SKRS #1: Second Nature by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Not movie era. It's cleary stated in the Historians Note that it takes place in 2269.

About halfway through. Great read. Definatly David Mack.
Seeing that this takes place in the sector of space as Vanguard, and features characters and ships from Vanguard, you'd expect it to have the same vibe. But it's different, and not in a bad way.
Sofar, I'm getting this adventure of the week vibe, which is awesome. Although the events sofar can hardly be described as fun, everything feels 'fun'. And again, I mean that in the best possible way. Vanguard had this overhanging sense of dread of doom and despair. Here, it just feels like a big adventure. Yes, there's peril, yes there's danger. But you feel that our plucky heroes will no doubt prevail, you just can't wait to find out how, and what's happening around them.


Dammit mr Mack, this is one awesome novel sofar.

 

Re: SKS #1: Second Nature by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

That was a sly joke, right?

 

I'm very glad to hear that, because it was exactly the tone for which we were aiming when we conceived the series. Dayton, Kevin, and I all want Seekers to feel like a return to the classic sense of wonder and adventure that we loved so much in the old James Blish adaptations, and in many episodes of the original Star Trek.

Gracias. I hope it continues to entertain and please.

 

Ah, well...thought I read somewhere in one of these threads that it was early movie-era, but not a prob. Still can't wait to read this.

 

^I think the idea is that Seekers is expected to overlap with the post-series era and eventually the movie era if it goes on long enough.

 

I preorder both Seekers books. I definitely look forward to reading David Mack's novel.

 

Re: SKS #1: Second Nature by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

I like SKRS, it seems more like a shorthand and less like a random bunch of letters.

ST TOS
ST TNG
ST DS9
ST VOY
ST VAN
ST SKRS

Yeah, works or me...

Anyhow, my copy's been 'in the post' for several days now, and I'm impatient. Any crossovers Mr Mack ? Now or in future instalments ?

 

Re: SKS #1: Second Nature by David Mack Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Hmm...

STRGZR's a bit long.

STGZ ?

Suggestions ?

 

STR ?

 

I think the generally preferred abbreviation for Stargazer is SGZ.

 

I'm happy with that.

Not that it makes much difference what I think...

 

Now all we need is a new series that we can acronymize ST TLA ...

 

As with One Constant Star and The Light Fantastic, Seekers 1 was also available early at my local Chapters. I picked up my copy this afternoon, and look forward to diving in as soon as i'm done DS9: Twilight, or as soon as i'm willing to put Twilight down. Which ever comes first

 

Got my copy today! Looking forward to reading it.

 

Purchased this afternoon at my local B&N and just finished.

Let me start off by saying that I'm in the middle of reading the DS9 relaunch for the first time (polished off These Gray Spirits last week) and took a break from that series to dive into this book. The DS9 stuff is great and all but the tiny font of the Mission Gamma books is killing me. I realize that a lot of material is packed into these books but it makes for a cramped and claustrophobic reading experience.

And then I pick up the Seekers...

What a breath of fresh air! Regular, readable font. Average number of pages for a novel. WHITE SPACE between chapters. I can honestly say this was a joy to read if for no other reason than it was a respite for my miserable eye balls.

Luckily, there are many other reasons that make this novel a joy to read. A great story, fun characters and a fast-paced narrative -- in other words, what we've come to expect from a David Mack book.

After reading the Vanguard series, I already had a built-in fondness from the crew of the Sagittarius and this novel reinforces that appreciation by adding great new characters and further developing the familiar ones. The four-being away team -- Dastin, Theriault, Tan Bao, and Hesh -- all had a chance to really shine on their planetside adventure. Especially Hesh, who was depicted in such an authentic way that made him leap off the page for me and made him an instant favorite (read: do NOT kill anytime soon, please).

Great twists and surprises:

Spoiler: Seekers 1

The Shedai influence (my mouth dropped when I saw that)

The inclusion of Kang (I read NONE of the blurbs or preview excerpts, so this was a nice surprise to see a great character from TOS involved and handled very well. Ansara's distinctive voice came through clean and clear, even on the page)

The Preservers (another TOS aspect handled in a cool way)

The Changed (powerful and scary = great new adversary)

The final hundred pages or so just blasted by. Starship battles, our heroes being pursued on an alien world, cinematic destruction -- I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happened next. And no matter how grim or dire the circumstances, levity and irreverence are always sprinkled in to prevent the souring of the reading experience. David Mack's novels are never a chore to read.

I voted outstanding and I'm sure I won't be alone.

 

^ Glad you enjoyed it!

 

I wonder who voted "Poor" and if they'd like to talk about it ...

 

Do you set the polls to private then?