ST:TNG Resistance (SPOILERS)

[Species7582]

Overall, the book is more about Worf and the XO post than about the Borg (though the Borg aspect might be the clearer in the next novels). If you have been spoiled by ST:TTN, ST:VGD, STS9R, you may find the book just average.


Picard:

• in a “ship” with Crusher
• hears and determines the what/where/why/when of Borg are up to (and becomes Locutus again)
• disobeys Adm Janeway by not waiting for 7 of 9 in investigating the Borg

Crusher:

• helps Worf come to terms with his actions in Soukara (DS9: Change of Heart)
• finds a new way to defeat the Borg, kills Borg Queen

Geordi:

• didn't do much except deactivating B4
• built a cloaking device

Worf:

• still E-E temp XO when he refused to accept the post again when offered (as approved by Starfleet) but eventually accepts the post.
• T'Lana

T'Lana:

• Vulcan, new ships counselor
• Worf

Sara Nave:

• ex-Security Chief, now Conn officer
• ala Sito Jaxa (Worf's sparring partner and fate)

Lio Battaglio (sp?):

• Security Chief but doesn't last long

The Borg:

• attacks on sight (explained as protecting the creation of their new Queen)
• more vicious – cuts up the away team and beamed back the pieces to sickbay

Question(s):

• How come it took the Borg a while to create a new Queen since what happened in Endgame, Homecoming, and The Father Shore?
• Cloaking device specs in their ships computers? What gives?

 

[tenmei]

Interesting.

So, no new CONN or OPS Officers then - and is Nave Human?

 

[KRAD]

^ Nave is the conn officer, and yes, she's human.

We'll meet the new second/ops officer in Q&A.

 

[tenmei]

Oh - misread the above, for some reason thought it said ex-CONN Officer, new Security Chief

Have we seen Nave in anything else, or does she go from Security Chief to Helm in the course of the novel?

Look forward to seeing the new 2nd/Ops Officer in Q&A then, KRAD.

 

[wizkid]

I thought the book focused too much on T'Lana in a bad way and Crusher's love for Picard more than anything. I can see where you mention Worf's promotion because that did hog a lot of time.

Transition books are hard to pull off.

 

[Christopher]

Nave is original to Resistance.

As for cloaking device specs in the computer, why not? The Treaty of Algeron forbids using them, but that doesn't mean Starfleet can't study them and know how they work. And after all, they have to know how cloaks work if they want to be able to defeat the cloaks used by hostile powers.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I really enjoyed "Resistance". The new dynamic between Picard and Beverly made me see these two characters, that I felt I knew rather intimately, in a whole new light.

Worf's reluctance to take on the XO's spot was done well, and I like how that storyline palyed out. And a new love interest? I think Jadzia would approve.

T'Lana is an intersting addition to the crew. When I first heard about the Vulcan Counselor, I was afraid that she would turn out to be just another Vulcan, but it looks as if she is going to be a very multi-layered character. The addition of a Vulcan to the TNG senior staff promises to add a unique flavor to the post-Nemesis adventures. As an aside, what is T'Lana's rank? IIRC, she was only refered to as "Counselor".

So I take it that we will be introduced to the new characters on a gradual basis over the first three books?

All-in-all, an impressive start for the TNG "relaunch". Can't wait for Q & A.

ETA: Also, where does this book take place in the timeline? Early 2380, I would assume?

 

[Man of Steel]

Read Resistance in 2 days and here's what I thought of it.

1)Plays more like a sequel to First Contact and Best of Both Worlds

2)The character of Sara Nave is a bit confusing(at least to me) as I can't figure out if she's attracted to Worf or not. It seems to me that Worf is afraid of committing to another relationship after what happaned with Jadzia.

3)I hate T'Lana. She is supposed to be a counsleor yet doesn't really play that part as she should. To me it doesn't feel like she's a perfect fit on the Enterprise. Personally, I feel she's a waste of a character (maybe because she's underdeveloped).

I prefer Troi and she has better chemistry with not only Picard but the rest of the crew as well. With T'Lana, it feels like she is trying to distance herself with the crew and vice versa. She seems like one who will bring tension throughout.

3)Why is Geordi only a cameo character in this book?
4)First Worf turns down the 1st officer position then accepts it and while I have no problem with this, it seems out of place for him for some reason.

5)Some of the plot is a rehash of FC

All in all, it was a good read with some loopholes in between although it seems to me that like the movies, that this is another "Captain Picard Show".

It was fast reading yet fairly short with the nding feeling rushed but in the end, it is a satisfying read to the new relaunch series and I am interested in seeing on where the next two books take it.

 

[Maestro]

Is this available now?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Turtletrekker said:
T'Lana is an intersting addition to the crew. When I first heard about the Vulcan Counselor, I was afraid that she would turn out to be just another Vulcan, but it looks as if she is going to be a very multi-layered character.

I "hear" the character as Valeris. It's Kim Cattrall's voice patterns that fit the character for me in Resistance; I'm not implying that I think she's about to turn on Picard at a moment's notice.

ETA: Also, where does this book take place in the timeline? Early 2380, I would assume?

Textual evidence in the book suggests about six months post-Nemesis. Maybe four. The Enterprise-E has definitely been out in space a while since Nemesis, though.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Man of Steel said:

2)The character of Sara Nave is a bit confusing(at least to me) as I can't figure out if she's attracted to Worf or not.

I never got the impression that Nave was in any way attracted to Worf. What gave you the impression that she might be? As she was obviously involved with Battaglia, this comment make no sense whatsoever...

It seems to me that Worf is afraid of committing to another relationship after what happaned with Jadzia.

I think this is stated outright at some point.

3)I hate T'Lana. She is supposed to be a counsleor yet doesn't really play that part as she should. To me it doesn't feel like she's a perfect fit on the Enterprise. Personally, I feel she's a waste of a character (maybe because she's underdeveloped).

See, the fact that she isn't a perfect fit is part of the reason that I like her. The original TNG crew, as presented on TV and thus in previous novels, never had conflict with one another which is not very realistic. T'Lana is a newcomer, a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, and that can pave the way for some interesting characterization down the road.

I prefer Troi and she has better chemistry with not only Picard but the rest of the crew as well. With T'Lana, it feels like she is trying to distance herself with the crew and vice versa. She seems like one who will bring tension throughout.

I like Troi (and Riker) on ''Titan''. Change is inevitable, and part of what I liked about Resistance (perhaps a title with more than one meaning) was that Our Heroes had to deal with and accept changing and unfamiliar circumstances. And T'Lana does have issues that she needs to deal with and this could account for the "distance" you sense. Otherwise, she seemed like a good counselor to me (I like her much more than Counselor Astall on Voyager. Uhg.) Picard described her as "relaxed" and "gracious". You can't expect her to step into Deanna's shoes and fit in as well as she did right away. Also, a character that was simply a Deanna clone would be pointless. As for "chemestry", I'd say T'Lana's with Picard is "different" than Deanna's, but not necesarily "better" or "worse".

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

I read a review on Amazon and they said that "the action, which was very limited, was interrupted by paltry counseling sessions or interludes a la soap opera or MTV Real World." Did you guys find that to be true? (I haven't gotten the book yet- it's in the mail )

 

[Turtletrekker]

Dandelion_Wine said:
Did you guys find that to be true?

Nope.

 

[Christopher]

Allyn Gibson said:

Turtletrekker said:
T'Lana is an intersting addition to the crew. ...

I "hear" the character as Valeris. It's Kim Cattrall's voice patterns that fit the character for me in Resistance; I'm not implying that I think she's about to turn on Picard at a moment's notice.

Based on her physical description, I imagined Kristin Kreuk in the T'Lana role, only later realizing that Kreuk already coincidentally plays a character named Lana.

ETA: Also, where does this book take place in the timeline? Early 2380, I would assume?

Textual evidence in the book suggests about six months post-Nemesis. Maybe four. The Enterprise-E has definitely been out in space a while since Nemesis, though.

What's your basis for that? I found it ambiguous, though I got the sense that it was intended to be earlier in the year than that (what with the Counselor only just arriving).

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

Forgot to ask, what did people think of the Crusher/Picard relationship in this book (how it was handled, etc.) compared to Death in Winter?

Also, I know people said Geordi didn't have much of a role in this book but is there any indication that he'll have a bigger part in later books?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Page 8: "Geordi had worked the past few months with B-4 in hopes of summoning Data's memories..."

Page 15: "Mr. Worf, for the past few months you have, in my opinion, fulfilled your role as temporary second-in-command..."

Yeah, that's vague. "A few" is at least two. So, we're at least two months past the Enterprise's launch.

I thought I recalled a specific reference to how long Worf had been training Sara in the bat'leth, but I can't find that right now. And I thought there was a date attached to a mission where Sara was the security chief, but I'm blanking on that as well.

Okay, so at a minimum it's two months. But to me it feels like more than that.

Of course, this could be like New Frontier and time's a very fluid concept.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Dandelion_Wine said:
Forgot to ask, what did people think of the Crusher/Picard relationship in this book (how it was handled, etc.) compared to Death in Winter?

There's a pretty good scene with Crusher and T'Lana that deals with the problem of the ship's Chief Medical Officer also being the Captain's lover.

I think Picard & Crusher feels pretty natural in the book, though it has a friends-with-benefits feel to it more than a passionate feel. Or maybe it's just me.

Also, I know people said Geordi didn't have much of a role in this book but is there any indication that he'll have a bigger part in later books?

But think about it. Not every episode featured every character equally. Geordi isn't as important in this book, but for all we know he's a major player in the next two. Based on previous PAD works, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Geordi doing the heavy lifting in Before Dishonor.

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Finished Death in Winter and Resistance this weekend (the latter in one day). DiW wasn't as bad as some made it out be, just a decidedly average adventure that finally allows the long-awaited Picard-Crusher relationship to really happen.

Resistance was better, but does feel like it covers old ground, retreading First Contact and Best of Both Worlds. Where the book succeeds is Worf's character arc regarding taking the XO position and T'Lana, who is a great addition to the crew. Then the book kills two of the new staff members... didn't see that coming, particularly Nave's death. I liked her and was hoping to see her stay. The book also succeeds in making the Borg menacing again, much more satisfying IMO than most of their latter Voyager appearances.

A solid kick-off to the TNG-Relaunch adventures. I can't wait for Q&A.

 

[fleetcaptain]

I was looking for this book yesterday after I read the new issue of ST TM and well I didn't see it. But that was up in another part of the state. I will have to look again today or tomorrow. Can't wait to read it from what I have seen everyone said so far.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

On Nave's death.

Was I the only one who thought the scene in "42," when the freighter captain spaces herself and her possessed husband?

No, it's probably just me.

Obviously, one's not influenced by the other given lead times and such, but it's just the thought I had.