Death in Winter has everything going for it: a deadly plague, a friend presumed dead, a mission in the hands of a potentially unstable ex-con, a native rebellion fighting against cruel oppressors, an old love rekindled, an origin story for Crusher, espionage, double-crossing, Romulan politics, and an aborted civil war and coup attempt in one of the quadrant’s major powers. In terms of content, DiW is just jam-packed with good stuff.
So then why the heck is it so dang boring?
It took me over a week and a half to get through the book, mostly because I could always easily think of five other things I’d rather be reading. DiW has no grip, no traction, no suspense and no momentum until the final fifty pages. It’s a great example of how a plot can look simply awesome in theory only to flop in execution. And, unfortunately, I feel the blame must be placed squarely on Michael jan Friedman’s uninspired style.
Reading DiW is an exercise in mechanics; little feeling ever comes through, which is particularly damning given some of the plot threads the novel is supposed to tackle, like Crusher’s history and her relationship with Picard. The characters, by and large, have little depth beyond what they’re doing at the moment; when it comes to examining the interior life of Picard, Crusher and Greyhorse, Friedman substitutes biography for psychology, bringing up the relevant moments in their shared history but not what their thought process is beyond of a string of the usual clichés. And speaking of which, I was absolutely amazed that Friedman choose not to pursue the flashback sequence started at the beginning of the book in finishing Crusher’s origin story. The story of teenaged Beverly having to helplessly watch her first love slowly waste away should have been the most gripping, tragic scene in the book; instead, it’s recounted in a cold retrospective. While I do appreciate that Friedman avoided anything over the top, frequently a pitfall of shipper texts professional or otherwise, particularly in the final scenes, overall I just felt too distant from the characters, totally disinvolved from their eventually union.
I wasn’t particularly involved by the plot, either. Although politics and espionage have great dynamic potential, it was stilted by the utter lack of mystery. And I’m not just talking about how early Crusher is revealed as still being alive, although that was irritating (honestly, we should have just been told she was alive from the beginning or kept in the dark until the end – having her pop up again a few chapters in serves no dramatic purpose, because she hasn’t been presumed dead long enough). Eborion’s schemes are made explicit almost as soon as we meet him; we find out that our spy has two masters from the moment we start getting scenes from his perspective; Sela, a character known for duplicity, is blunt and straightforward. I had the Romulan defector pegged as dead before the book was through the moment he came onboard, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. Just having characters plotting against each other is not enough to create suspense when the so-called ‘twists’ are telegraphed fifty pages in advance. By the time the action finally does get interest when all the various plot threads and opposing groups conflict in a final shoot-out in the blizzard, it's too little, too late.
There were only two real question marks in this story: the traitor among the natives, and Greyhorse. The first was so minor as to be next to irrelevant; the second just fizzled out. I have to wonder why Greyhorse was portrayed being off-kilter and potentially unstable, even in scenes from his own perspective, when in the end, there’s zero payoff. Greyhorse, and for that matter Pug Joseph, just vanish into the background as characters who do their job and that’s it. Couldn’t we have had some tension, some conflict, some insight into the psyche of these characters looking to right past wrongs, anything except for ‘lucky marble’ pseudo-characterization?
And speaking of plot threads that go nowhere, what the devil was the point behind LaForge and Worf trying to find out where Picard and Crusher had went, only to have Janeway pop in to give them a slap on the wrist? (Incidentally, despite complaints I’ve seen floating about her role in the TNG-R, I don’t think Janeway was out of character here; she was gently reproachful and a bit of a control freak, which we’ve seen plenty of before.) The entire sequence makes them seem inept, given how long it takes them to figure things out, and then get caught, plus there’s a pointless sequence where Worf calls Asmund only to have her tell him she knows nothing. Since there’s no chemistry between the characters, this could have been something easily told in retrospective. (And since when does Worf call Dr. Crusher "Beverly" anyway? That really threw me out.) Quite honestly, I would have been much happier not having Worf and LaForge in this book at all other than the opening chapters, and go with the assumption that they were carrying out their duties on the Enterprise in a professional manner off-screen. Of course, they’re hardly the only useless characters in the book; the defector springs to mind, as does the novice rebel who never interacts with the major characters in any significant fashion but doesn’t have a particularly interesting story in and of himself.
Overall, I must say I’m disappointed with Death in Winter. A dull, predictable, distant and mechanical offering, and with a surprising number of continuity goofs (Wesley, twelve years old in “Farpoint”?) for such a veteran author of Trek fiction. The potential of the story, both in terms of developing the Crusher/Picard dynamic, furthering the political situation on Romulus, and tackling a world beset by plague and oppression, demanded much, much more.
Oh, well. Resistance next. I’m eager to see how the Relaunch will go about its goal of making the Borg seem more menacing (they’ve always been plenty threatening to me).
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
So then why the heck is it so dang boring?
It took me over a week and a half to get through the book, mostly because I could always easily think of five other things I’d rather be reading. DiW has no grip, no traction, no suspense and no momentum until the final fifty pages. It’s a great example of how a plot can look simply awesome in theory only to flop in execution. And, unfortunately, I feel the blame must be placed squarely on Michael jan Friedman’s uninspired style.
Reading DiW is an exercise in mechanics; little feeling ever comes through, which is particularly damning given some of the plot threads the novel is supposed to tackle, like Crusher’s history and her relationship with Picard. The characters, by and large, have little depth beyond what they’re doing at the moment; when it comes to examining the interior life of Picard, Crusher and Greyhorse, Friedman substitutes biography for psychology, bringing up the relevant moments in their shared history but not what their thought process is beyond of a string of the usual clichés. And speaking of which, I was absolutely amazed that Friedman choose not to pursue the flashback sequence started at the beginning of the book in finishing Crusher’s origin story. The story of teenaged Beverly having to helplessly watch her first love slowly waste away should have been the most gripping, tragic scene in the book; instead, it’s recounted in a cold retrospective. While I do appreciate that Friedman avoided anything over the top, frequently a pitfall of shipper texts professional or otherwise, particularly in the final scenes, overall I just felt too distant from the characters, totally disinvolved from their eventually union.
I wasn’t particularly involved by the plot, either. Although politics and espionage have great dynamic potential, it was stilted by the utter lack of mystery. And I’m not just talking about how early Crusher is revealed as still being alive, although that was irritating (honestly, we should have just been told she was alive from the beginning or kept in the dark until the end – having her pop up again a few chapters in serves no dramatic purpose, because she hasn’t been presumed dead long enough). Eborion’s schemes are made explicit almost as soon as we meet him; we find out that our spy has two masters from the moment we start getting scenes from his perspective; Sela, a character known for duplicity, is blunt and straightforward. I had the Romulan defector pegged as dead before the book was through the moment he came onboard, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. Just having characters plotting against each other is not enough to create suspense when the so-called ‘twists’ are telegraphed fifty pages in advance. By the time the action finally does get interest when all the various plot threads and opposing groups conflict in a final shoot-out in the blizzard, it's too little, too late.
There were only two real question marks in this story: the traitor among the natives, and Greyhorse. The first was so minor as to be next to irrelevant; the second just fizzled out. I have to wonder why Greyhorse was portrayed being off-kilter and potentially unstable, even in scenes from his own perspective, when in the end, there’s zero payoff. Greyhorse, and for that matter Pug Joseph, just vanish into the background as characters who do their job and that’s it. Couldn’t we have had some tension, some conflict, some insight into the psyche of these characters looking to right past wrongs, anything except for ‘lucky marble’ pseudo-characterization?
And speaking of plot threads that go nowhere, what the devil was the point behind LaForge and Worf trying to find out where Picard and Crusher had went, only to have Janeway pop in to give them a slap on the wrist? (Incidentally, despite complaints I’ve seen floating about her role in the TNG-R, I don’t think Janeway was out of character here; she was gently reproachful and a bit of a control freak, which we’ve seen plenty of before.) The entire sequence makes them seem inept, given how long it takes them to figure things out, and then get caught, plus there’s a pointless sequence where Worf calls Asmund only to have her tell him she knows nothing. Since there’s no chemistry between the characters, this could have been something easily told in retrospective. (And since when does Worf call Dr. Crusher "Beverly" anyway? That really threw me out.) Quite honestly, I would have been much happier not having Worf and LaForge in this book at all other than the opening chapters, and go with the assumption that they were carrying out their duties on the Enterprise in a professional manner off-screen. Of course, they’re hardly the only useless characters in the book; the defector springs to mind, as does the novice rebel who never interacts with the major characters in any significant fashion but doesn’t have a particularly interesting story in and of himself.
Overall, I must say I’m disappointed with Death in Winter. A dull, predictable, distant and mechanical offering, and with a surprising number of continuity goofs (Wesley, twelve years old in “Farpoint”?) for such a veteran author of Trek fiction. The potential of the story, both in terms of developing the Crusher/Picard dynamic, furthering the political situation on Romulus, and tackling a world beset by plague and oppression, demanded much, much more.
Oh, well. Resistance next. I’m eager to see how the Relaunch will go about its goal of making the Borg seem more menacing (they’ve always been plenty threatening to me).
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
) would have believed it possible.
