This time I double-checked and I didn't see any previous articles about 'The Better Man.' I thought this was an excellent book. It takes place about 2 years after The Motion Picture. Weinstein does a good job depicting the characters and ship at the appropriate level. There's no question this is a post-TMP book. Even the characterizations are well written, with Spock, McCoy and Scotty in particular much more comfortable in their roles and how much they could 'get away' with under Kirk. You could tell, particularly Spock and Scotty, have learned a lot about Kirk's methods and use his methods here. Also, Spock is more comfortable with his humanity since his encounter with V'Ger, which was well written in the book as well. The only characters not given much to do here is Sulu and Uhura. Chekov is given a little more attention, including leading a security team to the planet, incorporating his new role from TMP as a tactical officer.
Story wise it is well written. The Enterprise is escorting Ambassador Rousseau, a childhood friend of McCoy's who had a falling out, to a planet of genetically enhanced humans, but these are more like the clones seen in TNG episode "Up The Long Ladder" and less like Khan's breed of Augments. Not bent on domination, rather they have a smug air of superiority. The planet grudgingly gave permission to the Federation to set up an observation station there years prior and now want them off. However, the Federation is given a last chance to plead their case. McCoy and Rousseau had been to the planet during the first contact and are the only ones given permission to plead their case. There are 3 storylines in the book, one is Rousseau attempting to get a new deal. Another involves the President's daughter who is the child of one of the Starfleet officers who first visited the planet (I won't give it away) and finally when Spock and Scotty beam down to the observation station to begin the process of dismantling it find unexplained malfunctions occurring leading to a life or death situation. There is also a kidnapping. That may seem like a lot of competing storylines but I thought Weinstein handled it well. And frequently episodes of the various series did the same thing, where there'd be various storylines going on at the same time. He does a good job with the exposition so that you're never confused. You always know where you're at and all the various stories are just as interesting.
You also get a bit of backstory of McCoy's history. It was written around the same time as Shadows of the Sun, which Weinstein acknowledges in his foreword. Today it's not a big deal, but at the time there was probably concern about causing confusion and contradicting the other story. However, I thought Weinstein did a good job avoiding contradicting the other book. He even briefly makes mention of his ex-wife finding a new lover which was part of Shadows of the Sun. And McCoy's character in TBM shares some of the same self-doubts that was portrayed in SOTS (and that led to the end of his marriage). The timeframe of the flashbacks is a bit different from SOTS as well. So all in all, I thought this book could easily share the same continuity of SOTS.
Story wise it is well written. The Enterprise is escorting Ambassador Rousseau, a childhood friend of McCoy's who had a falling out, to a planet of genetically enhanced humans, but these are more like the clones seen in TNG episode "Up The Long Ladder" and less like Khan's breed of Augments. Not bent on domination, rather they have a smug air of superiority. The planet grudgingly gave permission to the Federation to set up an observation station there years prior and now want them off. However, the Federation is given a last chance to plead their case. McCoy and Rousseau had been to the planet during the first contact and are the only ones given permission to plead their case. There are 3 storylines in the book, one is Rousseau attempting to get a new deal. Another involves the President's daughter who is the child of one of the Starfleet officers who first visited the planet (I won't give it away) and finally when Spock and Scotty beam down to the observation station to begin the process of dismantling it find unexplained malfunctions occurring leading to a life or death situation. There is also a kidnapping. That may seem like a lot of competing storylines but I thought Weinstein handled it well. And frequently episodes of the various series did the same thing, where there'd be various storylines going on at the same time. He does a good job with the exposition so that you're never confused. You always know where you're at and all the various stories are just as interesting.
You also get a bit of backstory of McCoy's history. It was written around the same time as Shadows of the Sun, which Weinstein acknowledges in his foreword. Today it's not a big deal, but at the time there was probably concern about causing confusion and contradicting the other story. However, I thought Weinstein did a good job avoiding contradicting the other book. He even briefly makes mention of his ex-wife finding a new lover which was part of Shadows of the Sun. And McCoy's character in TBM shares some of the same self-doubts that was portrayed in SOTS (and that led to the end of his marriage). The timeframe of the flashbacks is a bit different from SOTS as well. So all in all, I thought this book could easily share the same continuity of SOTS.
