Spoilers TOS: Elusive Salvation by Dayton Ward Review Thread
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Finished at lunch. Thought it was a good novel and I don't think I picked up all the easter eggs (though I did notice a few).
One I haven't spotted mentioned yet is
One I haven't spotted mentioned yet is
A Russian sub lost in the Laurentian Trench? - Presumably The Red October? 
Heh. So the "In a Mirror, Darkly" credits really are part of something greater!Finished at lunch. Thought it was a good novel and I don't think I picked up all the easter eggs (though I did notice a few).
One I haven't spotted mentioned yet isA Russian sub lost in the Laurentian Trench? - Presumably The Red October?
About half way through. Much improvement, although I wonder why it is Roberta interacting with the 23d century? Maybe Gary Seven in a follow-up story?
Loved this one! Voted "outstanding", and that was an easy choice!
Too many great things to really mention. The easter eggs were of course delightful, and I also really liked how real-life events, such as the Polar Sea incident, were incorporated into the narrative. (Although he got me on one... since Project Sign and Project Blue Book were real, I assumed Project Cygnus must be too, even though I hadn't heard of that one. But apparently it's fictional!)
The only parts I didn't care for that much was the recapping of In History's Shadow. Those parts tended to get a little too info-dumpy, and my eyes tended to glaze over a bit while reading them... and I *loved* In History's Shadow. I can only imagine that people who *hadn't* read IHS would be completely confused during those parts. (But if you are one of those people... you should really go back and read it!)
Is this the first book that has featured Nogura and Morrow together? I was a bit surprised, as I guess I figured after stepping down from the head of Starfleet, Nogura would have retired, but I guess he was OK with moving back to a subordinate position. I was a little unclear on what Nogura's position actually was. It appeared that Kirk reported directly to him, but Nogura's title was never explicitly stated.
With all the alien visitations we've seen on Earth prior to official first contact, Kirk's quip about Earth being a favourite alien vacation destination (or somesuch) was right on the money!
Completely enjoyable book, and if there are any more sequels, I will be there!
Too many great things to really mention. The easter eggs were of course delightful, and I also really liked how real-life events, such as the Polar Sea incident, were incorporated into the narrative. (Although he got me on one... since Project Sign and Project Blue Book were real, I assumed Project Cygnus must be too, even though I hadn't heard of that one. But apparently it's fictional!)
The only parts I didn't care for that much was the recapping of In History's Shadow. Those parts tended to get a little too info-dumpy, and my eyes tended to glaze over a bit while reading them... and I *loved* In History's Shadow. I can only imagine that people who *hadn't* read IHS would be completely confused during those parts. (But if you are one of those people... you should really go back and read it!
)Is this the first book that has featured Nogura and Morrow together? I was a bit surprised, as I guess I figured after stepping down from the head of Starfleet, Nogura would have retired, but I guess he was OK with moving back to a subordinate position. I was a little unclear on what Nogura's position actually was. It appeared that Kirk reported directly to him, but Nogura's title was never explicitly stated.
With all the alien visitations we've seen on Earth prior to official first contact, Kirk's quip about Earth being a favourite alien vacation destination (or somesuch) was right on the money!
Completely enjoyable book, and if there are any more sequels, I will be there!
Novel continuity has already established Nogura stayed with Starfleet after stepping down as its chief of staff. He's in Forged in Fire (set between TFF and TUC) as one of the admirals involved in Sulu's hearing.
^ He also shows up in the storyline featured in DC TOS Vol. 2, #25-28, giving Kirk authorization to launch a mission set between The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country. As The Wormhole mentions, Nogura evidently stays on in at least a limited capacity in the admiralty into the Morrow/Cartwright/Smillie-era.
I made that mistake as well (I was peeking to see how long the book was and that particular phrase jumped out at me). It would have been a fun reveal for the end, but I sort of ruined it for myself since it was tickling the back of my mind for the final quarter of the book.
Finished at lunch. Thought it was a good novel and I don't think I picked up all the easter eggs (though I did notice a few).
One I haven't spotted mentioned yet isA Russian sub lost in the Laurentian Trench? - Presumably The Red October?
Another Easter egg:
The 19th century section with the sea ships trapped in the Arctic ice is no doubt an homage to / inspired by Dan Simmons' excellent novel the Terror.
Ah, thanks to both of you. That's what I get for not checking MB first!
I'm not familiar with that novel or that author, so it's possible you already know this, but...
(I'll spoiler-code it, since you did)
Those were actually based on real-life events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Grinnell_Expedition
(According to that link, Dunning and Holmes were even real crew members!)
Interestingly, one of the ships of the Franklin expedition (which Advance and Rescue were looking for) was just found recently, in late 2014:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lost-franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-the-arctic-1.2760311
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fra...-found-in-arctic-id-d-as-hms-erebus-1.2784268
(The other Franklin ship was HMS Terror, which is the name of the novel you referenced, so the novel itself may be based on the real-life incident?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Grinnell_Expedition
(According to that link, Dunning and Holmes were even real crew members!)
Interestingly, one of the ships of the Franklin expedition (which Advance and Rescue were looking for) was just found recently, in late 2014:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lost-franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-the-arctic-1.2760311
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fra...-found-in-arctic-id-d-as-hms-erebus-1.2784268
(The other Franklin ship was HMS Terror, which is the name of the novel you referenced, so the novel itself may be based on the real-life incident?)
^^The novel in question is a fictionalized version of those events involving a monster.
So... the non-fictional version was the one that involved a monster? Or is this why we have commas?
I'll bet monsters are interesting, I said. The places you must go and the places you must see, my stars! And I'll bet you meet a lot of interesting people, too. I'm always interested in meeting interesting people. Now let's dip our patties in the water!So... the non-fictional version was the one that involved a monster? Or is this why we have commas?
In my defense, it was just past 1 am when I wrote that. Proper punctuation wasn't really on my mind.
I feel like the military guy Major (later Brigadier General) Daniel Wheeler is setup for a potential sequel.
^^I agree, and he was part of what I was alluding to earlier when I commented about the epilogue laying some interesting ground for a sequel to go.
^ Since apparently this time he does already have ideas for a potential sequel, I really hope we get to see it come to pass. Hopefully this one sells well!
The only fault I found with it was that it seemed like TMP-era until the uniform colors were mentioned. For that one glitch (misread-bait?), I'd have given it one of my exceedingly rare "outstanding" ratings.
Just finished it voted above average. Like others have mentioned I enjoyed all the little Easter eggs and historical trivia, including what I think were two little nods to The Terminator films and seeing Roberta and Mestal in action again.
I especially had to laugh out when I got to Chapter 16 and saw that it took place on my birthday. At least something exciting happened for someone.
Now, having said all that, I kind of got the feeling that the 20th Century is starting to play itself out.
How many more stories can we have about aliens stranded on/visiting Earth and Roberta and Gary Seven covering it up. It feels a little like MIB and its sequels.
Maybe one more story set in the latter part of the 20th Century with Roberta and Rain Robinson to wrap things up. The last chapter certainly seemed to be pointed in that direction.
I especially had to laugh out when I got to Chapter 16 and saw that it took place on my birthday. At least something exciting happened for someone.
Now, having said all that, I kind of got the feeling that the 20th Century is starting to play itself out.
How many more stories can we have about aliens stranded on/visiting Earth and Roberta and Gary Seven covering it up. It feels a little like MIB and its sequels.
Maybe one more story set in the latter part of the 20th Century with Roberta and Rain Robinson to wrap things up. The last chapter certainly seemed to be pointed in that direction.
We had a blast talking to Dayton about this one on Literary Treks this week.
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