Spoilers Prey: Book 1: Hell's Heart by John Jackson Miller Review Thread

Looking forward to reading it this weekend.

 

I really enjoyed this one - it had me on the edge of my seat for most of it, and left me anxiously awaiting Books 2 and 3. I was a little bummed that neither President zh'Tarash nor General Klag and the I.K.S. Gorkon made an appearance, but maybe they'll show up in the next two books.

However, there was one little thing that threw me: in 2286, both Spock and Scotty were mentioned to be Commanders. But at that time, didn't both of them hold the rank of Captain? There was also a character or two on the Enterprise-E that I could've sworn were higher ranks, but those background characters fluctuate all the time between Ensign and Lieutenant depending on the writer, making it hard to know which rank their supposed to be.

 

Nice tying things together in a really subtle way, even less popular bits of Trek.

It even carries the ghost of V and VI...Spock being more progressive about Klingons, as we see with Koord and later Gordon.

The Ardra stuff was a nice save...I won't lie, the reveal on the fallen lord was initially a bit of a downer.

Good 'never trust the grand vizier' stuff, but I liked him so much at the beginning I kept hoping for him to be way more...honourable...than he's turning out. Which does confuse me...assuming the Federation casualties were being kept light because of the colony owing Spock....why the later booby trap?

 

I think this is worth repeating near the top of this thread: John Jackson Miller posts here, but he's said he doesn't like to read review threads, so if you have any questions for him about the book, he's said the best place is this thread: http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-prey-trilogy-coming-in-2016.275027/

 

Read the entire book in one day. Voted OUTSTANDING. I'd like to wait a bit before writing a fuller review, but this book actually lived up to the hype and then some.

 

Going to do something different and pick it up early next week at a B&N. Not done with Legacy #3.

 

F***.... Completely forgot to pre-order this, and I've been looking forward to it for so long!!! Gotta wait about a week now.

 

Just remember to mark hide plot points with spoiler code if you're posting in that thread. It's not a spoiler thread.

thanks

 

I will caveat this by saying I have never been the biggest fans of Klingons in Star Trek - ok in small doses but I can't say I've ever been fond of most of the episodes that focus on them.

This book sadly does nothing to change my mind - lots of conversations about honour which don't go anywhere, a supposedly iconic character who is best remembered for the actors performance more than anything significant about how he was written and none of the Klingons are particularly interesting - the steward starts out well but gets less and less engaging as the book goes on.

The one Klingon that usually is interesting Martok is just bland here, none of the menace and humour we've seen in the past and he's not the only one Picard, Riker and even Worf are not particularly strongly characterised and the rest of the Enterprise crew barely get a look in and the Titan lot even less - you think Troi might be of some use here but apparently not. To me this feels more like one of the old numbered books, all plot and no character.

Other problems - the set up is clumsy, both the Enterprise and Titan series have recently started new directions but that's been hand waved away to get them back here though I hope Riker has something more specific to do later as at the moment he's just generic Admiral. The long set up to the Fallen Lord's reveal manages to be a let down twice - the first is just absurd the second very disappointing - all I'll say is Timothy Zahn did this plotline a lot better. Everyone seems overly impressed by a small group of Birds Of Prey - Worf is apparently slackjawed at the sight! The use of Hunter technology is a bit easy, they basically strolled over to the Gamma Quadrant hung out with them for a while and stole it without anyone noticing. And Starfleet look incompetent for the most part particularly later in the book where despite a complete stroke of luck and personality change they don't seem to be even mildly suspicious of the main villain.

Of course this is a trilogy so it may get better but on that basis you may have expected an ending which would leave you keen to read the next one but this book just stops - I actually assumed I'd missed some pages it's so undramatic.

 

I've read a few pages on Amazon.com. It's interesting that Kruge's full name is given as Kruge sutai-Vastal. Does that mean John M. Ford's Klingon naming conventions are coming back into continuity?

 

I'm sure we've seen them used in some other modern-continuity books once or twice before.

 

I think Martin and Mangels have used them. (It must be them, there's no reference they're ever willing not to make.)

 

I picked this one up earlier this evening. I hope to get it started before next weekend.

 

Spoiler: my thoughts on Hell's Heart

I mostly agree, this felt clumsy - how could 12 ships be a threat. Even with genius designers from the 2280s, how could they be so advanced in the modern day as to be a threat when - presumably - cloaking, sensor, ship materials, weapon effectiveness and so on has improved continuously for over a century. It's like expecting an upgraded constellation or miranda class to be a threat in the modern day, when those are utterly unlikely as seen in TNG and the Dominion War. The 12 would have to have been rebuilt root and stem, making them not the same - and why not build more? Maybe there will be more.

Certain things felt forgotten (or never read) - all of Mack's work with the high council between A Time to Kill and Destiny, the machinations of KRAD in the Gorkon books, the modern role of Imperial Intelligence, and even that Spock is either (a) no longer on Romulus since Raise the Dawn or (b) a publicly accepted part of Romulan society, so why not contact him? Really this small list was frustrating, but other things were too.

And Korgh ... I liked how reference was made to his years in the chambers as the aide of the family. however his sudden rise was pretty much unbelievable. there are other members of the council, other large voices, surely, and these were silenced into a cheering chorus. Really, he was dull, he suddenly became moustache twirling, 'just as planned'. I wish JJM has kept ambiguity in him - or better, that he was not the villain he clearly is. Some empathy was there - his concern for his sons - but otherwise, it was a very flat reversal.

Overall, the novel felt pulpy. That is fine, but I hoped for more - something deeper, with some of the introspection seen in Destiny or even Cold Equations.

 

Hi, long time lurker who almost never posts. I love the books but I prefer to leave the book talk to others.

But there was one thing about Prey that bothered me so badly, enough to ruin my immersion in the story.

When Riker called up to the Titan, why was Tuvok the one who answered? Why is Vale never mentioned as the captain of the Titan? Why is she not shown to be in charge? I would have probably been satisfied if she had answered Riker's hail and said she already had Tuvok working on the problem. But the fact she's not even mentioned once sticks in my craw.

 

Where was Riker's Caitian aide too???

I'm actually very curious how this fits with the Prometheus book...

 

I'm sure Vale was mentioned early in the book. Given so little time was spent on the Titan, I didn't think it was odd that we cut straight to Tuvok when he was needed.

I was a little surprised that Elfiki had such a small role, though (if you can call, IIRC, one mention in the ambush scene a "role"). You'd think high-grade cloaking devices and mish-mashed technology would invite the participation of the science officer in the investigation.

 

Found a copy at a B&N. Expect to start it this weekend.

 

If any of you guys want to ask JJM about this stuff, then you might want to head over to the other thread where he's posting.