Spoilers DTI: Shield of the Gods by Christopher L. Bennett Review Thread

^Thanks for the very thoughtful review... but please understand, you can't offer "free" story ideas to writers. It just doesn't work that way. Now that I've read that suggestion, I can't possibly ever use it, because if writers ever did that sort of thing, we'd all be exposed to unacceptable legal risk. And if, by coincidence, I had been planning anything of the sort -- even if I had already been writing such a story -- I would now be legally obligated to abandon it and start over from scratch. That's actually happened to some authors in the past, though not Trek authors as far as I know. That's why this forum has a rule against posting story ideas -- because the pro writers wouldn't be able to participate here otherwise.

So I really appreciate your thoughts about the story you read, but please, in future, never, ever try to offer ideas for new stories to a professional writer.

 

I reread the prior two DTI eBooks to warm up for this one (so it was fun finishing up Time Lock a few hours before watching a Doctor Who episode with a similar plot device). I thought SotG felt a little short compared to the earlier stories (though it looks like it's about the same length as Time Lock, and both of those were a bit shorter than The Collectors, which I suppose makes sense), but it did everything it needed to do for the emotional beat of the final message to land fully, and, hey, it's not a novel. It's supposed to be short.

Still, there is one thing that left my mouth hanging open in shock and wonder. I refer, of course, to this incredible instant.

Spoiler

"Ranjea fired a stun blast, but the phaser did not faze her;..."

In the parlance of the age, I can't even.

I. Cannot. Even.

Bravo, sir.

 

Hmm. But there is somebody else involved in a time-related incident whose surname is "Five."

And yes, "foxmulder710," unless you're in a position to commission a professional writer to write something as a work-for-hire (and you're not in a position to do that with Star Trek), please keep your story ideas (whether good, bad, or indifferent) to yourself, at least so long as they remain ideas. If you want to see them in print, write a fanfic, or try pitching for the next SNW (assuming there is one).

 

I refuse to accept that that episode ever happened. Even Alan Dean Foster retconned it as an illusion in his novelization.

 

It was a kiddie cartoon. You're expecting DEPTH?!?

Sounds like the bit in one of the Rise of the Federation novels which quoted a great human philosopher who said, and I quote, "The first rule of how not to be seen...is not to stand up." BRILLIANT

 

Funny thing about "The Counter-Clock Incident": I don't think there's another episode on which opinions vary more widely. And very few on which opinions vary as widely.

And Mr. Bennett, if you "refuse to accept that that episode ever happened," then Robert April becomes non-canonical.

Not that there aren't a few canonical elements I sincerely wish weren't.

 

That doesn't follow. Elements from a non-canonical story can easily be introduced into canon elsewhere, as with Sulu and Uhura's first names or the names of Kirk's parents. Star Wars Rebels introduced Admiral Thrawn to screen canon after the novels and comics in which he previously appeared were decanonized, and his creator Timothy Zahn wrote a novel retelling his backstory for the new canon.

 

Heck, it wasn't so long ago that all of TAS was regarded as "non-canonical."

 

Allegedly, but that was never really enforced. "Unification" was referencing "Yesteryear" during the brief period when the "de-canonizing" memo was supposedly in effect, and other TAS references showed up in DS9 and later shows not too many years later. So TAS's "exclusion" was only ever really enforced on the tie-ins. And the rationale for excluding it ceased to exist once Paramount (now CBS) obtained full ownership of TAS, which happened a long time ago.

 

Yes. I am of course aware of that. I'm aware that TOS made two of FJS's ship names canonical, along with some of the terms he'd come up with on warp nacelle anatomy, and a few snippets of his deck plans.

But to date, CC/a* is the only canonical appearance (even by reference) of Captain April.

____
*Trimble notation.

 

The first comparisons that came to mind were the long shaggy-dog tale of worldbuilding/backstory ending with "Dying is easy, but comity is hard" in one of his Titan books, and my personal favorite, the deleted line from Ex Machina about arguing about the definition of cannon. This one, though, was just slipped into there, not as a punchline or in-joke but just pure wordplay in the middle of an action scene.

 

Huh?

 

In the first draft of Ex Machina, after the assistant science officer reported to Sulu, "Long-range sensors detect an object moving this way... looks like a pretty hefty plasma cannon," there came the following exchange:

Perez frowned. “I wouldn’t call it a cannon... more like a big Gauss rifle.”
“Please, let’s not argue over the definition of ‘cannon.’”

I figured it was a bit too meta, so I cut it out.

 

Of course, it would have been even better (albeit maybe more obscure) if the exchange involved a Lt. Rodman.

Oh, yes, and I almost forgot: Pun my word! (Actually, I'm surprised that it took over half a century for that pun to show up in a professionally published work. I'm sure it probably turned up in some obscure fanfic or other, a long time ago.)

 

Christopher, why was the DTI director never referenced or appeared in this story? Seems important enough a crisis for her to make decisions.

 

Annotations are now up (beware spoilers):

https://christopherlbennett.wordpre...ollectors/dti-shield-of-the-gods-annotations/

 

The Servo has begun to remind me of Derek Flint's lighter ("This has 82 functions. 83 if you want to light a cigar.")

 

I love these, its like having an audio commentary for a book.

Do any other Trek authors do them?

 

Thanks, Christopher. I think these are important appendices to the stories.

 

Looking back on my post from about 25 hours ago, I guess that's close enough to a "story idea" to kill any possibility of a ST/Our Man Flint crossover.

Assuming such a thing ever was possible.