Spoilers S31: Disavowed by David Mack Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Sho, Oct 18, 2014.

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Rate Disavowed.

  1. Outstanding

    45 vote(s)
    46.4%
  2. Above Average

    41 vote(s)
    42.3%
  3. Average

    9 vote(s)
    9.3%
  4. Below Average

    2 vote(s)
    2.1%
  5. Poor

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I really liked Disavowed it's nice to see Julian Bashir get a good Story line I this book. I really liked this book a lot.I hope someday that Sction 31 Control will come out after David finishes writing his other Star Trek novels in the next year or two.
     
  2. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

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    ^ It's not so much Star Trek novels that stand between me and Section 31: Control. It's that I'm soon to announce a deal at a different publisher for an original modern-fantasy trilogy.

    That said, part of the delay in my getting around to Control is that Pocket asked me to prioritize a different project. That's all I can say about that right now. More on that after the details are confirmed.
     
  3. Captain Clark Terrell

    Captain Clark Terrell Commodore Commodore

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    ^Interesting. Speaking of Star Trek projects, did you get the manuscript for Long Shot submitted on time?

    --Sran
     
  4. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Is the mirror universe a timeline where Humans chose a different path, or is it inherently off-kilter compared to primary history?

    Maybe it's both. Human history went so different from an early point that the mirror universe became separate instead of just a temporary timeline (like the Yesterday's Enterprise timeline, an "aberration according to the TIC). With the MU being separate for centuries, there are bound to be minute changes accumulating even in societies without Human contact. At some point, a Founder turned left instead of right.

    There have been minute changes before. In VOY: The Mirror-Scaled Serpent the Haakonians detonated the metreon cascade not on Rinax but on Talax. Still, Neelix and Kes's story is largely the same until 2371. In The Worst of Both Worlds, the Borg fly Borg diamonds instead of cubes, or in cubes sitting on the corner, to be precise. Their monarch changes sex between reincarnations, happily bouncing back and forth between a state of king and a state of queen. And that's before the Borg stumble into the Beta Quadrant.

    Whatever the original sin was in the MU, it's history is only tangentially entangled to PU's anymore.
     
  5. Hando

    Hando Commander Red Shirt

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    ^Well yes. It is just my knee-jerk reaction when some one proposes that the Mirror Universe has an inversed morality in regards to the Prime one.

    I can see your point.
    However if you think about it, humans were instrumental in the creation of the Borg Collective, or at least of one branch if we take the many-sources theory into account.
    And in the Prime Universe Earth was quite the nexus for alien visitors, who is to say that that its Mirror counterpart did not either repulse them or beckon a different sort of visitors. :shrug:
     
  6. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Hey, congrats!

    I'm curious, but why are so many fantasy stories published as triloogies? Is it really just because LOTR was published as a trilogy and it was such a huge success, so now that's what people expect? I always figured that was just a myth (or at least partially) and it was more of a combination of business and creative reasons.
     
  7. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Congrats!! The Calling was a lot of fun; I've been looking forward to reading more of you outside Trek ever since. That's really exciting news!
     
  8. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Congratulations!!

    Well, we know of at least one area where a non-Human MU culture differs from its Prime Universe counterpart without the involvement of Humans:

    In the Mirror Universe, there apparently has never been a position of Klingon Emperor or Klingon Chancellor. Rather, Klingon leaders hold the full formal title of Regent of the Klingon Empire, He Who Holds the Throne for Him Who Shall Return--the idea apparently being that Kahless is a sort of "Eternal Emperor" rather than the throne having been vacated upon his death.

    So there's really no need to hold to the idea that an MU culture can only diverge where Humans are involved.
     
  9. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Congratulations David That's really neat your going to have a fantasy trilogy of novels and other Star trek books coming out. Your fans will definitely looking forward to hearing the news about your upcoming books soon.:bolian:
     
  10. Enterprise1701

    Enterprise1701 Commodore Commodore

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    Plus, Jean-Luc Picard found the Sword of Kahless somewhere in or around local space, not a deserted Hur'q base in the Gamma Quadrant as Kor, Worf, and Dax did in the prime reality.
     
  11. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Cool. I love modern fantasy, so I'll be eagerly awaiting more news on that front. I also can't wait to find out what this other Pocket project is.
     
  12. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I can finally start this, as I had to read the Mirror Universe saga first, which I hadn't gotten to yet outside the DS9 relaunch books... looking forward to it. :D
     
  13. Marika

    Marika Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Just finished Disavowed !! damn! it was a great book! I can't wait for the next one !!

    Now i will have only to put up to date with the MU story line at least from where the Commonwealth comes to be formed .

    My first impressions at the beginning were like " oh crap! wait and see that saavik and Omega is plotting to take on the PU ' in the end i am like " man! i like Omega "
    I was keen to hate their idea of stealing technology from other universes but now i see their point : the CW is young and a lot of things has still to settle up for them , a lot of enemies still lurking in the shadow waiting to size the occasion , so Omega is trying to compensate their lack of known science ( because being under terran Empire and Klingon domination who would have time to do research for new tech?) by stealing it so they can defend themselves .

    The Dominion? I'm afraid i don't trust them not in Pu or MU that's for sure.

    julian and sarina's story with S31 i can sum it up like this : We know that you ant to play us but we will play you first .. then we found out that you know that we want to play us but you don't know that, so next time you will try to play us but we will play you even better :P The fall of S31 is near?

    The S31 head Control... just please don't be someone we know or even worse someone i like because i would be really sad :O

    Talk about Karma .. or temporal mechanics ..poor breen rotfl they got to the PU ..on Tirana III XD

    Cole and Co. XD a vulcan woman alone with 3 men on a planet .. nothing can be good from the 3 men there will be only one in the end XD because the strongest gets the woman :p

    aaaand ... the quantum tranceiver Saavik gives to J and S XD ! Data gave one to Geordi also . We know that the Pu doesn't have this tech yet lol.. so maybe data visited the MU often? Is he a SI agent keeping in touch with MU Omega? brilliant!
     
  14. Jakks

    Jakks Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Just finished Disavowed. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the opinions/questions I had, have already been posted/answered/discussed. Looking forword to Control when it comes out.
     
  15. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Just finished it, and loved it... and as I tweaked DM about on Twitter, the original BSG reference cracked me up. :lol:
     
  16. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I've been watching Get Smart on MeTV for a while now, so that's all I can think of whenever I see references to Control in this thread.
     
  17. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's excellent, I had the same thought.

    Don Adams (may he rest in peace) as Control? I would love it.

    "I'm sorry Control, we didn't obtain jaunt-ship technology."
    "Missed it by that much!"
     
  18. Romulan_spy

    Romulan_spy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Really enjoyed the story a lot. The plot twisted and turned at a good pace that kept things constantly interesting. And there lots of different groups with their own agendas.
     
  19. James Swallow

    James Swallow Writer Captain

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    UK
    Someone called "Control" always makes me think of this Fry & Laurie sketch...
     
  20. Quimby

    Quimby Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    I am behind on my reading and just finished this and really really enjoyed it. The story was tight, quick paced and I loved how it dovetailed the story lines of the MU and Section 31. I also like how Bashir is consistently the moral heart of the story.

    Having the Mirror Dominion be a Dominion essentially run by Odos was inspired and the revelation was a great moment. However, I did feel hanging a lampshade on it by having Bashir state it outright and discuss it with the Founder took a little bit of the air out of the scene. Still, I liked it. I had a hint at the Dominion's more moral nature when they did not kill and replace Saavik when they had a prime opportunity to do so.

    My other quibble was the Breen special forces sounded and acted like 21st Century American special forces. Not really alien at all. But how that storyline ended (where it began, basically) was a great twist.

    Overall, really nicely done.