I mean the previous litverse. They could always get Quinto to play an older Spock in Picard.
Spoilers PIC: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack Review Thread
- Thread starter Kilana2
- Start date
From what I've seen in this thread so far, I can come to only one conclusion: I want this book as soon as possible.
You’re not missing much.
No offense, but I'll determine that for myself.You’re not missing much.
Yes, the scope of the failure here is staggering. And unfortunately, it looks like there may be some more sadness coming, as it *appears* from the preview for episode 4 that...
they are going to reveal that one of the mission's biggest successes, the relocation to Vashti, is going to end up failing too in the long run. 
I'm not really familiar with what goes on in STO, outside of things I pick up here and there around this very board.
Some other thoughts:
I do have to admit, it was very disheartening to read about some of the worst things about our own present-day world also being an issue in Star Trek's late 24th century. I know that Star Trek has always been about holding a mirror up to our own society, in whatever era it was created. And I also know from BTS sources that one of the main things that drew Patrick Stewart back to the character was the ability to comment on all the mess that is going on in the world today. But to actually see these things happen in a fictional future that we usually think of as optimistic, just added to the overall sadness in the story. It is certainly easy to see how Picard became disillusioned with both Starfleet and the Federation.
The supernova seemed to be a pretty overt metaphor for our own climate crisis, complete with new research that shows things are worse than was originally thought, lamentation that not enough had been done early enough to prevent tragedy, and even out-and-out deniers. (Senator Kurrem will be sadly familiar to anyone who spends any amount of time online.)
I'll put this part in spoiler tags just in case...
I knew from articles I had read that Elnor was going to be a main character in season 1. However, I assumed that Zani and the Qowat Milat backstory were creations of the author. But shortly after reading Zani's introduction in the novel, I had seen the article on TrekToday indicating that Zani had been cast, and the Qowat Milat were specifically mentioned too. This makes me wonder if any other characters, which I had assumed were author creations, might appear at some point in the show as well. The two I'd probably be most interested in seeing would be Koli and Tajuth.
If you happened to be someone who had a problem with Clancy's language in episode 2... you are going to have an issue with this book!
I would recommend that if you have the opportunity, and are watching the show, you should try to read this book. Obviously, you don't *need* to in order to follow the show, but I think the emotional weight it adds to the story is well worth it.
As soon as I finish my current book, this is going to be my next read
That's not how tie-in fiction works. It's stories written around the canon. The novelverse was written around the canon as-was, the new Picard book is written around the canon as-is.
That said, I'd love a novel series rebooting Trek in some way, a seperate thing that wasn't a tie-in but blazing a fresh trail.
Yeah but it’s JJVerse canon. No one cares about that.
You do know the current overlord of the Star Trek Universe is the same guy who co-wrote and co-produced those movies, right?Yeah but it’s JJVerse canon. No one cares about that.
Unfortunately yes.
You’d think he would have done a better job linking them.
anyway, the more I read of this book, the less likely I think the Verity is a Odyssey Class ship. It would make no sense to let a more powerful ship than the Enterprise into Romulan space since for some reason, the Enterprise is banned.
Heck, the novels were doing that years ago. When I read The Fall, it felt implausible to me that the Federation could so easily be co-opted by a fraudulent president who aggressively undermined its principles and turned it down a darker path. Now it seems prophetic, as much as Andor's secession arc was prophetic about Brexit.
Which doesn't guarantee anything, since he was a junior member of that team and the senior member of the current one. Look at what Ron Moore did when he ended up creating his own shows -- far from just copying the kind of stuff he'd done on Trek, he pointedly did the exact opposite, embracing everything he wasn't free to do on Trek. Bryan Fuller's post-Trek career was also consistently much wilder, weirder, and more boundary-pushing than anything he was able to do as a junior staffer on Trek. Answering to a boss and being the boss are profoundly different things.
I always got the impression that of the Orci-Kurtzman duo, it was Orci who was the more prominent creative voice in the Trek movies, although of course they were both subordinate to Abrams. And of course, Kurtzman split with Orci nearly 6 years ago (and had no involvement with ST Beyond).
And now I wonder how many other languages this one's getting translated into.
No Spoilers here... from me.
But, I'm sorry this a STAR TREK book...I agree with @Avro Arrow
The language was uncharacteristic and COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY to the story. I'm truly sorry. There were too many 17 S--Ts and 19 F---Ks for my taste. The language wasn't limited to Clancy's character at all.
It reminded me of a Wiseguy story. I hate saying this honestly. I hated it in 1990 when someone actually counted the swear words in Goodfellas. That was stupid. It is a crime and mafia movie. What did anyone expect?
Also using JL is annoying. Picard always commanded respect and JL makes Picard sound like foolish. Q could rib Picard.
Honestly, most of this novel should have been SHOWN in the first few episodes. If you watch the first three episodes closely you could pick up most of the story in Last, Best Hope.
I'm sorry I'm not trying to be a Gooder or a Snob. But Trek is Trek
I didnt buy Picard giving up HIS RANK and the Enterprise so easily and stupidly. Riker kept the Titan as his flagship, Picard could too. The Admirality rank felt forced and neutered without power at all. Rank should have its preveileges after all. The Admirality lied to Picard about giving up the Enterprise as his flagship anyway. Admirals in Starfleet are mostly seen as JERKS that interfere with Captain's anyway.
But regardless, Ianguage aside. I hope its a success, and never want anyone to fail at all.
It completely pulled me out of the story, instead of engrossing me into the story after all. I wanted to know more of the Picard series story.
I'm still a Trek fan, but this is beyond weird as far as language and prose go.
Now excuse as I go all hardcore before going to the Laundrette as Simon Pegg said in the movie "The Fantastic Fear of Everything"
Honestly, I hope you enjoy it more than I tried to.
Sorry,
-Koric
But, I'm sorry this a STAR TREK book...I agree with @Avro Arrow
The language was uncharacteristic and COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY to the story. I'm truly sorry. There were too many 17 S--Ts and 19 F---Ks for my taste. The language wasn't limited to Clancy's character at all.
It reminded me of a Wiseguy story. I hate saying this honestly. I hated it in 1990 when someone actually counted the swear words in Goodfellas. That was stupid. It is a crime and mafia movie. What did anyone expect?
Also using JL is annoying. Picard always commanded respect and JL makes Picard sound like foolish. Q could rib Picard.
Honestly, most of this novel should have been SHOWN in the first few episodes. If you watch the first three episodes closely you could pick up most of the story in Last, Best Hope.
I'm sorry I'm not trying to be a Gooder or a Snob. But Trek is Trek
I didnt buy Picard giving up HIS RANK and the Enterprise so easily and stupidly. Riker kept the Titan as his flagship, Picard could too. The Admirality rank felt forced and neutered without power at all. Rank should have its preveileges after all. The Admirality lied to Picard about giving up the Enterprise as his flagship anyway. Admirals in Starfleet are mostly seen as JERKS that interfere with Captain's anyway.
But regardless, Ianguage aside. I hope its a success, and never want anyone to fail at all.
It completely pulled me out of the story, instead of engrossing me into the story after all. I wanted to know more of the Picard series story.
I'm still a Trek fan, but this is beyond weird as far as language and prose go.
Now excuse as I go all hardcore before going to the Laundrette as Simon Pegg said in the movie "The Fantastic Fear of Everything"
Honestly, I hope you enjoy it more than I tried to.
Sorry,
-Koric
Last edited:
I'm glad they didn't go that route. It's one of Trek's most ridiculous contrivances to have the same crew stay on the same ship for decades on end. In the real Navy, captains often command a ship for only a few months or a year or two before being rotated out, and officers stay in a given post for a similarly limited time before getting reassigned or promoted. Realistically, a series about a given ship's adventures would have cast rotation as frequent as Law & Order had, or more so. Keeping the same crew together for 5 or 7 years is tolerable as dramatic license, but having them cling fanatically to the same ship for decade after decade -- or, worse, giving them a replacement ship of the same name -- just stretches my disbelief past the breaking point. So hell yes, let Picard move beyond the Enterprise. After all, he commanded the Stargazer for 22 years but was able to move beyond it.
What was the last Star Trek prose hardcover? Was it the Shatner Academy hardcover from 2007?
From the old pattern when they did hardcovers previously, I would guess about this time next year.
Downloaded today. Will start tomorrow.
Have to go Digital on this one then I think, doesn't seem from some of these reviews to be one I want to buy in HC
Similar threads
