paths of Disharmony...

[MatthiasRussell]

Oops. Keep getting books 3 and 4 mixed up. Well, I just finished rereading the Ward book and similarly liked it better the second time around.

[Jedi_Master]

MatthiasRussell wrote:

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Oops. Keep getting books 3 and 4 mixed up. Well, I just finished rereading the Ward book and similarly liked it better the second time around.

Cool. Glad you came around.