Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS*****

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Julio Angel Ortiz, Dec 5, 2007.

  1. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Isn't that a misquote of Milton?
     
  2. William Leisner

    William Leisner Scribbler Rear Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Depends on your translation.
     
  3. CaptainDonovin

    CaptainDonovin Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Happy to see Ra-Havreii survived, sad to see I actually did get lost somewhere near the end. I'll pay attention next time.
     
  4. DanTheGrey

    DanTheGrey Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I slowed my reading pace to a crawl to keep up with all the flipping back and forth at the end...you weren't alone in almost (or actually) getting a bit lost.
     
  5. JAG

    JAG Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Yeah, I was not quite sure who was who at the end.

    I finished this about 5 minutes ago and WOW! I think I can honestly say, that this was one of the, if not the BEST Titan novel yet. I enjoy how you write Redjack. Your descriptions of the settings was amazing. I could picture exactly what the characters were seeing.

    Well dine! Here is to many more books from you. :thumbsup:
     
  6. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I hope he has a nice meal as well. ;)
     
  7. SeerSGB

    SeerSGB Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Great book. And it was interesting to see Troi and Riker dealing with a issue that we've not really seen before in 'Trek and how it affects them as a couple.
     
  8. Dancing Doctor

    Dancing Doctor Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I'm at the part near the beginning with Jaza in Stellar Cartography, feeling like he's floating amongst the stars (or that's how I remember it).

    It's an okay read so far. I haven't gotten into it as much as I wanted, plus it's a bit more difficult for me to focus on this one. Still, it is very promising.
     
  9. Geoff Thorne

    Geoff Thorne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I hope you stick with it, Vixen. And, to the other guys, thanks. Glad you liked it.
     
  10. Warp Coil

    Warp Coil Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I finished this one a couple of days ago. A great read. Some of the sci/technobabble stuff was hard to follow but the overall story was still very good. I'm bummed about Jaza's fate. He was one of my favorite characters. On one hand, I'd like to have him return somehow. But at the same time, if he did return to Titan, it would make his fate/sacrifice less dramatic.
     
  11. Byron Blake

    Byron Blake Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Just finished the book. When I got it, I thought I won't have time to finish it until after christmas, but once I started reading I couldn't put it away... Great book. Well done RedJack.
     
  12. Geoff Thorne

    Geoff Thorne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Yay. Thanks. Happy Christmahannukwanza!
     
  13. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I finished it. It just did not rate that highly for me.
     
  14. Geoff Thorne

    Geoff Thorne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Care to say why not? I'm a big boy. I can take it.

    I've noticed, for instance, that some people are peeved that I didn't focus on the Trois more. Since I didn't set out to write IMZADI III, that's a criticism that I just don't get.

    But if there was some problem with the prose or the characterizations or anything that didn't float your boat, I'd like to see some detail on that. It's helpful.
     
  15. Dancing Doctor

    Dancing Doctor Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I'm on page 153 (up from page 35 yesterday) and so far it's been...interesting.

    One thing I will say is that it is significantly...darker than the previous Titan installments. It's like a particularly intense Battlestar Galactica episode with heavy shading from a Dominion War-era Deep Space Nine episode (or vice-a versa). I'm not sure how it will be born out, but I shall continue to read. The current unfolding of events is...intriguing.
     
  16. Sxottlan

    Sxottlan Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I'm about 200 pages into the book. This afternoon, I kept reading for quite awhile, not so much because I'm loving it, but I suddenly found I wanted to finish it because it really just isn't doing anything for me.

    Maybe the remaining portion will pick up. Here's hoping.
     
  17. Geoff Thorne

    Geoff Thorne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Well, there's a lot more violence if that's what you mean.
     
  18. Dancing Doctor

    Dancing Doctor Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    Well, I've finished it. I'm still digesting everything, but I can say it was a good read.

    But I can see how you could be turned off by it. The technobabble was at times a bit much. Vale made a comment about how helpless she felt with all the techno talk, and I have to agree.

    The Riker/Troi thing. I'm not sure about Imzadi III, but there were times, with Riker and Troi, that there could have been a bit more focus on them. The whole "dancing around their problem" worked for a while, but then fell flat. Especially when the problem was finally revealed. All that trauma...over her workload being made lighter? Yes, it's a valid reason and it wasn't one of the first times he'd been overprotective, but having it get as bad as it got is a bit too much. If the question was having the baby in the first place, and Riker didn't want to for constant fear for its and her safety (something that was expressed in Sword of Damocles anyway) then I could see all this grief. But work schedules?

    Ra-Havreii being an ass for most of the story, even when he was helping, almost turned me off. And his "Luna Guilt" is starting to become an annoying trait, and utilized a lot more than necessary.

    Despite all that (I wasn't turned off from it) it was still a good read. My pacing and reading were thrown off by all the technobabble and scientific concepts, but with the explanations there, I managed to slog through it. Having Jaza gone/not gone is going to kill me, and I'm pissed off beyond all belief at having to wait until October of 2-freaking-008 to get more Titan.

    Sword of Damocles was a good read, overall, and has rounded out my Trek Lit experience for this month. Kudos, Geoff.
     
  19. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    It was a variety of things. The focus on Vale,Keru,Jaza, made for interesting social dynamics, but they are not interesting enough to me. The technical details took two reading to become clear enough to understand. The technique of not telling a story as time progresses has been overused.
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Re: Sword of Damocles -- comments & opinions ****SPOILERS***

    I thought the real underlying source of tension between them was their difficulty conceiving, and that their frustration at that worsened their disagreement over his protectiveness etc. At least that was my impression.

    Why? December '07 to October '08 is only 10 months. The interval between Orion's Hounds and SoD was 23 months, January '06 to Dec. '07.