Spoilers TNG: Available Light by Dayton Ward Review Thread
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Just into it. Thought the initial summary was good. Why was I rooting for NechayeV to escape?
Probably because she’s the only likeable one.
So, I'm not huge on Discovery, and the LitVerse had petered out, so I've fallen out of most of the Trek circles the last couple of years. Saw that Ward had a new Trek book out this morning and immediately went to purchase it. They've doubled the price since Hearts and Minds? I'm sorry guys, but no. If I thought for a second the extra money was going into the author's pockets, I'd probably still bite, but 16 bucks for a paperback because it's got slightly larger pages is just beating a dead horse.
Looks like I'm out of Trek for the long term. Damn, I was really looking forward to Bennett and Cox's new novels too.
Looks like I'm out of Trek for the long term. Damn, I was really looking forward to Bennett and Cox's new novels too.
There is more money going into our pockets, theoretically, because we get paid royalties based on a percentage of the cover price, and the percentage is the same for a trade paperback as for a mass-market paperback. So if the book costs twice as much, it gets us twice as big a royalty. (Although it's kind of a moot point until we earn out the advance, but that can probably happen faster with a trade paperback because the royalties are bigger.)
Might be best to go for the Section 31 duo by Mack first.
I haven't really read any new Treklit since the first few Strange New Worlds (featuring Dayton Ward!) but I have to say this book has done an admirable job of bringing me up to speed. I don't feel lost at all.
Except.. could someone give me a brief rundown of the 'future knowledge' that Taurik possesses? It seemed pretty important when it was brought up but so far he doesn't seem to be acting with any foreknowledge of what's going to happen. Was the info he got vague or is he just playing his part to ensure the timeline doesn't change?
Except.. could someone give me a brief rundown of the 'future knowledge' that Taurik possesses? It seemed pretty important when it was brought up but so far he doesn't seem to be acting with any foreknowledge of what's going to happen. Was the info he got vague or is he just playing his part to ensure the timeline doesn't change?
Thank you
Got a hard copy from Barnes & Noble today and eagerly read through it!
I noticed a typo, though. On page 156, the narration refers to "Gul Macet" as the torturer in Picard's ordeal in "Chain of Command".
I was both under- and overwhelmed. I was much more interested in hearing about the post-Section 31 fallout from Control than I was in learning about the Nejamri ship Osijemal. But, having spent time on this board, I am not surprised that we will have to wait until Collateral Damage to learn more.
It was interesting to for the Enterprise-E to get another mystery that became a first contact. Digitized holographic life is an interesting expansion of transporter technology.
On the surface, the Jirol Salvage Guild seems like a one-off character group of the week, but I conclude the novel feeling as though we will meet them again, similarly to how Headlong Flight left off the alternate Enterprise-D and Bloodied Talon.
Damn, Ross sure got axed fast. I thought there would be much more dragging the greatest Dominion War hero for his actions, but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
As for Nechayev, that was a valiant attempt to escape, but federal assassination charges have caught up.
Well, T'Ryssa gotta T'Ryssa with Taurik for future information, as futile as it may be.
As thribs mentioned earlier, that was a fast Discovery reference.
It was interesting to for the Enterprise-E to get another mystery that became a first contact. Digitized holographic life is an interesting expansion of transporter technology.
On the surface, the Jirol Salvage Guild seems like a one-off character group of the week, but I conclude the novel feeling as though we will meet them again, similarly to how Headlong Flight left off the alternate Enterprise-D and Bloodied Talon.
Damn, Ross sure got axed fast. I thought there would be much more dragging the greatest Dominion War hero for his actions, but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
As for Nechayev, that was a valiant attempt to escape, but federal assassination charges have caught up.
Well, T'Ryssa gotta T'Ryssa with Taurik for future information, as futile as it may be.
As thribs mentioned earlier, that was a fast Discovery reference.
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Oh, that reminds me. eBook edition, so I'm not sure of the page numbers;
In chapter 22, when Trys is being told that without help, the colony ship's computers would've soon shut down entirely and everyone would've died, she considers the feeling of dread on the population of "more than a half-million people." All other references to the population of the Osijemal are sixty thousand, with none saying six hundred thousand. I expect the figure was altered when the novel was in revisions, and the less specific reference slipped through.
Oh, and something else that reminded me of.
I'm not sure what exactly it was, but the way Chen was being focused on in this book made me think it really was winding up to kill her off or leave her permanently injured by her digitization in the end. It's funny, considering she's normally the most-focused-on book-only character in the Enterprise-E crew, but my spidey-sense kept tingling that this was gearing up to be a death in the limelight. Kept me on my toes, that's for sure, which I suppose is an accomplishment when writing a character doing risky things in a tie-in.
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Hmmm. I really wanted to like this more than I did. The section 31 fallout that takes up a third of the book was fascinating, but I lost interest in the main plot once the competent Ferengi arrived, and I ended up skimming the final 50 pages of that section. I am fine with new original characters in Treklit and have read many lines like New Frontier and SCE, but there was too much focus on original characters for my liking for a Next Gen book. That might just be my personal taste but I would have preferred more tv core characters for a Next Gen book with one or two original characters like Chen or Taurik included, but the focus/balance went too far for me with original characters to be a Next Gen book. Just my opinion though.
Taurik isn’t original, he comes from TNG.
Though it was just a single episode.
Fair point
I only spotted one DSC reference, what was the other?Just bought the novel on Amazon. Since my Kindle is kaput, I'm going to have to read it on my laptop though, which aggravates me to no end. Should be worth it, though.
EDIT: Spotted the first DSC-related retcon. At least it doesn't involve DSC's dumbed-down version of Control. Also, I was expecting Nechayev to be the hardest to capture. She didn't disappoint. No doubt because she's the most intelligent of the bunch.
2nd EDIT: Spotted the second DSC reference.
Bashir and Douglas.
What is this “library” you speak of?Your local library will be your friend here
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