The Star Eagle Adventures IV: All The Sinners, Saints

[Gibraltar]

I’m a late-comer to this particular story, but I downloaded it to my eReader and I’ve been enjoying it at my own pace. I’m up to Chapter 6, and I have to say you’ve crafted a phenomenal tale of woe for our two crews here.

The away mission to the planet was a tightly-written litany of sequential disasters, and I feel bad for Xylion having drawn the short straw on a mission where despite having done the best anyone could have, he still ends up catching flak from Command.

And Tazla Star, our favorite Starfleet captain gone bad (I find her far more complex and engaging than Ben Maxwell) arrives to the party as Eagle’s new XO. That’s got to be a bitter pill for Owens & Company to swallow, most especially as they’re still unaware of her complicity in the actions (and armaments) of the rebel faction.

Oh, what a tangled web you’re weaving here… and hey, orbital-bombardment phaser fire against dismounted infantry… BRUTAL!

Loving it!

 

[CeJay]

Thanks for finding the time to catch up with this, I know it's not a quick read.

I'm glad to know that you're enjoying what you've read so far. As Captain Sandhurst could attest sometimes orbital bombardment is the only way out of a tricky situation. Eventhough i'm sure he wouldn't want to be reminded ... Poor guy.

 

[Gibraltar]

Up to Chapter 8 now.

Damn, the needle Owens is trying to thread just keeps getting smaller and smaller as the admiral continues to micro-manage a deteriorating situation planetside and Akinola prepares to go ‘Off the Reservation’ to get T’Ser back.

This is my first encounter with Schwarzkopf, not having yet read the earlier story in which he appears. I’m still trying to divine whether he’s merely misguided, or if he’s genuinely just an utter fool. Perhaps he’s both. His delusions of grandeur, rampant egotism, and rabid paranoia make him increasingly entertaining (and frightening) to watch.

I know Akinola’s already had his fill with Schwarzkopf, but now I’m wondering how much of this insufferable idiot Owens will ultimately put up with?

Speaking of T’Ser, watching her survive the horrific ordeal at her captor’s hands (quite literally) was hard to read. Her tormentor’s arrogance, narrow-mindedness, and sheer brutality makes me just want to send Deite a Pava-gram by warp-courier.

You’ve got layers of complexity here, and I find your analysis of the terrorist/freedom fighter dichotomy far superior to the short-shrift the subject got in such TNG episodes as The High Ground.

Continued excellence, CeJay. I’m enjoying the hell out of this tale.

And Sshhhhhhh! Don't say 'orbital bombardment' around Sandy. It makes him all maudlin and weepy.

 

[Mistral]

Great ending and an engaging epilogue. Long ride but worth the price of admission!

 

[CeJay]

Gibraltar, good to hear you're still enjoying this story and also that the complexities are working out for you. Some people criticized this story for being 'another' anti-war, reactionary tale and while I admit that certain real-world issues have found their way into this (i.e. terrorism, religious fundamentalism, nation-building, interference by external powers, etc) I tried to paint a much more ambiguous story where hopefully it isn't always obvious who the good or the bad guys are or who is right and who is wrong.

Mistral, thanks for finding the time to ride this one out. I know it wasn't a short journey.

 

[Gibraltar]

Okay, I’d thought I had created a quagmire of chaos, betrayal, political intrigue, and a sea of proverbial gray areas when I penned Embers of the Fire. This story puts all that to shame.

The harrowing complexity of the various relationships here, the intertwining of Schwarzkopf’s deceit and single-minded obsession when coupled with Star’s torn loyalties makes this an aching study of humanoid frailty and the well-intention paved road to Hell. Everybody here thinks they’re doing the right things for the right reasons, and they’re all only making a bad situation ever so much worse.

Akinola’s distrust of Command is pitted against Owen’s dedication to following orders, leaving both men grudging allies in a quest to rescue their people from an impossibly complex and increasingly desperate scenario.

And T’Ser… yeesh. I’m glad I’m reading this before I got too much further in writing the character myself, as this incident will no doubt have impacts that follow her for some time to come.

I’m up through Chapter 12, and every time I think things can’t get any worse…

Wicked good stuff here, CeJay.

 

[CeJay]

I'm delighted to see that you are still working yourself through this and your comparisons to your own terrific work are both flattering and greatly appreciated.

While I'm sure you've probably encountered a few genre standards and cliches, overall I wanted this story to keep the reader guessing and give it a few unexpected twists and turns here and there.

I also wanted these characters to take something away from the events taking place here. Something that would stay with them for a while. Good and bad. As far as T'Ser is concerned it's mostly bad (so far).

Again, many thanks for reading and providing such insightful feedback.

 

[Gibraltar]

I just wrapped up this amazing tale, and I’m especially impressed with the level of detail and world-building you’ve achieved here.

You put everyone through the wringer with few (if any) exceptions. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the entire scenario is that Tiatia will forever been only a minor historical footnote, lost in the greater scope and gravity of the larger Dominion War. The hundreds of deaths, Starfleet, civilian, and terrorist/freedom fighter were largely for naught, though one hopes there might someday be peace on Tiatia as a result of some of the events here.

The final scene between Star and Bane was bitter-sweet, and there does seem to be some semblance of ‘humanity’ left within the Trill that realizes how awful the moral and ethical compromises she’s made have been.

It’s nice to see the first sparks between T’Ser and McBride, despite knowing how tragically that relationship will end.

You gave everyone their due here, both your own Eagle characters as well as those from Bluefin. Your antagonists were fully realized, 3-Dimensional people with their own aims, hopes, and drives, and merely relegating them to the status of villains would short-change their complexity and depth.

Owens’ final decision to give Star an opportunity to redeem herself is even more of a gamble than Picard took on Ro Laren. Star’s an addict, an inveterate killer, and her loyalties always seem to be in question, most especially where her ‘former’ employers are concerned. Despite all that, Michael’s willing to take a chance on her, and that speaks volumes about his own beliefs about people and their ability to change if given sufficient encouragement.

This was an epic, tragic, and violent tale, CeJay, and very much worth the read. It’s like you took all the chaos, moral ambiguity, fear, and anguish of the entire Dominion War and distilled it down to its most base elements represented by the conflict between the Tia and the Ait.

Damn. Fine. Stuff.

 

[CeJay]

Gibraltar, thank you very much for the nice words, I'm really glad that you had a chance to finish this tale. I was a bit concerned that the overall length of the novel would put people off reading it or seeing it through to the end.

What I love about the size of the Trek universe is that you can write about a seemingly major event like what happened on Tiaita and in the grand scheme of things it still doesn't amount to all that much in the end, making the loss of life and the failure to bring a lasting resolution so much more depressing.

But I do foresee a change happening on Tiaita in the future. I think the seeds for it have been planted. The question is how will this new future pan out and how much will Starfleet and the Federation factor in on it. Hopefully we get to revisit this place again.

I'm glad you enjoyed the antagonists in this tale and that you felt they were well thought out. I didn't want an archetypical villain for this story but instead people who are acting in a way that they feel is best for their respective people. For some that meant trying to escalate the war to new heights for other to follow their religious dogma without compromise. In the end of course most of these folks were still misguided but hopefully it seems apparent why they thought the way they did.

And there is no doubt that Owens is taking a risk with Star. I have a feeling that if he knew everything about her he may not have been so quick to keep her. But in the end he probably saw something in her that made him believe that she was really committed to trying to turn a new leaf. And there is no better story, in my opinion, than a flawed character trying to find redemption. We will have to see if that's going to work in her case.

Again, thank you very much for reading and your very flattering review.