TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[BritishSeaPower]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

Weird. No early arrival at either of the two B&Ns in driving distance of me. Had two B&N coupons and went Friday to see if I could pick this one up and the Blu-Ray of Sorcerer only hear the former was not in and the latter was sold out (they only had copy arrive in the store and already had a "wait list" as the warehouse was only sending one at a time.)

Anyway, I ordered it from B&N and it's set to ship out tomorrow. Looking forward to this one, love a good Movie-era novel.

 

[cbspock]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I am looking forward to reading this book

-Chris

 

[Reanok]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

My book is supposed to come in the mail in a few days . I'M Definitely look forward to reading this one.

 

[Scout101]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

^That description of Kirk is from the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." See also "Shore Leave," where Kirk said that in his Academy days he "was absolutely grim."

Yep, that lines up with everything we've heard of Kirk.

It's NuKirk that needs to be treated as a different character. May end up at a similar style later on, but young Kirk bears little to nothing in common with NuKirk...

 

[Reanok]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I got my book in the mail this Glancing through this book it looks like it's going to have a real interesting story.

 

[BillJ]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

It's NuKirk that needs to be treated as a different character. May end up at a similar style later on, but young Kirk bears little to nothing in common with NuKirk...

Except the fact that he finished the Academy in three years. That has to say something about his seriousness and determination when it came to his studies.

 

[Stoek]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

^That description of Kirk is from the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." See also "Shore Leave," where Kirk said that in his Academy days he "was absolutely grim."

Yep, that lines up with everything we've heard of Kirk.

It's NuKirk that needs to be treated as a different character. May end up at a similar style later on, but young Kirk bears little to nothing in common with NuKirk...

I believe you may be incorrect. The writers of the first Nu Trek stated in interview that they drew some of their inspiration from some of the novels. One of those novels may have been Best Destiny, in which Kirk is portrayed as a directionless and angry young man until taking part in a program for at risk youth at the insistence of his father. No father, no being pushed into that program and so Kirk just stayed angry and directionless until he met Captain Pike.

 

[Leto_II]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

It's true -- Best Destiny was a major influence upon Orci, at the very least:

http://www.ugo.com/movies/exclusive-star-trek-photo

 

[JD]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I don't know if anyone else is in Az, but Jeff Marriote is going to be at Phoenix Comic-Con next month.

 

[Stoek]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I voted average. While the story does not really break any new ground it is well executed. The characters from Tyree's world are fairly well drawn over all, especially the young man with wanderlust in his heart. The set up for how Kirk's ass is pulled out of the fire is plausible. At the same time I really didn't feel like this story resonated with me. I think some of it is the fact that while well handled I honestly don't think there is even one truly original character in the story. I knew the fate of the three officers Kirk brought with him as soon as they were introduced, the "villian" of the piece is neither evil enough to be fun, nor tortured enough to be truly sympathetic. The one true high point was probably Krell who turned out to be more interesting than I was expecting.

Over all while I'm certainly not sorry I read this I don't think it will be making my re-read list.

 

[Reanok]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I've read halfway though this book and Like Kirk's storyline about being on a secret mission to Neural and seeing how his rash and impulsive decisions can affect an entire culture and the discussions about the prime directive is well handled in this story.

 

[TheUsualSuspect]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I voted above average.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one -- I've not read either of Jeff Mariotte's other books, but judging by the comments on this board, I rather expected this one to not be very good. However, since "A Private Little War" is one of my favorite episodes of TOS, I decided to take a chance, and I'm glad I did.

The scenario of the book is somewhat similar to one of the novellas in the Mere Anarchy stories, but not slavishly so. On the whole, the feel of the writing, characterizations, pacing, and plot developments felt very much like TOS, although the personal situations of Kirk and the other TOS characters who appear reflected the period prior to TMP.

Spoiler: resolution of the story

I did feel the Klingons went along with Kirk's actions during the climax of the story a bit too readily, however.

If you're on the fence about this one (I notice only 8 people have voted in the poll so far), I would recommend it. And don't be put off by the excerpt at Amazon -- IMO it's pretty bad writing, but the rest of the book is much better than opening segment.

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

Just started reading it. So far it is all right mostly for the changes that happened since Kirk was there last.

 

[Reanok]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I finished reading this book .I liked a story that takes place during the TOS movie era .I liked seeing more mature Kirk had to make choices of helping Tyree and his people deal with the Klingons and resolving the crisis on the planet and I liked the b story with Scotty ,Uhura & Chekov coming to help Kirk in the nick of time.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I'm unsure if this question makes sense given how potentially subjective it is, but does the novel add anything to the unfolding of the Trek 'verse timeline? Are there relevant/interesting insights into Kirk's adaptation to his admiral position, his career in Starfleet, etc? Are there any new insights into the Klingon position on the Organian Peace Treaty? Is Neural explored in any depth?

Does it work well with, or potentially step on the toes of, Mere Anarchy book three or Ex Machina?

 

[TheUsualSuspect]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I'm unsure if this question makes sense given how potentially subjective it is, but does the novel add anything to the unfolding of the Trek 'verse timeline? Are there relevant/interesting insights into Kirk's adaptation to his admiral position, his career in Starfleet, etc? Are there any new insights into the Klingon position on the Organian Peace Treaty? Is Neural explored in any depth?

Does it work well with, or potentially step on the toes of, Mere Anarchy book three or Ex Machina?

Put that way, the answer is mostly "No." There is a little reflection by Kirk on the consequences of his actions during the five year mission, but it doesn't really add much to what was in the episode. There's some fleshing out of what we know about Neural, which is rather interesting, but not particularly deep or surprising. Although the Organian peace treaty and its application to the situation on Neural is touched on, again it is not particularly detailed. I think some better development of the Organian treaty and its application to a situation like Neural might have been interesting, or a deeper exploration of how to try to apply the prime directive to a situation where it had already been broken. Either of those things might have bumped my rating up to Outstanding.

As far as how it fits with the other stories you mentioned, I did notice a similarity in plot to one of the Mere Anarchy stories, although its been a while since I read that one, so I can't say much else. I did read Ex Machina recently, and I don't see any reason why Serpents wouldn't fit well with it.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I'm unsure if this question makes sense given how potentially subjective it is, but does the novel add anything to the unfolding of the Trek 'verse timeline? Are there relevant/interesting insights into Kirk's adaptation to his admiral position, his career in Starfleet, etc? Are there any new insights into the Klingon position on the Organian Peace Treaty? Is Neural explored in any depth?

Does it work well with, or potentially step on the toes of, Mere Anarchy book three or Ex Machina?

Put that way, the answer is mostly "No." There is a little reflection by Kirk on the consequences of his actions during the five year mission, but it doesn't really add much to what was in the episode. There's some fleshing out of what we know about Neural, which is rather interesting, but not particularly deep or surprising. Although the Organian peace treaty and its application to the situation on Neural is touched on, again it is not particularly detailed. I think some better development of the Organian treaty and its application to a situation like Neural might have been interesting, or a deeper exploration of how to try to apply the prime directive to a situation where it had already been broken. Either of those things might have bumped my rating up to Outstanding.

As far as how it fits with the other stories you mentioned, I did notice a similarity in plot to one of the Mere Anarchy stories, although its been a while since I read that one, so I can't say much else. I did read Ex Machina recently, and I don't see any reason why Serpents wouldn't fit well with it.

Thanks. I might pick this up (payday this week, so I'll have some money spare)...

 

[flandry84]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

I came to a screeching halt when I read the part where Kirk remembers the female admiral,then a cadet inspecting his rack.His what??
I'm assuming this is another word for bunk but not being familiar with this term it gave me a good laugh.

 

[Christopher]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

Yes, "rack" is military speak for a bed or bunk.

 

[Jeri]

Re: TOS: Serpents in the Garden by Jeff Mariotte Review Thread (Spoile

Just finished "Serpents in the Garden" yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it; thanks! I love TOS stories, and this one is so good about being a TOS story -- and exploring more about it. I would reread it to spend more time in that world and check out the author's other titles.