Spoilers ENT: Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic by C. L. Bennett Review Thread

I finished the book today, and while it was good, aside from the Deltan/Orion parts, it also seemed to be missing a scene.

Spoiler: Possible plot spoiler

Reading up to page 278, when the explosion at Skon and T'Rama's house occurs, and T'Pau leaves the Vulcan council inquiry, T'Pau is still First Minister of Vulcan; however whe she's seen again at Skon and T'Rama's house, she is described as "Former First Minister", and at various points afterwards it seemed that she was still First Minister, but then there were other parts where (and in one scene Kuvak was identified as being First Minister) she seemed to be "Former First Minister". I've gone back to see if there was any mention of T'Pau stepping down as First Minister, but I can't seem to find the scene where she steps down. Was this possible deleted by accident during a revision?

 

Spoiler: ending of To Brave the Storm

T'Pau told Nathan Samuels at the signing of the Federation Charter that she would step down as Administrator (previous novels variously referred to her as Administrator or First Minister) and that she would support Kuvak to succeed her.

Maybe Uncertain Logic has a few typos?

That could be consistent with Arlia's behavior in Myriad Universes - A Less Perfect Union.

 

Spoiler: page 278

I get that, but in Uncertain Logic, there is nothing mentioned about her stepping down, or even handing the office over to Kuvak. As I said, up to 278 she was the First Minister of Vulcan, and she was never identified as the Former First Minister, and then all of a sudden the Skon's house gets bombed, she goes from the court room to be with her clan members and all of a sudden she is being called "Former First Minister". And even afterwards I was looking for a passing mention of T'Pau stepping down, but nothing was said. It was a very abrupt change, and I'm wondering if there was something that got deleted in the editing of the book by mistake.

 

There's no contradiction and no typo. People who have retired or stepped down from an office are still properly addressed by its title, like the way we still refer to President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, etc. It's an honorary title.

Also, I clearly established in the book's prologue that Kuvak was the incumbent first minister, and in Chapter 9 when T'Pau first appears in the story, I explicitly mention "Kuvak's predecessor, First Minister T'Pau." So yes, it is stated up front that she is not the current first minister.

 

5% (per Kindle) in and already two instances of the Christopher trope of having characters remark that things that happened in episodes made no sense.

 

I'll be making a start on this tomorrow. (I wasn't expecting it til next week so it was a pleasant surprise when it popped up this morning on my Kindle)

 

Generally my goal is to try to find a way they can make sense. I think I can guess one of the two instances you're referring to, involving the Ware stations, and my intent there was to raise the question of why they worked the way they did as a mystery to be resolved later (though not necessarily in UL itself). I don't know what the other instance is, though.

 

The wisps, probably. Travis having to clarify that it isn't one of his ghost stories.

But then the wisps don't make sense.

 

The Crossing:

"I'll believe that when you explain to me what creatures without bodies needed a starship for."
"They couldn't live in space."
"Then how did they operate the thing?"
"I never got around to asking, okay?"

 

Not to mention the scene when...

Spoiler: Early-ish spoiler

Reed and Trip try to explain to Travis the convoluted story behind Trip's faked death.

 

Have't gotten that far.

 

Whoops! Sorry. Hmm, maybe I should come up with a better name for that than "early-ish spoiler"...

 

That's not strictly a Christopher trope, is it? I mean, he wasn't the one who novelized "Broken Bow," after all...

 

Oh, no worries. Heck, I clicked the button.

He does it a disproportionate amount more than other authors. Probably by a factor of 5.

I'm not saying I mind it. I'm just saying I notice it. The gracefulness of the execution matters, of course. Sometimes it's something like "Riker remembered wondering why X made no sense at the time, but he never said anything".

 

I got my book today and started reading the first few chapters I really like the story taking place on Vulcan so far.

 

Under a hundred pages in. Just all right so far.

 

About halfway through, pretty underwhelmed so far, seems to be one of Christopher's weaker efforts again.

 

I finished the book yesterday and it was great! I love continuity stuff, it is one of my weaknesses, and Christopher is doing an amazing job at connecting things.

I like the other the books as well, but this one engrossed me the most.
First:

Spoiler: the story, what else?

For a moment I genuinely thought Travis is gona die. And that is a very hard thing to accomplishe with a main character in a series.

Second:

Spoiler: the story, what else?

I was getting very upset when the pebru showed up. I couldn't belive Christopher would make such creatures the makers of the Ware, but in these days you have to be prepared for anything.

The idea of a religious war on Vulcan never even occured for me, and getting us to like the Essex crew is just cruel. Also, we get some interesting additions to our villain collection, but honestly I'm beginning to lose track. , and the changes for some characters in their very way of life...

Two little questions for Christopher:
1. I seem to recall that you mentioned something about the "Warp Delta". Is the the Ganges-class from the book?
2. Are Zadok and T'Faral commanders in Starfleet or Vulcan retained a separate space force like the Bajoran Militia after Bajor joined the Federation?

 

ho hum. The continuing saga of Christopher Bennett's attempt to Explain Everything. First it was the aliens from Silent Enemy, then the malurians, and orions and now i'm just starting and he's gonna ruin the mystery of the Automated repair station. remember when he revealed future guy as just Some Guy? Man hates mysteries. not everything needs to be told. Tired Tired Tired.

 

I finished yesterday, and I really enjoyed it! If Christopher is monitoring this thread, I want to say THANK YOU for giving Reed some action. He is doing pretty much as I would expect him to - and he has a solid moral compass. And very tactically oriented. (Can't go into much more without risking spoilers). But I like that he is very much "in character".

Glad to see Travis confronting psychological demons.

And as a mom of a disabled kid who has apraxia and other motor planning delays, I was pleased with a certain subplot.

Hey, Christopher, the political aspects were intriguing to me. I know science fiction is kind of an "escape" of sorts, but do you ever consciously take ideas from real life?