I tried to access the links, but the board says it's blocking my IP address. Weird.
Sky's the Limit and SNW
- Thread starter RyanLevy
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You know, I don't agree that Harriman looked that bad in the movie. He seemed perfectly competent at coming up with ideas for coping with the crisis, but he was stymied by the unavailability of basic equipment that should've been in place. Just because he wasn't as brilliant as Scotty at coming up with a solution doesn't mean he wasn't competent. And when it came right down to it, he did the smartest, most responsible thing he could: he put his ego aside and deferred to a more experienced commander. To me, that was an admirable choice to make, the mark of a responsible and trustworthy officer.
I mean, honestly, how often did Kirk come up with the solution on his own? As often as not, he turned to Spock, McCoy, and Scotty to figure out what to do. A captain's job isn't to do everything oneself, it's to decide how best to allocate one's crew and resources and assign them as needed. Kirk was a resource available to Harriman, and Harriman had the good sense to avail himself of that resource. Just as Kirk then turned to Scotty and asked him to figure out a solution. Heck, Harriman had a lot more ideas of his own than Kirk did in that scene, ideas that would've worked fine if he'd had a complete ship.
I mean, honestly, how often did Kirk come up with the solution on his own? As often as not, he turned to Spock, McCoy, and Scotty to figure out what to do. A captain's job isn't to do everything oneself, it's to decide how best to allocate one's crew and resources and assign them as needed. Kirk was a resource available to Harriman, and Harriman had the good sense to avail himself of that resource. Just as Kirk then turned to Scotty and asked him to figure out a solution. Heck, Harriman had a lot more ideas of his own than Kirk did in that scene, ideas that would've worked fine if he'd had a complete ship.
FWIW I know for sure that you have already read the english version of at least the SNW I "review" at booktrek, since I remember that you thanked me for writing a review for this older title back then.
No idea why the board would block you though, if you want I can ask the board administrator about it.
In retrospect you're right of course. But the first impression I had (and I guess not only I) when watching the movie was: Who has given this idiot the command of a starship? And like it is with first impressions they often stick fora long time. It's most likely a Starfleet order and not his decision to leave the drydock with only half a ship so to speak , but the fact that he did so,even for something only meant as a PR event, doesn't really helped in overcoming that impression. Despite the fact that he doesn't look that bad if you look more closely as you pointed out above it took some literature to convince me otherwise.
I was surprised when I first learned of the general online opinion that Harriman was some kind of buffoon, largely for the reasons Christopher mentions. Maybe not as quick or decisive as others, but he could hardly be blamed for a distress call coming up during what was essentially half-media event, half-shakedown cruise, while the ship was still underequipped and understaffed. I suppose one key question would be whether the lap-around-the-solar-system was Harriman's idea, or from higher-up, and I've always suspected the latter given how organized the event was.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I got the impression he was as embarrassed about being forced into the media stunt as everyone else.
Here's a hopefully less clumsy translation:
It's nice to see that Captain John Harriman (Admiral here) inspires people to write good stories about him despite the fact that he looked like a total idiot in Star Trek VII. That probably has something to do with the novel Serpents among the Ruins, which gave him a lot of extra facets and to which this story partly refers. To see Scotty's "influence" on the TNG part of ST VII is a nice thing, although he knows a bit too fast what Soran is up to for my taste.
Cool, thanks.
Yeah, Scotty is a bit fast, perhaps.
But he is the miracle worker!
He was reading Spock's discarded script, remember!
I'm sure that you intend to read them.Who, me? FWIW, while I may not have read them yet, I did buy them, and I intend to read them.It is quite unfortunate that those series have ended...
...but seeing that even two of the people who define hardcore TrekLit fandom haven't read the last volumes in the SNW series, I begin to understand why it happened.
I'm just saying that you haven't read them yet, even though you've read TrekLit titles which were released more recently--so regardless of what system you use to prioritise your reading backlog, those SNW volumes seem to be lower on the priority list.This is a pretty common phenomenon...you may have seen the blogging meme lately revolving around LibraryThing and whether people have read the books which top their "Owned But Not Read" list.
While that is true in the personal, financial sense, there's a ripple effect (IMHO) to people not talking about a book when it's initially released--particularly people who are associated with reviewing a particular line of books, but not those people alone. There's a perceived dislike (or at least lack of interest) in saying that this book is worth reading sooner than that one, so people posting here (or what's more likely, people who don't post but are just looking around online for others' opinions) could see the lack of contemporaneous reviews and general "buzz" and lose interest themselves.
I suppose now would be a bad time to mention I've had both Sky's the Limit and SNWX sitting on my desk, unread, for several months now? I really think you're exageratting this 'ripple effect' of yours. Only a sliver of the actual book-buying public will frequent this and other boards, and of that number another fraction will actually be influence in their purchasing decisions by 'buzz'. And, really, whatever system or lack thereof by which the general public organizes in their reading habits is, frankly, their business and no-one else's.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Maybe.
Fair enough...
I might not be articulating myself well here, especially in conveying the sort of back-and-forth that I think goes on with any media property, but (while I may be exaggerating the influence of a few online reviewers/posters) I do think that there is some indicative value in the perceived "buzz" around a product. (Otherwise, why would viral marketing exist? As hard as it is to catch that lightning in a bottle, people still think it's, er, catchable.)
As such, I still think (as I stated in my original comments) that the lack of interest shown in certain titles as opposed to other titles as they're released gives a sense of where the general interest lies, and there's a silent group of undetermined number who look for online reactions and, finding none, will consider that a reaction in itself.
Of course...I never meant to imply that anyone is obligated to read anything, or read what they own in a particular order.
I say what I've said so far here because I've been that person--someone who's on the fence about whether to buy/read/watch something, looking online to get a sense of what other people think of it. Do I think that's what everyone thinks? No, but in the absence of other options, I'm going to look somewhere, and if no one online has an opinion, those things tend to move lower on my priority list.
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