TNG: #38 Dragon's Honor by Kij Johnson and Greg Cox Review Thread

[tomswift2002]

Published: January 1996

Plot:
Isolated for centuries, the exotic Dragon Empire is finally ready to join the United Federation of Planets. But first the emperor's eldest son must marry the only daughter of his oldest enemy, bringing to an end decades of civil war. Without the wedding, there can be no peace -- and no treaty with the Federation.

As honored guests of the Dragon Empire, Captain Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise must ensure that the royal wedding occurs on schedule, despite the Empire's complicated and difficult codes of honor. And Dr. Beverly Crusher finds her loyalties torn when she wins the confidence of the unusually reluctant bride-to-be.

More than just a treaty is at stake, for a vicious race of alien conquerors will stop at nothing, from assassination to invasion, to keep the Empire out of the Federation. Picard must now use all his skills to save the Empire... and preserve the Dragon's Honor.

Review:

I'm just about to start this book, which I understand from Voyages of Imagination was finished after Kij Johnson sent out a plea for help from Greg Cox after she had to move cross country rather quickly and unexpectedly.

And this was, I believe Greg Cox's second Trek novel ever, after his collaboration with John Gregory Betancourt on Devil In The Sky.

I've got to ask, but Mr. Cox when you were writing this book, did you think that 25 years later you would still be writing Star Trek novels or you would've written as many as you have?

 

[Greg Cox]

That was indeed my second Trek book. Hard to believe that was nearly twenty-five years ago.

And, no, I'm not sure I could have imagined that I'd still be writing Trek books a quarter of a century later!

Not I'm complaining, mind you.

 

[tomswift2002]

So do you remember which l ppl arts of the book are your parts and which are Kij’s, or did you work on all the parts of the book whether it was ‘polishing” Kij’s contributions or writing parts she didn’t write?

 

[Greg Cox]

So do you remember which l ppl arts of the book are your parts and which are Kij’s, or did you work on all the parts of the book whether it was ‘polishing” Kij’s contributions or writing parts she didn’t write?

Hard to say at this late date. Basically, Kij gave me a very rough first draft and extensive notes and outlines for the parts she hadn't written yet, then gave me a free hand to finish the book as I saw fit. Some of her scenes were pretty much done, others were just loosely sketched out. Most of the plot and characters came from her, although I did tinker with the plot to some degree, including giving Beverly a bigger part since I knew by that point that she was going to be on the cover.

Kij has since gone on to become an award-winning fantasy author, btw. Was chatting with her just the other day because I found her cited in a recent non-fiction tome on notable woman fantasy and horror writers.

 

[Stevil2001]

I once visited the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, where I was thinking of going to grad school. At the time, The Future Begins and The Sky's the Limit had recently come out making me a Star Trek author, and it was pointed out that if I worked at the CSSF in grad school everyone there would be a Star Trek tie-in writer, as the staff were James Gunn (The Joy Machine), Chris McKitterick (the nonfiction segments of Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth), and Kij Johnson (Dragon's Honor), though of course all three of them are better known for other writing!

 

[tomswift2002]

Hard to say at this late date. Basically, Kij gave me a very rough first draft and extensive notes and outlines for the parts she hadn't written yet, then gave me a free hand to finish the book as I saw fit. Some of her scenes were pretty much done, others were just loosely sketched out. Most of the plot and characters came from her, although I did tinker with the plot to some degree, including giving Beverly a bigger part since I knew by that point that she was going to be on the cover.

Kij has since gone on to become an award-winning fantasy author, btw. Was chatting with her just the other day because I found her cited in a recent non-fiction tome on notable woman fantasy and horror writers.

So you had seen the cover by that point? Was the book going by a different name at that point, since while the cover is one of the most beautiful covers on a Trek novel, it’s rather really generic, with no hint as to what the story’s about. There’s not even a dragon on the cover even to just be like a representation of the leader of the Pai (unless Beverly’s nacklace is suppose to have it, since it looks like there might be a dragon shape on the pendant but it could also be some shadowing the artist applied) or even to tie into the title.

 

[tomswift2002]

It’s kind of interesting but in terms of publication date, the two TNG books with “Dragon” in the title were published nearly 2 years apart. Here There Be Dragons was published December 1993, while Dragon’s Honor was published January 1996. Was someone at Pocket or Paramount really into Dragon’s at that point?

 

[Greg Cox]

So you had seen the cover by that point? Was the book going by a different name at that point, since while the cover is one of the most beautiful covers on a Trek novel, it’s rather really generic, with no hint as to what the story’s about. There’s not even a dragon on the cover even to just be like a representation of the leader of the Pai (unless Beverly’s nacklace is suppose to have it, since it looks like there might be a dragon shape on the pendant but it could also be some shadowing the artist applied) or even to tie into the title.

As I recall, the book was always titled DRAGON'S HONOR, but, yes, I'd been given a sneak peak at the cover while I was finishing up the book.

It was not uncommon for the covers to be finished before the actual manuscripts were, since you needed the cover for solicitation purposes long before the book was actually published. The sales reps needed the covers to show to their account, for the catalogs and sales kits, etc.

 

[tomswift2002]

I found this interesting, and something that @Therin of Andor Should like, but the Enterprise-D has an Andorian helm officer in the book. Her name is Lieutenant Tor. This was still before the different Andorian sexes, so no shen or zhen mentioned, though the text says Tor is female.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I found this interesting, and something that @Therin of Andor Should like, but the Enterprise-D has an Andorian helm officer in the book. Her name is Lieutenant Tor. This was still before the different Andorian sexes, so no shen or zhen mentioned, though the text says Tor is female.

Not sure how I missed her! Thanks. I just added her into the database, but I shudder to think of all the books I have on my shelves that have tiny bookmarks indicating every Andorian and TAS reference since 2009.

 

[tomswift2002]

Not sure how I missed her! Thanks. I just added her into the database, but I shudder to think of all the books I have on my shelves that have tiny bookmarks indicating every Andorian and TAS reference since 2009.

Well the book is set after TNG’s Journey’s End as it mentions the recent agreement between the Federation and Cardassians regarding the border colonies. (Even though page 1 has a 471xx.xx stardate; JE is 47751.2)

But with the name “Tor” I was wondering if that was an in joke by @Greg Cox. I think you mentioned that you had worked at Tor Books in the past? Were you at Tor around the time of Dragon’s Honor?

 

[Greg Cox]

But with the name “Tor” I was wondering if that was an in joke by @Greg Cox. I think you mentioned that you had worked at Tor Books in the past? Were you at Tor around the time of Dragon’s Honor?

I assume that was an in-joke, but I can't remember whose joke that was. Kij used to be the managing editor at Tor, John Ordover (the editor) used to work at Tor, and, yes, I was still working for Tor full-time when the three of us worked on Dragon's Honor together.

So there was a definite Tor reunion going on there.

 

[tomswift2002]

With the G’Kkau in the book, I keep expecting someone to tell Captain Picard to call Crocodile Dundee, since the G’Kkau are described as a cross between a Gorn and a crocodile.

 

[JD]

As I recall, the book was always titled DRAGON'S HONOR, but, yes, I'd been given a sneak peak at the cover while I was finishing up the book.

It was not uncommon for the covers to be finished before the actual manuscripts were, since you needed the cover for solicitation purposes long before the book was actually published. The sales reps needed the covers to show to their account, for the catalogs and sales kits, etc.

Is that why so many of the covers were kind of generic?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Is that why so many of the covers were kind of generic?

People say "You can't judge a book by its cover", but people do. The cover needs to catch enough attention to cause a browser to pick it up off the shelf and flip it over the read the blurb. That's the most difficult part in making a sale. This one says: "Potential Bev & Picard story, with Bev in off-duty mode."

 

[tomswift2002]

People say "You can't judge a book by its cover", but people do. The cover needs to catch enough attention to cause a browser to pick it up off the shelf and flip it over the read the blurb. That's the most difficult part in making a sale. This one says: "Potential Bev & Picard story, with Bev in off-duty mode."

So far, Beverly has been a minor character through page 99 (of 277), and the bride-to-be still hasn’t made an appearance, although she’s been talked about.

 

[Greg Cox]

Is that why so many of the covers were kind of generic?

Wouldn't know. Not my department.

 

[Therin of Andor]

So far, Beverly has been a minor character through page 99 (of 277), and the bride-to-be still hasn’t made an appearance, although she’s been talked about.

According to the blurb, she'll be back. Haven't read the novel since it came out.

 

[tomswift2002]

According to the blurb, she'll be back. Haven't read the novel since it came out.

She’ll probably reappear, but a couple of things with Dragon Empire is that it’s based on Imperial China, and the women are treated as second-class citizens. The Empire is a very patriarchal society—-Riker even remembers how he felt on Angel One.

 

[zarkon]

I haven't read this in years, but I remember my favourite bit being

Spoiler

the escalation in the grade of disgusting things that Picard had to eat, and the board game they played in the kitchen.

(Spoiler tag'd as OP is still reading it).