Re: Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night - SPOILER Thread
I thought it was an interesting (and human) touch to see the conn officer of the doomed USS Ranger actually disobeying the order that was given to send the ship on a kamakaze run.
My thoughts - some of them, anyway:
I also really appreciated this departure from the classical "perfect Starfleet officer" we've seen so frequently in the past (the novels have, in general, been pretty good since around the DS9 relaunch about doing that, IMO).
My thanks to you both. I had much the same thought as I approached that scene. I, too, felt that not every person on every ship was going to be so sanguine about throwing away his/her/its life, especially when it seemed like a futile gesture. For some people, "duty" is not enough to make suicide palatable.
I was especially touched by Admiral Paris's message to Tom. I have to admit, both this scene and the scene on Khitomer after the Ranger's sacrifice brought tears to my eyes. That's something that the Trek novels have rarely accomplished, so kudos to David Mack on those scenes. They were poignant without taking things over the top into cliche.
Again, gracias. I try to remember when I write such scenes that even though we might see these characters for only one scene, their pain and their loss should feel just as real as if they were the stars of our story — because from their perspective, they are the stars of their stories, which are about to end in tragedy.
I also respected the scene between Bev and Geordi where they discussed Picard. I could really see this happening on the series (I was reminded of when the senior staff met in Riker's quarters to discuss 'Picard's' erratic behavior in TNG's Allegiance.) When Picard is starting to make his tried and true followers (and wife) doubt his rationality, you know things are getting bad.
Yes, this ordeal is only just beginning to test Picard's mettle. Wait until you see what I have in store for him in
Mere Mortals and
Lost Souls...
Riker and Troi had me about to scream. Everything Riker said wasn't going to happen in regards to serving with a spouse is happening. If I was Vale, I'd have been threatening to find a new post if he didn't get his priorities straight (if only to be clear to him how serious I felt the problem was). Of course, there was that 'sisterly hug' that became a somewhat 'lingering hug' between Vale and Riker. I can't imagine Riker would normally ever consider an affair, but with things being so strained with Deanna, who knows - maybe he'll find comfort (at least emotional) from Vale. I rather think that Deanna would consider emotional straying even worse than physical straying, especially as crazy as she's been lately. How would either Riker or Vale even be able to keep their feelings hidden from Deanna anyway? Oh, and Dr. Ree is still awesome.
Well, Troi has been put through the wringer, physically and emotionally. Also, though she might not be aware of it, latent Betazoid gifts might be having a subconscious effect on her conscious decisions, leading to severe confusion and distress....
LOL Does anyone else thing that their nanotech will form the basis for the Borg's beginning in the far and distant past in the Delta quadrant? I was glad, in a sense, to see Erica 'alive' in the 24th century, but I've got to wonder if they've Grigari-ed her all up to keep her goin'. I hope not.
That would be interesting, to finally have an origin of the Borg.
I wonder if that isn't really Hernandez. One of the Titan crew members' tricorders reads her as a Caeliar like the others, so I wonder if this isn't a ploy of some kind. Although, their technology seemed so advanced in 2168 that they might have already had the ability to essentially become immortal. I guess they might feel like they have to keep her alive, considering their extremely strict social laws against the death of other sentient beings. I suppose that could also include preventing natural death as well, but that is hard to tell from what was presented in 'Gods of Night'. Hopefully we will have a firm answer in the next book.
You will have answers to one of these speculations in
Mere Mortals and to the other in
Lost Souls.
I loved this book. I thought that it was really well written and the story had me from the very beginning. I cannot wait to see what happens! I am hoping to see more of the Voyager crew and the Fed President as well in the upcoming books. I am also hoping that more of the DS9 crew will get to show up. If there is one complaint I have, it is how crazy Troi is in this book; I would never have thought that she would have such a hard time dealing with this. It is a terrible thing, but not so much as to put your life at risk. Anyway, brilliant book!
I'm pretty sure that we have seen as much as we're going to of the DS9 crew in this trilogy, because I am sure that they still want to leave enough leeway for all of the books that can fit into the four years between the latest DS9 Relaunch book "Fearful Symmetry" and "Gods of Night". For the sake of future authors.
LutherSloan is correct. I had to minimize my use of the
Deep Space Nine characters to avoid stepping on unrevealed plot elements in that ongoing saga, which is set four years earlier than
Destiny.
By a similar token, I had to be sparing in my use of the
Voyager and its crew, in order to leave as much creative flexibility as possible for Kirsten Beyer in her novel
Full Circle. I've read
Full Circle, by the way, and it's awesome — you'll appreciate the wide berth I gave her when you see how brilliantly she explored it.
Thanks to one and all for your comments so far!
