I finished Before Dishonor this afternoon. I'm going to vent just a little, but I'll spoiler code it for the sake of those in this thread who like me, are still getting caught up and haven't gotten to BD yet.
Ah well. Next up is Sword of Damocles. I don't think I've ever read anything by Geoffrey Thorne, so yay for new experiences.
I started out really liking the story. I've run across rumors that the novels killed Janeway off, so early on I was pretty sure this was where it was going to happen - especially given the book's title and cover. However, by the time I was done with the book, I was just wishing it would be over so I could get PAD out of the TNG sandbox.
I really enjoyed the new characters that were brought in by KRAD in Q & A. I think if I were KRAD, I'd be extremely peeved with PAD for what he did to them. Anything that remotely hinted at subtlety in their characters was completely absent here. I loved how Miranda Kadohata was trying so hard to balance family and career - here, do we even know she's married? Leybenzon was just pathetic. And T'lana - the greatest casualty. Where in Q & A her objections were reasonable and logical, here she was reduced to a walking stereotypical, Enterprise-era Vulcan superiority complex. I felt like PAD set out with the intent to destroy the new characters in hopes of their being replaced later. I hated to lose T'lana. The idea of a Vulcan counselor was a compelling one.
The Starfleet brass were just stupid. "Oh, you have an idea you think might save Earth? Forget it! We want you to come back here and die with the rest of us, because we said so and we're in charge, so nyah!" Picard shouldn't have had to disobey orders. It's not as if one more ship was going to make a difference at that point. He has an idea - let him try it! At worst, you'll have a Galaxy class starship that doesn't get assimilated out there to defend other Earth colonies if worst comes to worst in Sector 001. Don't even get me started on Jellico and Nechayev - it felt like they were Statler and Waldorf watching from the balcony waiting to see how soon humanity would fall prey to the inevitability of the Borg.
Even the regular TNG characters were lame shadows of themselves. I've never seen Picard characterized as so smug before. At least in Resistance he cared about saving humanity. Here, once the mutiny happened, it was like he sat back with his arms crossed and grinned, waiting for those rebellious youngsters to realize they'd bitten off more than they could chew and come back crying to daddy.
All that said, the premise was a good one, and I was intrigued by the Borg's development. Not really sure I buy the whole absorption bit, and flying through the sun to make baby Borg ships was just TOO MUCH. I dunno, the more I think about it, the less I like any of it. Maybe I should stop typing now. *sigh*
I really enjoyed the new characters that were brought in by KRAD in Q & A. I think if I were KRAD, I'd be extremely peeved with PAD for what he did to them. Anything that remotely hinted at subtlety in their characters was completely absent here. I loved how Miranda Kadohata was trying so hard to balance family and career - here, do we even know she's married? Leybenzon was just pathetic. And T'lana - the greatest casualty. Where in Q & A her objections were reasonable and logical, here she was reduced to a walking stereotypical, Enterprise-era Vulcan superiority complex. I felt like PAD set out with the intent to destroy the new characters in hopes of their being replaced later. I hated to lose T'lana. The idea of a Vulcan counselor was a compelling one.
The Starfleet brass were just stupid. "Oh, you have an idea you think might save Earth? Forget it! We want you to come back here and die with the rest of us, because we said so and we're in charge, so nyah!" Picard shouldn't have had to disobey orders. It's not as if one more ship was going to make a difference at that point. He has an idea - let him try it! At worst, you'll have a Galaxy class starship that doesn't get assimilated out there to defend other Earth colonies if worst comes to worst in Sector 001. Don't even get me started on Jellico and Nechayev - it felt like they were Statler and Waldorf watching from the balcony waiting to see how soon humanity would fall prey to the inevitability of the Borg.
Even the regular TNG characters were lame shadows of themselves. I've never seen Picard characterized as so smug before. At least in Resistance he cared about saving humanity. Here, once the mutiny happened, it was like he sat back with his arms crossed and grinned, waiting for those rebellious youngsters to realize they'd bitten off more than they could chew and come back crying to daddy.
All that said, the premise was a good one, and I was intrigued by the Borg's development. Not really sure I buy the whole absorption bit, and flying through the sun to make baby Borg ships was just TOO MUCH. I dunno, the more I think about it, the less I like any of it. Maybe I should stop typing now. *sigh*
Ah well. Next up is Sword of Damocles. I don't think I've ever read anything by Geoffrey Thorne, so yay for new experiences.
I decided that since I'm going out of town this weekend, I will try finding a copy somewhere else.
