LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Idran]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

I included the NCC-1305-E and NCC-2010-5 for the reason that Memory Alpha respects them as valid. We discount the duck but there's no reason to discount a starship registry because we don't like the pattern.

Memory Alpha is just a fan-edited reference source, and sometimes it takes inclusionism a little too far. It has a bunch of entries for textual in-jokes that were never meant to be taken remotely seriously, for instance gag element names from "Rascals" like "babaloo" and "cheeseium" and "daffyduckium." So what Memory Alpha considers noteworthy for inclusion is a really, really bad metric for what is "valid."

Of course, to devil's-advocate, scientists do have a tradition of being really, really goofy with naming at times.

(I still totally agree that we weren't supposed to take those seriously as actual element names in-universe though)

 

[Kilana2]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

I liked the reference to a human in polygamous relationship. But it did weird me out a little that one of them was the First Officer in command over the other 2.

I have recently finished One Constant Star and I liked it very much, so I voted "outstanding". I liked the appearance of the Sulus as well as Sasine and Harriman.

Yes, that reverence about polygamous relationship wasn´t lost on me. Simple answer would be: IDIC. The involvement of an Andorian struck me. Maybe another rebel of the andorian obligation to procreate with bondmates. Or the window of opportunity for procreation was already over.

 

[Christopher]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

Finally finished the book...

1) I gather the arachnoids weren't the Rejarrians, or their descendants? So, what happened to them? Did the portal bring them somewhere else and had reset to a different location by the time Excelsior arrived?

As someone suggested above, I suspect the arachnoids ate the Rejarrans. Although that's hard to credit unless you assume they were dormant long enough for the entire population to migrate before the attacks began. I agree it would've been nice to see the mystery explained.

2) If the stars and location were completely unknown, how could Harriman find Odyssey in the unknown starscape?

Every star has its own unique spectral signature. If you know what spectrum to look for, you can find the star.

Thanks, Christopher! Now I understand. Odyssey could easily exist in several universes even if they aren't just parallel timelines, by hand-waving it with its special properties.

Yeah, that's what I figured. It's not that each of the universes had its own duplicate of the star; it's that the same single star was "spread out" through all of them at once, multilocating.

Yes, that reverence about polygamous relationship wasn´t lost on me. Simple answer would be: IDIC.

Or simply progress. Our society is starting to become more tolerant of polyamory today. Just last week I was at the eye doctor and was struck that the marital status line on the patient information form included a box for polygamy. Which is a bit surprising, since I live in one of the few states that still ban gay marriage -- albeit in a county that generally votes "bluer" than the rest of the state.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

Yes, that reverence about polygamous relationship wasn´t lost on me. Simple answer would be: IDIC.

Or simply progress. Our society is starting to become more tolerant of polyamory today. Just last week I was at the eye doctor and was struck that the marital status line on the patient information form included a box for polygamy. Which is a bit surprising, since I live in one of the few states that still ban gay marriage -- albeit in a county that generally votes "bluer" than the rest of the state.

I'd say a simple result of (by now) centuries of contact and integration between many dozens of societies within the Federation, each with their own approaches. Culturally speaking, there are far more options on the table, far more that falls under the umbrella of normal and non-controversial. After all, as Kilana2 noted, one of the participants was Andorian. From his perspective, there's likely someone missing from the relationship rather than someone added. Although as she also noted, given the Andorian society's reverence of the four-way marriage bond, we might wonder whether he is past reproductive age (where single and double partners rather than triple aren't uncommon), considers this casual thing to be no danger or disrespect to his marriage (it's not like he's going to get two Human women pregnant and start a permanent family, one presumes) or if he's being naughty.

 

[Christopher]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

^Yeah, but what I'm saying is that, given current real-world trends, it probably isn't necessary to "explain" polyamory as the result of alien influence. As we grow more tolerant of alternative lifestyles like gay and bisexual relationships, many people are deciding polyamory is a valid choice too. So humanity itself (or at least a sizeable portion of it) may be perfectly cool with polyamory by the time alien contact happens.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

^Yeah, but what I'm saying is that, given current real-world trends, it probably isn't necessary to "explain" polyamory as the result of alien influence. As we grow more tolerant of alternative lifestyles like gay and bisexual relationships, many people are deciding polyamory is a valid choice too. So humanity itself (or at least a sizeable portion of it) may be perfectly cool with polyamory by the time alien contact happens.

Good point.

 

[Kilana2]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

Berlin/Germany had a gay mayor, who said „I´m gay and that´s good”. A former soccer player had his outing along with Aussie swim star Ian Thorpe, who said “I didn´t know if Australia would accept a gay champion”. And the soccer star did his outing after his “retirement”. There is still a long way to go.

For me, as a former doctor´s assistant, it is interesting to see what they ask patients in the US in their health questionnaires (or whatever they are). In Germany most of the populace has a statutory health insurance. Only a few have a private health insurance, and the insurance can choose their insured persons according to health risks, age, profession etc. Heaven forbid should they ever ask about personal lifestyle. Polyamory is more of a lifestyle than marital status (single, married, divorced, widowed). And in the future, the personal lifestyle is hopefully secondary.

By the way, to get back to the topic, I never realized that Hikaru Sulu was missing in action. On the other hand, there isn´t much known about Hikarus Excelsior adventures except a handful of novels (Forged in Fire, The Sundered…)

 

[Idran]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

By the way, to get back to the topic, I never realized that Hikaru Sulu was missing in action. On the other hand, there isn´t much known about Hikarus Excelsior adventures except a handful of novels (Forged in Fire, The Sundered…)

I don't think it was ever mentioned that he was missing in action before One Constant Star, to be fair, so that wasn't on you; I think that came wholly from this book.

 

[Kilana2]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

It was just surprising to me, and I loved how it was handled. One Constant Star is one of the best Lost Era novels. I simply like it when characters are occupy center stage. Quasi a respite from action-centered novels.

 

[Christopher]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

I checked, and I can't find any references to Captain Sulu or the Excelsior in any novels or comics set between 2308 and 2319. But the frame story of the first original Captain Sulu audiobook, Transformations, is set in 2314 according to Memory Beta.

MB also says that Stargazer: Enigma mentions Crajjik being the captain of Excelsior in 2308, rather than its first officer as in this novel. But that's a reference to something that happened 25 years before Enigma, so maybe some character misremembered something?

 

[Kilana2]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

I checked, and I can't find any references to Captain Sulu or the Excelsior in any novels or comics set between 2308 and 2319. But the frame story of the first original Captain Sulu audiobook, Transformations, is set in 2314 according to Memory Beta.

MB also says that Stargazer: Enigma mentions Crajjik being the captain of Excelsior in 2308, rather than its first officer as in this novel. But that's a reference to something that happened 25 years before Enigma, so maybe some character misremembered something?

And there are such things like temporary captaincy or so. I´m not familiar with all of the Stargazer novels. And in the end it is not too relevant. DRG III is still an expert for the Sulus and I´m looking forward to seeing them in future adventures .

 

[Enterprise1701]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

I wonder if David R. George III read Burning Dreams before finalizing One Constant Star. I would sure like to know if he figured that Burning Dreams was ignorable in favor of One Constant Star or if he figured that Hikaru Sulu's Excelsior in 2320 could be Excelsior (NCC-21445). Or something else.

 

[Leto_II]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

^ That's also been my own personal fix for this since last summer, basically -- that TNG Okudagram which gave a different registry-number (NCC-21145) allows for Hikaru Sulu to still potentially be captaining a vessel named Excelsior in 2320, if one chooses.

Was just checking Burning Dreams, and the only specific thing mentioned in that novel is that Sulu's starship is Excelsior-class, not that it was necessarily the same one commissioned in 2285, so there's some fudgeability there.

Naturally, the MMO takes a different tack, having the original, century-old Excelsior surviving into that era and operating right alongside the NCC-21145 Excelsior, which contradicts One Constant Star, but that game's always been in its own continuity anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

Re: LE: One Constant Star by David R. George III Review Thread (Spoile

Finally got around to reading this, gave it above average for the character work, but only slightly. Agreed with a lot of the praise and complaints it got here.

Anyone else raise an eyebrow at the fact that during the extremely delicate operation involving the shuttles raising the portal near the middle of the book, that when one of the shuttles fails they didn't have a single backup shuttle ready to go to take it's place? Or any contingency plans, at all, for such an easily expected event?

Tut-tut, I am very disappointed in this lack of foresight.

(Yeah, I get DRGIII wanted a dramatic moment with the Enterprise rushing in at the last minute, but still )

 

[Tiberius1701170]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I was wondering if DRGIII ever commented anywhere on some of the unresolved elements in the book, especially with the whole Rejarris II population still missing.