Spoilers DS9: The Long Mirage by David R. George III Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Defcon, Feb 19, 2017.

?

Rate The Long Mirage

  1. Outstanding

    11 vote(s)
    29.7%
  2. Above Average

    14 vote(s)
    37.8%
  3. Average

    9 vote(s)
    24.3%
  4. Below Average

    2 vote(s)
    5.4%
  5. Poor

    1 vote(s)
    2.7%
  1. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2005
    Location:
    On the USS Sovereign
    Mirage in the title was not a homage or reference to a hotel of that name?
     
  2. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    I don't think so? I don't believe the Mirage Hotel was mentioned anywhere in the book, as far as I can remember. (Though obviously recent posts have illustrated how much that's worth. :p )

    It's likely more just a twin reference to the Endalla falsework and Vic's status as a hologram, I'd think.
     
    Markonian and Ronald Held like this.
  3. Enterpriserules

    Enterpriserules Commodore Commodore

    I think it's a play on the long con, but mirage has a kinder connotation as well as references Vic, the Falsework and of course, Vegas, which is in the desert :)
     
    Markonian and Ronald Held like this.
  4. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    I read Millennnium last year and found no contradictions. Vash may have been returned or duplicated. TrekLit established there are several MU-class universes in TNG: Q & A and DS9: The Soul Key.
     
  5. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    I mean, that's still a contradiction, just one with a potential resolution. :p
     
    Markonian and Jinn like this.
  6. Enterpriserules

    Enterpriserules Commodore Commodore

    Dan and Bruce had a great interview with David on the latest Literary Treks! [​IMG]
     
    Jinn likes this.
  7. Jinn

    Jinn Mistress of the Chaotic Energies Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    Did he say something about the upcoming December novel?
     
    Paris likes this.
  8. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2003
    Location:
    Canada
    I don't know about "personal gain", but after the whole "doctor needed to contact her superiors because Vic might be just what they're looking for" thing, I just assumed the doctor was lying about Vic's sentience, so that there would be no reason for Federation Security to charge him with anything, and then he'd be available on DS9 whenever she and her superiors decided to do with him whatever it is they have in mind.
     
  9. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    I think that's just a difference in perspective, because I just assumed that the doctor was right and Vic really is pre-sentient rather than sentient.
     
  10. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2002
    Location:
    Florida
    A pre-sentient hologram would probably be more interesting to Federation science than a sentient one. They've probably not ever caught one in the act of "becoming" yet, so the opportunity to study the process would probably qualify as "what they've been looking for." Not to say that Vic wasn't tricking her to just seem like a plain, simple hologram, but she may have been telling the truth about her assessment of him, while omitting that that made him more scientifically interesting.

    I appreciated the line about Altek trying to deduce places he knew based on the shapes of the continents and gross geography, after I was complaining in prior books how implausible it felt that he could find literally nothing beyond Prophets and wrinkled noses that connected our Bajor to the world he knew. Though it did turn out that there was a reason for that. I'm still a little confused about some elements, probably because this plotline has been unfolding over about half my life at this point. Can they really be sure that Altek's universe had a wormhole? I mean, they have Orbs, and the Orbs come from the Prophets, and the Prophets live in the wormhole, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Orbs came from the wormhole. They could've been made by the Prophets before they made the wormhole, in which case his conclusion about the false moon still doesn't tell them anything. I don't remember Altek's Bajor having spaceships, so unless they saw it in the sky, would they know, I mean really know that their Celestial Temple was a place you could fly to (and through) in a ship?

    Also, does this mean that the entire "Liberation of the Bajora" subplot dating back to "Horn and Ivory" has been retconned/revealed to have taken place in a parallel universe, and not Bajor's lost history, or does it just apply to the events that began in "The Fall"?
     
    Markonian likes this.
  11. Enterprise1701

    Enterprise1701 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2014
    Location:
    Sol III, Sector 001, 2063 C.E.
    Hasn't Starfleet done scans on Altek to search for the phase variance of time travel? When that happened wouldn't they have detected Altek's quantum signature being different from that of the prime reality? Or can the Prophets hide alternate quantum signatures as well?

    The damn DTI had a presence in this novel! Why weren't they just called in to investigate?
     
    Markonian likes this.
  12. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    The "Horn and Ivory" stuff was entirely different; it was specifically dated thanks to the collapse of the Fire Caves, there were people whose names she recognized from history, Kira was herself rather than embodying someone else. (Plus it was the Iconians who sent her there as a favor to the Prophets, not the Prophets directly.) The only events this impacted were the events where Kira was embodying Keev Anora, yeah.

    Honestly, because outside of Christopher's books, the DTI are only ever mentioned so that people can whine about the existence of bureaucrats that might actually care about dealing with the dangers of time travel. Like I mentioned upthread, they've had to deal in his books with scenarios involving potential time travel also involving cross-universe travel, and knowing as a basic step to scan for quantum signature as one of the first investigatory steps.
     
    David cgc and Markonian like this.
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Yes, and DTI agents are perennially frustrated that the amateurs in Starfleet think they can muddle through dealing with temporal anomalies themselves instead of calling in the experts.
     
  14. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    In this case, though, didn't the first book after Altek's cliffhanger appearance say the DTI did investigate him in the days or weeks after he showed up?

    I'm honestly asking; it's been a while since that one, but I'm pretty sure I remember Ro griping about that investigation back then. I feel like this is DRGIII screwing up the DTI more than Starfleet not letting them do their jobs.
     
    Enterprise1701 likes this.
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I haven't read the book yet.
     
  16. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2002
    I like the storyline with Nog and Candlewood looking for Vic Fontaine . In the interview with David George he talks about Nog and Candlewood and Vic Fontaine. what he had to say was really interesting about whether Vic was a sentient hologram or not.I also liked him discussing Kira's story arc and the Bajorans religious groups and the uproar about Endalla and the studying the mysterious endworks moon. Jinn David Just said His next book will be out in December .He really didn't say what the next book was going to be ds9 or some other trek series. He's also writing some original fiction.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
  17. Chancellor M'rek

    Chancellor M'rek Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    time to wipe the ds9 relaunch from the timeline and start over again at after the end of Unity and try to get it right this time. yeeesh.
     
  18. DS9forever

    DS9forever Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I think the DS9 relaunch is doing fine.
     
    Jinn and Markonian like this.
  19. Chancellor M'rek

    Chancellor M'rek Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    We've gotten book after book with unusually high word count, taking Ben Sisko away, making Kira a boring Vedek and dumping in 30 new characters that we don't care about and on TOP OF THAT, we get a subplot tracking down Morn and Vic Fontaine. WILL THIS THRILL RIDE NEVER STOP!?
     
  20. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    Wait, the rest I can potentially see, but why is high word count innately bad?
     
    Jinn and DonIago like this.