apparently not. CF. First Contact where Picard takes out 2 (TWO) borg drones with a Tommy gun. neither adapts.
my thoughts on Resistance. spoilers
- Thread starter captcalhoun
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If they want to do that with unknown aliens of the week, fine. But most people expect a little bit more drama when it comes to the Borg. As I said before, I much preferred the idea of Janeway's computer virus from the future as a means of crippling the Borg.ArtRobot said:
Elemental said:
Oh, all right then... technobabbled testosterone.
Just like any TNG plot device. It important part is the ensemble character stuff, not the how. Here, Crusher was allowed a rare moment to shine.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book and it was one of my quicker Trek reads as of late, but this one plot aspect irked me a little. And so far in the TNG-R, Crusher has arguably been one of the more highly used characters due to her greater involvement with Picard. One of the things that interests me most is the direction they may be going with La Forge's character, as he has always seemed like one of the most stagnant characters.
What computer virus? If you mean the future Admiral Janeway of "Endgame," what she used to destroy the Queen was a "neurolytic pathogen," which literally means a disease-causing organism that dissolves nerves (ick).
Sorry, I must have been getting it a bit confused with another episode or Independence Day or something
. As for nerve-destroying diseases, humans have a number of them in our library that are quite close in concept including Amylotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), Multiple Sclerosis, and even the very common Diabetes Mellitus... all of which are a lot more chronic and sinister than what the Borg seemed to suffer. And all 3 of them are among the last diseases I would hope to get.
I don't think those diseases involve actual lysis of the nerve cells, though.
On the other hand, the "-lytic" suffix got used pretty randomly in VGR/ENT technobabble. Like in ENT they made use of "isolytic shock" in place of "electrical shock" once or twice. "Isolytic?" "Dissolving equally?" Huh???
On the other hand, the "-lytic" suffix got used pretty randomly in VGR/ENT technobabble. Like in ENT they made use of "isolytic shock" in place of "electrical shock" once or twice. "Isolytic?" "Dissolving equally?" Huh???
^Yeah, that's why I said they're close in concept. Diabetes does cause nerve cell lysis to some degree though. Basicly, the sugars diffuse along their gradient into cell membranes and the new osmotic gradient causes water to diffuse as well and... POP! That's as literal as cell lysis gets (Diabetes' far more dangerous effect, however, is on "corroding" blood vessels). The other conditions affect more nerve conduction. The affect would be the same though. Basicly, loss of nerve function. Pretty non-painful actually since pain requires, well... nerves.
Diabetes does cause nerve cell lysis to some degree though. Basicly, the sugars diffuse along their gradient into cell membranes and the new osmotic gradient causes water to diffuse as well and... POP! That's as literal as cell lysis gets (Diabetes' far more dangerous effect, however, is on "corroding" blood vessels). The other conditions affect more nerve conduction. The affect would be the same though. Basicly, loss of nerve function. Pretty non-painful actually since pain requires, well... nerves.Another overused prefix is iso.
1/5 is a bit harsh, but I can see where "fanwank" comes from. I found the writing style to be a bit juvenile.
Nave and Battaglia were two of the most boring characters I've ever read about, and the author seemed fixated on them both. Their deaths were the only time I can recall ever cheering for the Borg.
The thing is, Picard didn't become Locutus again "by choice". He became Locutus after he was captured and the inhibitor chip removed. a big difference, that the reviewer ignored.
I don't really understand why Picard thought he could just show up dressed as Locutus to fool the Borg. Did he really think they wouldn't notice friggin' Locutus walking around their ship? Luckily for the Borg's credibility, they DID notice, but the plan was rather ridiculous from the start.
I did find it extremely obvious when Battaglia was assimilated that Nave would encounter him again, either in "Resistance" or "Before Dishonor" since I knew that it dealt with the Borg as well. Even when they were falling in love and made their pact about her not letting him continue as a Borg should he become one, it did seem quite obvious what was going to be happening. And things like the saucer separation and cloaking device, while explainable, did seem a little bit on the fanboy side.
I think both major tech solutions happening right in a row is what sort of pushed it over the edge...by itself, either one would have worked well, but the separation then the cloak with no set-up didn't quite work. It would have been cool if an earlier novel had somehow mentioned that plans for cloaking devices were in the computers, it sort of came out of the blue here.
I believe that Picard should have offered the Exectuive Officer (XO) / Number One position of the Enterprise E to Geordi La Forge. I believe that we are overdue for some more development of the La Forge character.
Worf's career in Starfleet should have reached the glass ceiling after the events of DS9 "Change of Heart" and Sisko's comments that he would likely never get a command of his own.
I know that Worf is a fan-favorite and I have great affection for the character too, but Worf's actions should have consequences and not be waved away by Picard.
La Forge's promotion would be a good career progression step on the way to the captaincy of Challenger shown in VGR "Timeless."
Worf's career in Starfleet should have reached the glass ceiling after the events of DS9 "Change of Heart" and Sisko's comments that he would likely never get a command of his own.
I know that Worf is a fan-favorite and I have great affection for the character too, but Worf's actions should have consequences and not be waved away by Picard.
La Forge's promotion would be a good career progression step on the way to the captaincy of Challenger shown in VGR "Timeless."
^ This ground has been covered before, but....
Worf being back on the Big E means he pretty much has to be the first officer, unless he's accepted a demotion. He's a lieutenant commander on the command track (note in Nemesis that he's still in command red), whose last position was to be in charge of the day-to-day of the Defiant, which is pretty much the textbook definition of first officer, plus being both strategic operations officer for DS9 and being the fleet liaison between the Klingon Defense Force and Starfleet during the war.
Sisko's comments in "Change of Heart" were that he'd probably never get a command of his own. He still may not for that reason. But first officer of the Enterprise is a lateral move from the position he was in before, not a promotion, so there's nothing in him being XO of the Big E to contradict Sisko's statement.
Also, since "Change of Heart," he's been a wartime hero (among other things, he alerted the allies to Damar's resistance, a major turning point in the war), and served for four years in the Diplomatic Corps with distinction (among other things, singlehandedly saving the Federation embassy from a terrorist attack).
I also don't think that moving La Forge to a command position is (necessarily) the right move for the character, and in fact he turned down being XO of Titan, for reasons explained in my novel A Time for War, a Time for Peace (which is also where Worf saved the embassy, in case you were wondering). I agree that he could use more development, but that can still happen with him in charge of the engine room.
Worf being back on the Big E means he pretty much has to be the first officer, unless he's accepted a demotion. He's a lieutenant commander on the command track (note in Nemesis that he's still in command red), whose last position was to be in charge of the day-to-day of the Defiant, which is pretty much the textbook definition of first officer, plus being both strategic operations officer for DS9 and being the fleet liaison between the Klingon Defense Force and Starfleet during the war.
Sisko's comments in "Change of Heart" were that he'd probably never get a command of his own. He still may not for that reason. But first officer of the Enterprise is a lateral move from the position he was in before, not a promotion, so there's nothing in him being XO of the Big E to contradict Sisko's statement.
Also, since "Change of Heart," he's been a wartime hero (among other things, he alerted the allies to Damar's resistance, a major turning point in the war), and served for four years in the Diplomatic Corps with distinction (among other things, singlehandedly saving the Federation embassy from a terrorist attack).
I also don't think that moving La Forge to a command position is (necessarily) the right move for the character, and in fact he turned down being XO of Titan, for reasons explained in my novel A Time for War, a Time for Peace (which is also where Worf saved the embassy, in case you were wondering). I agree that he could use more development, but that can still happen with him in charge of the engine room.
^ In addition, as Keith always forgets to mention, Worf also played a major role in stopping a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire during the Tezwa crisis, in my novel A Time to Kill --- and he did so at great personal risk and cost.
Since the Pocket Books editors are the gods of the Star Trek literary universe, I presume that they could have devised several reasons why Commander Worf was back on the Enterprise E wearing command red and that the move was not a demotion.
But it was much better that an established character, such as Worf, was made XO of the Enterprise E rather than going with Commander Michael Madden. Yes, I know the scene was cut out of Star Trek: Nemesis. :-)
Thanks KRAD for expressing your opinion that La Forge needs some development. Are there any romantic successes in La Forge's future?
But it was much better that an established character, such as Worf, was made XO of the Enterprise E rather than going with Commander Michael Madden. Yes, I know the scene was cut out of Star Trek: Nemesis. :-)
Thanks KRAD for expressing your opinion that La Forge needs some development. Are there any romantic successes in La Forge's future?
i don't think there's a credible way Worf could remain aboard the double E in command red and not be either no. 1 or be demoted.
and if you bother to read Q&A, Geordi gets some character development there.
and if you bother to read Q&A, Geordi gets some character development there.