Folks, I waited until a day after finishing the second book to read this thread. First, a quick question . . . I clearly missed the one sentence that referenced the Andorian transporter duplicates. I've got the TP. On what page is this reference? And thank you in advance for the answer.
After reading each installment of Coda, I listened to the great interviews of Dayton Ward and James Swallow on both Positively Trek and Literary Treks (Dan and Bruce and Matt--you guys are great) and read the interviews of both authors on TrekCore. I wanted to better understand what both authors had in mind, and those interviews provided much-appreciated context in which I could and can examine my reactions to both books.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of those who've posted reactions in both this thread and the one devoted to Moments Asunder because you've provided me what I believe is a better understanding of why I have been somewhat disappointed in both novels--something I've struggled to define and describe--while at the same time enjoying the ride (and enjoying that there is even a ride to enjoy). I don't know what I expected from Coda . . . and I agree with many of you whose stance is to wait until reading the final book before rendering a final decision about the experience. It ain't over till it's over.
(My hypothesis at this point in time is that our coda will end with our version of the prime timeline/the lit-verse collapsing and another timeline--ultimately, the one revealed in Star Trek: Picard--becoming the prime timeline post 2379/"Star Trek: Nemesis." There are a few things in the two novels that already suggest the answer is more complicated--Hegol dying and not dying as a specific one; the relationship status of Spock and Saavik as another--but I want to provide this context for what comes below.)
Having attempted to write fiction and finding it very difficult--hell, agonizing--to produce something which left me feeling how my favorite authors leave me feeling, I am very mindful about what I say--and how--in reaction to someone else's work. Consequently, my only comment is that, had I been given a crack at being Mr. Ward's beta reader, I'd have asked for less page time spent with the Nagas, Devidians, various incarnations of Wesley and more page time dropping in on/catching up with characters from the past 20 years of narrative, including scenes involving characters in the broader lit-verse as represented in the Ferengi Alliance, Tholian Assembly, Romulan Empire, Klingon Empire, Tzenkethi Coalition, Breen Confederacy, Gorn Hegemony, etc. Likely a similar response to Mr. Swallow, although it seemed to me that more time was spent with some of these characters.
I'm not a published author and could not have produced what these gents have lovingly and remarkably produced. Could the threat to the timeline have been demonstrated with shorter, intermittent bursts of that threat and its consequences while handing over the freed-up word count to "visiting" all, or almost all, of the characters and stories and dangling plot threads from the TNG, TTN, and DS9 books? (Glad to see Tom and B'elanna; Kirsten Beyer already Coda-fied VOY really well.) I don't know. It is simply a wish. And when I say "visit", I mean demonstrating the unravelling of the lit-verse timeline and its profound meaning through these characters. I would expect many of those dangling threads in their lives would not be resolved, only shown. Having the characters realize that they aren't going to be able to overcome and resolve their inter-personal and intra-personal conflicts, that they aren't going to unravel the mysteries with which they've been confronted . . . well, that parallels our experience as readers.
All that said, thank you, Messrs. Ward and Swallow (and Mack) for not only these novels but also the many that have preceded these and for--along with numerous other authors--carrying the light (or baton) so very far and so richly.
