Spoilers TOS: The Higher Frontier, by Christopher L. Bennett - review thread

Y’know....now that you’ve clarified that, I kinda like how Ex Machina dealt with TOS characters in the movie era. And now this one is doing something similar.

It feels kinda like a Star Trek Phase II set post TMP.

 

UPS brought my copy today.

 

I started reading on Tuesday (after it appeared on my Kindle), but haven't had much time to do so and I'm only up to the interlude (36% through). As many have guessed because of the - rather beautiful - cover, the Aenar feature quite heavily (up until this point anyway - *gulp*!). As does a certain first officer of an alternate Enterprise. And some New Humans!

 

Just started yesterday. Seems some Treklit characters post TMP are in it.

 

I got this book in the mail yesterday. I hope to find time to read it soon.

 

Wonder if @Christopher's caught this week's new PIC episode yet? Interesting, if undoubtedly-coincidental, reference that Michael Chabon made in the script...

 

Oh, I think I know what you mean.

 

I’m about half way through. It’s not what I was expecting from the story but I am still enjoying it. I’m sensing a pattern with Christopher’s novels. The Captain’s Oath tells the story of how he became the captain of the Enterprise. Forgotten History fills in the gap between the end of his first 5 year mission and TMP, and now in this, we get the story between TMP and WoK. A story that most don’t even realise.
@Christopher seems to be in charge of filling in the gaps of Kirk’s history. Is a novel set between The Final Frontier and the Undiscovered Country next from him? Or perhaps, between TUC and Generations?

I wonder if that scene where Sulu, Uhura and Chekov are going through some “expanded universe” stories are examples of known work? I know he might tell you in the acknowledgments as he’s very good there of explaining where all the references come from but I don’t want to read that until I’m finished.

 

I do seem to have made a habit of doing those transitional/bookend stories, but it hasn't been a formal plan. I'm just drawn to the parts of the TOS setting that allow exploring the main characters going through change and growth rather than just ordinary episodic adventures.

Although I do think it's cool that between The Captain's Oath, Forgotten History, Ex Machina, and The Higher Frontier, I've now told the start and end of both of Kirk's first two tours on the Enterprise. (Well, TMP told the start of the second one, but you know what I mean.) Plus The Buried Age fits the pattern too, following Picard from the end of his command of the Stargazer to the start of his command of the Enterprise-D.

 

Is Forgotten History compatible with The Lost Years?

 

No. I'm pretty sure aspects of TLY were inconsistent with later canon established in TNG and after.

 

Finished the novel. I enjoyed it but doesn’t it conflict with the Q Continuum trilogy (and a little Q-Squared) with the stuff with the barrier. You mention that the barrier only gives powers to people with spectres as it awakens them, leaving people with natural abilities alone. But in the Q Continuum trilogy, the barrier is made out of Q energy and it gives powers to the betazoids. Do they have spectres in them as well? That would imply Q removes them at the end.

The spectre vs Lords conflict did remind me of the angel vs demon conflict in Supernatural, but that is white eyes vs black eyes.

the only mystery I don’t know about that I learned from this novel is that Sulu has a 7 year old daughter. I know she has one in Generations but I just assumed he had her later on. I’m not good with math it seems.
I’ll need to do some work I find out where that story is told.

 

There's never been any requirement for all novels to be in continuity with each other. There have been numerous different explanations for the barrier and Gary Mitchell in the various tie-ins. And I'm not sure The Q Continuum is entirely consistent with later novels or canon anyway. It's from a time when the inter-novel continuity was still nascent and not all-encompassing.

As I mentioned in the book's Acknowledgments, the Demora Sulu backstory and the specifics of the end of the post-TMP mission come from The Captain's Daughter by Peter David -- which is linked to the later continuity because it lays the foundations for how Captain Harriman is portrayed in all later Enterprise-B fiction.

 

Really? I just assumed with how popular Q Continuum was that it was still seen as canon in the later novel continuity. Greg Cox was just talking about it over on the Picard page about it being his only book to make it into the New York Times best seller list.

 

Popularity has nothing to do with continuity. Every story is equally imaginary, so it doesn't make a story worth less if it doesn't fit with other stories; and by the same token, being good or popular doesn't automatically make stories fit together. They're two completely unrelated factors. There are many different Trek tie-in continuities and there always have been. There are great stories in many incompatible continuities. Sometimes the things that make them incompatible are what make them great, because they give them a unique flavor or perspective.

 

It’s been over a week since The Higher Frontier came out, so I figured I might as well go ahead and post the annotations (beware of spoilers):

https://christopherlbennett.wordpre...-machina/tos-the-higher-frontier-annotations/

Also, if you didn't see the news yesterday, I’ve started a Patreon page where I’ll be posting reviews and original short fiction:

https://www.patreon.com/christopherlbennett

I hope those of you who enjoy The Higher Frontier will consider signing up for at least the $1/month “tip” level. If enough of you did so, it would help me a lot while costing you very little. Although if you sign up for the higher levels, you’ll get original content in return.

Also, please remember to rate or review the book on Amazon, Goodreads, and the like, no matter where you bought it. The more reviews a book gets, the more it’s boosted in Amazon’s search algorithms.

 

So far seems like lots of references to TOS,TMP, and other novels

 

Ordered a copy as a trip to the bookstore doesn't look to be in the cards for a while.

 

Looking forward to reading for myself as time, virological research by other people and finances permit.