Titan Orion's Hounds
- Thread starter Vic Sixx
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Which fits perfectly. Many 21st century humans explore the far reaches of Earth in their youth and leave their own backyard and its environs for their retirement days.
I think one novel (I believe it was Intellivore) suggested that the odd shape of the Federation and explored space had to due with large, mostly empty stretches between the galactic arms. I'm not sure if the astronomical geography is up to par, but it makes sense from a pragmatic perspective: it's safer to explore by island-hopping down archipelagoes than it is to risk the empty ocean.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I'm afraid Diane was basing that on assumptions now known to be incorrect. The spaces between the galactic arms aren't empty at all, because the arms are defined by nebulae and star-formation zones, not by stars. They're pressure waves in the interstellar medium -- not continents divided by oceans so much as mountain ranges divided by plains. The interarm regions would be pretty much lacking in nebulae, dust clouds, and young, bright supergiants, but the population of main-sequence stars is pretty evenly distributed throughout the galaxy's stellar disk.
Anyway, in the version of Trek cartography used by Star Charts and thus followed by most of the novels these days (including my own), pretty much all of known space in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants is well within the Orion Arm. The nearest edge of the arm would be maybe a couple hundred light-years "beyond Antares," somewhat past where I put Mabrae territory in The Buried Age.
it's so easy to forget how vast space is, isn't it.
Earth to Alpha Centauri is 4 light years, so it would take 4 years at warp 1 to get there. According to this chart, warp 2 is 10 times warp 1, that makes it roughly 5 months. Warp 3 is 39 times warp 1, giving us 1.5 months. Warp 4 is 102 times warp 1, so that's half a month. ... Warp 7, at a whooping 656 times the speed of light, will get us to alpha cent in just over 2 days. Actually, even at warp 9.9, 3053 times SOL, it'll still take 11.5 hours to get there.
It makes very boring television if they stick with these actual figures, especially in those scenes when they start using parsecs for their distances. "Captain, we picked up a distress signal, distance 3 parsecs, ETA 2 hours." I don't think so......
Alright, thanks to Halo 3 it took me this long to get through that last 100 pages.
And damn, in that last 100 pages a hell of a lot happened. All of which made the story that much better and cemented it's position as the best of Titan (so far). The way it ended with Malar was surprising and quite satisfying. There was another very well written non-gratuitous sex scene - although this one unlike the others was a bit jarring at how it was began and was long since over with in the span of a period and a newline. There wasn't even a "yadda yadda" there.
Deanna (one of my least favorite Trek characters) was excellently written and made me actually like her a little. This is a feat not accomplished since the Battle of Betazed.
Another aspect worth mentioning is the look on religion. The philosophy of the Pa'haquel, the evolution of their species and the changes that MUST come about, and self reflection of the consequences of blind faith and how faith and science can both be one, was phenomenal.
It's also not until after I finished reading and am able to reflect on it, that I realize just how great Tuvok is in this book and his wife, T'Pel, too.
Great book, great science, great characterizations, and a FANTASTIC look on religion. Eventually I'm definitely going to come back to reread this one.
And damn, in that last 100 pages a hell of a lot happened. All of which made the story that much better and cemented it's position as the best of Titan (so far). The way it ended with Malar was surprising and quite satisfying. There was another very well written non-gratuitous sex scene - although this one unlike the others was a bit jarring at how it was began and was long since over with in the span of a period and a newline. There wasn't even a "yadda yadda" there.
Deanna (one of my least favorite Trek characters) was excellently written and made me actually like her a little. This is a feat not accomplished since the Battle of Betazed.
Another aspect worth mentioning is the look on religion. The philosophy of the Pa'haquel, the evolution of their species and the changes that MUST come about, and self reflection of the consequences of blind faith and how faith and science can both be one, was phenomenal.
It's also not until after I finished reading and am able to reflect on it, that I realize just how great Tuvok is in this book and his wife, T'Pel, too.
Great book, great science, great characterizations, and a FANTASTIC look on religion. Eventually I'm definitely going to come back to reread this one.
Thanks a lot!
I'm in the middle of Orion's Hounds and can only agree that it's the best of the Titan novels so far.
I think I especially enjoy how it just revels in Titan's mission to explore and has created a wholly alien universe (enjoying the intricacies of that oh so much). I liked the more political angle of the first two novels, but it seems like this is where the series is beginning to come into its own, just as the Titan does. And the way the reader's taken on the ride with the crew by first feeling for the jelly creatures, but you just knew things weren't as they seemed at the beginning. It's awesome how it's shown that there truly are always two sides to the coin.
And lastly, I really like that the novels give Riker room to fail and learn from these mistakes. Something I missed in the show itself at times, but which only makes the characters all the more interesting and in the end stronger.
I could write a novel about how well the different species on board are portrayed, as well as the difficulties that come with such a diverse crew.
Can't wait to finish it!
I think I especially enjoy how it just revels in Titan's mission to explore and has created a wholly alien universe (enjoying the intricacies of that oh so much). I liked the more political angle of the first two novels, but it seems like this is where the series is beginning to come into its own, just as the Titan does. And the way the reader's taken on the ride with the crew by first feeling for the jelly creatures, but you just knew things weren't as they seemed at the beginning. It's awesome how it's shown that there truly are always two sides to the coin.
And lastly, I really like that the novels give Riker room to fail and learn from these mistakes. Something I missed in the show itself at times, but which only makes the characters all the more interesting and in the end stronger.
I could write a novel about how well the different species on board are portrayed, as well as the difficulties that come with such a diverse crew.
Can't wait to finish it!
^^Thank you!
I can only agree - and already have how for that matter. "Orion's Hounds" is a great book about the wonders of the universe and what Starfleet is all about: Exploration.
I'm saddened that only a few episodes of Star Trek have truly dealt with the wonders of the universe and exploration. Somehow, there was always a ship in distress and fighting aliens came along. :-(
So go Christopher, give us more!!!
You are very welcome, Christopher!
Do you know if you'll get the chance to write another novel in the series, yet? I really liked your take on the characters and especially your portrayal of Troi. I've always liked her, but she's been so woefully underused on the show itself, as well as in many novels.
I totally agree. I guess it's understandable given how a tv show works and considering budget and what not, but I've always enjoyed the more "hardcore" sci fi eps. So it's really awesome to see this series going in that direction.
Do you know if you'll get the chance to write another novel in the series, yet? I really liked your take on the characters and especially your portrayal of Troi. I've always liked her, but she's been so woefully underused on the show itself, as well as in many novels.
I totally agree. I guess it's understandable given how a tv show works and considering budget and what not, but I've always enjoyed the more "hardcore" sci fi eps. So it's really awesome to see this series going in that direction.
Right now, my priority is finishing the TNG novel I'm currently working on, and then I have some original-fiction work I want to get back to. I can't say anything about future Trek plans one way or the other at this point.
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