Philosophical Objections to Trek Lit

[Therin of Andor]

I'm starved for Trek books here in Taiwan and one of this author's books showed up on the shelves and it just had to stay there.

That's what you get for being thin-skinned. You are choosing to miss some fantastic ST titles!

And what did you hope to gain with this post? The author to beg you to forgive him/her? They're too busy writing the next book you'll never read.

 

[Rabid Trekkie]

That was intentional. The decision, as I see it, was far from simple.

At least one of the other TITAN authors disagrees with me that non-interference with cultures deemed unready for first contact is the most important principle in the Starfleet canon, considering that view to be paternalistic. Obviously, while I also believe in a more flexible application of the the directive, I do not believe it's inherently paternalistic in principle.

The discussion and the friction inside Riker was partially BECAUSE he's the captain now. It's easy to hold the more flexible opinion when it's not you who has to make the final choice. Simply making a phone call could, in this context, destroy an entire planetary culture. Weighed against that, the lives of one starship crew don't matter much. And they shouldn't.

Also, something people seem to forget, in their problem with his problem, he ultimately chooses to go ahead and contact the new species. I just made it an actual decision based on thinking rather than whim.

It's been expressed in this thread, and I agree, that the criteria for First Contact are too narrow as they don't take into account what a given species might WANT to do, rather than what you arbitrarily deem them capable of. The Orishans are an example of precisely that.

I wanted to show Riker actually thinking about it instead of just waving a hand and saying, "Yeah, they haven't met any aliens yet and they don't have anything like warp-centric space travel but, hey, they've got a VERSION of the tech and we're in trouble so lets save ourselves by contaminating their society."

Awesome.

No way.

I don't see Will as a frivillous person and I don't see the argument as out of character. Deanna and Vale function as Will used to function in his old role, providing the two counter arguments to Starfleet's rigid party line.

And Deanna, in particular, expresses a similar sentiment to that which some readers had with Will's response. She and Vale tell him why he should do what is in his nature to do. Clearly he wants to do it but feels constrained by the rules and his desire not to do great, perhaps irreparable harm to an innocent culture. I think that's a big freaking deal, myself. Mileage obviously varies.

I know some folks think Will getting the big chair means he gets to do whatever he wants but, as anybody who's got to be the boss knows, there are a lot more restrictions there to go along with the increased powers.

I understand the intent behind making him question what to do, it just seemed a little odd for me seeing Riker going through something like that. He always struck me as a little more like Kirk in his decision making than Picard. But then accept for the other Titan books all I know about Riker comes from tv/movies, so maybe this isn't as uncommon as it seemed to me.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

That was intentional. The decision, as I see it, was far from simple.

At least one of the other TITAN authors disagrees with me that non-interference with cultures deemed unready for first contact is the most important principle in the Starfleet canon, considering that view to be paternalistic. Obviously, while I also believe in a more flexible application of the the directive, I do not believe it's inherently paternalistic in principle.

The discussion and the friction inside Riker was partially BECAUSE he's the captain now. It's easy to hold the more flexible opinion when it's not you who has to make the final choice. Simply making a phone call could, in this context, destroy an entire planetary culture. Weighed against that, the lives of one starship crew don't matter much. And they shouldn't.

Also, something people seem to forget, in their problem with his problem, he ultimately chooses to go ahead and contact the new species. I just made it an actual decision based on thinking rather than whim.

It's been expressed in this thread, and I agree, that the criteria for First Contact are too narrow as they don't take into account what a given species might WANT to do, rather than what you arbitrarily deem them capable of. The Orishans are an example of precisely that.

I wanted to show Riker actually thinking about it instead of just waving a hand and saying, "Yeah, they haven't met any aliens yet and they don't have anything like warp-centric space travel but, hey, they've got a VERSION of the tech and we're in trouble so lets save ourselves by contaminating their society."

Awesome.

No way.

I don't see Will as a frivillous person and I don't see the argument as out of character. Deanna and Vale function as Will used to function in his old role, providing the two counter arguments to Starfleet's rigid party line.

And Deanna, in particular, expresses a similar sentiment to that which some readers had with Will's response. She and Vale tell him why he should do what is in his nature to do. Clearly he wants to do it but feels constrained by the rules and his desire not to do great, perhaps irreparable harm to an innocent culture. I think that's a big freaking deal, myself. Mileage obviously varies.

I know some folks think Will getting the big chair means he gets to do whatever he wants but, as anybody who's got to be the boss knows, there are a lot more restrictions there to go along with the increased powers.

I understand the intent behind making him question what to do, it just seemed a little odd for me seeing Riker going through something like that. He always struck me as a little more like Kirk in his decision making than Picard. But then accept for the other Titan books all I know about Riker comes from tv/movies, so maybe this isn't as uncommon as it seemed to me.

Not at all. Other people found it jolting also. This, of course, is due entirely to my weaknesses as a fledgling novelist. I made an assumption about Will's command duties and how being the boss would likely change some aspects of what we know to be his character. I think he would find some parts of being captain very restrictive, more so than being First Officer. This was an attempt to show that. I'd play the scene longer now and likely with more nuance. Hindsight is 20/20.

I picture Will Riker as jazz musician trying to work in a classical symphony orchestra. It's fun and interesting for him most of the time but on occasion it's got to suck.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I'm starved for Trek books here in Taiwan and one of this author's books showed up on the shelves and it just had to stay there.

That's what you get for being thin-skinned. You are choosing to miss some fantastic ST titles!

And what did you hope to gain with this post? The author to beg you to forgive him/her? They're too busy writing the next book you'll never read.

I've read over 100 Trek books and really shouldn't worry about missing one.
And that author's never too busy to post.

 

[Geoff]

I know that there are a few of us that have objections to reading the books by a certain author that posts on the Trek BBS and whose posts rub some people the wrong way.
I'm starved for Trek books here in Taiwan and one of this author's books showed up on the shelves and it just had to stay there.

So... We have readers who are boycotting certain writers because the author's personal dedications offended them, and now we have readers who are boycotting writers because they were offended by the author's dialogue on a message board.

As a writer, I am compelled to make my own feelings clear about this: I am my own person. I am an individual with my own thoughts and ideas. Some of them may differ from your own, and that's perfectly fine with me. It's a big world and there's room for everyone, and in fact I rather enjoy hearing opinions that may cause me to rethink my own ideas once in a while.

But I'm not going to go hide in a hole somewhere and never speak out in a forum because a potential reader might be offended. If my public expressions are going to cause anyone out there to boycott my work, then quite frankly, I don't give a rat's behind. I'm not going to compromise my own ideals, including my God-given right to free speech, out of fear that I might lose a book sale. It's just not worth it.

So I (and all of the other writers on this board) will continue to practice my First Amendment rights, and everyone else can practice their right to spend their money as they see fit. Deal?

 

[Wowbagger]

I still haven't decided whether or not to be bugged by the questionable Iraq War analogies I keep noticing in the David Mack A Time To Kill/A Time To Heal duology.

Ah, well. Guess I'll just have to reread it. Again.

 

[Rabid Trekkie]

Not at all. Other people found it jolting also. This, of course, is due entirely to my weaknesses as a fledgling novelist. I made an assumption about Will's command duties and how being the boss would likely change some aspects of what we know to be his character. I think he would find some parts of being captain very restrictive, more so than being First Officer. This was an attempt to show that. I'd play the scene longer now and likely with more nuance. Hindsight is 20/20.

I picture Will Riker as jazz musician trying to work in a classical symphony orchestra. It's fun and interesting for him most of the time but on occasion it's got to suck.

That makes sense, and while I thought it was a jolting scene for the character, it was a good scene. Here's hoping you get another shot at showing more sides of Riker's character in another Titan novel.