Spoilers TNG: Available Light by Dayton Ward Review Thread
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No spoilers but I am about a half way through. Loving all the political stuff - the stakes feel really high and are rising with every interlude. The mystery of the week element is fine, but I am finding myself googling who a lot of the new Enterprise characters are as someone who does not read every Next Gen book, so I would have liked a bit more of an overview of who they all are. I suppose that is what Google is for though!
I'm about 1/4 of the way through. For an overall story thread that is, what? over a year from the last book that came out, Dayton Ward really made an easy book to just jump into. Which i know is the goal of all authors. I barely remember anything from the last few books, but this book has been amazing so far.
Got bored of waiting and bought the Kindle version. I’m 9% in and I’ve spotted the Doscovery reference. I was expecting it to be more subtle. I don’t know if she should be put on that list. From what we saw of her, she wasn’t that great of a captain. 
I suppose all the Control references could be seen as one as well.
I know what Picard did was wrong but to me, I’ve always seen the person who controls the Enterprise is the actual leader of the Federation. The President is just a figurehead who does the boring stuff.
If the Enterprise captain feels like he/she needs to go, they go.
I suppose all the Control references could be seen as one as well.
I know what Picard did was wrong but to me, I’ve always seen the person who controls the Enterprise is the actual leader of the Federation. The President is just a figurehead who does the boring stuff.
If the Enterprise captain feels like he/she needs to go, they go.
Just saw mine downloaded. Will start tomorrow.
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I started it last night before going to bed and finished it this morning. I'm going to do my best not to spoil anything.
First of all, it was nice to have a new Star Trek: The Next Generation book to read and thanks to my refresher of the previous three TNG books over the last couple of weeks, I went into it with a clear remembrance of what came before it (although I didn't reread the two Section 31 books, which probably would've helped a lot!). As to the book itself, the Enterprise's story for me started off slowly and kind of felt like filler, but I soon became invested in it; I thought both "species/groups of the week" were interesting, particularly the salvage hunters, and I wouldn't mind seeing them again in a later book. I also liked that Picard sat down with some of his junior officers and crewmen to explain why he participated in the ousting of President Zife, and his conversation with Crusher about his guilt over the event was powerful, especially when he compared it to losing the Stargazer or his assimilation by the Borg which was described as "victim(s) of circumstance" rather than perpetrator.
The other half of the book was dedicated to the investigation of Section 31's public revelation, as undertaken by Fleet Admiral Leonard Akaar, the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, and Phillipa Louvois, the Federation Attorney General, alongside and under the direction of the President of the UFP, Kellesar zh'Tarash. I liked all three of these senior Federation officials, and it was nice to finally get some face time with the new President (she was heavily involved in The Fall, but that was as an Andorian politician and then as a Federation Presidential candidate, but she's been largely off-screen since taking office).
I did have a question about her and her administration: given that President Bacco was assassinated and Ishan Anjar was temporarily in charge, how many of President zh'Tarash's staff are holdovers or did she appoint a whole new Cabinet (as Bacco did when she took over for Zife)? I recall Ishan retaining the services of Bacco's Secretary of Defense and/or Exterior during his brief Presidency but he'd appointed his own Chief of Staff (as has zh'Tarash).
Rear Admiral Riker had a chapter-long cameo, talking about how Picard kept him in the dark about Zife but that he had absolute unwavering faith in his longtime captain (however, this book made it sound like he was stationed at Starfleet Headquarters or relatively close to Earth rather than out on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant on Titan like I thought he was the last time we saw him, but I could be wrong).
Over in the Klingon Empire, Martok had a nice chat with some of his political rivals, and I found myself remembering why I like that particular character so much, the warrior masquerading as a politician. And the way they felt over Starfleet's handling of Zife was "the closest [they]'d come to acting like Klingons" when faced with such a despicable act of dishonor just might set the tone for the event's fallout.
However, when it came to the actual handling of Section 31's operatives within Starfleet, I'm not quite sure how I feel. From what I remember (and I could just be remembering it incorrectly!), Admiral Ross was never actually a member of S31, he merely endorsed their methods and looked the other way, knowing that they did the necessary evils in the shadows so that Starfleet and the rest of the Federation could operate freely and above board (of course, that could be precisely the kind of snow-job such operatives gave people like Ross, or that Ross gives to people like Dr. Bashir or Captain Sisko). And Nechayev's contention that being outed didn't mean that S31 was done for forever, that it didn't plan for such a possibility (however remote such a possibility might've been), is both intriguing and probably very, very true.
I'm also curious just how many S31 operatives have been arrested or detained throughout Starfleet. Back in the 22nd century, the most recent Rise of the Federation book mentioned that as of 2165-2166, there was a small number of actual operatives, but the majority of their activities were conducted by people who'd been either tricked, coerced, or lied to by those operatives; by the 24th century, I wonder just how many people may not've been active participants but just duped or pressed into providing information or carrying out their directives under the flag of "following orders" from a superior who got his/her/its orders from a superior, etc. I suppose that's what the next book will be about, and I'm eagerly looking forward to it.
Anyways, those are my initial thoughts, and I'm sure they'll be more to follow later!
First of all, it was nice to have a new Star Trek: The Next Generation book to read and thanks to my refresher of the previous three TNG books over the last couple of weeks, I went into it with a clear remembrance of what came before it (although I didn't reread the two Section 31 books, which probably would've helped a lot!). As to the book itself, the Enterprise's story for me started off slowly and kind of felt like filler, but I soon became invested in it; I thought both "species/groups of the week" were interesting, particularly the salvage hunters, and I wouldn't mind seeing them again in a later book. I also liked that Picard sat down with some of his junior officers and crewmen to explain why he participated in the ousting of President Zife, and his conversation with Crusher about his guilt over the event was powerful, especially when he compared it to losing the Stargazer or his assimilation by the Borg which was described as "victim(s) of circumstance" rather than perpetrator.
The other half of the book was dedicated to the investigation of Section 31's public revelation, as undertaken by Fleet Admiral Leonard Akaar, the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, and Phillipa Louvois, the Federation Attorney General, alongside and under the direction of the President of the UFP, Kellesar zh'Tarash. I liked all three of these senior Federation officials, and it was nice to finally get some face time with the new President (she was heavily involved in The Fall, but that was as an Andorian politician and then as a Federation Presidential candidate, but she's been largely off-screen since taking office).
I did have a question about her and her administration: given that President Bacco was assassinated and Ishan Anjar was temporarily in charge, how many of President zh'Tarash's staff are holdovers or did she appoint a whole new Cabinet (as Bacco did when she took over for Zife)? I recall Ishan retaining the services of Bacco's Secretary of Defense and/or Exterior during his brief Presidency but he'd appointed his own Chief of Staff (as has zh'Tarash).
Rear Admiral Riker had a chapter-long cameo, talking about how Picard kept him in the dark about Zife but that he had absolute unwavering faith in his longtime captain (however, this book made it sound like he was stationed at Starfleet Headquarters or relatively close to Earth rather than out on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant on Titan like I thought he was the last time we saw him, but I could be wrong).
Over in the Klingon Empire, Martok had a nice chat with some of his political rivals, and I found myself remembering why I like that particular character so much, the warrior masquerading as a politician. And the way they felt over Starfleet's handling of Zife was "the closest [they]'d come to acting like Klingons" when faced with such a despicable act of dishonor just might set the tone for the event's fallout.
However, when it came to the actual handling of Section 31's operatives within Starfleet, I'm not quite sure how I feel. From what I remember (and I could just be remembering it incorrectly!), Admiral Ross was never actually a member of S31, he merely endorsed their methods and looked the other way, knowing that they did the necessary evils in the shadows so that Starfleet and the rest of the Federation could operate freely and above board (of course, that could be precisely the kind of snow-job such operatives gave people like Ross, or that Ross gives to people like Dr. Bashir or Captain Sisko). And Nechayev's contention that being outed didn't mean that S31 was done for forever, that it didn't plan for such a possibility (however remote such a possibility might've been), is both intriguing and probably very, very true.
I'm also curious just how many S31 operatives have been arrested or detained throughout Starfleet. Back in the 22nd century, the most recent Rise of the Federation book mentioned that as of 2165-2166, there was a small number of actual operatives, but the majority of their activities were conducted by people who'd been either tricked, coerced, or lied to by those operatives; by the 24th century, I wonder just how many people may not've been active participants but just duped or pressed into providing information or carrying out their directives under the flag of "following orders" from a superior who got his/her/its orders from a superior, etc. I suppose that's what the next book will be about, and I'm eagerly looking forward to it.
Anyways, those are my initial thoughts, and I'm sure they'll be more to follow later!
How? Litverse!Control is completely different from DSC's version. For one thing, the Litverse version is actually competent--it achieved all of its goals and tricked everyone into believing it had been destroyed. It's also dedicated to the safety of the Federation. It's also capable of planning things decades out, instead of reacting in basically real-time. I could go on.
So the Federation is really a military dictatorship?
CALLED IT.
Yes but a nice dictatorship.So the Federation is really a military dictatorship?
I was thinking if this story clashed with The Good That Men Do where they say that Section 31’s knowledge wasn’t revealed until the early 25th century but I suppose that could be additional information from when the Section “definitively” destroyed.
I wonder if they’ll write stories to show that having Control gone May have some serious consequences for the Federation. Maybe the Hobus incident is one.
^ It's been a while since Control, but what was that bit about the genetically modified children about?
I know but I think it’s done “protecting” the Federation for the time being though.
EDIT: I haven’t finished the novel yet so I maybe wrong.
Just bought the novel on Amazon. Since my Kindle is kaput, I'm going to have to read it on my laptop though, which aggravates me to no end. Should be worth it, though. 
EDIT: Spotted the first DSC-related retcon. At least it doesn't involve DSC's dumbed-down version of Control. Also, I was expecting Nechayev to be the hardest to capture. She didn't disappoint. No doubt because she's the most intelligent of the bunch.
2nd EDIT: Spotted the second DSC reference.
EDIT: Spotted the first DSC-related retcon. At least it doesn't involve DSC's dumbed-down version of Control. Also, I was expecting Nechayev to be the hardest to capture. She didn't disappoint. No doubt because she's the most intelligent of the bunch.
2nd EDIT: Spotted the second DSC reference.
Bashir and Douglas.
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Ah, their enhancements were part of Control's scheme? I'll need to re-read Control one of these days.
Anyway, anyone with text-book knowledge of litverse know who else had been excommunicated to Caldos II? Searches in Memory Beta and Alpha only mentioned the incidents in Sub Rosa and we do not speak of that episode.
So Admiral Ross was a 31 leader? Seems odd to me, I thought he only worked for them from time to time. A line from one of the DS9 episodes screamed in my mind:
BASHIR: And how long have you worked for Section Thirty One?
ROSS: I don't.
BASHIR: And how long have you worked for Section Thirty One?
ROSS: I don't.
The way I interpreted the line near the end of the book about Ross being 31's top man was that he was their top man who was an active, public Starfleet officer (there's also a question raised in the book of whether or not he realized it), and that the "directors" and "agents" were their own deal. I hadn't been under the impression that Ross, Nechayev, or the other Admirals would've considered themselves card-carrying members of 31, but with an organization that doesn't officially exist, I suppose those boundaries get fuzzy.
That was a reference to…
Commander Diego Reyes, who went into exile on Caldos II at the end of the Star Trek Vanguard saga.
LOL, that was really dumb of me to open that spoiler as I just started Vanguard, but thanks for the info nonetheless.
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