Spoilers ENT: Rise of the Federation: Patterns of Interference by C.L. Bennett Review Thread
- Thread starter Defcon
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POI is definitely not my favorite out of the "Rise..." novels. It was okay, but not great. I much preferred Live by the Code. Here are some of the issues I had with it:
- Maltuvis. He was just way too over-the-top. And yes, I have made it a point in the past to express my disdain for excessive ambiguity and my preference for characters who are "obviously" good or evil, but Maltuvis was almost comical. Especially since I get the distinct impression that he was simply used as a stand-in for...certain current events, if you take my meaning. And I don't much care for political screeds, even ones I agree with.
- I was rather confused as to which side Garos was "really" on. Although this was probably intentional.
- Not enough Archer.
- The central point of the book wasn't even settled. The whole thing was supposed to lead up to the Prime Directive, and yet it didn't. So I sort of got the impression that nothing really "happened" as such.
Oh well, I certainly did like the book, but as I said it was definitely not my favorite out of the Rise novels. If there are any more, I would like it if they'd ramp up the action a bit.
That said, I must point out one of my favorite bits in the Rise novels, because for some reason I just think it's hilarious: The whole thing with Maras. It is an absolute laugh riot how she is so different from what her sisters think she is.
I do have one question, though: The Essex and its crew have certainly turned up a lot lately. Are there any plans to show what will eventually happen to them?
- Maltuvis. He was just way too over-the-top. And yes, I have made it a point in the past to express my disdain for excessive ambiguity and my preference for characters who are "obviously" good or evil, but Maltuvis was almost comical. Especially since I get the distinct impression that he was simply used as a stand-in for...certain current events, if you take my meaning. And I don't much care for political screeds, even ones I agree with.
- I was rather confused as to which side Garos was "really" on. Although this was probably intentional.
- Not enough Archer.
- The central point of the book wasn't even settled. The whole thing was supposed to lead up to the Prime Directive, and yet it didn't. So I sort of got the impression that nothing really "happened" as such.
Oh well, I certainly did like the book, but as I said it was definitely not my favorite out of the Rise novels. If there are any more, I would like it if they'd ramp up the action a bit.
That said, I must point out one of my favorite bits in the Rise novels, because for some reason I just think it's hilarious: The whole thing with Maras. It is an absolute laugh riot how she is so different from what her sisters think she is.
I do have one question, though: The Essex and its crew have certainly turned up a lot lately. Are there any plans to show what will eventually happen to them?
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Mr. Laser Beam said:
Well, that's the thing. If there's one thing the last year has taught us, it's that genuine megalomaniacs and sociopathic narcissists can be far more cartoonish and devoid of nuance than would ever be credible in a fictional character. So it's forced a reassessment of what constitutes realism in writing a character like that. I just took what I've learned in all the articles I've read over the past year about narcissistic and sociopathic behavior and applied it to the character.
- I was rather confused as to which side Garos was "really" on. Although this was probably intentional.
He will always be primarily on Maluria's side, or what he believes or rationalizes to be in Maluria's best interests. Everything else is negotiable.
Where's the fun in telling a story the way people think it's "supposed" to happen? Of course it will lead to the PD eventually, but there's no reason that journey has to be straightforward and obvious. As a couple of us have remarked, it would've been very unrealistic for the whole process of creating the Directive to happen in just one book.
In fact, I hadn't intended to tackle the issue so soon. I was planning to eventually build to a point where something so bad happened as a result of Starfleet interference that it provoked the creation of the PD in response. As I was plotting Live by the Code, I realized that its events were exactly that, even though I hadn't intended them to be the catalyst.
My whole intent here was to do something like TNG: "Family" or ENT: "Home," a quieter, more character-driven installment to let the readers and characters recover after the intensity of the preceding story arc. So it was deliberately lighter on action than usual.
Well, let's see. I've gone from 2162 to 2166 in five books, and that happens in 2167. And as of this book, Bryce Shumar is Essex's captain, Steven Mullen is its first officer, and Morgan Kelly is its security chief. So what do you think?
So do you genuinely believe that you-know-who is as bad as Maltuvis?
Ironic, really, given what eventually happens to Maluria. For Garos' sake, I hope he doesn't live that long...
Mr. Laser Beam said:
Well, Maltuvis is far more intelligent, rational, and competent, is able to speak in coherent and articulate sentences (he has David Warner's voice in my head), and has been much more successful in carrying out his agenda. After all, the goal of a cautionary tale is to show where current trends could lead if allowed to go to their extremes.
It's old Trip at a memorial in a prologue/epilogue as Christopher mentioned, but yes.
David Warner? I admit I never even thought of that.
Here's another question:
You say that Garos values the good of Maluria above all else. Does this include his OWN life?
Meaning: Would Garos sacrifice himself for the good of his homeworld, if he believed it necessary?
Mr. Laser Beam said:
He probably figures he's too smart for it ever to come to that. But if he did end up in such a situation... I'd have to see what felt right in the moment, and what worked best for the story.
Because he can execute those who don't go along with him. Makes it a helluva lot easier to get one's agenda passed with that kind of weapon.
Great Novel, just disappointed that Maltuvis survived this book. What a scumbag.
Poor T'Pol, wonder if and when she gets Trip finally back.
Poor T'Pol, wonder if and when she gets Trip finally back.
Too little reading time. Christopher, are there any images of the Ceres class?
I'm a bit confused by this site. Is it purely a fan project?
Yeah, that's right; Journal of Applied Treknology has been around for ages. It's one of the bigger and older ship design collections online; it's all fanworks, but very comprehensive ones, putting together design lineages, historical progression and evolution, and so on alongside the ship designs. Really digging deep into things. It's a cool site to browse through.
Impressive. There's fan dedication paying it off by making it into an officially-published if non-canon work.
My review of Patterns of Interference went live this morning on TrekCore. Thoroughly enjoying this series!
http://trekcore.com/blog/2017/09/review-star-trek-enterprise-patterns-of-interference/
http://trekcore.com/blog/2017/09/review-star-trek-enterprise-patterns-of-interference/
Really great review! Although this is the fifth novel in RotF, not fourth.
While (as everyone here probably already knows) I find Section 31 stories only slightly less distasteful, in general, than Borg stories and Dominion War stories, I liked this one enough to give it an "above average."
i will also say that the title had me expecting to meet a young John Gill, and that
i will also say that the title had me expecting to meet a young John Gill, and that
a certain sentient species (I would have dubbed them "Ents" myself) had me expecting to meet a young Stavos Keniclius. (Maybe not so young, if he had dealings with Archer's great-grandfather)
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