^That was Shatner, not Kirk. 
Spoilers TOS: The Rings of Time by Greg Cox Review Thread
- Thread starter JD
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Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
I got the impression that this was a relatively "young" Q who was more curious than meddlesome.
Better late than never: here's my take on Greg's latest (and full disclosure - I get a thanks in the back, although I'm not sure what for exactly!)
Paul
Paul
^That was Shatner, not Kirk.
Ha! Fair enough.
I'd say this was fairly average stuff - some nice characterization but the story was a bit contrived with a rushed ending plus way too much name-dropping of other stories in there which kept pulling me out of the story. Having said that, the writer is between a rock and a hard place because a lot of people love that sort of fan-wankery.
As I recall, you, Marco, David George, and I had lunch at Shore Leave one afternoon while I picked your brains about how to justify a Saturn mission in 2020 . . . .
Heck, I love that sort of thing. I'm aware that I can go overboard with it sometimes, but take comfort in the fact that at least some of my readers seem to enjoy it as well.
Plus, it just makes sense to me. If anything, it bugs me that the characters on TOS almost never reference their own experiences, despite any obvious parallels. "My God, Jim, it's another culture ruled by a god-like computer, just like all those other ones we've run into before!"
They always act like they've never run into a shape-shifting alien or energy being before . . . .
Seems to me that if I suddenly found myself in the wrong body, or confronted with an evil twin, my brain would instantly flash back to the last time that happened to me!
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Is this considered to be part of the current Pocket continuity (i.e. does it have any connections to books set before/after it, however minor), or is it pretty much just a completely standalone adventure with no ties at all to anything else?
It doesn't much matter to me either way, I'm just curious.
It doesn't much matter to me either way, I'm just curious.
Shaun Christopher appeared briefly in my Eugenics Wars novels, and there's some (non-essential) callbacks to those books, but mostly it's a standalone TOS adventure.
Also there are brief, mutual allusions between The Rings of Time and my upcoming DTI: Forgotten History, which is a sequel/prequel to DTI: Watching the Clock, which is set within the main novel continuity. So Rings is peripherally linked to the main continuity, but again, is a mainly self-contained story.
I just finished this book. I rated it "outstanding"! I really liked the setting, that being during the 5 year mission. The story was really good, better than a typical episode which I viewed this as being. I actually liked the length, in a world of 500+ pages and cast of characters that requires a crib sheet this was refreshing.
If I had one wish it would be that there was a document of annotations offering nuggets of insight and references.
Regardless, thank you Greg!
If I had one wish it would be that there was a document of annotations offering nuggets of insight and references.
Regardless, thank you Greg!
I thought Rings of Time was a fun read. I must admit that I felt the 2020 portions were a much stronger narrative than the Kirk-era sections. To echo an earlier post, I would have enjoyed an entire book devoted to Shaun Christopher and the Saturn mission.
My favorite bits have to be the callbacks to the Eugenics War novels (which are not only my favorite works of Mr. Cox, but some of my favorite novels in all of Trek lit). I still hope to read about the further adventures of Gary Seven in some future Trek novel, preferably by Greg Cox or Lincoln Roberts.
I look forward to reading more Trek fiction from Mr. Cox in the near future. Cheers.
My favorite bits have to be the callbacks to the Eugenics War novels (which are not only my favorite works of Mr. Cox, but some of my favorite novels in all of Trek lit). I still hope to read about the further adventures of Gary Seven in some future Trek novel, preferably by Greg Cox or Lincoln Roberts.
I look forward to reading more Trek fiction from Mr. Cox in the near future. Cheers.
I just finished Rings of Time, and I really liked it. The story was very interesting, and actually made me care for the 21st centry storyline. I'm usually not a fan of any Trek stories that are set in or time travel too far in the past, but this was a good book. I really liked Qat being written as a Q in everything but name. It was a cool way to get a Q into a book set in TOS.
Also, since she seemed to be spending so much time with humans (several months or even years on the colony, a good amount of time on earth) maybe her enjoyment of humans led her back to earth in the 24th centry, and she was one of the two Q who took human form and gave birth to Amanda Rogers.
That's just me trying to make it fit in with the TV show more. I don't think Amanda's parents have ever been mentioned in any story (actually, besides brief mentions, I don't think Amanda Rogers has even shown up in any stories outside the episode she appeared in), so its possible. That might be an interesting story. While True Q is my least favorite Q episode (its not bad, just my least favorite), it would be interesting to see Amanda Rogers play some part in a Q story someday.
Also, since she seemed to be spending so much time with humans (several months or even years on the colony, a good amount of time on earth) maybe her enjoyment of humans led her back to earth in the 24th centry, and she was one of the two Q who took human form and gave birth to Amanda Rogers.
That's just me trying to make it fit in with the TV show more. I don't think Amanda's parents have ever been mentioned in any story (actually, besides brief mentions, I don't think Amanda Rogers has even shown up in any stories outside the episode she appeared in), so its possible. That might be an interesting story. While True Q is my least favorite Q episode (its not bad, just my least favorite), it would be interesting to see Amanda Rogers play some part in a Q story someday.
I loved The Rings of Time. It was a fun, exciting story and Greg Cox made the characters ring true. I think this may be the first Greg Cox book I have read. I keep meaning to read the Khan books. I am more interested in reading those now that I know he has the stuff. Good work Mr. Cox!
Thanks!
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