Q & A: Thoughts and spoilers

[BryanSorensen]

I just picked up this book yesterday and i already finished it just now. I was wondering what others thought of it? I thought it was a great insight into the Q Continuum and what their real intentions have been over the years since Encounter at Farpoint. I also enjoyed the Quantum Singularity parts where all the Enterprises came through again , but this time we got to see what was going on on many of those ships! Kudos to KRAD again!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Fixed your title for you.

I love Q&A and I would rank it as my third favorite Q novel (after Q-Squared and I, Q). Like you, I loved the insights into the Q Continuum and the Quantum Singularity section. I also enjoyd seeing different perspectives of the event beyond just Picard and company. Lastly, I loved tying in all of the episodes, novels, and short stories to this novel.

The novel also includes one of my favorite quotes: "They held off on letting this universe die in hopes that it would provide something interesting."

 

[captcalhoun]

i gave it 9/10 IIRC

 

[JD]

I thought it was great the way KRAD was able to tie all of the Q stories into one big plot. The stuff with all of the alternate Enterprises was cool, I really got a kick out of all of the different crew combinations that appeared on the alternate universes Enterprise. The bit Q turning Picard into Robin Hood just so he could see him in tights cracked me up.

 

[BryanSorensen]

ya that bit made me lol. The most interesting of all the Divergent Enterprise Es was the one where wesley crusher was captain and picard was the first officer...That universe must be WAY far out in the left field of the divergent universes!

 

[donners22]

It was certainly an enjoyable book, and such a refreshing change from the doom and gloom of so many recent Trek novels. It was also good to see backstory included with some originality and insight rather than looking like it was copy & pasted in chunks from Memory Alpha.

 

[KRAD]

Thank you all for the kind words. I had a whole lotta fun writing this book, and it's gratifying to see that folks who read it had fun, too.

 

[JD]

I just hope that you are able to write another Q story in the future, because you wrote him really well.

 

[BryanSorensen]

I agree, you captured his essence to the point where i actually heard John DeLance speaking his lines as if it were on the show!

 

[Ferd Burfel]

What I like most about this book (and KRAD in general) is that he writes the minor characters so well. Q isn't exaclty minor, but he isn't the main crew. And reading it it just feels so right. I picture De Lancie perfectly in my mind saying and doing these things.

And the other reason I like is so much is that it was between Resistance and Before Dishonor, two books I have bigger problems with. Come to think of it, the relaunch for me has been best written by KRAD and Chris Bennett. The other books don't seem to keep up. I have very high expectations for Destiny though.

 

[KRAD]

I just hope that you are able to write another Q story in the future, because you wrote him really well.

I'd love to. Q is a great deal of fun to write....

I agree, you captured his essence to the point where i actually heard John DeLance speaking his lines as if it were on the show!

What I like most about this book (and KRAD in general) is that he writes the minor characters so well. Q isn't exaclty minor, but he isn't the main crew. And reading it it just feels so right. I picture De Lancie perfectly in my mind saying and doing these things.

Thank you both very much!

 

[Ferd Burfel]

Star Trek has to be character driven. Like Indiana Jones the McGuffin often doesn't matter. I know it is a little different with books than a TV series, but most of the time the story can be alright as long as the sub-stories and character interactions are top notch. What I like so much about most of the current crop of authors (KRAD, Chris Bennett, David Mack) is that I feel the same sense as I did watching the show.

I always remeber the scene with Data and La Forge crawling around Jefferie's tubes talking about training Spot. To me that is Star Trek in a nutshell. If I had to show someone Trek, I'd show that scene and that episode. When I read the previously mentioned authors I get that sense. When I try to write things those are the people I emulate and the ideas I try to run with. It's good storytelling.

 

[KRAD]

One of my favorite scenes is the one in "The Bonding," where Worf and Troi are talking about Marla Aster's death and how it affected Worf. Such wonderful work with both characters: "Her death was senseless--the last victim of a forgotten war." "Captain Picard talks to me!" Great stuff (and especially entertaining given their later relationship...).

 

[Ferd Burfel]

On DS9 one of the distinct ones I can remember is in the pilot with Jake sitting on the dock fishing in the pilot. It put that series into an immediately different category than TNG. The sense of family and healing Sisko needed was pretty powerful to me.

 

[JWolf]

Just to put in my 2 cents worth, I really enjoyed Q&A as well.

 

[KRAD]

Thanks, JWolf!

 

[BryanSorensen]

i was curious KRAD......did you talk to John De Lance before or during the time you wrote Q&A or did you just go by the epis he had on screen?

 

[KRAD]

^ I got to briefly talk to deLancie long after I'd finished the book, at the 2007 Comic-Con in San Diego, but that was it as far as interaction.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I totally love that bit where Picard is shifting through all those parallel realities. Some of them were frightening (such as the Klingon one).

 

[BryanSorensen]

as i said previously, those were some Cool parallel realities... the klingon one was interesting, and i thought it was very cool how the one where Picard reappeared on the Enterprise as a Lt. jg made an appearance.