Brave and the Bold, Book One

[EliyahuQeoni]

I recently picked this book up based on a recommendation on this board (from the author no less!) I was interested in reading more about Matt Decker and was not disapointed at all.

Part One is set during TOS, a year prior to The Doomsday Machine. Unlike most Trek novels I'm familiar with this story is not told from the perspective of the Enterprise crew, though they are involved. It is primary told from the POV of Decker and the Constellation crew. I found this to be a very refreshing. For one thing we see Kirk and crew through another crew's eyes, which made me look at them in new ways. The story felt very much like it could have been an episode from an alternate Trek series in which the show focussed on the Constellation rather than the Enterprise. There are even a few references to the Connie's earlier missions, which seem to have been every much as exciting as the E's. I liked this touch in particular as I've always envisioned other Starships having similar adventures as our heroes.

Matt Decker's characterization was spot on, which is impressive considering he only appeared once in TOS and then it was under mental distress. The crew of the Constellation--all of which were new to me, I assume they were created for this book--came across as fully realised 3 dimensional characters. The story really left me wanting to know more about this crew & see more of their missions either prior to this time or in the next year leading up to the Constellations destruction in The Doomsday Machine.

I was a little hesitant starting Part Two, since I've never been a huge DS9 fan and had never recalled hearing of Cpt Keogh and the Odyssey before. I need not have worried. DeCandido portrayed the Odyssey crew with every bit as much skill as he did the Constellation crew. I never once felt that I was missing something even thought I had just about zero knowledge of this crew and ship.

Overall this was an excellent book. I picked it up just for part one's Decker appearance and now find myself looking forward to picking up Book Two. But far from satisfying my desire to see more of Matt Decker, it has left me hungry for more!!

 

[Lindley]

EliyahuQeoni said:I've never been a huge DS9 fan

Heresy!

and had never recalled hearing of Cpt Keogh and the Odyssey before.

The only appearance was "The Jem'Hadar", in season 2. The episode which, incidentally, set the direction for entire remainder of the show.

 

[KRAD]

I recently picked this book up based on a recommendation on this board (from the author no less!) I was interested in reading more about Matt Decker and was not disapointed at all.

Yay! :thumbsup:

Unlike most Trek novels I'm familiar with this story is not told from the perspective of the Enterprise crew, though they are involved. It is primary told from the POV of Decker and the Constellation crew.

That was, in fact, the entire raison d'etre of the duology: to present the crews we're familiar with through the eyes of another crew. Book 2 shows Chakotay's Maquis cell through the eyes of Cal Hudson, Janeway and Voyager through the eyes of Captain Robert DeSoto and the Hood crew, and Picard and the Enterprise-E through the eyes of Captain Klag and the I.K.S. Gorkon.

The crew of the Constellation--all of which were new to me, I assume they were created for this book--came across as fully realised 3 dimensional characters.

They were all my creations, yes, though "The Doomsday Machine" did establish that the Constellation's science officer was named Masada.

The story really left me wanting to know more about this crew & see more of their missions either prior to this time or in the next year leading up to the Constellations destruction in The Doomsday Machine.

Well, we do get a brief look at them in Vanguard: Harbinger by David Mack. (Dave also showed us the Mirror Universe Decker and Takeshewada in The Sorrows of Empire in Mirror Universe: Glass Empires.)

I was a little hesitant starting Part Two, since I've never been a huge DS9 fan and had never recalled hearing of Cpt Keogh and the Odyssey before.

Keogh and the Odyssey played an even smaller role in their single DS9 appearance than Decker did in "Doomsday," though we also saw Keogh's first officer (to whom I gave the name Joseph Shabalala, named after the lead singer of the South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo), and that episode also established the animosity between Keogh and Dax (which I fleshed out in the novel).

Glad you enjoyed it!


Edited to fix typo....

 

[William Leisner]

KRAD said:

The story really left me wanting to know more about this crew & see more of their missions either prior to this time or in the next year leading up to the Constellations destruction in The Doomsday Machine.

Well, we do get a brief look at them in Vanguard: Harbinger by David Mack. (Dave also showed us the Mirror Universe Decker and Takeshewada in The Sorrows of Empire in Mirror Universe: Glass Empires.)

FWIW, Masada also makes an appearance in A Less Perfect Union in the upcoming Star Trek Myriad Universes.

 

[Christopher]

KRAD said:
Book 2 shows Chakotay's Maquis cell through the eyes of Cal Hudson, Janeway and Voyager through the eyes of Captain Robert DeSoso and the Hood crew...

Captain DeSoso? Is that some kind of crack about his mediocrity?


I'd love to see more TB&tB installments, maybe even a multi-author anthology in the MU/MyrU vein. There are other guest captains and crews that it might be nice to get acquainted with: Terrell and the Reliant (though I got to do a bit with him in Mere Anarchy 4), Bob Wesley and the Lexington, Donald Varley and the Yamato, Captain Sanders and the Malinche, etc.

 

[BrotherBenny]

KRAD said:
though we also saw Keogh's first officer (to whom I gave the name Joseph Shabalala, named after the lead singer of the South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo)

Any relation to Shabalala on the da Vinci?

 

[JD]

KRAD said:
Well, we do get a brief look at them in Vanguard: Harbinger by David Mack. (Dave also showed us the Mirror Universe Decker and Takeshewada in The Sorrows of Empire in Mirror Universe: Glass Empires.)

So is this where Takeshewada originated then?

 

[KRAD]

FWIW, Masada also makes an appearance in A Less Perfect Union in the upcoming Star Trek Myriad Universes.

Yay! (I had fun with ol' Guillermo....)

Captain DeSoso? Is that some kind of crack about his mediocrity?

Gah! It's fixed.

Any relation to Shabalala on the da Vinci?

We've never actually come out and said so, but yeah, Tony Shabalala is Joe Shabalala's son.

So is this where Takeshewada originated then?

Ayup.

 

[EmperorKalan]

Christopher said:

KRAD said:
Book 2 shows Chakotay's Maquis cell through the eyes of Cal Hudson, Janeway and Voyager through the eyes of Captain Robert DeSoso and the Hood crew...

I'd love to see more TB&tB installments, maybe even a multi-author anthology in the MU/MyrU vein. There are other guest captains and crews that it might be nice to get acquainted with: Terrell and the Reliant (though I got to do a bit with him in Mere Anarchy 4), Bob Wesley and the Lexington, Donald Varley and the Yamato, Captain Sanders and the Malinche, etc.

Bob April, pre-Enterprise?
Dan Paris (Iron Mike's dad)?
Walker Keel?
Unnamed Andorian captain #1?

 

[EmperorKalan]

KRAD said:

Captain DeSoso? Is that some kind of crack about his mediocrity?

Gah! It's fixed.

No, it's great! That's gotta be used somewhere! An ironic barb, and Academy nickname, something!

 

[BrotherBenny]

EmperorKalan said:

KRAD said:

Captain DeSoso? Is that some kind of crack about his mediocrity?

Gah! It's fixed.

No, it's great! That's gotta be used somewhere! An ironic barb, and Academy nickname, something!

Yeah, you've heard of Captain DeSoso, commanding the USS Hoodie

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

That was, in fact, the entire raison d'etre of the duology: to present the crews we're familiar with through the eyes of another crew

I'd say you were successful. Not just in showing the familiar crews from a different light, but also bringing the other crews to life.

And I love Christopher's suggestion of a continuation series of some sort. I'd love to see a story about Captain Ron Tracey of the Exeter before his fall from grace.

Of course, the ideal for me would be KRAD writing a series of books about Decker and the Constellation

 

[Turtletrekker]

^How about KRAD's Constellation crew teaming up with David Mack's Sagittarius crew?

 

[KRAD]

^ Together -- they fight crime!

 

[BrotherBenny]

KRAD said:
^ Together -- they fight crime!

You could call it Constellation and Sagittarius, Deceased.

 

[KRAD]

^ Which means I'd have to include two security guards named Randall and Hopkirk, I suppose........

 

[BrotherBenny]

KRAD said:
^ Which means I'd have to include two security guards named Randall and Hopkirk, I suppose........

Of course

 

[ClayinCA]

Just don't do the crappy Next Generation version with Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Tom Baker, please...

 

[GHS]

Aren't these the only books that cross over all three generations of Trek in the same story?

If I had to go pick a grand finale for the whole Star Trek saga, my vote would be for these books

 

[Trent Roman]

^ Not quite, although they are a rare breed. Other than tBatB, Book 1, the only other single volumes (that I can think of) that has both ENT-era, TOS-era and TNG/DS9/VOY-era fiction are the Tales from the Captain's Table short story antho and the first Mirror Universe book, and I imagine the upcoming Mirror Universe short-story antho will span all three as well. From what we know so far, one of the Myriad Universes books could be a contender, as could one (or more?) instalments of David Mack's Destiny trilogy.

EDIT: On second look, I see you said 'story' and not 'book'... and since TftCT and the Mirror Universe books are thematically linked but seperate stories, yes, I do believe only tBatB qualifies, though once again, Mr. Mack might have something in store for us in that respect...