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

[DimesDan]

Agree with the first sentiment, but as to the second, if we got all the way over the puritanical thing, why do we have high-level political candidates still preaching abstinence-only education (even when their own family members are living proof that it Does Not Work)?

I thought that was the most hysterical news story of this week.

I did once come across a report once that said the higher the sex education, the lower the case of unplanned/underage pregnancy although ofcourse, sex still happens.

Wouldn't it be funny as fuck if it was reported that the Bush twins were recorded together with a guy, or even a girl

 

[Amy Sisson]

Uhmm, captcalhoun is speaking about the UK.

OK, I'm officially a moron today.

(That was seriously embarrassing....)

 

[acappellasaurus]

I wanted to weigh in on this book, having just finished it late last night.

I appear to be in a minority based on the quick rundown I did of this thread, but I actually really enjoyed this story. I have been less than thrilled about the previous post-Nemesis novels of the Enterprise crew, but I feel like this one righted some wrongs from those. I like Trys, and have no problem with the overtly sexual nature of her character (but then, I have always been in the camp of those that prefer their female Starfleet officers sans uniform!).

I would like to know who the author envisioned when creating some of the new characters. Any celebrities that come to mind?

I also was wondering if the new EMH "Nina" is based on any actor in specific.

All in all, an enjoyable romp with the newly mixed E crew, and here's hoping for the future of the future!

 

[Christopher]

I would like to know who the author envisioned when creating some of the new characters. Any celebrities that come to mind?

I didn't really have any actors in mind when I wrote the characters. My image of Choudhury was based on a woman I knew briefly in real life; the others were just general types. But I made suggestions a few weeks ago in the "Cast the Characters" pinned thread. I now think that Aaron Eckhart from The Dark Knight (minus about ten years) would be good for Rennan Konya. And there's a guest actress appearing in tonight's Stargate Atlantis, Janina Gavankar, who, based on her photos, might be a viable Choudhury, though I won't know for sure for another couple of hours. The only actress I'm aware of who seems like a good T'Ryssa is one who appeared in an air freshener commercial recently; I provided a link to that commercial on YouTube in the casting thread, but I have no idea what the actress's name is.

I also was wondering if the new EMH "Nina" is based on any actor in specific.

Yes -- Tamara Craig Thomas. She's meant to be modeled on Haley, Dr. Zimmerman's holographic, err, friend from "Life Line."

 

[KRAD]

Clearly you're unacquainted with the Keith R. A. DeCandido Psychic Aftertaste.™

Now in fresh minty flavor!

 

[Therin of Andor]

I appear to be in a minority based on the quick rundown I did of this thread, but I actually really enjoyed this story.

I've found that most discussion threads on GttS, here and elsewhere, have been extremely positive.

 

[Turtletrekker]

What Therin said. GTtS is very much liked in this forum, if not this thread. FWIW, as soon as I saw that Dayton3 had started a review thread, I knew exactly what it would say before I even read it. The man is a broken record from whom which I've never seen any positive comments about anything. You've read one Dayton3 review and you have read them all.

 

[wizkid]

probably because all the kids over here are too damned horny...

plus, we got the hell over the puritanical thing about 2 centuries ago...

Agree with the first sentiment, but as to the second, if we got all the way over the puritanical thing, why do we have high-level political candidates still preaching abstinence-only education (even when their own family members are living proof that it Does Not Work)?

All forms of sex ed are going to fail. That is why they are called accidents. Castration and being spaed are the only garuntees.

I am half way through the book and I am loving it so far. J prefer not tohavd the sex stuff in there but it seems that is the way of the world. The Inner Light needed no sex scenes so neither does my trek lit.

I was glad to see a mention of TIL Christopher and would like to see a book placed immediately after the end of that episode. So much trek lit dismissed the deeper tv shows as nonexistence, your ability to tie TIL in with the story was great. I look forward to finishing this book.

 

[Thrawn]

I will never understand why people object to sex scenes in Star Trek (or for that matter Star Wars, where they're explicitly banned from ever occurring in the novels.) These books are, at their best, about human nature, life in general, huge moral themes... and the one guarantee you can make is that life will make more life! Sex, and romance, are literally the starting point for all of humanity's existence. Why would you not allow stories to be told about that?

Yes, there are plenty of other places to read about romance and sex, but that's true of anything else in the Star Trek universe too, and I find it difficult to even imagine a realistic character that never falls in love or gets squelchy when the opportunity arises. You may not "want to read about it" but I think that misses the point - in order for stories to make sense, they have to come from characters we believe in and understand, and I don't believe it's possible to do that without including such scenes. It's a fundamental human desire and need - ignore it, and nothing makes sense.

And the show agrees with me. Yes, we didn't get constant soap opera, but even by the end of second season of TNG we had strongly implied sex between Yar and Data, between Riker and at least two women I can think of, and a seriously erotic scene between Worf and his ex.

In the books, the writers don't have the luxury of picking one topic per novel like you can do for each episode; each book must cover larger chunks of narrative space. So in the TV show, you can do an episode just about romance here and there, but in novels you only get a few books to cover each year of time, so there should be romantic elements in each, or at least acknowledgment of the desire.

The Inner Light didn't need sex scenes; it didn't have them. It was also one episode out of an enormous number. If every episode were like The Inner Light, The Inner Light wouldn't be powerful. And the characters need to make sense to begin with in order to do this at all, and denying them romance and sex is just inane.



That said, I didn't actually like T'Ryssa either, and I've said so before, but it's a personality thing with her character specifically. It's not because of the sex scenes in general.

 

[Therin of Andor]

in novels you only get a few books to cover each year of time.

Huh?

Sex (and eating, and recreation) will only ever be a brief interlude in a ST novel because essentially ST is about scientific exploration and peacekeeping.

 

[JoeZhang]

I will never understand why people object to sex scenes in Star Trek

I object to them, not on moral grounds but because they are generally really badly written - thankfully as a rule, Trek does not have sex scenes, the books always (well the ones I've read) always cut to the morning afterwards.

He felt his warp core surge out of control

 

[tenmei]

Heck, I read the James Bond novels and even I object to some of the sex scenes in the latter novels (especially in Never Dream of Dying). I would object to a sex scene within a Trek novel, but I wouldn't object to the allusions of sexual relationships.

I mean, I dislike the character of Trys rather intensely but her sexual adventures are the least of my concerns.

 

[ATimson]

I object to them, not on moral grounds but because they are generally really badly written - thankfully as a rule, Trek does not have sex scenes, the books always (well the ones I've read) always cut to the morning afterwards.

You missed New Frontier #5: Martyr, I assume?

 

[indianatrekker26]

I just finished GTTS this morning. You hit another homerun, Christopher. I believe you got the TNG-R back on track. I knew I could put my fears to rest when I thought this would be just another Borg book. What I like most about GTTS is, even though you had the borg in there, you brought discovery and exploration back to TNG. I really found the entity in this book fascinating.
One thing I do hope is that the characters you brought in stay. One thing I havent liked about the TNG-R is the swapping of all these new characters before you can get a chance to know them. I really like T'Ryssa. To me, she felt a little like a cross between Ro Laren and Sonya Gomez.
I loved the inclusion of Hugh and his Liberated people. It's not often a book can put a smile on my face or give me a pleasant suprise.

 

[Christopher]

All forms of sex ed are going to fail. That is why they are called accidents. Castration and being spaed are the only garuntees.

Actually, studies show that sex education substantially reduces the rate of teen pregnancies. Of course it's not an absolute guarantee, because nothing in life ever is. But it definitely makes a meaningful difference.

 

[David cgc]

I object to them, not on moral grounds but because they are generally really badly written - thankfully as a rule, Trek does not have sex scenes, the books always (well the ones I've read) always cut to the morning afterwards.

You missed New Frontier #5: Martyr, I assume?

Renaissance (Book 10) was the one that was comparatively explicit, while also being admirably nonspecific so the kids could read it and go, "huh?"

 

[JD]

I've never really gotten Trek's whole anti-sex thing either. But at the same time, I'm glad that the shows didn't try to be sexy very often because more often than not, when they did it it just didn't work. Probably one of the best examples I can come up with would be the Enterpise episode where Hoshi shirt get stuck and pulled off as she's climbing out of a Jeffreies tube. Because I'm sorry but that was just ridiculous.
The books at least have actually handled it in a much more mature manner. In fact that's one of the things I've been liking about the newer books, they've actually been dealing with more mature themes, including sex.

 

[RandyS]

I've never really gotten Trek's whole anti-sex thing either. But at the same time, I'm glad that the shows didn't try to be sexy very often because more often than not, when they did it it just didn't work. Probably one of the best examples I can come up with would be the Enterpise episode where Hoshi shirt get stuck and pulled off as she's climbing out of a Jeffreies tube. Because I'm sorry but that was just ridiculous.

Juveinile is a better word.

And one that I hope I spelled correctly (but suspect I haven't).

 

[JD]

Yeah that too.

 

[William Leisner]

All forms of sex ed are going to fail. That is why they are called accidents.

By the same reasoning, all forms of driver's ed will fail, too, because there are always accidents. Yet we don't tell kids "Don't drive until you're an adult, and then just figure it out on your own."