Finished The Dark Veil a little while ago. This is my second ST: Picard novel and I liked Dark Veil more than The Last Best Hope. It had faster pacing, and a lot more action. Veil also gave me some of what I was hoping for in Last Best Hope, more of the Romulan starship crew perspective. I thought Medaka was an interesting character that it would be neat to see in another novel, comic, or in a live action appearance. Even though the description was different, I just got actor Lance Reddick in my head whenever I read his scenes and it stuck. Likewise, with Helek once I got Smallville's Cassidy Freeman in my brain, it stayed there.
While Medaka, and some of his crew was nuanced, I found Helek to be a bit one-dimensional. I don't blame Mr. Swallow for that, because I'm assuming he was just keeping in tune with how Romulan baddies were often depicted in PIC's first season. That's what I take from the gore in the novel as well, that it was matching what we got in the first season. I liked, and wasn't expecting, the diverse warbird crew. I did like more of the glimpses we got of Romulan culture as well, though I'm not a fan of the Zhat Vash really.
Perhaps if the Zhat Vash were more open about the threat posed by synthetic life, if they even had others experience the Admonition, they could bring over more to their cause. Granted that goes against the Romulan inclination for secrecy and distrust, and perhaps they might even think it would alert the synthetics that the Zhat Vash were on to them, but the level of fanaticism I don't find that compelling or make much sense. Though I know that obsession and fanaticism can have its own logic, or no logic at all, and still can be palpable and dangerous.
Also, I have an issue with the Federation banning all synthetic life for the actions of a few rogue synthetics. While one can look at the ban on genetic engineering after the Eugenics War, that did happen on pre-United Earth, much less Federation. (And the Federation has kept that ban, so there's that to be fair). I can get why some would want to ban all artificial life, but also, I would imagine that there would be others arguing strongly against that, and it would be nice to see Trek literature delve more into how the political winds shifted in the direction they did. I find it hard to believe that artificial life would be banned just like that after Utopia Planitia without lots of debate. That said, I did like how that decision factored into the Jazari's decision and how that had ramifications for both the Federation and especially the Romulans. Who knows what their technology could've done to help save the Romulan star?
I do like some of the things I've read on this board that the Zhat Vash might not be as powerful as advertised or as Laris and Zhaban seemed to think they are. That feels more sensible to me and could explain why they are so extreme.
I also liked learning more about what Riker and Troi were up to after Nemesis and before PIC Season 1. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Thad; I found Kestra annoying on PIC, but overall, I was okay with the character, and the dark future hanging over him added a resonance to his scenes. I didn't read many of the Titan novels, but I did pick up that Vale and Keru made it into the latest version of the crew and that was neat. I thought making Macha Hernandez a part of the crew was a nice touch.
I also liked the scenes we got with Spock and Picard. The Spock scene felt a bit excessive, but I was happy to see him again, see the interaction between the two former Enterprise first officers, and get the tidbits that Spock provided, hinting hopefully at Geordi and Spock working on the Jellyfish ship that was in the Countdown comic and Star Trek 2009.
I thought the Jazari were an interestingly mysterious species. I had spoiled myself a while ago about their origins, but that didn't interfere with my enjoyment-in part because I can barely remember the TOS episode they might have been introduced on. I'm sure I saw the whole episode back in the day, but I would need to look at it again to be sure.
