Thanks for the comments! Although I'd say my exploration of the Tamarians was more than "window dressing." I put a lot of thought and research into it. Here are my story annotations and my notes on Tamarian grammar.
Thanks for the comments! Although I'd say my exploration of the Tamarians was more than "window dressing." I put a lot of thought and research into it. Here are my story annotations and my notes on Tamarian grammar.
The Long Mirage by David R. George III
In-Universe Date: 2386
Publish Date: February 28, 2017
I finally finished this one this week, and it took me a while mostly due to other circumstances (being sick and the annual inventory), but it does feel like a slow-paced book. There's more actively going on than the last few DRG books, as we have concurrent threads of Nog and Candlewood (who had a crush on nog in the past?) are investigating vic fontaine being kidnapped in the holosuite, Kira's return, and Ro and Quark going to track down Morn.
The two plots of what's going on in the holosuite and the Morn investigation eventually converge, where the reason Vic is in trouble is that Morn went into debt in the Las Vegas Program, and is out looking for a way to solve the trouble that he got Vic in. It feels a bit contrived but I liked it, as well as the discussion and ambiguity of whether or not Vic is Sentient.
Going to do I, Constable before original sin.
In-Universe Date: 2386
Publish Date: February 28, 2017
I finally finished this one this week, and it took me a while mostly due to other circumstances (being sick and the annual inventory), but it does feel like a slow-paced book. There's more actively going on than the last few DRG books, as we have concurrent threads of Nog and Candlewood (who had a crush on nog in the past?) are investigating vic fontaine being kidnapped in the holosuite, Kira's return, and Ro and Quark going to track down Morn.
The two plots of what's going on in the holosuite and the Morn investigation eventually converge, where the reason Vic is in trouble is that Morn went into debt in the Las Vegas Program, and is out looking for a way to solve the trouble that he got Vic in. It feels a bit contrived but I liked it, as well as the discussion and ambiguity of whether or not Vic is Sentient.
Going to do I, Constable before original sin.
I, The Constable is a nice little novella, with Odo being gruff but getting a bit into detective novels and the experience while investigating a disappeared quark. Once he determines Quark is Kidnapped, we get some alternating chapters from Quark's perspective. I liked seeing some more of Ferenginar, as well as Rom wanting to be an engineer and still being a bit of a clumsy lovable character. We also get some background allusions to Ro/Quark relationship fallout. The book takes place in the Long Mirage, after the dominion refugees come through the wormhole but before Odo and Kira reunite at the end.
This one was a quick read and I again wish we saw more star trek Novellas. When I finish all this and wheel of time, at least there's a lot of Warhammer novellas to experience.
Original sin is the first book I've encountered in the liverse I am aware of with an unabridged english audiobook. I am strongly considering listening to it instead of reading a little every night, but I'm still split on that.
This one was a quick read and I again wish we saw more star trek Novellas. When I finish all this and wheel of time, at least there's a lot of Warhammer novellas to experience.
Original sin is the first book I've encountered in the liverse I am aware of with an unabridged english audiobook. I am strongly considering listening to it instead of reading a little every night, but I'm still split on that.
In terms of post-destiny books, Original Sin is the first DS9 audiobook, and then it looks like enigma tales is the only other DS9 audiobook in the pre-coda litverse run, though I know there are others after the reset (pliable truths is on my list). There's 3 more TNG/Titan books and a e-novella that don't have an audiobook I have yet to read, then there's audio for prey through coda.
I think I'll probably just stick to reading unless I manage to get through a lot of wheel of time.
I have now, at long last, finished "Original Sin" by David R George III, published September 26, 2017.
Part of this was that other hobbies pulled me away (I played a lot of Hades II in bed instead of reading), and part of it was that the middle of this book really felt slow. We have two narratives, switching back and forth between them, which I've disliked before, and both stories seem to lull at the same time. The payoff for it at least is good, as the conclusion of the kidnapping of Rebecca story (which admittedly we know will conclude favorably because she is not dead) would drop the stakes a bit on the "kidnapping of all the children aboard the Robinson" storyline. The reveal here is that Rebecca has the ability to turn back time if in enough distress. This seems to work by moving her consciousness back in time in her body, but then unleashing a large amount of energy which both times alerts the searchers and allows her rescue. I was a little unsure of how the time travel worked at first, but I think that's how it does.
The main antagonist in the present-day storyline is an interesting sci-fi species known as the Glant, which each have a unique body plan. They kidnap the children, as is eventually revealed, because they engineer their next generation but need malleable minds to transfer into them. They attempt to negotiate with the starfleet crew but essentially consider the humanoids as inferior and will not give the children back because they want them for their next generation. It's a bit unclear as to how the mind transfer works, since Rebecca is transferred but keeps all her memories (maybe it wasn't complete?), and I would imagine their society would have a lot of issues with children blaming the species for abducting them. It's horrifying, to be sure, and is a good reason for why starfleet cannot negotiate with them.
I'd say the sagging middle, plus the lack of distinct focus on any character, made this one rank lower than the other post-destiny/fall DS9 books. I think there are some interesting concepts here, but it could have been trimmed or combined with others.
At this point I assume there won't be any more of Rebecca Jae Sisko. I was interested to see what more they would do, but perhaps that's a stone best left unturned. Next up for me, I think I'll try the section 31 stories before a treat of Enigma Tales.
Part of this was that other hobbies pulled me away (I played a lot of Hades II in bed instead of reading), and part of it was that the middle of this book really felt slow. We have two narratives, switching back and forth between them, which I've disliked before, and both stories seem to lull at the same time. The payoff for it at least is good, as the conclusion of the kidnapping of Rebecca story (which admittedly we know will conclude favorably because she is not dead) would drop the stakes a bit on the "kidnapping of all the children aboard the Robinson" storyline. The reveal here is that Rebecca has the ability to turn back time if in enough distress. This seems to work by moving her consciousness back in time in her body, but then unleashing a large amount of energy which both times alerts the searchers and allows her rescue. I was a little unsure of how the time travel worked at first, but I think that's how it does.
The main antagonist in the present-day storyline is an interesting sci-fi species known as the Glant, which each have a unique body plan. They kidnap the children, as is eventually revealed, because they engineer their next generation but need malleable minds to transfer into them. They attempt to negotiate with the starfleet crew but essentially consider the humanoids as inferior and will not give the children back because they want them for their next generation. It's a bit unclear as to how the mind transfer works, since Rebecca is transferred but keeps all her memories (maybe it wasn't complete?), and I would imagine their society would have a lot of issues with children blaming the species for abducting them. It's horrifying, to be sure, and is a good reason for why starfleet cannot negotiate with them.
I'd say the sagging middle, plus the lack of distinct focus on any character, made this one rank lower than the other post-destiny/fall DS9 books. I think there are some interesting concepts here, but it could have been trimmed or combined with others.
At this point I assume there won't be any more of Rebecca Jae Sisko. I was interested to see what more they would do, but perhaps that's a stone best left unturned. Next up for me, I think I'll try the section 31 stories before a treat of Enigma Tales.
