SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[F. King Daniel]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

The only thing I didn't understand is when this story happened. Months before the events of the movie? Years?

I don't know exacty since I've only read the first SFA novel so far, but somewhere inside that "three years later" we got in the movie.

IIRC, "The Edge" comes first, mere weeks after Kirk and McCoy sign up, with "The Delta Anomaly" a few months after that.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Maybe someone will know this: there is a number that follows the chapter numeral and a decimal point in each of the books (for instance, the Delta Anomaly's fourth chapter reads "CH.4.12"). Each of the books has its own unique number -- DA is 12, the Edge is 28, Gemini Agent is 13, and AG is 30 -- and each of the chapter headings reads in this same unusual way. My thinking is that the number that follows the chapter numeral indicates how far along Kirk is, by month, in Starfleet Academy.

So if that tracks, Assassination Game occurs in Kirk's thirtieth month at the Academy, the Edge two months before that, and Gemini Agent following right on the heels of the Delta Anomaly in the thirteenth and twelfth months respectively.

Does this sound right to anyone? Does anyone know the actual meaning behind the suffix numerals or is this just a case of the "Lost" magic numbers finding their way into another JJ Abrams project?

 

[BritishSeaPower]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Sto-Vo-Kory, the decimal number is actually only the total number of chapters in the book. So CH 4.12, is CHAPTER 4 of 12.

Can't wait to tuck into this, the reviews are great so far. Just gotta get caught up on one other thing!

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Yikes. Well, there goes my invite to the Graviton Society.

I. Am. An. Idiot.

Thanks for the info, BritishSeaPower. Hope you enjoy the book. All 30 chapters of it, evidently.

 

[Malaika]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

The only thing I didn't understand is when this story happened. Months before the events of the movie? Years?

I don't know exacty since I've only read the first SFA novel so far, but somewhere inside that "three years later" we got in the movie.

IIRC, "The Edge" comes first, mere weeks after Kirk and McCoy sign up, with "The Delta Anomaly" a few months after that.

I too get the impression that The edge should be the first book and not the second one because the events take place before the ones in the delta anomaly.

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the authors don't get their names on the covers? I think it's kind of tacky. Like, they wrote it! I did notice that this book has a dedication though, which is cool.

I can't complain TOO much, since I knew this about the series when I signed on. But I asked about why the author names weren't on the covers. I was told it was because they wanted these books to be shelved together. Yes, in the adult SF section, the Trek books have their own section. But that's not true of the Young Adult section, which is where the publisher expects these to be shelved. I'm not sure there *is* a Series book section in YA. So they hid the author names. They're not on the front at all. My name *is* on the back, but it's in what must be the tiniest point size readable by human eyes! I get laughs when I point out to friends how small the name is on there...

I appreciate the sympathy on the name thing though. I'm vain enough that I'd love my name right there in nice bold letters on the cover...

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

The best Trek I've read all year -- YA or regular.

Thank you, Mr. Gratz: I look forward to SEEING your name on many future Trek-related books!

Thanks, Sto-Vo-Kory! That means a lot to me!

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

I've read the book this week and I liked it very much so I voted for "outstanding" because I think that it's, by far, the best of the series.

Thanks!

I appreciated the fact that it's consistent with the other books too so, aside from being a standalone story that you can read regardless if you read the other books, it can also be a continuation of those other novels and if you read them all it's nice to have this connection between them.

Thanks again. It was important to me to refer to characters and events from the preceding books, so I dropped a few things in that previous authors had introduced. I wanted to be as referential to the new books and the reboot movie as I was to TOS.

Without putting spoilers I liked how the author explored that relationship and kept both of them in character. Their story arc is realistic and believable (moreso if you read the other books too) and added more depth to the whole thing. It made me want to read more about them for sure. If I can be more specific, I liked the contrast between her "humanity" that makes her feelings more obvious and his "vulcanity" that makes his feelings more subtle but no less important or profound than hers.

That dynamic, a romance between a human and a Vulcan, has always intrigued me. Vulcans are so dispassionate. How did Sarek and Amanda Grayson work? I couldn't imagine a human being in a viable relationship to a Vulcan--but for Spock and Uhura, I had to. I'm glad you liked the direction I went with it.

The only thing I didn't understand is when this story happened. Months before the events of the movie? Years?

Yeah. This was kind of loose. I guess I feel like Nero's attack on Earth isn't coming tomorrow, but it's not too far off either. It was unclear in the film how long they had been at the Academy, and the YA series isn't pegging the books as "Year One," "Year Two," that kind of thing. I think for good reason.

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Yikes. Well, there goes my invite to the Graviton Society.

I. Am. An. Idiot.

Ha. Yeah. Well, don't beat yourself up. I read the first two books without understanding that. I was like, "Is this some kind of rudimentary Stardate? Because it makes no sense!" Then it dawned on me--the number was "current chapter.total chapters". Face, meet palm.

It was a convention that was in place well before I signed on to write a book. Luckily, I figured it out before I had to ask the publisher.

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

The only thing I didn't understand is when this story happened. Months before the events of the movie? Years?

I don't know exacty since I've only read the first SFA novel so far, but somewhere inside that "three years later" we got in the movie.

IIRC, "The Edge" comes first, mere weeks after Kirk and McCoy sign up, with "The Delta Anomaly" a few months after that.

I too get the impression that The edge should be the first book and not the second one because the events take place before the ones in the delta anomaly.

Agreed. The Edge definitely reads like a first book, yet it comes second. I don't know if The Edge was written first, and moved to the second slot for some reason, or if the author just wanted to tell a story about the cadets' first days at the Academy.

Regardless, mine was intended to come chronologically after the events of all previous installments.

 

[Christopher]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

It was unclear in the film how long they had been at the Academy, and the YA series isn't pegging the books as "Year One," "Year Two," that kind of thing. I think for good reason.

I thought it was supposed to be three years, as per Kirk's boast to Pike.

 

[Sci]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

It was unclear in the film how long they had been at the Academy, and the YA series isn't pegging the books as "Year One," "Year Two," that kind of thing. I think for good reason.

I thought it was supposed to be three years, as per Kirk's boast to Pike.

Yeah, the bar fight in Riverside happens in 2255, and the main body of the film happens in 2258.

However, I think there's a possibility that Kirk is actually returning to the Academy in 2255. He's already 22, which is about as old as a graduating cadet would be if he/she were to have joined at 18. And Pike has instant access to Kirk's files, which doesn't make sense if his records are with the civil authorities rather than Starfleet. And that also lets us justify how he could have been a cadet-lieutenant and makes it slightly less implausible that he gets command of the Enterprise right out of the Academy.

 

[Christopher]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

^Interesting idea, but the discussion between Kirk and Pike in the bar seemed to make it pretty clear that Kirk had never considered Starfleet before.

 

[agratz]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

I thought it was supposed to be three years, as per Kirk's boast to Pike.

Ah yes, you're right of course! My faulty memory.

So there are three years between Kirk joining and the attack on Earth, which is when the Starfleet Academy books are set.

 

[timothy]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

I thought this one was the best out of the four. I hope they do more.

 

[Kertrats47]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Finally decided to give one of these young adult novels a try. Here's my review!

 

[Drago-Kazov]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Do we see a lot of action in this book?

 

[Sho]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

^ Going by the description, I think this book may possibly invent a whole new school of the martial arts, sporkfighting.

 

[Christopher]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

^Sporkjutsu?

 

[Kertrats47]

Re: SFA: The Assassination Game by Alan Gratz Review Thread (Spoilers!

Borrowing from my current country of residence, possibly Taekwanspork?