Spoilers SNW: Ring of Fire by David Mack Review Thread

[E-DUB]

I wasn't faulting him. It just struck me, so I asked. I did remember that a similar thing was done in the past, but I couldn't remember if it was Mr. Mack or a different Trek author. I also don't recall the name of the character or book (but I do recall that it was a TNG title), so don't ask me to be specific. .

 

[Procutus]

Finally! Got my hands on a copy last night, and began reading. Great hook in the beginning and nice little interludes with the crew before things ramp up. Looking forward to getting into it more over the weeekend.

 

[Procutus]

Finished last night. That was one hell of a roller-coaster ride through-out and even more so as the end approached. Great handling of the SNW characters and the way it moved their individual arcs forward. Great work Mr. Mack, I really enjoyed this.

 

[David Mack]

Finished last night. That was one hell of a roller-coaster ride through-out and even more so as the end approached. Great handling of the SNW characters and the way it moved their individual arcs forward. Great work Mr. Mack, I really enjoyed this.

Thanks! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[jamesteakirk]

I read it and thought it was entertaining. I’m usually more interested in the characterizations than I am in the action or ship descriptions. It’s too bad that they demand that the writers fit a formula instead of letting the authors do more with the character background. I would have liked to know more about the Valkeya character. I’m guessing the name has some significance. Poor, sweet Spock.

Of course it follows a formula. It’s a formulaic genre novel about space and aliens, with big doses of action and adventure. A SPACE OPERA. That’s the whole point. It wouldn’t do to have the plot revolve around soap-box derby with protagonists who dabble in scrimshaw and parcheesi.

 

[JD]

That seems a big harsh, space opera really doesn't have to follow any kind of a formula. Just look at the variety of stories we've gotten in things like the Mass Effect, Star Trek, Farscape, and Babylon 5 franchises, all are space opera and they're all very, very different. You could also make the argument that Star Wars and Stargate could go on that list for even more variety, but I'm not sure if they exactly fit the definition of space opera.
Hell in Star Trek alone we've gotten everything from A Fist Full of Datas to The Best of Both Worlds, and Subspace Rhapsody to Hegemony.

 

[Christopher]

I still remember David Gerrold talking in The World of Star Trek about the difference between format and formula. Format is the general subject matter, structure, and approach of a series, the basic "flight plan," as he put it, as a starting point for storytelling. Formula is when the execution of the format becomes too repetitive, lazy, or unimaginative, just repeating the same pattern instead of exploring and experimenting with the potential for variety within the format.

It is absolutely wrong and downright condescending to say that all space opera is limited to a set formula. That's what happens when it's done wrong. It is emphatically not the whole point. A genre or a format is just a starting point, a foundation to build on, not a straitjacket.

 

[Nerys Myk]

. It wouldn’t do to have the plot revolve around soap-box derby with protagonists who dabble in scrimshaw and parcheesi.

Sounds perfectly in Picard's wheelhouse.

 

[jamesteakirk]

T

I still remember David Gerrold talking in The World of Star Trek about the difference between format and formula. Format is the general subject matter, structure, and approach of a series, the basic "flight plan," as he put it, as a starting point for storytelling. Formula is when the execution of the format becomes too repetitive, lazy, or unimaginative, just repeating the same pattern instead of exploring and experimenting with the potential for variety within the format.

It is absolutely wrong and downright condescending to say that all space opera is limited to a set formula. That's what happens when it's done wrong. It is emphatically not the whole point. A genre or a format is just a starting point, a foundation to build on, not a straitjacket.

The word I used is “formulaic”, which is similar to Gerrold’s “formula”, basically dreck. Alas, I enjoy the same thing, over and over again. I like cheap dime-novels. Books that aim at a teen-aged male demographic. Brainless brain-candy. That’s why I have the entire set of Tarzan novels. 104 consecutive issues of DC’s Adventure comics. All the Reacher novels.

And you assert that “space opera” is a thing. I agree. The literary world laughs at and mocks the “space opera” genre. I don’t, but I don’t pretend that it’s respected. It’s not.

Finally, I want more TOS novels. I want the same things to happen over and over again. I want Kirk to beam down to some planet, slap a few people around, have a romantic episode, and then take over - in the name of the Federation, of course.

(Owner, now and in the past, of close to 400 cheesy action-adventure novels that were space-themed.)