Now that you mention it...
Spoilers TOS: Lost to Eternity by Greg Cox Review Thread
- Thread starter Kilana2
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Now that you mention it...
Sulamids, on the other hand, have twelve genders, all of which claim to be male, especially the ones that bear the children.
Diane Duane has such a talent for witty throwaway lines. Not to mention her talent for world-building. Arguably the greatest living TrekLit author who isn't still writing TrekLit.
But getting off-topic again. GC has, with the present opus, reaffirmed his position as one of the best TrekLit authors who is still writing TrekLit. And he is hardly the first published TrekLit author to postulate an Andorian hybrid; see the fanfic-origin short story "Ni Var," in Star Trek: The New Voyages, for a Fornaxian scientist with an Andorian wife, and two kids (who were originally one kid).
Diane Duane has such a talent for witty throwaway lines. Not to mention her talent for world-building. Arguably the greatest living TrekLit author who isn't still writing TrekLit.
But getting off-topic again. GC has, with the present opus, reaffirmed his position as one of the best TrekLit authors who is still writing TrekLit. And he is hardly the first published TrekLit author to postulate an Andorian hybrid; see the fanfic-origin short story "Ni Var," in Star Trek: The New Voyages, for a Fornaxian scientist with an Andorian wife, and two kids (who were originally one kid).
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Would the UPF allow genetic engineering to produce hybrid children?
I still have yet to hear a coherent answer as to why it was so important to do that.
That said, at least they made it an in-universe plot element. They didn't just handwave it away. It has the added advantage of not decanonizing TOS.
Worked with Spock, didn't it?
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Just finished it. It is not as good as other novels he has written.
Finally finished it two nights ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have liked to have learned more about what happened to Dr. Hamparian, but I guess McCoy's comment sort of gives us a clue.
Also, Yorba's parting comment to Kirk led me to think that she'd reappear in one of the 2292 segments. She was an interesting character, one I'd like to see again in a future novel. I'd certainly like to see more of both Gillian and Melinda.
Also, Yorba's parting comment to Kirk led me to think that she'd reappear in one of the 2292 segments. She was an interesting character, one I'd like to see again in a future novel. I'd certainly like to see more of both Gillian and Melinda.
Still reading - but I have got to chime in and say, what a brilliant job on giving both the TOS and movie era a really distinctive feel. The dialogue and actions really feel like you’re in one or the other. I went back and watched the TOS episode mentioned in the historians note, and I also re watched Voyage Home, and the characters have moved on a lot, obviously, and well into the period just before TUC. The book captures and does this really well.
I really enjoyed these stories.
Some thoughts:
* Poor Dennis. I hope Melinda keeps his memory alive somehow.
* I was expecting Gillian to show up a lot earlier than she did.
* I was wondering if bus punk or the woman who interacted with Chekov re: Alameda would be interviewed, or at least someone who remembered Spock's nerve pinch (although I suppose in 1986 California, that wasn't as weird an occurrence as some of the others), and was surprised when Plexicorp didn't figure in (beyond a namecheck of transparent aluminum)
@Greg Cox Was Fortier's first name supposed to be "Pierre" or "Louis"? Both are used. And I think once "Melinda" is called "Gillian".
Edit:I noticed the title's double meaning; those who go missing, their fate unknown, and those who lose themselves along the way in their quest to live forever.
I suppose a scene in which someone is puzzling where the podcasters vanished to would have been overkill, because it would only lead to a continual cycle of "investigates, vanishes, investigates that, vanishes" etc.
Some thoughts:
* Poor Dennis. I hope Melinda keeps his memory alive somehow.
* I was expecting Gillian to show up a lot earlier than she did.
* I was wondering if bus punk or the woman who interacted with Chekov re: Alameda would be interviewed, or at least someone who remembered Spock's nerve pinch (although I suppose in 1986 California, that wasn't as weird an occurrence as some of the others), and was surprised when Plexicorp didn't figure in (beyond a namecheck of transparent aluminum)
@Greg Cox Was Fortier's first name supposed to be "Pierre" or "Louis"? Both are used. And I think once "Melinda" is called "Gillian".
Edit:I noticed the title's double meaning; those who go missing, their fate unknown, and those who lose themselves along the way in their quest to live forever.
I suppose a scene in which someone is puzzling where the podcasters vanished to would have been overkill, because it would only lead to a continual cycle of "investigates, vanishes, investigates that, vanishes" etc.
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I haven’t posted to TrekBBS in years probably (mostly out of laziness more than anything) but I came here specifically to say this was the best Trek book I’ve maybe ever read.
I’ll concede my bias — Star Trek IV is my favorite Trek ever. But this book masterfully wove the three eras together and kept me hooked the whole way through. The 2024 parts felt grounded (which, I want — I don’t need a pseudo in-universe kind of 2024 but different, I just want our 2024), the characters appropriately relatable. The TOS-era and Movie-era stories, I legit kept picturing as on-screen stories — things we could have easily seen in the real TOS and Movie eras.
Really well done.
I’ll concede my bias — Star Trek IV is my favorite Trek ever. But this book masterfully wove the three eras together and kept me hooked the whole way through. The 2024 parts felt grounded (which, I want — I don’t need a pseudo in-universe kind of 2024 but different, I just want our 2024), the characters appropriately relatable. The TOS-era and Movie-era stories, I legit kept picturing as on-screen stories — things we could have easily seen in the real TOS and Movie eras.
Really well done.
Not to mention the Galaxy Quest reboot.The new Captain Proton movies completely violate canon!
I’m reading Lost To Eternity now. I’m just starting on chapter twelve (so, around 23% in).
One thing though that I’d like to ask Greg about. I’m a big Star Trek “ships guy” (as one would immediately be able to tell from my nearly four hundred Eaglemoss (and now Fanhome, too) Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection models collection!).
Because of this, my mind automatically tries to picture all of the starships in the novel. However, I don’t think we’ve ever actually seen a late 23rd Century (2292) “Romulan Warbird” before. So, whenever it is mentioned (or, even more so, when the story shifts to being aboard the Warbird, as it is in this chapter I’m starting to read), I’m getting a bit distracted by not being able to picture in my mind the starship design.
Is there a particular established Romulan starship design that you were picturing as you wrote this, Greg?
— David Young
One thing though that I’d like to ask Greg about. I’m a big Star Trek “ships guy” (as one would immediately be able to tell from my nearly four hundred Eaglemoss (and now Fanhome, too) Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection models collection!).
Because of this, my mind automatically tries to picture all of the starships in the novel. However, I don’t think we’ve ever actually seen a late 23rd Century (2292) “Romulan Warbird” before. So, whenever it is mentioned (or, even more so, when the story shifts to being aboard the Warbird, as it is in this chapter I’m starting to read), I’m getting a bit distracted by not being able to picture in my mind the starship design.
Is there a particular established Romulan starship design that you were picturing as you wrote this, Greg?
— David Young
I sorta imagined the modified Klingon K'Tngas the Romulans used in DC Comics' second series. Basically, it's a K'Tnga with structure connecting the warp nacelles underneath. So, sort of a late 23rd-century D'Deridex with Klingon engineering.
Sorry not to reply more promptly. The honest answer is that I couldn't immediately remember and didn't have time to go digging through my old notes and reference materials to refresh my memory. (Deadlines, grocery runs, etc.)
I confess I'm the opposite of a "ships guy" in that I don't know all the ship stuff by heart, and am always somewhat bemused when I see people having heated debates about nacelle placement or whatever. "They call that a D7 battle cruiser? Anyone with eyes can see that's a D9 for sure!"
(Not just a Trek thing, btw. I'm the same way in real life. I couldn't tell a Ford from a Chevy from a Honda if my life depended on it.)
Don't get me wrong. I do my homework in order to get it right in the books, but I always need to look the ship stuff up when I'm writing Trek. ("What's the difference between a 'Warbird' and a 'Bird of Prey' again? What deck is sickbay on? Is sickbay capitalized or not?"). It's not burned into my brain the way the plots and the characters and their voices are.
On LOST TO ETERNITY, I remember digging through lots of websites and reference books and old issues of STAR TREK magazine to try to find Movie-Era Romulan vessel that didn't look like a Movie-Era Klingon ship, just to distinguish them from each other. At this late date, I can't remember exactly what I settled on, but I think I had in mind some variation of the bird-like vessel seen in "Balance of Terror." Maybe.
Sorry not to be more helpful!
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Hmm. Well I drive a Nissan Leaf. And before too long, it will most likely have a bumper sticker that says,
Yes, that Romulan ship design they used in the first DC TOS series was actually from the FASA Star Trek role playing game. I had all the Ship Recognition Manuals for that. (Although I don’t think they referred to those as “Warbirds”.)
Thanks for your answer Greg. I figured you probably had to imagine something since there weren’t any Romulan ships seen in the movies, and that you probably were seeing some sort of variation on the TOS Romulan Bird-of-Prey. I did wonder, however, if you authors were privy to background materials from CBS that us mere mortals aren’t (like maybe production concept drawings or gurus like Larry Nemecek.
— David Young