This passage hurt my brain a little

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I'll tell you one thing I've noticed about 'The Romulan Prize'. Every chapter seems to start with a strange recap of the character written from the perspective of smoeone who hasn't seen the show. So Chapter One had several pages about who Ensign Ro was and how she ended up on the Enterprise, and now Chapter Three has gone on for several pages about how Data established his status as a sentient being, even though it doesn't seem to have any immediate bearing on events to hand.

That's the kind of thing that ought to be handled (if at all) in a optional-to-read note at the front of the book.

I know of what I speak; there's this pocket novel Victorian mystery series, "Mrs. Jeffries mysteries" that keeps on giving the backstories of the main characters in slightly different ways but saying essentially the same thing, in the body of the novel's text. I suppose it's helpful if you're learning the details for the first time, but I've read the entire series up to the latest one, several one after another, and found it annoying.

 

[Idran]

That's the kind of thing that ought to be handled (if at all) in a optional-to-read note at the front of the book.

Like a Marvel-style recap page but in prose form?

I could get behind that, that's a neat idea. "Historian's Note" does that for continuing series sometimes in terms of "last time on"s, but something that included character information would be neat too.

 

[WebLurker]

That's so funny, I was just thinking that yesterday (because I'd been reading about the new RPG and thinking about what would make a good session).

What new RPG?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Like a Marvel-style recap page but in prose form?

I could get behind that, that's a neat idea. "Historian's Note" does that for continuing series sometimes in terms of "last time on"s, but something that included character information would be neat too.

I wouldn't know about that, having never seen one of those recaps.

Example:

Captain So and So - Human, the Captain of the Starship Name. Has held the job for three years. Good sense of humor. Prefers a tall glass of milk to anything alcoholic.

First Officer What's her name - Bajoran, newly assigned. Lived on a distant forgotten colony and thus never went through the Cardassian occupation. Is learning about her heritage one day at a time. Prefers word games and brain teasers to sports.

etc

 

[Idran]

What new RPG?

This one!

I wouldn't know about that, having never seen one of those recaps.

Example:

Captain So and So - Human, the Captain of the Starship Name. Has held the job for three years. Good sense of humor. Prefers a tall glass of milk to anything alcoholic.

First Officer What's her name - Bajoran, newly assigned. Lived on a distant forgotten colony and thus never went through the Cardassian occupation. Is learning about her heritage one day at a time. Prefers word games and brain teasers to sports.

etc

Yep, that's pretty much what I meant. I'm trying to find a good example of one that includes the character bits, but not having any luck; it's basically that, though usually not that much detail.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Just enough to flesh out what you need to know in any given story.

 

[TalonCard]

I'm incredibly amused that this oddity appeared on page 47 of the book...

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

42 (H2G2) or 69105 (Infocom) would have been even funnier.

 

[Christopher]

42 (H2G2) or 69105 (Infocom) would have been even funnier.

Why funnier? 47 is the number that's specifically associated with Star Trek.

 

[JD]

Like a Marvel-style recap page but in prose form?

I could get behind that, that's a neat idea. "Historian's Note" does that for continuing series sometimes in terms of "last time on"s, but something that included character information would be neat too.

I don't really need the character information, but I been wishing the ongoing relaunch series would do recap pages at the beginning for while now. Sometimes I go years between each book and I don't always remember where things left off. I know the books are usually pretty good about giving the information you need, but I still wouldn't mind a more detailed page or two long recap at the beginnings of the books.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Why funnier? 47 is the number that's specifically associated with Star Trek.

Yes, but I find mixed metaphors inherently funny.

 

[WebLurker]

This one.

Interesting. I'll have to keep an ear out for that.

On the other hand, I don't like D20 stuff and have a great deal of brand loyalty to the LUG Star Trek RPG system. But, it being prime universe is always a good thing, and I could see why it's nice to have it consistent with the full canon, rather than having to rewrite the background material. (As much as I love LUG, I sometimes find it less than fun trying to reconcile the old background notes with ENT and TAS.)

 

[Destructor]

I'm incredibly amused that this oddity appeared on page 47 of the book...

Ha ha, I didn't even notice, and that is exactly the sort of thing I always notice!

 

[Destructor]

I don't really need the character information, but I been wishing the ongoing relaunch series would do recap pages at the beginning for while now.

I frequently have Memory Beta open besides me when I read the relaunch novels! They should just go ahead and hyperlink the character names in the ebook versions!

 

[JoeZhang]

Like a Marvel-style recap page but in prose form?

I could get behind that, that's a neat idea. "Historian's Note" does that for continuing series sometimes in terms of "last time on"s, but something that included character information would be neat too.

What's odd about the current legacy trilogy - is that at the end of the first book they try and get you to buy the second by providing some content from the second book. Which is virtually all the character remembering... the events of the book you just read.

As a marketing device it's not great...

 

[historypeats]

That's a hell of a pickup from one page, Christopher!
Yes, after being a dedicated relaunch reader for quite some time, I picked up three old 'set within the series' TNG novels for 50c each at the 2nd hand bookstore and am quite enjoying some 'old school' TrekLit for a change.
The other two I picked up were 'Here There Be Dragons' and 'Requiem'- anyone know if these two are worth reading? They all have >3 stars on Goodreads.

Tangent from earlier in the thread: It's been years since I've read any of the three, but I remember Here There Be Dragons as a surprisingly fun one. Requiem and The Romulan Prize were disappointingly run-of-the-mill.

TRP was the only Trek book my school library stocked; I never checked it out, but was a total sucker for starships as a kid and always liked the cover. I was bummed to find that the writing within wasn't nearly as exciting when I finally cracked it open in college!

 

[retroenzo]

I watched The Outrageous Okona the other night and they did go to a conference room that was deeper into the saucer when Okona met with the captains of the two freighters. A similar instance is of Picard meeting the frozen humans from the derelict satellite in The Neutral Zone.

Maybe they, like we would, use different names for the same thing (conference room, briefing room, meeting room, etc), and maybe they use it when Deck 1 isn't an option (eg for visitors who aren't permitted access to the bridge).

 

[Christopher]

I watched The Outrageous Okona the other night and they did go to a conference room that was deeper into the saucer when Okona met with the captains of the two freighters.

From the way it's furnished (no conference table, just a couple of couches and coffee-table things), I'd say that was meant to be more of a lounge than a conference room. The script doesn't clarify, since that scene was written to take place on the bridge over the viewscreen (no doubt changed to save on opticals, although they did have to add a transporter shot).

A similar instance is of Picard meeting the frozen humans from the derelict satellite in The Neutral Zone.

That was actually a "guest lounge," according to the script. It was the same set where the defrostees spent most of the episode.

It's worth keeping in mind that in the first couple of seasons of TNG, the goal was to de-emphasize the military side of Starfleet as much as possible and portray the ship as a cross between a research vessel and a cruise liner. So the set design tended more toward comfort and luxury than ultilitarianism -- hence lounges rather than briefing rooms. Even the main "conference room" set was officially called the Observation Lounge.

 

[retroenzo]

From the way it's furnished (no conference table, just a couple of couches and coffee-table things), I'd say that was meant to be more of a lounge than a conference room. The script doesn't clarify, since that scene was written to take place on the bridge over the viewscreen (no doubt changed to save on opticals, although they did have to add a transporter shot).

That's the thing though. I'm pretty sure they called it a conference room. As this thread was fresh in my mind on Sunday night when I watched it, I thought I'd post it when I was next here (I forgot to post it yesterday).

Yes I admit it doesn't feel like a conference room when they get there. As it's all soft furnishings and couches. I'll take another look at the scene in question when I have a few minutes.

 

[Christopher]

That's the thing though. I'm pretty sure they called it a conference room.

Hmm, according to the transcript, yes, they did. The whole sequence was heavily rewritten from the script draft that's available online. (They even put in a line of Picard saying how distracting it was to have the conversation over the viewscreen, which sounds like the rewriter's commentary on the draft version.) Ironically, I went for the script instead of the transcript because I wanted to see what the set was called (since the scripts always list the sets/locations to be used in the front), and it didn't help in this case because they changed the setting.