Re: Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game Review thread
Sarina comes across rather callous in her scene with the Inquisitor; deliberately associating the Breen dissident movements with UFP spies and infiltrators. If she’s believed, it will presumably cause the BID to initiate even harsher measures against non-conformists and expend more time, money and effort into rooting them out. Commitment to the mission at the expense of the dissidents was a somewhat different argument when the dissidents suffered as an unintended and unplanned consequence of the mission. Actively dragging them into it, so to speak, takes the “mission first” directive to uncomfortable extremes.
Keer reflects on an interesting saying from his homeworld: “It takes a million stones to build a castle, but only one out of place to bring down a kingdom”. Was his culture one of the founders of the Confederacy? At the least, it sounds like the saying would be offered as justification for joining the Breen, or else provides a basis for the Breen’s current belief system. Which is no doubt why it’s an easily-recalled saying in the present, but it’s also a nice touch that – possibly – offers our first tiny hints into how the Breen were formed or “recruit”.
As the shipyard starts to fall apart, Keer without hesitation risks his life in an attempt to save the project. Keer is considerably more heroic in these scenes than Bashir, which of course fits in with the theme that “intelligence work is not noble” (to use Sarina’s words). This is why the whole affair is so disturbing to Bashir – he can’t find a sense of righteousness in what he’s doing (though he tries with the “we’re at war” justification that rings a bit hollow and evidently doesn’t fully convince him; he just uses it as a temporary crutch to get the job done). Keer, on the other hand, is in a more straightforward situation; his shipyard is under attack, he’s trying to save it. There is certainly “meaning” and nobility in that, and it’s interesting to have the “hero” outshined in heroism by a supporting character. This is, I’m sure, entirely deliberate, because it points right to the heart of Bashir’s current crisis.
The character of Keer is again “humanized” further, both by his naming the ship for a dead child and through showing genuine distress at the murders of his employees.
On
Aventine, Kedair does get a little moment to shine, after all: “that sounds very thorough” “yes, sir, it is”.
The destruction of the shipyard, Bashir’s escape, Sarina’s escape from Salavat, the
Aventine completing the mission for them, were all straightforward but reasonably interesting. As I mentioned back at the beginning, action scenes aren’t my thing, so I’m not the best for evaluating their success. For what’s it worth, I thought they were executed well enough to hold my interest despite the uphill battle against my reading preferences. As expected, the part of the mission’s conclusion with the most emotional impact is Keer’s death. He gave the Confederacy intensely loyal service, but his commitment was evidently still balanced with an appreciation of his own individuality and personal background. That this most loyal of Breen can also choose to be proudly unmasked in his final moments offers a degree of hope and balance to the depiction of Breen society. This isn’t quite the totally bleak dystopia it might otherwise appear, given Nar and the Inquisitor, etc. It was a good call to play Keer as sympathetic, and a pleasant surprise to find that the first Breen POV character isn’t a villain, despite being committed to the “opposing side”.
The conversation between Nechayev and Dax is nicely written; their small scene hints at a more complex professional relationship than the exchange itself would suggest, which is nice to see.
Another good scene with Bacco, and her nemesis Tezrene, the pair jostling for political capital, and this time Bacco comes out on top (the last round, in
A Singular Destiny, saw Tezrene the victor). Tezrene repeats her ominous warnings about “Federation arrogance”. I can’t help but wonder if Tezrene’s increasingly on a personal mission against the UFP as well as a political one; I hope
Paths of Disharmony expands on her character, and where her loyalties lie concerning the Pact which she represents, the Assembly specifically, and her own agenda.
And of course L’Haan is here. This ending gives the whole affair a boost of significance, and raises my estimation of the novel as a whole. It throws a new light on the main events, and in a way that progresses the long-running plot arc of Bashir’s (reluctant) involvement with Section 31. It’s about time we had follow up on that, and it’s “good” to see that 31 haven’t been idle these last few years, having concocted a new means of “attack”. There are more questions raised, of course; Sarina accepted recruitment; why? And given that she evidently has genuine concern for Bashir (so her POV scenes confirmed), does she perceive herself as being used as much as or more than she’s using him? Does she actually see no conflict between personal love for Bashir and an assignment to use their relationship for 31’s benefit? If she is committed to 31 – and it looks like she is at this point – does she then truly think it’s the best place for him too? To what degree is her love for him real while just happening to serve as a duty also, and to what extent is it played up as part of her assignment?
Overall,
Zero Sum Game was pretty good. There were a few areas in which I was disappointed; the
Aventine scenes could’ve used more insight into Dax’s state of mind (then again, the absence of any significant fretting does convey the sense that she’s moved on, so I suppose the novel gives greater insight into her current mindset than might appear). I’d have liked to see more of Marius; will he crop up in later novels? It felt like he could work as a recurring thorn in Dax’s side rather than just a one-scene wonder. The “genetic enhancement” issue wasn’t really explored in any detail, though we were reminded of it at several points. As I said earlier, there seems a lot of potential in comparing Bashir’s experiences as a genetically enhanced human to the Breen, both outwardly conforming and hiding their uniqueness. The comparison also includes the contrast of Bashir having hidden his talents while the Breen hide everything
but their talents. A United Federation of Planets which is morally disturbed by inequality and a Breen Confederacy similarly disturbed by potential biases. These aren’t major omissions, though; it was a good Trek novel overall. Perhaps it has the misfortune of being largely action-oriented when I’d have liked a more “talky” Typhon Pact entry up first. Still, it portrayed the Breen culture in an interesting way - and leaving room for further exploration of their mindset and government at a later point -, it had plenty of insights into the Typhon Pact and wider galactic politics, and it brought a long-standing character arc into a new phase. So I’m pleased.
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Spoilers AHOY!
