TNG: Silent Weapons by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Eat-Da-Tribble]

Markonian wrote:

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I can see Worf becoming captain and Geordi first officer (shiny red turtleneck). The only problem would be, if Data returned to Starfleet, he could just fill the role of second officer again - no real progress in his career except a new gold pin.

I don't believe Goerdi becomes first officer. A first officer must stay in the brige. If Geordi is promoted, who will be responsible for engineering? Nor do I see Data as first officer. He is condemned to be second officer until the big crunch.

Also, I think if Worf is promoted to captain, he will use his position to avenge certain affronts:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpjWsfkxd_c

Markonian wrote:

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BTW, where is Lal's corpse at the moment? Aboard the Achaeus?

Lal's corpse is in Starfleet headquartes.

[Deranged Nasat]

Thrawn wrote:

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Do you think he could go straight from Destiny to Cold Equations, as someone that doesn't care very much about continuity as long as he can recognize most of the characters, and not be lost?

I'd say he almost certainly could. If he read and enjoyed Destiny without having read the Titan books or Greater Than the Sum, etc, then reading Cold Equations without having read Immortal Coil or (for the second book) the Typhon Pact stories shouldn't be an issue. Most of the focus is on characters he'll know from TV or else met in Destiny anyway.

If he knows Data and the backstory with Data's family, then everything should be more than fine. For the second book, the Typhon Pact might need explaining, but that will take about 30 seconds, I'm sure.

[Eat-Da-Tribble]

MatthiasRussell wrote:

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Spot was mentioned at the beginning of book 1 but no mention since. Isn’t Data interested in his cat and perhaps like to see her again? I hope book 3 with have a Data/Spot reunion because I would like to see how she interacts with new Data.

I wonder about that too. What will happen with Spot? What will she do?

[Deranged Nasat]

Eat-Da-Tribble wrote:

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I wonder about that too. What will happen with Spot? What will she do?

The fact that she's getting old was important to her scene in the first book; perhaps Data thinks it's best if she spends her old age in familiar surroundings rather than being dragged around the galaxy in a strange ship?

[Starbreaker]

Elias Vaughn wrote:

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As an atheist, I am offended by both the eulogy and the preceding conversation.

You're offended by religion? You're on the wrong plane of existence.

[Paper Moon]

Thrawn wrote:

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I haven't read these yet (swamped at work); just a quick question. I bought the Destiny trilogy for my dad last year for Christmas - he decided to give TrekLit a chance, for the first time, and he LOVED it.

Do you think he could go straight from Destiny to Cold Equations, as someone that doesn't care very much about continuity as long as he can recognize most of the characters, and not be lost? Is it as good? (I ask now because the third won't be out until after Christmas anyway.)

Thanks.

Deranged Nasat wrote:

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I'd say he almost certainly could. If he read and enjoyed Destiny without having read the Titan books or Greater Than the Sum, etc, then reading Cold Equations without having read Immortal Coil or (for the second book) the Typhon Pact stories shouldn't be an issue. Most of the focus is on characters he'll know from TV or else met in Destiny anyway.

If he knows Data and the backstory with Data's family, then everything should be more than fine. For the second book, the Typhon Pact might need explaining, but that will take about 30 seconds, I'm sure.

Yeah, I agree with Deranged Nasat, he should be fine.

Two things I would add, though:

1) If he enjoys reading good TrekLit, you could always give him the Immortal Coil along with the trilogy and present it as a trilogy plus bonus. Another reason to consider throwing in IC is because it looks like book 3 will follow up on a couple of major points from it.

2) Also, if you wanted to present a sort of "Typhon Pact"-lite package, you could give him PoN and RtD by themselves. The former summarizes and integrates the other TP novels into the larger narrative very well, and might make some things in Cold Equations more impactful.

Obviously, those ^^ are optional add-ons, as it were, to the overall package. I guess I would advise you to get a copy of Immortal Coil, in case he decides he wants to go back and read that too (which he very well might after having read the first two). In the States, you can get a used copy of it relatively inexpensively, so it might be a thoughtful thing to do.

In terms of "Is Cold Equations as good as Destiny?" my first response would be yes. I think it depends on what he liked about Destiny, so I guess knowing that would permit me a better response.

Related to that, I have gone on record, as it were, here at the BBS saying that I felt that RtD was stronger than Destiny. That's just my opinion, of course, and I am in the minority. But if he is a DS9 fan at all, then I strongly recommend DRGII's duology.

[MatthiasRussell]

Deranged Nasat wrote:

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The fact that she's getting old was important to her scene in the first book; perhaps Data thinks it's best if she spends her old age in familiar surroundings rather than being dragged around the galaxy in a strange ship?

That scene is why I expected there to be a scene where Data is reunited with Spot or a scene where the cat dies. I thought the whole point of that scene was to prequel a scene later on featuring Data, otherwise what was the point of mentioning Spot at all? Data used to care a lot about that cat; you'd think he would want to at least know what happens with her.

[rfmcdpei]

Deranged Nasat wrote:

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There were some very memorable scenes in that final third of the book - Data defending Bacco and Sozzerosz, Esperanza's funeral (it really did justice to the character's death, and I'm glad she was seen as meriting the attention) and Crusher + Picard's last scene, which leads me to wonder if the trilogy will indeed end with the two (well, three) of them moving on.

In the context of Crusher and Picard, I wonder if it's at all significant that Wesley Crusher is going to be a major character in the third book of the series.

[BillJ]

Starbreaker wrote:

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You're offended by religion? You're on the wrong plane of existence.

I honestly don't understand the issue here. Not a religious person, at all, and I thought the funeral was well done.

[Thrawn]

Paper Moon wrote:

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Yeah, I agree with Deranged Nasat, he should be fine.

Two things I would add, though:

1) If he enjoys reading good TrekLit, you could always give him the Immortal Coil along with the trilogy and present it as a trilogy plus bonus. Another reason to consider throwing in IC is because it looks like book 3 will follow up on a couple of major points from it.

2) Also, if you wanted to present a sort of "Typhon Pact"-lite package, you could give him PoN and RtD by themselves. The former summarizes and integrates the other TP novels into the larger narrative very well, and might make some things in Cold Equations more impactful.

Obviously, those ^^ are optional add-ons, as it were, to the overall package. I guess I would advise you to get a copy of Immortal Coil, in case he decides he wants to go back and read that too (which he very well might after having read the first two). In the States, you can get a used copy of it relatively inexpensively, so it might be a thoughtful thing to do.

In terms of "Is Cold Equations as good as Destiny?" my first response would be yes. I think it depends on what he liked about Destiny, so I guess knowing that would permit me a better response.

Related to that, I have gone on record, as it were, here at the BBS saying that I felt that RtD was stronger than Destiny. That's just my opinion, of course, and I am in the minority. But if he is a DS9 fan at all, then I strongly recommend DRGII's duology.

He's totally not a Niner at all; he was very confused just by me trying to explain Ezri to him in the last one. I think those books would be too continuity-heavy. (I also thought RtD was absolutely outstanding, so I'm with you on that part!)

Thanks for the help, people

[Paper Moon]

Thrawn wrote:

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He's totally not a Niner at all; he was very confused just by me trying to explain Ezri to him in the last one. I think those books would be too continuity-heavy. (I also thought RtD was absolutely outstanding, so I'm with you on that part!)

Thanks for the help, people

Ha, yeah, if he's not a Niner, than PoN/RtD won't do that much for him!

(Fwiw, I saw the continuity aspects of those books as a bonus when I recommended them; first and foremost, I think the stories are great, and if he liked Destiny, then I figured he would also like the wide-sweeping narrative of DRGIII's books. But yes, if he's not a Niner, probably not worth the time to him.)

Let us know what he thinks of whatever you end up giving him!

[Enterpriserules]

My full review will be out soon on Trek.fm but:

I loved the issues that Picard and Crusher are having. They are real issues that people face as you marry one person and as the years go by they change and become almost another person and you learn to love all over again. Crusher dealing with the seeming hypocrisy of Picard must bring up anger in her because of Jack. This is great character writing! Well done Mack for reminding us that these people are human.

I really like that Picard is changing, that he is embracing what it means to have a family with open arms. The fact that these characters are not static is leaving me ecstatic! The same with Geordi finally getting the spotlight, he's the second officer of the flagship, this man is no dummy; glad to see David shine a light on the engineer.

I have no problem with the Unitarian church being used. I am a Christian who believes in the Trinity, but having it here was nice. It was great to see that well respected characters have faith and it is not looked down on.

[rahullak]

Tantalizing isn't it? Are we going to see Treklit go the Countdown way? Or not? Or something in-between?

I would've preferred if there were more ambivalence in Crusher's thoughts regarding Picard's actions. After all he saved her, so even if Picard was putting family first there should be something that should make her feel glad about it.

I kept half-expecting the plot to be grander viz. that the Breen were manipulating Starfleet and making them believe that they were being manipulated for some other sinister purpose, but that would have been just too incredible.

Overall I found the pacing to be excellent and the character moments poignant. Above Average.

[wizkid]

Loved the book! Just finished it.

Crusher aggravated me a bit, but just a little bit.

I like the story, I like where it is going, I like Data being back. I loved the book!

I really like having these books with two distinct story lines. Data and the TNG crew on the Enterprise. I like when those story lines intersect but I can handle running them independently for a few books in a row.

I bet the third books kills it!!!

Great job David Mack!

A few questions about content
Doctor Harstad - What book was she introduced in?

Known close parallel universe - What book can I find out more about this universe?

Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence - I assume these are the people that tried to recruit Noonian in Book One. Have they been mentioned in prior books?


Thanks!

[Deranged Nasat]

wizkid wrote:

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Known close parallel universe - What book can I find out more about this universe?

It's actually the familiar Mirror Universe - the novel Rise Like Lions, which concluded the MU arc, introduced the wormhole-travelling ships.

wizkid wrote:

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Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence - I assume these are the people that tried to recruit Noonian in Book One. Have they been mentioned in prior books?

Immortal Coil was their first appearance, The Persistance of Memory being their second.

EDIT: Oh, and Harstad was introduced in Paths of Disharmony, I think. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.