Read & Reread "Greater Than The Sum"- My Opinion (Spoilers)

[Saxman1]

I find Mr. Bennett's work excellent overall. However, one of the problems is that to a certain degree, these novels are written by committee (S&S, CBS, etc.). While I found the initial TNG relaunch novels well done, at this point, for GOD'S SAKE will you all freaking stop with "Picard vs. The Borg: Picard WINS! Epilogue: Uh oh, no he doesn't! They'e coming back in the Next novel! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

They even kill off the major character of another series and all for naught: the Borg live on and on and on and Energizer on! I'm sick of them and done with Trek lit. Jeezzuz!

 

[David Mack]

I find Mr. Bennett's work excellent overall. However, one of the problems is that to a certain degree, these novels are written by committee (S&S, CBS, etc.). While I found the initial TNG relaunch novels well done, at this point, for GOD'S SAKE will you all freaking stop with "Picard vs. The Borg: Picard WINS! Epilogue: Uh oh, no he doesn't! They'e coming back in the Next novel! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

They even kill off the major character of another series and all for naught: the Borg live on and on and on and Energizer on! I'm sick of them and done with Trek lit. Jeezzuz!

Decorum prohibits me from giving you the response you so richly deserve, sir.

So instead I will say that no committee wrote my trilogy. I did. My concept, my words.

Last but not least, I don't apologize for using the Borg. It was my decision, not a committee's, and I stand by it — every step of the way.

 

[Saxman1]

Mr. Mack, you are also a most gifted writer. Good luck with your trilogy and sorry if I offended you.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

...to a certain degree, these novels are written by committee (S&S, CBS, etc.).

That is a completely false statement.

 

[Turbo]

Christopher is NOT a committee!

(Nor is KRAD, David Mack, Peter David, et al)

Seriously, though, to suggest otherwise is extremely insulting to the authors. And there's a very simple solution if you dislike what you see in the TNG Relaunch: Stop. Reading. It.

 

[Christopher]

The novels are written by their authors, not by a committee. Why would a publisher go to the trouble of hiring a writer and then do the writing themselves? They hire us so we can do that. The editors may suggest certain elements to be included, but how we include them is up to us. CBS merely reviews our outlines and manuscripts and makes sure they're consistent with canon (though sometimes Paula has made some excellent, helpful suggestions about how to improve the authenticity of the characterizations and such). I don't know that Simon & Schuster has any involvement except through the persons of the editors who work for them. They may make business decisions about the overall direction of the book line or about the viability of a specific project (for instance, declining to do a sequel to a book that didn't sell well enough, or approving a sequel to one that sold really well), but they don't have input into the actual storylines.

Actually I can see where Saxman1 would've gotten that impression with regard to GTTS. It's sort of a betwixt-and-between book, a continuation of several previous books and a setup for the upcoming trilogy, so it isn't wholly an independent creation. But the guidelines I was given were very basic. Resolve the Einstein situation (however I wished); write out Leybenzon (however I wished); introduce Choudhury and Elfiki; arm the ship with transphasic torpedoes but neutralize the efficacy of Crusher's anti-Borg bioweapon from Resistance; have Picard and Beverly conceive a child (in wedlock or not, my choice); lead into the situation that opened Destiny. Everything else was up to me. And though I incorporated ideas that other authors came up with, I wasn't told how to incorporate them or address them. In fact, I could probably have gotten away with telling a far more independent story than I did, one that made a lot fewer references to the previous books.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Well, we've adopted an outsourcing model for the writing of our books. We write the prologue and epilogue, and the rest is taken care of by a team of writers in Chennai.

 

[Idoliside]

Well, we've adopted an outsourcing model for the writing of our books. We write the prologue and epilogue, and the rest is taken care of by a team of writers in Chennai.

Or monkey's at typewriters...

...well they tried with hamlet and that failed...

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Well, we've adopted an outsourcing model for the writing of our books. We write the prologue and epilogue, and the rest is taken care of by a team of writers in Chennai.

Those outsourcing writing teams have high standards, too.

I was willing to move to Mumbai and earn a pittance, but they believed my writing wasn't good enough.

 

[Saxman1]

Wow..I didn't mean to start a firestorm over here. Sorry and thanks for correcting me. I will stay out of this lit forum and the books as suggested by some. If you enjoy the relaunch more power to you and the authors.

 

[Christopher]

^^Oh, I'm sure nobody meant that. You're welcome to keep reading and keep participating. We're here to inform and discuss, not to drive you away.

 

[Therin of Andor]

This book is awful.

Well, I'm coming into this thread late, having avoided it until I finished GttS.

I just finished it a few minutes ago. I'm hardly game to read the rest of the thread. Your post has no doubt been fully addressed by others, and probably more eloquently. But allow me to say this:

Star Trek novels are not for you.

Only a recent thread ago, you asked for ST writers to step up to the challenge and write an "unlikeable" Starfleet character. Hasn't Christopher just done this? T'Ryssa annoyed everyone, and yet the author then puts her on the path to personal redemption... but by keeping many/all of her quirky traits intact. IDIC at work; Picard enables her to maximise her potential. She manages to pull back her less positive traits - but only just - at the same time as the people around her try to appreciate them and her.

All the way through this novel I found myself cheering and smiling. CLB has touched all the touchstones, and polished them, to make this a most enjoyable ST ride - for me. Once again, I got the feeling that the ST author had selected me to be privy to his new tale, told to me 1:1. CLB has managed that with all of his ST novels to date. I'm thrilled with this book, and it does so much to bridge "Before Dishonor" and what's to come from David Mack ("Destiny" trilogy") and Kirsten Beyer ("Voyager: Full Circle") and others. Or so it seems.

Okay, let's see what everyone else told you...

 

[Therin of Andor]

How does that rule even make sense? To be honest, I've been here for eight years, and I'd never heard of the rule. Someone's going to run afoul of it just by responding to several posts at once.

I've done it myself.

Being from the opposite side of the globe, I'm often posting when the board is quiet. If I post three times in a highly controversial thread, my posts can be scattered by numerous OPs' posts between them. If it's a quiet night, I can do three reactions to three posters as I encountered them over a long period and I've inadvertently spammed the board!

I know there's a magical multi-post feature now, but I often don't know I'm planning to respond to more than two points when I start. And my ol' iMac doesn't like cutting and pasting here sometimes - depends on how recently I've rebooted usually.

 

[Dayton3]

This book is

Star Trek novels are not for you.

quote]

I've listed Star Trek novels that I've enjoyed. I enjoy Star Trek for the most part. At least as long as I can ignore most of the humor that sometimes works itself in. Or the diversity stuff.

Remember the entire "IDIC" thing was something that Gene Roddenberry came up with to make some extra money.

I enjoy the battles in Star Trek. I enjoy the military elements of it. I loved The Wounded Sky, My Enemy, My Ally and of course Vendetta to rename just a few.

Star Trek is different things to different people.

I like the military stuff. I like the battles. Both within a Star Trek setting.

I want to read (and watch) more of that type of stuff in Star Trek.

Who can really say that I'm wrong and the others are right.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I enjoy Star Trek for the most part. At least as long as I can ignore most of the humor that sometimes works itself in. Or the diversity stuff.

Ha!

Remember the entire "IDIC" thing was something that Gene Roddenberry came up with to make some extra money.

He came up with a design to express the Vulcan concept of IDIC. He had it made up into a pendant for Majel Barrett to sell through Lincoln Enterprises - to satisfy public demand. (Mentioned in the book "Letters to Star Trek", IIRC, and definitely the old Lincoln catalogue.) People were writing to Lincoln saying they wanted to buy ST inspired costume jewelry, and GR supposedly asked for Spock to be seen wearing such a pendant, and explaining its significance, in an episode of Season Three. After GR had left the show, so no one really had to listen to him.

That doesn't mean that GR invented IDIC so he could sell jewelry. The concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) was already an embedded part of Spock and ST, even if it didn't have an acronym yet.

 

[Therin of Andor]

well, the book won't arrive in Australia for another month or so.

Folks, you heard it. She won't weaken. Galaxy Bookshop has had it in stock for almost a month. I told her right on this bbs the night i bought it.

Want me to shout you an airfreight copy, Rosalind?

 

[William Leisner]

I've listed Star Trek novels that I've enjoyed. I enjoy Star Trek for the most part. At least as long as I can ignore most of the humor that sometimes works itself in. Or the diversity stuff.

I really wonder how you can say you enjoy Trek "for the most part," even though you listed only a handful of novels out of the hundreds printed, and are openly derisive of those elements that set Trek apart from any other two-bit space opera. And the stuff you say you do like (military stuff, battles, military stuff again, battles again), you are hypercritical of when it doesn't meet some unstated high standard of yours. (And the simple fact of the matter is, sparks do fly from the fucking consoles when the ships get hit.)

From this criteria, I can't imagine you ever enjoyed the original series (rare space battles with low-tech SFX), TNG (French captain always avoiding battles), the first two to four seasons of DS9 (too diverse, not enough war) or Voyager (female captain who only wants to run home). And I'm rather confident that you're deriving far more pleasure out of trolling this forum than you ever did out of any book.

 

[DimesDan]

Being from the opposite side of the globe, I'm often posting when the board is quiet.......

......... And my ol' iMac doesn't like cutting and pasting here sometimes - depends on how recently I've rebooted usually.

Yeah it is kind of hard being in a massively different time zone as the vast majority of the other posters.

Also, that is another reason that Macs are evil

 

[Thrawn]

I've listed Star Trek novels that I've enjoyed. I enjoy Star Trek for the most part. At least as long as I can ignore most of the humor that sometimes works itself in. Or the diversity stuff.

Remember the entire "IDIC" thing was something that Gene Roddenberry came up with to make some extra money.

I enjoy the battles in Star Trek. I enjoy the military elements of it. I loved The Wounded Sky, My Enemy, My Ally and of course Vendetta to rename just a few.

Star Trek is different things to different people.

I like the military stuff. I like the battles. Both within a Star Trek setting.

I want to read (and watch) more of that type of stuff in Star Trek.

Who can really say that I'm wrong and the others are right.

Diversity was a key component of Star Trek from the very beginning - or did you happen to not notice the alien, black woman, asian, and russian on the bridge? Roddenberry's original plan even had a woman first officer.

And I can say you're wrong. It's not that you enjoy the military stuff; that's fine. It's that you seem to be annoyed that the other parts exist, and keep trying to claim they're not part of The Point of Star Trek, when in fact they *ARE* the point.

 

[Christopher]

Let's see... Space, the final frontier... explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations... boldly go where no yada yada... nope, not one word about waging war or combat.