Spoilers SNW: Asylum by Una McCormack Review Thread

[Elwro]

Loved it. I especially enjoy Trek novels if they have some moral lesson without being overly didactic. When it comes to the message and overall tone, this one checked all the Trek boxes.

'Second Self' blew me away. I can't say this about *this* novel. It wasn't as gripping and somehow I was sure everything would work out for everyone in the end. But, as is always the case with Una, the characters were spot-on. And as a college prof I really enjoyed the Academia bits.

I listened to the marvelously narrated audiobook (thank you, R. Petkoff!). Maybe I missed something but doesn't the whole reveal of who the MYSTERY PERSON was and what their motivations were consist of 2-3 sentences? Honestly, I expected some more follow-up to this, too.

I was also surprised to see that Starfleet can engage in 'negotations' such as these and *not* have detailed intelligence reports waiting on the Ambassador's and Captain's desk ;-)

But: as always, great job by Una. Waiting for the next one!

 

[Stevil2001]

Loved it. I especially enjoy Trek novels if they have some moral lesson without being overly didactic. When it comes to the message and overall tone, this one checked all the Trek boxes.

'Second Self' blew me away. I can't say this about *this* novel. It wasn't as gripping and somehow I was sure everything would work out for everyone in the end. But, as is always the case with Una, the characters were spot-on. And as a college prof I really enjoyed the Academia bits.

I listened to the marvelously narrated audiobook (thank you, R. Petkoff!). Maybe I missed something but doesn't the whole reveal of who the MYSTERY PERSON was and what their motivations were consist of 2-3 sentences? Honestly, I expected some more follow-up to this, too.

I was also surprised to see that Starfleet can engage in 'negotations' such as these and *not* have detailed intelligence reports waiting on the Ambassador's and Captain's desk ;-)

But: as always, great job by Una. Waiting for the next one!

As a professor myself, I always appreciate an accurate depiction of academia too! Una used to be in the world so she definitely knows it.

If you are a Doctor Who fan, she has a fun 30-minute story about a murder at a girl's school called An Eye for Murder.

 

[JD]

I finished this earlier today and I liked it a lot, with one major issue.
I'll start with the good, as always with Una McCormack, the writing was fantastic and the characters were felt right.
I really like getting some new backstory on Pike and Una, and I really liked the way she developed the early days of their friendship in the flashback.
I thought that the stuff with the Euxana's treatment by the Chionians was really well done, but I will admit, I am approaching it as someone who's never had to deal with stuff like that, so I might not be able to judge it the same way someone who has first hand experience would.
My one issues is kind of a big one for me, the limited number of characters in it. I like Una, Pike, and La'Ann, but I really would have liked to have gotten more scenes with Ortegas, Spock, and Uhura, and any kind of appearance from M'Benga and Chapel.
I voted Above Average, it probably have gotten an Outstanding if more of the cast played a bigger role.