The [i]Bozeman[/i]

[Allyn Gibson]

What does bother me is the completely nonsensical scene where Picard tells Madred that after he was tortured, he was assimilated by the Borg. You don't need to watch a VHS tape to know that's wrong; just look at an episode guide! (Also, if I remember right, the book somehow takes place after Worf joins the DS9 crew, but before the Klingon invasion of Cardassian space.)

I've not read the book in question, but if that's true... wow.

Oh, it is, it is.

I've had the feeling, for a long, long time, that Ship of the Line was a victim of tight deadlines, because the last half reads like it was rushed in the writing and the whole thing reads like it received a cursory edit at best. There are things that get introduced that go absolutely nowhere (like Worf), there's a starship that changes name between chapters, and altogether the feeling is of a book that simply ran out of time.

 

[zarkon]

I often get the distinct impression when reading her books that the only trek series Diane Carey really likes is TOS. Those are certainly the only Trek books that she writes that I find enjoyable(except maybe station rage, need to reread that one of these days). First Frontier is one of my favourite trek books, but stuff like Red Sector...Although I admit I cracked up at her lampooning of enterprise.

 

[Stevil2001]

This thread is making me want to reread Ship of the Line.

 

[Nob Akimoto]

Skip the Trek version and just read the CS Forester one.

That's much better.

 

[Nob Akimoto]

I do kinda think Diane Carey is kind of like a CS Forester, while modern Trek authors seem closer to Patrick O'Brian.

 

[Stevil2001]

Skip the Trek version and just read the CS Forester one.

That's much better.

I already have! It's probably my least favorite Hornblower novel.

 

[ronny]

I often get the distinct impression when reading her books that the only trek series Diane Carey really likes is TOS.

I get the impression the only Trek Diane Carey even watches is TOS.

 

[Nob Akimoto]

Skip the Trek version and just read the CS Forester one.

That's much better.

I already have! It's probably my least favorite Hornblower novel.

Really? I always found Lord Hornblower to be the least readable. Though I suppose there's far too much Ha'hmming in Ship of the Line.

 

[Stevil2001]

I should clarify that I've not yet got around to the last three! But I prefer the "young Hornblower" stories to the original trilogy on the whole.

 

[tomswift2002]

I'm usually not one to complain much when details are off but in this case the whole book is a sequel to the final 3 minutes of that episode and every relevant detail is wrong. This is the book that really turned me off to Carey.

How do we know that the characters that were "mis-represented" in the book as males, but were seen on screen as females, were not just cross-dressers?

 

[Kilana2]

I often get the distinct impression when reading her books that the only trek series Diane Carey really likes is TOS.

I get the impression the only Trek Diane Carey even watches is TOS.

Indeed. Carey hates counselors, so in Ship of the Line Troi is demoted to nurse. TNG characters appear to be idiots and she worships TOS characters. In Ship of the Line Bateson comes across unlikeable und 24th century Starfleet submits to his every whim.

I agree with Mr. Bennett´s solution regarding the Bozeman Crew and their integration into the 24th century.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

Silent Enemies, on the other hand, explicitly references Bateson's command of the Enterprise from Ship of the Line.

Does anybody know why Bateson moved from commanding USS Bozeman-A to USS Atlas? Why swap one Sovereign-class ship for the other?

It is possible that a command level officer transfers where he/she is needed rather than what they want. It was very selfish of the Enterprise officers to stay in one position for a large amount of their careers.

 

[ATimson]

It was very selfish of the Enterprise officers to stay in one position for a large amount of their careers.

"Selfish" implies that they make the final decision. Their postings are at Starfleet's discretoin, not theirs.

 

[Idran]

Silent Enemies, on the other hand, explicitly references Bateson's command of the Enterprise from Ship of the Line.

Does anybody know why Bateson moved from commanding USS Bozeman-A to USS Atlas? Why swap one Sovereign-class ship for the other?

It is possible that a command level officer transfers where he/she is needed rather than what they want. It was very selfish of the Enterprise officers to stay in one position for a large amount of their careers.

What kind of situation would there be where Starfleet would need to transfer a captain from one ship to another of the same class and then fill the gap that captain left with some other captain (in the sense that you mean "need", that the officer is needed in the second position rather than needed away from the first position), rather than just that latter captain being assigned to the second ship in the first place?

 

[Christopher]

What kind of situation would there be where Starfleet would need to transfer a captain from one ship to another of the same class and then fill the gap that captain left with some other captain (in the sense that you mean "need", that the officer is needed in the second position rather than needed away from the first position), rather than just that latter captain being assigned to the second ship in the first place?

As I understand it, it's quite routine for officers to be rotated to new posts after a certain amount of time. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I gather that personnel aren't required to continue serving for too great a period of time without a rest leave; the more strenuous the posting, I'd imagine, the more imperative it is to rotate personnel to prevent burnout. So presumably a captain, or any other officer, would be given a leave period after their tour of duty, and someone else would be assigned to their former post while they were on leave, so that when they came back, they'd need to be assigned to another post, even if it's the same job on another ship.

 

[drc]

What kind of situation would there be where Starfleet would need to transfer a captain from one ship to another of the same class and then fill the gap that captain left with some other captain (in the sense that you mean "need", that the officer is needed in the second position rather than needed away from the first position), rather than just that latter captain being assigned to the second ship in the first place?

As I understand it, it's quite routine for officers to be rotated to new posts after a certain amount of time. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I gather that personnel aren't required to continue serving for too great a period of time without a rest leave; the more strenuous the posting, I'd imagine, the more imperative it is to rotate personnel to prevent burnout. So presumably a captain, or any other officer, would be given a leave period after their tour of duty, and someone else would be assigned to their former post while they were on leave, so that when they came back, they'd need to be assigned to another post, even if it's the same job on another ship.

That's how it works in the U.S. Navy, where no assignments last anywhere close to a "five year mission." Submarines, for example, have two whole crews who trade off tours (although the actual composition of the crew probably changes a lot from tour to tour). And large naval ships like aircraft carriers spend a significant amount of time in port between tours.

 

[Idran]

Aha, I never considered that; I was just thinking in terms of skill and ability. That does make sense, though.