Probably. Which makes sense since seasons one and two of TNG are my favorites from the modern era (1987-2005).
How is The Fall series as a whole?
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Probably. Which makes sense since seasons one and two of TNG are my favorites from the modern era (1987-2005).
I really enjoyed The Fall, though, with hindsight, I think it would have been stronger if it had been structured a bit differently:
- Given how important Cardassian politics was to the conspiracy, I think they needed more than, as Deranged Nasat put it, a book and a third. Rather, while the basic events of The Crimson Shadow should have gone untouched, I think that Garak's ongoing investigation into the True Way and their role in the conspiracy should have been major part of Books III, IV, and V
- The revelation in Book IV that Ishan Anjar was behind the assassination came too soon in the series; Book IV should have ended with the realization that someone much further up in the Federation hierarchy was involved, but we shouldn't have known who yet
- Ishan's blockade of Andor comes out of nowhere; ostensibly, it's prompted by the UFP realizing that the Pact is making a stronger effort at courting Andor for Typhon Pact membership, but I think this should have been depicted/foreshadowed in Books I and II so it doesn't feel like it comes from nowhere
- I would have preferred to see the public side of the presidential campaign play a more active role in the plot; for a story about an interim president who assassinated his predecessor to get into office, we get very little sense of the election itself
- The revelation in Book IV that Ishan Anjar was behind the assassination came too soon in the series; Book IV should have ended with the realization that someone much further up in the Federation hierarchy was involved, but we shouldn't have known who yet
- Ishan's blockade of Andor comes out of nowhere; ostensibly, it's prompted by the UFP realizing that the Pact is making a stronger effort at courting Andor for Typhon Pact membership, but I think this should have been depicted/foreshadowed in Books I and II so it doesn't feel like it comes from nowhere
- I would have preferred to see the public side of the presidential campaign play a more active role in the plot; for a story about an interim president who assassinated his predecessor to get into office, we get very little sense of the election itself
I think that The Fall was one of the most coherent and well put together series I have read. Having read many other multi-author series, which so often falter terribly because of pacing and incongruous story elements, The Fall is excellent. There are a few issues here and there, but is does a superb job of wrapping up many of the story lines from the last few years all while returning the galaxy to a more peaceful, stable place that will allow for more exploration of the universe and the characters. I highly recommend it, especially if you have been keeping up with the 24th century books.
PS. Una's The Crimson Shadow was not only an amazing Trek book, it was just a brilliant book.
PS. Una's The Crimson Shadow was not only an amazing Trek book, it was just a brilliant book.
Count me among those that felt The Fall was very good, but flawed in some ways. I thought the concept was great, and really liked the idea of the novels taking place over a 60 day period, but in the end I thought that forced an unrealistic time frame on some of the events -- i.e. elections and political investigations. The effort to ensure that each novel could stand on it's own eliminated some possibilities, such as Sci described, that could have made the series as a whole stronger and more tightly woven. Also, the novels do not stand entirely independent anyways, particularly The Poisoned Chalice and Peaceable Kingdoms.
I found The Crimson Shadow, A Ceremony of Losses, and The Poisoned Chalice to be the best of the five, although the whole series is well worth reading. Over all, it doesn't live up to its full potential, however, IMO.
I found The Crimson Shadow, A Ceremony of Losses, and The Poisoned Chalice to be the best of the five, although the whole series is well worth reading. Over all, it doesn't live up to its full potential, however, IMO.
That's great to hear.
I was amazed and moved by the quality and profoundness of The Never-Ending Sacrifice, the first novel in my two decades of reading Trek that I would ever recommend notwithstanding the Star Trek label. If Ms McCormack has managed to accomplish this once more, I really hope that she actually stops writing Star Trek, moves beyond the media franchise tie-ins and finds well deserved success with her own original works.
And it looks like the consensus in this thread is that the series as a whole was uneven and at the very least to pick up The Crimson Shadow which I shall do and I'll wait and see once I finish that one whether I'll pick up a couple more.
Thanks for all the feedback folks!
Glad to hear it. I do think it is worth reading the whole thing, it does a great job of setting up the future of the 24th century for a good while.
I think "The Fall" overall was probably the weakest multi-part story of the past ten years. The first two books, while they did set up a few points, in the end were really stand-alone stories when compared to the other 3 books. The last 3 books I found flowed together, but they seemed to really be set apart from the first two.
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