Next Titan novel announced

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Defcon, Oct 26, 2011.

  1. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    You insinuating that she would have the same emotional reaction as a human to an event like that without anything to back it up, Sci?
     
  2. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Unless they're launched from ships at warp, which are by definition in subspace bubbles.

    I don't have to. You're the one making the assertion; therefore, the burden of proof falls to you.

    It's neither accurate to refer to the Collective as a force of nature or as a person. It is a very intelligent computer program that nonetheless lacks true free will; it always obeys the endless hunger of the degenerated consciousness of the Caeliar Sedin, and never seeks to think or act outside of that goal.

    No, I made no claims about what kinds of emotional reactions she would or would not have. I made a claim about whether or not being a victim of violence is sufficient to assume she must necessarily understand her attackers.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2011
  3. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I hate to get all real world here, but I don't think we can use to much of the stuff from Q Who, when we're talking about post First Contact Borg. Nothing had really been established about the Borg when Q Who was written, so any time anything from it doesn't line up with later stories, we should probably just ignore it.
    Because there is no way that you could say that the Borg are any kind of a rational being, they've shown in pretty much every appearance that that isn't the case. Sure they might appear that way, but unless they've been disconnected from the collective, they always ended up in "You will be assimilated" mode by the end.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    It's a metaphor. I would've thought that went without saying.
     
  5. Technobuilder

    Technobuilder Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    So I just finished Typhon Pact: Seize The Fire and I really don't know if I can say I hated it.

    I thought the story was mediocre and drawn out artificially (time after time), but I liked some of the concepts introduced in the story such as a Warp Capable Species without Warp Drive.

    One terrible thing that stands out is that the characters didn't seem to be written in "their own" voices. Riker, Vale, Troi, Keru, & Tuvok especially so.

    "2nd Gen White-Blue" is a great character though he seemed to be almost child-like.

    I thought the Mind Meld with the Eco-Artifact-God-Thing was Cliche, not to mention convenient, but I liked it enough to finish reading the story.

    But again, I did like the Societal Information about the Gorn and their Caste/Sub-caste systems.

    Overall I'd give the book a 2.5/3 out of 5.

    Great Potential but needed tighter focus and better error checking. (They were everywhere) sigh.
     
  6. DS9Continuing

    DS9Continuing Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This was one of my my major beefs with it, too. The exposition scenes seemed horrifically clumsy and awkward, with no sense of how people actually talk, even in a professional capacity. They were really difficult to read.

    To be fair, it's exactly the kind of thing Spock did routinely in TOS and the movies.

    Yes, that was the best part of it undoubtedly. I found the Gorn characters more believable than the Titan characters, to be honest.

    .
     
  7. MatthiasRussell

    MatthiasRussell Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I was in agreement with Technobuilder when I read it. With all of Martin's solo material, I've found great concepts I just didn't like the story telling. I likewise found the characters more cardboard than they were in the past.

    The concept of what makes a civilization warp-capable and contact-worthy is a good one that to me was a great concept from Insurrection that the movie should have developed better. Though I think the warp capable ability makes a civilization acceptable for contact, the fact they don't use it means they probably don't desire it.

    I would also like to see more of the Gorn. The interaction between the Gorn scientist and the Saurian was probably the single most memorable scene in STF to me.
     
  8. Technobuilder

    Technobuilder Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I believe the officer in question was Gnalish not Saurian. There was a female Saurian in the Sickbay scenes, but that was it.
     
  9. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    That's right, he was Gnalish. So I guess he was saurian but not Saurian. :)
     
  10. Cybersnark

    Cybersnark Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    It would have to, otherwise it would be a simile.








    I'll just sit over here.
     
  11. MatthiasRussell

    MatthiasRussell Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    What I meant was the conversation between 2 saurians.
     
  12. Technobuilder

    Technobuilder Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Reptiloid? I think I get the gist now though.
     
  13. The Caprican

    The Caprican Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Wow. I have just read a number of negative reviews regarding Martin. I thought I was alone. I didn't HATE Seize the Fire, nor did I HATE The Romulan War Book I. They weren't my favorites, but when I look back at his collaborations with Mr. Mangels (especially the ENT relaunch books, Section 31 Rogue,Lost Era The Sundered and the early Titan entries) I find Martin's solo works lacking. And the Mangels/Martin team offered some of the first novels in the Star Trek universe to feature homosexual characters. Whether they are Klingon, Human, Vulcan, or Trill. For that I am very grateful. I do wish that the two could reunite. However, I will give his next Titan novel a chance. I will just expect to chew through a good hundred pages of scenery before anything actually happens.
     
  14. JB2005

    JB2005 Commodore Commodore

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    ^ But that's sort of the point, I don't think anyone outright "hates" what he's done...it's just become mediocre Trek, and when you read his earlier colaborative works, then it's just depressing to think that one of the better Trek writers is now putting out such comparative garbage...
     
  15. Technobuilder

    Technobuilder Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  16. MatthiasRussell

    MatthiasRussell Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Hate is a strong word, but I will NOT buy any more Martin books unless it is a collaboration, they are just not worth it to me because I've come to expect a book that I won't enjoy and its not worth it for the few good nuggets. You call his solo stuff "mediocre" and "garbage" but think it isn't a big deal but I think it is. On Amazon I've read people publish reviews saying they rarely read Trek novels then they pick up Romulan War or Seize the Fire and it bores them so much they won't pick up a trek novel again. Maybe in the 90s when there were many regular trek titles you could afford a few poor contributions but with limited releases now, a bad apple could spoil the whole barrel. A fan gets a bad taste and decides not to read any other books. These books consistantly having the same flaws could impact the reputation of all of trek lit and cool the enthusiasm of fans to buy more books.
     
  17. BrotherBenny

    BrotherBenny Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I actually like Michael's work. No, it's not the same as it was when he was collaborating with Andy, and lacks some of the finer details, but I've read original (non-tie-in) novels that make his work look like literary fiction. He has a style that you might not like but I think it's uncalled for to make such a statement. For every reader of ST books that doesn't like his work, there is one or more that does.

    You've said your piece, now get off your soapbox and let's get this thread back on track. Denigrating an author is not what it's for.

    I'm looking forward to seeing what the crew of Titan are up to, and seeing as though it's a sequel to Seize the Fire, I am curious.
     
  18. MatthiasRussell

    MatthiasRussell Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    And you are welcome to your opinion and preferences. True, you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time. I'd say posters in this forum trend to be more of the "all the time" crowd. And those of us who don't like his work are equally welcome to our opinion and are most definitely not in the minority.

    Also, stating I don't like his books is far different from judging him personally or his ability to contribute to trek. I've said nothing personal and have even praised some of his contributions as well as Martin's enthusiasm.

    The thread goes the way the conversation takes it even if you or I disagree with that direction, BB.
     
  19. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

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    What, you don't like pig slop? You want that to stop too? It's the mediocre people that are in that keep the really good stuff out.

    I too feel that it should be more of an assembly line multi staged process, more like the t.v. show and more of a collaborative effort which is why I said the editors should have a second tier to judge sci-fi media tie ins else it becomes impossible for any new great stories to get through.
     
  20. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Why would that be necessary when we're already getting great stories?