TOS: Savage Trade by Tony Daniel Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Scout101]

Not bad, but a little hairy in spots. Started a little hard, too many explanations of things that were too easy. Almost like it was our first TOS exposure. Once that calmed down, was better.

Little jarring that when Nelson has his moment, Kirk forgets that he had a crewman onboard. Literally no mention of him again.

Not bad, just felt like the characters were a little off. Would have preferred to drop he demiurge thing and focus more on the dead civilization they had already set up. Them and the Pirates went nowhere

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Not bad, but a little hairy in spots. Started a little hard, too many explanations of things that were too easy. Almost like it was our first TOS exposure. Once that calmed down, was better.

Yeah, the first thirty pages or so come off like a very low quality Starfleet Academy book from the '90s. Something more aimed at younger readers than an adult tie-in novel. Like you wrote, it did gradually improve.

Little jarring that when Nelson has his moment, Kirk forgets that he had a crewman onboard. Literally no mention of him again.

Sulu and Chekov go missing after a scouting mission for FIVE weeks and Kirk doesn't bother to search for them because scanning inside the nebula would be "too hard" and, hey, they can take care of themselves.

Why on Earth would he believe that they were fine or not captured or possibly killed? Were his conversations with faux-Washington that important to justify neglecting his crew?

Not bad, just felt like the characters were a little off. Would have preferred to drop he demiurge thing and focus more on the dead civilization they had already set up. Them and the Pirates went nowhere

This novel is filled with a lot of set-up and little pay-off.

The pirate/slavers.
The ancient civilization/slavers(?).
The Demiurge that is introduced in the final few chapters.
The crewman you brought up (that the author even made a point of addressing his presence on the NE ship in a scene).

The three week timeframe for the assault that Chekov and Sulu were desperately racing home to advert...until they weren't anymore. But that's okay because -- even though their trip took FIVE weeks -- their return was swift enough for Kirk to launch a pre-emptive strike before any sign of the pirate/slavers.

Another draft of this novel with a bit more polishing and tightening of the plot and the book would have been a much stronger work. But, as is, it's an fairly un-satisfying read.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I'm afraid I really didn't care for this one. I think it's definitely one of the weakest Trek books in a long while. Devil's Bargain was better; I enjoyed that one, for all that I thought it "below average". Some of the earlier posters seem to have enjoyed this one, so I'm glad it does the job for some readers. Sadly, I have to say I'm not among them.

While I appreciate the effort to craft something interesting out of the Excalbians and the general idiocy in which they wallow, it just didn't work for me. I'm afraid that a finely crafted sculpture made out of crap is still, inescapably, a pile of crap. It was just hard to take the Excalbians seriously, and so the author had that working against him from the very start. There were also too many oddities and ideas that felt out of place (not least some 22nd Century slaving empire infamous along part of the Federation border). There were interesting ideas in here - the all-too-brief description of Excalbians in their natural state was fascinating, and I was annoyed that we spent the rest of the time with Washington and Nelson - but it felt disjointed and...odd.

 

[vegaslover62]

I don't think anything in TOS or TAS ever suggested that Sulu had a fascination with samurai culture.

Well, regardless if it was canonically established or not, it was still really out of place to go into its detail in the middle of the first battle with the pirates.

 

[Ronald Held]

I perceive a lot of physical and psychological seduction going on, which seems strange.
Still no idea of how it all hangs together.

 

[Guest12]

I rarely get TOS novels nowadays; I mostly stick to 24th century stories. But when the synopsis of this one was released a year or so ago, I immediately knew I'd want to read it. And unlike the upcoming "Crisis of Consciousness," this one didn't sound like its plot had been done a million times (i.e. the Enterprise must mediate between two species at war!).

I thought it probably would be a follow up to "Savage Curtain" because of its title and because Tony Daniel's last TOS novel was a follow-up (as far as I understand, though I didn't read it). And I'm usually pretty suspicious of follow-ups on episodes - I think they have to be done very, very rarely.

All that said, I'm disappointed and kinda feel like this novel only makes my inclination to avoid TOS novels even stronger (not that I don't like TOS itself as much as or more than any other series).

First, I agree with everyone else -- FIVE WEEKS? Really? You don't go looking or even send another shuttle to look for Sulu/Chekov for FIVE WEEKS? Definitely out of character for Kirk and just unbelievable.

Second, I get that the plot may have had reasons for a lot of time to pass but the whole story lasted, what, seven-eight weeks? I know we have to accept that all the TOS stories can't logistically fit into a 5YM but c'mon that means almost 1/6 of your final year of the 5YM was spent on this? I realize that's nitpicking, but it also seems kinda greedy.

Third, why introduce the L'rah'hane and the Hratians (is that right?) if (womp-womp) your final climax is going to be a battle with something you introduce in the last thirty-five pages? What were they even there for?

Fourth, I might have been able to believe that Kirk was a particularly ardent fan of George Washington (why not?) but does everyone in the 23rd century just know every random detail about these heavily Euro-American historical figures from four, five hundred years ago? I mean this is the same crew that didn't recognize Khan Noonien Singh -- a man slightly closer to their time period and who ruled a vast majority of the world at one point! But, by god, they can go on and on about Nelson and Washington and Franklin (even Spock?).

I still have no idea: What were the Excalbians trying to accomplish? I don't know.

I will say I liked the Vulcan diplomat -- but the story regarding her past relationship with Spock just seemed like another random subplot that went nowhere. And the last conversation she had where she basically spilled the details of her and Spock's falling out before pretty much everyone in the book left me imagining everyone around that conference table glancing at each other mouthing "Awkward."

I also got the impression the author didn't really know the distinction between Sulu and Chekov's jobs. I think they kept exchanging responsibilities for flying the ship and navigating when both were established as on the bridge.

Not terrible -- just a lot of stuff going on that went nowhere until it took a weird, unexplained left turn.

 

[Christopher]

^Well, to be fair, they had heard of Khan, they just didn't recognize him on sight. If I saw George Washington walking around somewhere in the present day, without his powdered wig or period clothing, I don't know if I'd recognize him.

 

[Corran Horn]

^Well, to be fair, they had heard of Khan, they just didn't recognize him on sight. If I saw George Washington walking around somewhere in the present day, without his powdered wig or period clothing, I don't know if I'd recognize him.

Are there any accurate visual records of Washington? In Khan's time there would've been plenty. Would you say the same of Lincoln?

 

[Christopher]

^Well, to be fair, they had heard of Khan, they just didn't recognize him on sight. If I saw George Washington walking around somewhere in the present day, without his powdered wig or period clothing, I don't know if I'd recognize him.

Are there any accurate visual records of Washington? In Khan's time there would've been plenty.

Not everyone has a photographic memory. And context matters. Would you really recognize Washington if you saw him without a wig and in modern clothes? You might think he looked familiar, but without the context, you might not be able to place the face.

Would you say the same of Lincoln?

Excalbian Lincoln was drawn from Kirk's personal memories and mental images of the man, so of course Kirk recognized him on sight. So that's not really a good comparison with Khan. Lincoln looked the way Kirk expected, right down to the stovepipe hat and the Lincoln Memorial throne. He appeared as an out-and-out caricature. Khan was someone they found in a flimsy jumpsuit inside a cryotube, without the turban we saw in Marla's painting or the uniform of his office, and without the historical trappings that images of Khan would be associated with.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I'm afraid I really didn't care for this one. I think it's definitely one of the weakest Trek books in a long while. Devil's Bargain was better; I enjoyed that one, for all that I thought it "below average". Some of the earlier posters seem to have enjoyed this one, so I'm glad it does the job for some readers. Sadly, I have to say I'm not among them.

While I appreciate the effort to craft something interesting out of the Excalbians and the general idiocy in which they wallow, it just didn't work for me. I'm afraid that a finely crafted sculpture made out of crap is still, inescapably, a pile of crap. It was just hard to take the Excalbians seriously, and so the author had that working against him from the very start. There were also too many oddities and ideas that felt out of place (not least some 22nd Century slaving empire infamous along part of the Federation border). There were interesting ideas in here - the all-too-brief description of Excalbians in their natural state was fascinating, and I was annoyed that we spent the rest of the time with Washington and Nelson - but it felt disjointed and...odd.

 

[vegaslover62]

Another example of Tony Daniel worshiping the characters:

"Uhura expertly cut the connection."

Really? How does one hang up the phone "expertly"? Does Uhura look at junior officers cutting connections, roll her eyes and say, "Amateur"?

I have proofread so many stories over the years where the authors put the characters on pedestals like this, it's almost funny.

 

[Markonian]

Have we seen that concept of Vulcan twins before or was it debuted here?

 

[C.E. Evans]

Not bad, but a little hairy in spots. Started a little hard, too many explanations of things that were too easy. Almost like it was our first TOS exposure.

That was the sense that I got initially, that this was almost written as a "jumping on" point for folks fairly new to TOS or not that well-versed in it. I don't think it's a bad idea for Trek books to occasionally do that.

 

[Ronald Held]

Just got to Sulu snd Chekov returning 5 weeks late. Kirk's reaction besides the usable Intel is just not characteristic of him.

 

[Kertrats47]

Just posted my review. Not bad, enjoyable, but with a few issues.

 

[Enterpriserules]

I really like that everyone in the cast has a place to shine. McCoy even gets some much needed love.

 

[DaveGalanter]

I rarely get TOS novels nowadays; I mostly stick to 24th century stories. But when the synopsis of this one was released a year or so ago, I immediately knew I'd want to read it. And unlike the upcoming "Crisis of Consciousness," this one didn't sound like its plot had been done a million times (i.e. the Enterprise must mediate between two species at war!).

Everything has pretty much been done, but if "Crisis of Consciousness" were just about that, it probably wouldn't have been published. Crisis of Consciousness is about how one forgets a troubled and painful past. Some people deal with it better than others. And, it's also about how Spock must come to grips with some of his own choices. It's almost as much a Spock novel as "Troublesome Minds" was. I wouldn't judge a book by it's cover blurb.

 

[Enterpriserules]

Tony and I were able to discuss the book in the latest Literary Treks.

 

[JoeZhang]

I couldn't make it to the end - I got about half-way and gave up - too many books, too little time. The plot just doesn't seem to go anywhere.

 

[Enterpriserules]

It comes together in the end.