Spoilers TOS: The Captain's Oath by Christopher L. Bennett Review Thread

[CaptChris42]

Mess with the Agni, and you get burned.

Well, I think there's little more to add... and I am rather late to the party. Suffice to say I greatly enjoyed the novel, and it has pretty easily entered into my top five novels specifically about Kirk.
McCoy also got time to shine, such as when standing up to the Kaleans during the (nude) wrestling match for Kirk. Might have liked a little more Pike somewhere, but that's only a small concern. Nice use of Wesley, Tracey and others too.

One question, if I can ask it however: do you have an idea what class the USS Beowulf was?
Possibly something along the lines of another Starfleet Museum.org ship - as they have begun to pop up more, in past novels...?

(Oh, also, can we confirm that antimatter weapons DON'T leave fallout... but do maybe leave much gamma radiation? A little confused, somewhat, there) Thanks.

 

[Christopher]

One question, if I can ask it however: do you have an idea what class the USS Beowulf was?
Possibly something along the lines of another Starfleet Museum.org ship - as they have become to pop up more, in past novels...?

According to my notes, I intended it to be the Nimitz class from Discovery. I kept it implicit because, as I mention earlier in the thread, I was advised to avoid overt Discovery references.

(Oh, also, can we confirm that antimatter weapons DON'T leave fallout... but do maybe leave much gamma radiation? A little confused, somewhat, there) Thanks.

They'd release gamma radiation when they exploded, but it wouldn't still be around 4000 years later. Radiation and radioactivity are not the same thing, any more than light and a light bulb are the same thing.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

One wonders. When the final Borg invasion came in Star Trek: Destiny, what did the Borg do about the Agni settlements on Hearthside and 88 Leonis III? Lost Souls and Watching the Clock explicitly established a Borg siege on Regulus.

Would Borg even consider Class-N lifeforms worth assimilation? Their cubes can probably fabricate environmental habitats for Class-N lifeforms, though the power requirements would strike me as horrifically inefficient compared to all their standard humanoid drones' requirements. On the other hand, the Borg are implied to have interest in the Q, and the Q are not even corporeal.

Prodigy did show the Borg attempting to assimilate Zero, a Medusan, and being semi-successful, despite them being non-corporeal. So the Borg seem to see non-corporeality as not a barrier to assimilation.

If anything, it even fits with their efforts to enter fluidic space and assimilate Species 8472, that the Borg will endeavor to assimilate anything, at least the once, in the name of seeing what it adds to their “perfection.”

How well that goes for them, of course...

 

[CaptChris42]

According to my notes, I intended it to be the Nimitz class from Discovery. I kept it implicit because, as I mention earlier in the thread, I was advised to avoid overt Discovery references.



They'd release gamma radiation when they exploded, but it wouldn't still be around 4000 years later. Radiation and radioactivity are not the same thing, any more than light and a light bulb are the same thing.

Thanks very much. The 4000 year thing should have occurred to me, on consideration. I forgot about 'dirty' vs 'clean' bombs, for a bit.
And thanks for the answer on the Beowulf too.
I assume more direct references to Debt of Honor were also said to be kept vague, also? (Regarding the Farragut crew, etc) and other, often conflicting references.

 

[Christopher]

I assume more direct references to Debt of Honor were also said to be kept vague, also? (Regarding the Farragut crew, etc) and other, often conflicting references.

TCO is not in continuity with Debt of Honor, by my own choice. I consider DOH to have been superseded by subsequent canon, e.g. in its handwave for the two types of Klingon. Plus, of course, we now know from SNW that the Farragut was not a Constitution-class ship, though we didn't know that at the time I wrote TCO.

 

[Procutus]

Like CaptChris42, I am very much late to the party here. How I missed this gem of a novel back in 2019 is beyond me, except for the fact that I was immersed in quite a bit of non-fiction reading at the time, doing research for a project. In any event, I just finished reading this a few days ago, and just wanted to compliment you Christopher on a great job with filling in Kirk's immediate past, prior to TOS. To say the least, I felt comfortably like I was in the TOS era and in many, many ways, I liked your version of events far better than what we've gotten from SNW, at least as it pertains to Kirk's background.

And not only were you spot-on with the established characters, I loved the new ones equally as much, and felt like his crew aboard the Sacagawea felt every bit as real as those we've known for most of our lives. In particular, I really liked Rhen and as I read, I kept picturing Rachel Skarsten as the character.

The final part in 2265 was perfect. The only thing that would've added to it would've been a mention of an Ensign Pavel Chekov being among those picked up at Aldebaran Colony.

Many thanks for a pleasurable trip to Star Trek of old.

 

[Christopher]

In any event, I just finished reading this a few days ago, and just wanted to compliment you Christopher on a great job with filling in Kirk's immediate past, prior to TOS. To say the least, I felt comfortably like I was in the TOS era and in many, many ways, I liked your version of events far better than what we've gotten from SNW, at least as it pertains to Kirk's background.

Thanks, although I think SNW is doing a good job, and so far there aren't any irreconcilable contradictions between the show and TCO, though that probably won't last.

In particular, I really liked Rhen and as I read, I kept picturing Rachel Skarsten as the character.

Interesting. IIRC, I think I was going more for Nicole Beharie.

The final part in 2265 was perfect. The only thing that would've added to it would've been a mention of an Ensign Pavel Chekov being among those picked up at Aldebaran Colony.

Too early for that. Chekov would still be in the Academy. I believe I established in Forgotten History that he joined the crew when the ship was under repair after "Tomorrow is Yesterday."

 

[Procutus]

I'll make Forgotten History my next Trek read.

Just looked up Ms. Beharie, and I can see her in blue with antennae.