Looking for old TNG book title

[tmclough]

I remember reading, several year ago, a TNG book written while the series was still on. (Either that, or a fan-lit posted on USENET prior to June, 1990.) The only thing in it that I specifically remember was Geordi having an ongoing problem with everyone always having him look at things, because of his visor--it was getting a little annoying to him to be looking for others, rather than working in engineering.

Can anyone else name the title of this TNG novel?

 

[Christopher]

That sounds to me like Ghost Ship, the very first original TNG novel. Since Diane Carey only had the character descriptions in the series bible to work from (aside from the pilot script), she couldn't do much with them except depict them as archetypes -- Geordi's the one who sees stuff, Deanna's the one who senses stuff, etc. And so she put in a scene where Geordi complained about how they were defining each other that way.

 

[JoeZhang]

Did anyone ever write a good "patch" to explain how a command track officer suddenly because a) an engineer and b) Chief engineer.

I don't have the book in front of me but didn't you touch slightly on this in The Buried Age - when picard thinks back to how he meet Geordi?


(and isn't it odd that it's generally always "Geordi" rather than "la Forge" and it's generally always "Riker" and "picard" than "will" or "Jean-Luc")

 

[Christopher]

Did anyone ever write a good "patch" to explain how a command track officer suddenly because a) an engineer and b) Chief engineer.

I don't have the book in front of me but didn't you touch slightly on this in The Buried Age - when picard thinks back to how he meet Geordi?

It's no stranger than a navigator becoming security chief (Chekov) or an astrophysicist becoming helmsman (Sulu). Sometimes people just re-evaluate their career paths, and clearly Starfleet is not set up in a way that makes it difficult for officers to make such lateral career moves. So I don't think the "how" of Geordi's change of jobs needs to be explained, although the "why" could be worth investigating.

The Buried Age's portrayal of Picard's first meeting with Geordi follows what was established in canon in "The Next Phase," so it was that episode which established that Geordi had engineering proficiency as well as piloting proficiency before he came aboard the Enterprise. On reviewing that scene, though, I do see that I put in a little bit to explain how such a skilled engineer ended up as a flight controller on the Hood and subsequently the Enterprise -- since that was the job that was available at the time. Just as, implicitly, there was no engineering job available on the E-D when Geordi joined the crew, since the ship had at least two chief engineers already.

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ Also, he was seen in at least one first season episode ("The Last Outpost?") working in engineering to solve the tech problem of the moment, so it's not as though his movement to a full-time assignment as engineer was out of left field...just not charted step-by-step during the show itself.

 

[tmclough]

That sounds to me like Ghost Ship, the very first original TNG novel.

I just looked up Ghost Ship on Memory Beta, and the cover does look somewhat familiar. Thanks.

Re: Geordi and engineering: I just assumed in my post (knowing full well that he might not yet be in engineering) that that was the case--just using the most probable situation, for simplicity.

 

[KRAD]

Did anyone ever write a good "patch" to explain how a command track officer suddenly because a) an engineer and b) Chief engineer.

Huh? What "patch" is necessary for explaining that? The ship's pilot has to work with the engines and the engineers in order to do the job properly. The move from pilot to engineer doesn't strike me as that odd a move, certainly not one that needs "explaining."

(and isn't it odd that it's generally always "Geordi" rather than "la Forge" and it's generally always "Riker" and "picard" than "will" or "Jean-Luc")

That tendency actually actively pisses me off, and is always changed in fiction that I edit (and I always refer to him as La Forge in narration unless everyone's being referred to by first name).

 

[elaithin]

Thank you! I can't tell you how many time's that's annoyed the ever-lovin' hell out of me!

 

[Dayton Ward]

That tendency actually actively pisses me off, and is always changed in fiction that I edit (and I always refer to him as La Forge in narration unless everyone's being referred to by first name).

Same here (minus the "fiction that I edit" part ). I never understood the reasons behind the different "rules" as applied by other folks.

 

[TheAlmanac]

That tendency actually actively pisses me off, and is always changed in fiction that I edit (and I always refer to him as La Forge in narration unless everyone's being referred to by first name).

Same here (minus the "fiction that I edit" part ). I never understood the reasons behind the different "rules" as applied by other folks.

I think it's just a weird naming convention, as opposed to a "rule," that doesn't have any particularly consistent explanation (and thus, no consistent application), but grows out of how the characters were referred to in the series themselves...

It also seems to be further complicated for Star Trek in particular by the number of characters who have only one name, so the formal address ("Commander Data," "Constable Odo," "Subcommander T'Pol," etc.) isn't as far apart from the informal one as it would be for other people.

Why is it "Mister Spock" and "Mister Worf" for those two characters more so than for others? Why is it "Hoshi" more than "Ensign Sato," but "Lieutenant Reed" more than "Malcolm?"

I don't know. It's just one of those things, I guess.

I'll keep the editorial pet peeve in mind for any future writing, though...

 

[trampledamage]

I think... and definitely just my opinion here... that it's an attempt to show the differences in people's characters. Geordi and Hoshi are friendly and approachable, Malcolm Reed definitely isn't.