Holy crap, is Riker ever happy, like, EVER?

[Thrawn]

Jesus.

I mean, I get it if your wife is miscarrying, or if the Borg are destroying your civilization, but in Seize The Fire, he's unable to sleep just because someone might've made a discovery of some kind, and then the entire crew spends most of the novel worrying about his emotional state, as he spends most of it somberly being somber about all his somber options in this somber, somber situation.

Not to mention making one wrong decision after another with the cosmozoans and nearly destroying a society's way of life, going through a soul-wrenching illness where another crew member has to baby him, and whatever other genocide-level moral conundrums have been on the table recently.

OPEN NOTE TO WHOEVER WRITES THE NEXT TITAN NOVEL: It's ok - like TOTALLY OK - to have your characters actually enjoy their jobs.

 

[Snaploud]

Why do you think he was constantly pushing away promotions? Riker is great in an emergency, but the guy can't handle the pressure full-time.

 

[JarodRussell]

OPEN NOTE TO WHOEVER WRITES THE NEXT TITAN NOVEL: It's ok - like TOTALLY OK - to have your characters actually enjoy their jobs.

No, that's totally impossible. Where's the DRAMA (TM) then?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Riker is at peace when his leg is up on a console, his head is at a 45° angle and he's stroking his beard thoughtfully. Commanding the Titan has left him precious little oppertunity for that, hence the downward spiral.

 

[Christopher]

I mean, I get it if your wife is miscarrying, or if the Borg are destroying your civilization, but in Seize The Fire, he's unable to sleep just because someone might've made a discovery of some kind, and then the entire crew spends most of the novel worrying about his emotional state, as he spends most of it somberly being somber about all his somber options in this somber, somber situation.

Not to mention making one wrong decision after another with the cosmozoans and nearly destroying a society's way of life, going through a soul-wrenching illness where another crew member has to baby him, and whatever other genocide-level moral conundrums have been on the table recently.

Yeah, but in between all those things, he gets to sleep with Deanna Troi. I'd say that on the whole, he's pretty damn happy.

 

[ares93]

Yeah, but in between all those things, he gets to sleep with Deanna Troi. I'd say that on the whole, he's pretty damn happy.

Agreed.

Lucky bastard....

 

[AN_D_K]

It started off so well to in the early Titan books where he was going to be a happier, friendly captain and not just another Picard.

Someone cheer him up.

 

[Thrawn]

Even Picard occasionally has good days (see: Losing The Peace). Riker is just dour.

 

[Smellincoffee]

He's still trying to find his captain's legs...right now he's still emulating grumpy Picard from the first few seasons of TNG. Wait until he starts being harassed by Q and is assimilated by the Borg, he'll perk right up.

...oh, wait, no more Borg. Guess he'll have to settle for being assimilated on the holodeck.

 

[Count Zero]

One thing that bugged me about the Titan line was the melodrama which at times gets out of hand, in my opinion. Especially Riker and Troi can't get a break, it seems. Many of the Titan crew are angsty but since Riker is the captain, he gets to be super-angsty together with his wife.
It would be nice if the crew could be a bit cheerier in the next book.

 

[chelly]

I think consently being on edge and in battle has made it hard to enjoy his rank. Wasn't titan supposed to be a deep exporation ship? They really haven't had the chance to explore to much.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Yeah, but in between all those things, he gets to sleep with Deanna Troi. I'd say that on the whole, he's pretty damn happy.

Agreed.

Lucky bastard....

Having seen "These Are The Voyages", I'm forced to disagree.

 

[Christopher]

I think consently being on edge and in battle has made it hard to enjoy his rank. Wasn't titan supposed to be a deep exporation ship? They really haven't had the chance to explore to much.

They did plenty of exploring in The Red King, Orion's Hounds, and Over a Torrent Sea. Not to mention that there are a lot of large gaps between novels: two and a half months between OH and Sword of Damocles, nearly eight months between SoD and Destiny, two months between the prologue and first chapter of OaTS, and apparently a full year between Synthesis and Seize the Fire. Plenty of time for exploration -- and for Riker to have at least the occasional good mood.

 

[SicOne]

Yeah, but in between all those things, he gets to sleep with Deanna Troi. I'd say that on the whole, he's pretty damn happy.

Agreed.

Lucky bastard....

Having seen "These Are The Voyages", I'm forced to disagree.

Having seen screenshots from "The Wicked Woman" and that particular installment of the "Death Wish" franchise, I have to say they were rather unspectacular when out in the open, so I can't categorize him as lucky.

 

[William Leisner]

Even Picard occasionally has good days (see: Losing The Peace). Riker is just dour.

Not so dour...

 

[JD]

I never realized it before, Riker does have one bad thing after another happening to him in the Titan books. But then again alot of the books have been filled with bad things happening to the main characters. Look at what Picard went through with the Borg in the TNG Relaunch. Although I guess he did at least marry Beverly and have the kid.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

What bugs me is that Riker and Troi now have this child that they struggled so hard to conceive, and now the baby's on the sidelines. In daycare. No, I'm not saying Troi has to be a stay at home mom, I'm just saying that you'd think that being a parent would have changed them somewhat.

Most parents I see who finally, after great difficulty, have a child, make that kid a major part of their lives, one that extends into other aspects of their lives. In the most recent Typhon expanse, I wouldn't know the difference if they had never had Tasha. I'd have liked to see some parenting moments. Does Will change diapers? How does he play with the baby? What is the nature of Troi's empathic connection to the baby? Does she call the baby Little One?

I felt like Riker and Troi were carrying on almost as though nothing had happened.

 

[sfroth]

What bugs me is that Riker and Troi now have this child that they struggled so hard to conceive, and now the baby's on the sidelines.

I couldn't agree more. I'm about halfway through StF, and am seriously annoyed by this. The times when I've got the biggest problems with it are when they're sending the ship into danger, and Riker never once thinks of his kid. Happened in Synthesis, too. Sure, as Captain, he can't give in to overprotective feelings about his child over the welfare of the ship/his mission... but the fact that it never crossed his mind (in the scenes from his perspective), well, to me, that's not realistic.

 

[JD]

I thought there was at least one or two scenes with Tasha Riker in Synthesis.

 

[sfroth]

I thought there was at least one or two scenes with Tasha Riker in Synthesis.

I was specifically referring to Riker's thought processes when sending the ship into danger. I can't remember the exact situation, just remember thinking that, as the father of a young child, I couldn't make a decision that put her life in danger without at least thinking of the fact that it, y'know, put her life in danger. Shoot, now I'm going to have to download Synthesis to my iPhone and find out which scene I'm talking about.