So what are you reading? Part VI
- Thread starter DimesDan
- Start date
- Status
I read a few in high school in the late 70s. Don't remember much about them, though; I got more into The Shadow.
Just finished The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing, Some of it was good, a lot of it was bad, especially the lack of fighting content.
Just waiting for Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension to arrive.
Just waiting for Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension to arrive.
I recently finished GOW: Coalition's End by Karen Traviss, then the first Mirror anthology.
Next up is the second Mirror Anthology book and possibly Jackdaws by Ken Follett.
Next up is the second Mirror Anthology book and possibly Jackdaws by Ken Follett.
I just thought of one of the things to read that I forgot about. Spock's World, which is something I've been wanting to read pretty much since I first got into Trek Lit. Spock and the Vulcans are favorites of mine, so this is one of I've been very curious about for pretty much as long as I've been hearing people refer to it here.
I finished Eureka: Road Less Traveled yesterday. I'm now reading Hard News, the second story in Vanguard: Declassified.
I just finished reading Synthesis and think it one of the better Titan novels. Pity about the loss of not-Minuet. She would have made for an interesting character.
Read "The Others" by Margaret Wander Bonanno and hope to read the rest of her trilogy soon. Reminds me of some pathways Vulcans might have taken. Currently reading "Enterprise: The First Adventure" by Vonda N McIntyre. Reading two books on Canadian sociology of work. Work in Trekverse is interesting sometime -- sometimes all volunteer in a cashless society, sometimes otherwise. Also reading a fad communication book "Nonviolent Communication" (2nd ed.) by Marshall B. Rosenberg (2003) which may be state-of-the-art or too politically correct. May return to the "A Time to ... " series soon. "Burning Dreams" would also be nice to read soon. ...
Well, I've just finished Death in Winter and I must say that I found it rather disappointing. I'll post my thoughts in spoiler tags as not to spoil it for Sakrysta.
Anyway, that's enough of my moaning. Now on to Vanguard: Precipise by David Mack. Can't wait!
Reading the later TNG Relaunch novels and somehow missing this one, this novel's obligation was clear to me from the very start: It had to get Crusher back aboard the Enterprise and begin her relationship (and eventual marriage) with Picard. Also, the moves towards the Imperial Romulan State needed to begin.
I understood that going in. To be fair, the novel started off well with flashbacks to the Crushers' wedding and the harrowing experiences that Bev underwent on Arvada III, and then the whole buildup to the Kevrata and the terrible disease that had ravished the population.
Despite the Kevrata and their world sounding very much like the inhabitants of the planet taD that was so wonderfully brought to life by Keith R.A. DeCandido, I expected this tale to be in a similar vain, showing us what it is like to live under the heel of the Romulan Empire.
And while this was illustrated in a couple of ways throughout the novel, it was mainly more spoken about than actually shown.
To me the biggest crime of the novel was how the plague plot was glazed over so quickly. Bev was captured so Picard rounded up his old Stargazer CMO Carter Greyhorse (last seen trying to murder Picard and co), almost rehabilitated. Once they arrived on Kevratas and located the underground, there was a brief segment on Greyhorse working on the treatment and that was it. Although, nice to see the old rogue back, his presence proved to be a bit superflouous, so much so that I wondered why Dr. Tropp of the A Time to... novels wasn't used instead. The same must also be said for "Pug" Joseph, great to see him again, but it might as well have been Worf.
That brings me to the rather pointless subplot of Worf and Geordi on board the Enterprise trying to determine where Picard has gone and planning on mounting a rescue. Then Admiral Janeway comes aboard, makes an oblique reference to make it clear she knows what they're are planning, and that's the end of it!
Despite all the negatives, there are some positives to the novel. One of the first must be the character of Decalon. A Romulan who escaped the Empire some years earlier in circumstances similar to the TNG episode "Face of the Enemy". The way the novel dealt with his return to the Empire and the betrayal of his former friend was really great development, it was just a shame he was killed saving Bev and Picard because I would have liked to see him again.
I must also praise the Romulan subplot dealing with the scheming of "the Hundred" in the form of Eborion and his aunt, the manipulations of Tal'aura and Tomalak and the expansion on the character of Donatra and her history with Admiral Braeg. Top stuff, and a lot more interesting than what we saw in Rough Beasts of Empire, I'm sorry to say.
Ultimately we come to the true purpose of the novel and the big changes in the Crusher-Picard relationship. In my mind, it was about time that they finally got together as the thread has been dangling for so long. This novel dealt with it in a believable way, after all it took the "death" of Beverly to make Picard get his act together, and it took Beverly's many trials to realize the time to put the past behind them was done.
You may have noticed in my review that I haven't mentioned the presence of Sela in this novel. That is simply because, I felt her presence to be superflouous really. Any Romulan commander would have done, and was just another example of MJF throwing in a character from the past for no good reason.
I understood that going in. To be fair, the novel started off well with flashbacks to the Crushers' wedding and the harrowing experiences that Bev underwent on Arvada III, and then the whole buildup to the Kevrata and the terrible disease that had ravished the population.
Despite the Kevrata and their world sounding very much like the inhabitants of the planet taD that was so wonderfully brought to life by Keith R.A. DeCandido, I expected this tale to be in a similar vain, showing us what it is like to live under the heel of the Romulan Empire.
And while this was illustrated in a couple of ways throughout the novel, it was mainly more spoken about than actually shown.
To me the biggest crime of the novel was how the plague plot was glazed over so quickly. Bev was captured so Picard rounded up his old Stargazer CMO Carter Greyhorse (last seen trying to murder Picard and co), almost rehabilitated. Once they arrived on Kevratas and located the underground, there was a brief segment on Greyhorse working on the treatment and that was it. Although, nice to see the old rogue back, his presence proved to be a bit superflouous, so much so that I wondered why Dr. Tropp of the A Time to... novels wasn't used instead. The same must also be said for "Pug" Joseph, great to see him again, but it might as well have been Worf.
That brings me to the rather pointless subplot of Worf and Geordi on board the Enterprise trying to determine where Picard has gone and planning on mounting a rescue. Then Admiral Janeway comes aboard, makes an oblique reference to make it clear she knows what they're are planning, and that's the end of it!
Despite all the negatives, there are some positives to the novel. One of the first must be the character of Decalon. A Romulan who escaped the Empire some years earlier in circumstances similar to the TNG episode "Face of the Enemy". The way the novel dealt with his return to the Empire and the betrayal of his former friend was really great development, it was just a shame he was killed saving Bev and Picard because I would have liked to see him again.
I must also praise the Romulan subplot dealing with the scheming of "the Hundred" in the form of Eborion and his aunt, the manipulations of Tal'aura and Tomalak and the expansion on the character of Donatra and her history with Admiral Braeg. Top stuff, and a lot more interesting than what we saw in Rough Beasts of Empire, I'm sorry to say.
Ultimately we come to the true purpose of the novel and the big changes in the Crusher-Picard relationship. In my mind, it was about time that they finally got together as the thread has been dangling for so long. This novel dealt with it in a believable way, after all it took the "death" of Beverly to make Picard get his act together, and it took Beverly's many trials to realize the time to put the past behind them was done.
You may have noticed in my review that I haven't mentioned the presence of Sela in this novel. That is simply because, I felt her presence to be superflouous really. Any Romulan commander would have done, and was just another example of MJF throwing in a character from the past for no good reason.
Anyway, that's enough of my moaning. Now on to Vanguard: Precipise by David Mack. Can't wait!
I dunno about that........Death in Winter was as bad as A Time to be Born/Die which I thought were both around 2/5 star efforts. And this is coming from someone who really likes Picard/Crusher.
- Status
Similar threads
