Question for Christopher Bennett regarding Greater than the Sum

[Stephen!]

Something I was wondering, re-reading Greater than the Sum recently. Was T'lana, admitting that she was in error (when challenging Picard, regarding his course of action towards dealing with the Borg super cube) written as more of a retcon, or was it always intended for the TNG relaunch to get rid of her, after only a few novels?

 

[Christopher]

T'Lana was not intended to be written out. It's not like there's some huge master plan that the editor works out in advance. Most of the creative decisions are made by the authors. So if one author introduces a character that he or she hopes will catch on and stick around, it's possible that the character just won't work out, or that another author will take that character in an unexpected direction that changes them. T'Lana and Leybenzon were both introduced with the hope that they would be regular characters. But after the events of Before Dishonor, it was felt that they'd both crossed a line that precluded them from ever being part of the "family" of the Enterprise crew. So I was asked by editor Margaret Clark to write them both out (and to kill one of them off to underline the stakes of the Borg invasion and the upcoming Destiny trilogy).

As for T'Lana admitting that she'd been wrong, one could call that a retcon, but I prefer to think of it as a synthesis of all the available character information we'd been given about her in the three prior books. Given what Resistance and Q & A had established about her personality, her backstory, and her professionalism, I figured that was how, in retrospect, she would interpret the behavior she exhibited in Before Dishonor. So it's not really a retcon because my characterization wasn't retroactive -- it was based on how she was characterized in the first two books where she appeared. I was simply trying to portray her in a way that took her behavior across all three books into account and showed how it fit together.

 

[ryan123450]

I've read all the relaunch books once, but it's been some time. Can someone remind me all the changes to the senior staff that have taken place? I never did get to attached to Leybenzon, but I wish T'Lana's character had worked out for the long term, she was so interesting.

 

[Christopher]

I've read all the relaunch books once, but it's been some time. Can someone remind me all the changes to the senior staff that have taken place?

A Time For War, A Time for Peace/Nemesis/Taking Wing: Riker and Troi leave, Data dies; Crusher leaves CMO post; Worf takes first officer post provisionally; Christine Vale vacates security chief post.

Death in Winter: Crusher returns as CMO.

Between books: Miranda Kadohata replaces Data as ops officer, but goes on maternity leave. Sara Nave replaces Vale as security chief, but then transfers to conn. Lio Battaglia takes over as security chief.

Resistance: Worf finally approved as permanent XO; T'Lana joins crew as counselor/contact specialist. Battaglia killed; Nave resumes security chief role until she too is killed.

Q & A: Zelik Leybenzon joins as security chief. Miranda Kadohata returns from maternity leave, resuming ops/second officer/science officer position (Data's old job) which she was retroactively established as holding in the months following NEM. Joanna Faur established as conn officer.

Before Dishonor: T'Lana resigns as counselor.

Greater Than the Sum: Picard restructures bridge posts; to ease Kadohata's workload, Dina Elfiki is added as science officer. T'Ryssa Chen joins as contact specialist, now a separate responsibility from that of ship's counselor; new counselor Hegol Den is not a bridge officer. Leybenzon resigns as security chief; Jasminder Choudhury takes the post.

Destiny: No staff changes, except that Chen fills in as assistant flight controller.

Losing the Peace: Due to a lack of contact missions, Chen assists in engineering. Kadohata transfers to a ground posting. Her successor at ops is unknown.

Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony/The Struggle Within: No senior staff changes.

Indistinguishable from Magic: Geordi LaForge transfers to USS Challenger for several months.

 

[JD]

I thought Paths of Disharmony introduced a new ops officer to replace Kadohata? I've only read chapter 1 though, so I haven't even come across the E crew to know for sure .

 

[Christopher]

If so, I don't remember it and Memory Beta hasn't been updated with the information yet.

 

[William Leisner]

Jill Rosado was mentioned at least once in Paths, though it's not clear if she is now the primary ops officer or still just one of the relief officers.

 

[ryan123450]

Thanks Christopher. I forgot all about Kadohata. Chen is one of my favorite characters right now. Hope she takes a larger part in the future.

 

[Christopher]

^T'Ryssa is prominently featured in Typhon Pact: The Struggle Within, my eBook novella which comes out in October.

 

[ICW]

I really disliked how much the senior officers on the Enterprise came and went. Not the best of ways to start of a TNG relaunch in my opinion.

 

[JD]

If so, I don't remember it and Memory Beta hasn't been updated with the information yet.

Who did Geordi get involved with? I thought I remembered someone saying it was Kadohata's replacement.

 

[Christopher]

Who did Geordi get involved with? I thought I remembered someone saying it was Kadohata's replacement.

No, Tamala Harstad was a doctor on Crusher's medical staff.

 

[ryan123450]

^T'Ryssa is prominently featured in Typhon Pact: The Struggle Within, my eBook novella which comes out in October.

Awesome Christopher. Thanks!

Speaking of relationships. What have been all the relationships and hints at future relationships with these new characters. Seems like Worf had flirtations with someone lately, but I can't remember who.

 

[Christopher]

Speaking of relationships. What have been all the relationships and hints at future relationships with these new characters. Seems like Worf had flirtations with someone lately, but I can't remember who.

Worf had some implied romantic tension with T'Lana in the first one or two books, but it had vanished by Before Dishonor (unless their hostility there was sublimating something). Worf has been involved (on and off, it seems) with Jasminder Choudhury since Destiny. Otherwise, let's see... Picard and Crusher got married sometime before Greater Than the Sum, and now have a son. Kadohata is married with three kids, and though there was a suggestion of a flirtation between her and Leybenzon in Before Dishonor, that was quickly abandoned. Nave and Battaglia in Resistance were involved. T'Ryssa was involved with assistant security chief Rennan Konya for a while, but more recently has had hints of chemistry with assistant chief engineer Taurik. Geordi has gone through several burgeoning relationships that didn't pan out, though as of Indistinguishable from Magic

Spoiler: IFM

he's involved with Leah Brahms.

 

[ryan123450]

Thanks again Christopher. You're a regular Trek-lit encyclopedia. Though I guess that's your job.

Out of curiosity, do you go by Christopher or Chris in real life?