I loved how this novel's "everything is not what it seems" scenario turned out. Very true to the spirit of Trek.
Spoilers TOS: The Latter Fire by James Swallow Review Thread
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If you'll forgive a bit of wordplay, I just wish Chekov's departure had been another "Chekhov's Gun."
I rented this novel from my local library and found this novel to be like an episode of The Original Series - interesting, but predictable.
^ This may be a dumb question, but now I'm curious... do you actually have to "rent" books from libraries in the US (or perhaps specifically Sacramento)? Like as with old movie-rental places, where you had to pay a fee for each one?
I enjoyed this one. I definitely felt it to be the strongest TOS entry in a while. In many ways, actually felt a bit like some of the TOS novels from the '80s (which, I consider a good thing).
Nope, I think they just meant "check out". Libraries in the US are free.
Yeah, I figure the use of "rent" comes from when video stores used to be a thing. Since libraries let you check out videos, the terms blurred.
Yep, it was either a typo or a synonym - they all mean the same thing.
Oh, and in Sacramento (and I think most other libraries throughout the country), books and other materials (CDs, DVDs, etc.) rented/borrowed/checked out only cost money if they're returned late (for my library system, late by a week or more; fines are generally waived if they're brought back the next day or two) or are lost.
No, rental is not synonymous with borrowing or checking out, because rental requires payment. It's derived from the same root as "render," meaning to pay or provide (as in to render tribute, say).
Maybe it was the inclusion of Arex and M'Ress, but this read like James Swallow's novelization of a lost TAS episode. The living Death Star, the colorful lizard people scampering up the walls, the simian space-rangers -- this was a very fun story to read.
I quite enjoyed it, myself. I especially liked the novel starship action at the climax of the book, and the spoiler-free red-herring cover-copy. My only nitpick is there was a bit of a dramatic irony pile-up near the end of the book. In the space of a few chapters, we had
Kirk musing on how he never expected to die in Deflector Control, of all places, a reference to his experience with orbital skydiving, a line about kids on starships, and a suggestion that Spock should go into diplomacy. I did like the first one, if only because it wasn't something that's referenced a lot, unlike Spock's future career and families on starships, which pop up a lot in TOS and ENT-era stories as examples of characters not seeing the future coming.
I just finished this, and I really liked it. It's basically the TAS-era novel I've always wanted to see. After the first couple of chapters, I decided to visualize it as an animated episode, albeit with unlimited budget for the animation. So many elements seemed to be conceived with TAS in mind -- the nonhumanoid aliens, the design sensibilities of the Syhaari ships and city, the descriptions of the leviathan, etc. And I liked the story too, the themes that it addresses.
It's a good thing I haven't done the copyedits for The Face of the Unknown yet, since I'm going to want to tweak a few things to make it more consistent with this book.
It's a good thing I haven't done the copyedits for The Face of the Unknown yet, since I'm going to want to tweak a few things to make it more consistent with this book.
/\ Thanks for your comments, guys. Glad you liked it!
It was actually kind of refreshing to see people not falling in love everywhere. You don't need a romance b-plot to drive a compelling story.
I absolutely loved this novel!
A classic-feeling Classic Trek story, with all characters feeling *true* and having a part to play, fresh alien culture(s) driving a multi-tiered/layered plot with an emphasis on the core ideas of Trek, and also including winks and referenced that didn't take the reader (i.e. me) from the story.
A Trek story I'd recommend o people not familiar with TrekLit!
A classic-feeling Classic Trek story, with all characters feeling *true* and having a part to play, fresh alien culture(s) driving a multi-tiered/layered plot with an emphasis on the core ideas of Trek, and also including winks and referenced that didn't take the reader (i.e. me) from the story.
A Trek story I'd recommend o people not familiar with TrekLit!
Just finished this one and thought it was great. For me, the characters were pretty much spot on, except McCoy, who was a little to grumpy, but this is a minor thing to flag. Most of it was really good. I loved the science involved in the back story, that the Syhaari home system was essentially really isolated from the rest of the galaxy because of the denseness of its Oort Cloud. Taking it further, I also loved the science involved with the Breg'Hel and their control of the Leviathan. My imagination was definitely satisfied with the writing, as it was easy for me to picture the Leviathan moving across the Syhaari system. Huge. Destructive. It was a good read.
Just wanted to add that I'm so thankful for comments like CLB's above, where he said he was going to tweak a draft of another piece of writing based on this novel. Thanks for doing stuff like this, as it expands the universe so much.
Good timeline info on where this goes in the FYM.
Just wanted to add that I'm so thankful for comments like CLB's above, where he said he was going to tweak a draft of another piece of writing based on this novel. Thanks for doing stuff like this, as it expands the universe so much.
Good timeline info on where this goes in the FYM.
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