Spoilers TOS: The Face of the Unknown by Christopher L. Bennett Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Defcon, Dec 28, 2016.

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Rate The Face of the Unknown

  1. Outstanding

    23 vote(s)
    45.1%
  2. Above Average

    17 vote(s)
    33.3%
  3. Average

    6 vote(s)
    11.8%
  4. Below Average

    3 vote(s)
    5.9%
  5. Poor

    2 vote(s)
    3.9%
  1. Nyotarules

    Nyotarules Vice Admiral Moderator

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    But, but Spock is not a gentleman he is Vulcan! ;):nyah:
    When is the Next Rise of the Federation book coming out... I miss that series.
    (I'm on Kindle to buy your Ex machina story..think of me when you spend your royalties lol)
     
  2. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    Patterns of Interference, scheduled for August 2017!
     
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  3. KirkPicard

    KirkPicard Captain Captain

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    In the soundtrack of my imagination I heard the "Night On the Yorktown" track from "Beyond" upon the reveal of the Web of Worlds. Outstanding read overall from the characterizations to the pacing of the plot. An overdue tale of one of the iconic TOS civilizations.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I think I was hearing something more like Goldsmith's "The Cloud" and "Vejur Flyover" in my head when writing it.


    Thanks!
     
  5. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    Wherever you linked the cover from, it no longer shows. Please find a site where the images do not just vanish so soon.
     
  6. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    upload_2017-2-12_17-33-53.png

    I think you're having cache troubles, JWolf.

    I even just opened the image directly and did a force-reload and it showed fine.
     
  7. Jbarney

    Jbarney Captain Captain

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    Great story. I'd urge anyone to pick up this FYM gem. For me, the best part of this one was CLB's ability to paint a totally realistic home for the First Federation. Loved it. Probably can't discuss too much because of spoilers and how recently this came out, but I loved the effort made to ground everything in believable science. Where the crew had to go to meet up with the First Federation population was extremely well done.

    On another level, I really enjoyed the novel's exploration of the climate change issue. Star Trek at its best.

    Finally, continuity buff here....always enjoy the use of material from other novels.

    Peace,
    JB
     
  8. Riverside2233

    Riverside2233 Commander Red Shirt

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    What is the timeline here within the Lit-Verse? 2266? I've got a running list that is mostly chronological of the novels and need to update some of the latest.

    Thanks.
     
  9. Jbarney

    Jbarney Captain Captain

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    If you are asking where the story takes place, it is in 2269....before TAS, but after the end of the original series. CLB has it unfolding just prior to The Latter Fire....
     
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  10. Leto_II

    Leto_II Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Do you mean The Face of the Unknown? It takes place just prior to the start of TAS (and fellow novel The Latter Fire), so Autumn 2269 or thereabouts ("Yesteryear" takes place in October 2269, according to DTI: Forgotten History).

    EDIT: Ninja'd by Jbarney! :lol:
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2017
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  11. Jbarney

    Jbarney Captain Captain

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    I missed it....(ahem)......the nod to Covenant of the Crown.
     
  12. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I finished it. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but perhaps too detail rich which slows up progress in the story.
     
  13. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Plenty of people have already been discussing spoilers, and there is a warning in the thread name, so I don't think it's a problem at this point. If you don't want to post them out in the open, you can always just spoiler code them.
     
  14. T'Ressa Dax

    T'Ressa Dax Captain Captain

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    Just started, and already found my new signature. It had to be said.
     
  15. Nyotarules

    Nyotarules Vice Admiral Moderator

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    Christopher, I noticed that there is an in universe reason why the TOS Enterprise is not diverse, is this a reference to your in universe reason (Ex Machina) why things changed when TMP came along?
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Not really; if anything, they don't quite line up, since Kirk defended it in TFotU as mere happenstance while ExM presented it as an inadvertent bias that it took an effort to recognize and counteract. Although that's understandable, since often people who are the beneficiaries of such a bias would unquestioningly assume it was mere happenstance or the natural order of things. In real-world terms, I had to acknowledge the more diverse crews depicted in TOS-era series like Vanguard and Seekers in the years since ExM was written. By now, there are no doubt a number of minor details in ExM that no longer line up with what's been established in subsequent years -- for instance, Commissioner Soreth holding the kind of Vulcan values seen in early ENT before the Kir'Shara reformations (which I was able to reconcile in Uncertain Logic) and Chekov musing about how the origins of the different subtypes of Klingon were still unclear to the Federation (which is something I haven't yet found an opportunity or a way to reconcile).
     
  17. Nyotarules

    Nyotarules Vice Admiral Moderator

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    Well Soreth was old, (180?) no doubt set in his ways under the old guard since we know Vulcans are not infallible. I would assume that truth of Archer and the Klingon virus would be under 'lock and key' in a Section 31 vault, the only Starfleet officers who know the truth are all dead in the TOS era, so that can remain a mystery forever, cos the Kingons are not gonna talk. As Worf said 'we don't speak of it to outsiders' and why should they lol
     
  18. Enterprise1701

    Enterprise1701 Commodore Commodore

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    Some dedicated scholar-types know about the origins of Hem'Quch and Quch'Ha. In Myriad Universes - A Gutted World (a timeline which diverges from the prime timeline just before the start of DS9), the Romulan ambassador to the Klingon Empire in 2373 knows about it.
     
  19. Laura Cynthia Chambers

    Laura Cynthia Chambers Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Otherwise known as
    "Ambassadorships for everybody". I really liked that this one was more subtle about characters getting together.

    Kirk's greeting upon meeting Koust for the first time - priceless! :lol:
     
  20. Nyotarules

    Nyotarules Vice Admiral Moderator

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    That was one messed up universe lol