I used to be able to read a Trek novel in about 3-4 hours. It takes longer now; I became partially blind about fifteen months ago.
Oh cool a Kelpien officer on the Titan Edit: Hm some references to the ST09 backstory (and the 09 Countdown comics) here Spoiler Spock mentions working with the Vulcan Science Council on a project to help the Romulans, and wants to get in contact with Geordi regarding ship design and warp propulsion. There's also a Romulan scientist in the book that knows about red matter but the wording made it seem theoretical, at least to me
The Lionheart is mentioned along with the Robinson: it was from The Poisoned Chalice novel by the same author.
Apologies if this has been covered but I'd like to avoid spoilers for now. I'm aching for anything Picard-related, but would you guys say I should definitely read the Titan series before I tackle this novel? Or can I jump right in and perhaps appreciate the connections when I read the Titan series later?
Nah, you don't have to read any previous novels for this one. They don't refer to any specific events from any previous Titan novel at all, and basically just import two characters, but you'll be introduced to an entirely new bridge crew anyway, so it won't really matter anyway.
Thanks, John! Some days are more challenging than others, but I manage. My vision began to "melt" and I thought I was having a stroke. Fortunately, I was not having a stroke, but my blood pressure was so high that I was going to. I spent a week in the ICU while they got my blood pressure under control (which is both a testament to how high it was and how it refused to come down), but my vision is still very wonky, and the way my brain processes what I can't see is borderline insane at time. Like I said, I manage.
Wow. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been to go through all of that. I'm so glad that you ate able to maintain a positive outlook. You have an inner strength that i admire. Stay strong.
My personal theory is that the Picard of "Picard" isn't the Picard that we saw in TNG, but rather the Picard from the the JJVerse timeline.
That makes no sense. The series's backstory is based heavily on the specific events of Nemesis and the Prime-universe backstory of the 2009 movie. It references numerous events from TNG and Voyager continuity. It's obviously in the Prime timeline.
Oh right the USS Robinson was Sisko's ship in the old novel continuity. Well that's factually wrong. Picard is in the same timeline as all the other TV series.
I also included engineer Karen McCreedy from the Titan novels as a bridge officer. The mention of the Robinson is a nod to Sisko's ship from the books, and the Lionheart is a vessel from my novel in The Fall series The Poisoned Chalice. Yeah, I couldn't resist... Right on both counts.
As a jazz fan, I loved the names of the shuttlecraft, although as I haven't read any other Titan novels (yet) I don't know if that was from previous books. I also really loved the Gurney Halleck line given to Picard.
Yes, but in the Countdown prequel, he went to a secret Tal'shiar base and had it modified with the Tal'shiar's secret borg tech augments.