Spoilers TP: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread

[Thestral]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

I could easily envision a scenario where Enterprise and Robinson stop the attack on DS9...but a great portion of it has been destroyed or will be destroyed.

That wouldn't work.

Spoiler: PoN finale

The Enterprise is still in the Gamma Quadrant, days away at least. The explosion is due to bombs inside the reactor core, not an external attack. And the explosion happens before the Robinson can contact anyone aboard the station or take any action.

The dialogue earlier made it clear that the explosion probably would only destroy the core and damage the rest of the station. There was a line suggesting that the damage would be worse if it happened while the shields were up, which they were, but how much worse was left ambiguous. So what's already been established in the text itself is enough to conclude how the station will survive -- at least long enough to evacuate the remaining personnel aboard.

Spoiler: End of book scene

Good point about Enterprise, but Robinson's arrival will be a big help since Defiant's having trouble with T'Jul's Warbird and there's the Breen and Tzenkethi ships to worry about. Regardless, I think ICW's point scenario makes sense, since with the reactor(s?) gone DS9's shields and weapons will fail and a great portion of it will have been heavily damaged/destroyed - and depending on the Breen and Tzenkethi reactions, perhaps even more.

 

[Stoek]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Speaking for myself I have been immensely pleased with the direction that the whole Typhon Pact storyline has been taking. It has fleshed out beautifully some of Trek's least developed races (The Gorn and Breen in particular) it has given a refreshing new direction to the long ongoing storyline of the Reunification movement on Romulus and has moved DS9 in sync with the rest of the books.

When I read RBOE I wept for Sisko. The despair the man was in was palpable. It has gladdened me to see him start to work through that some even while trying to do what he believes is the right thing.

The thing that I have never understood (and I believe I said as much back when in the RBOE thread) is how people do not understand how the dramatic process works. If everything is just dunky hory all the time then there is no story, or at least not one worth reading. Is seeing Sisko go through all of this hard? Yes for myself and many others. But the point is to see what happens as he goes through it and comes out the other side.

Now as for people who have wanted to keep carrying on about what Avery Brooks "wanted" well here's the thing. Mr. Brooks I firmly believe was only speaking in the very narrow context of the only part of Sisko's journey that he cared about. Namely the part that appeared on television with him playing Sisko. I do not believe he thought for even half a second about what may or may not happen in novels or comics, or video games, or what have you. So in his mind when the series ended that was the end of Sisko. And you know what? For a LOT of people it was. There are lots and lots of people who have never, and will never pick up a Trek novel. For all kinds of reasons. Even if they are really into the shows (or a particular show) they just aren't going to do media tie ins. It was for those people that Mr. Brooks did not want to have their last impression of Benjamin Lafayette Sisko to be of him (a person of color) going off to pursue his own aims leaving his wife to shift for herself with a child on the way. His reasons were right and understandable. But they have bugger all to do with where writers choose to take Sisko in future adventures on the printed page.

Further more I think that since RBOE was clearly only the beginning of the latest part of Sisko's story it was horribly premature of people to act as if he had left Kasidy and their daughter to fend for themselves for all time. Once again without tension and conflict there is no drama.

Now as to Plagues, well personally I was amazed that DRG3 managed to recap enough of the other relevant novels without me getting bored, and he also managed to kind of rescue (for the moment at least) Sarina Douglas for me. Because in the other TP novel in which she appears (and yes that means I don't recall the title and I don't feel like looking) she kind of came off as cold and manipulative. But in Plagues I get a sense that perhaps she's not as much in lockstep with 31 as her handlers want to think.

Overall there was much to love. And if the current Praetor survives past the conclusion of this duology I'll eat raw Sehlat meat.

 

[rfmcdpei]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Overall there was much to love. And if the current Praetor survives past the conclusion of this duology I'll eat raw Sehlat meat.

:-(

At this point, either Tomalak and Sela have to go, or Kamemor does. Can she pull it off? I can only hope.

 

[Stoek]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Overall there was much to love. And if the current Praetor survives past the conclusion of this duology I'll eat raw Sehlat meat.

:-(

At this point, either Tomalak and Sela have to go, or Kamemor does. Can she pull it off? I can only hope.

I quite agree for a number of reasons...

1: It would be a refreshing change from the (by this point rather hackneyed cliche) standard portrayal of Romulan leaders as war mongering bigots with an overinflated sense of Romulan Exceptionalism.

2: Sela was pretty much tiresome from the first time she appeared and has never grown less so for me. To be honest I don't think much of Denise Crosby as an actor. She seems like a nice enough person and all but she's always left me more than a little cold in whatever role she's been cast.

3: Okay... Here's the thing. I know this is dumb. I really do. But frankly at this point Tomalak just feels like an insult to Andreas Katulas. I think the characterization of him as a competent but unimaginative officer (bordering on being a dullard and boor) is perfectly valid, bit given that the actor who played the character was a man of intelligence, sophistication, and charm (based on everything I've heard or read about the man) who created in G'Kar one of the most memorable characters in all of science fiction film or television I'd just rather that Tomalak die so I don't have to "look" at him any more.

 

[trash80]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Finished last night, very good book and can't wait for the continuation...

Not to give anything away but maybe not everything is as it seems? Certainly one of the characters who people above said must have died is mentioned in the blurb of the next book anyway...

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Overall there was much to love. And if the current Praetor survives past the conclusion of this duology I'll eat raw Sehlat meat.

:-(

At this point, either Tomalak and Sela have to go, or Kamemor does. Can she pull it off? I can only hope.

I can't see Kamemor being bumped off just yet. In 2387, Spock was the Federation Ambassador to Romulus (I can't imagine him still being called "Ambassador Spock" if it's a job he hadn't done since before "Unification"), and I can't imagine that happening unless there's a friendly face in charge of the Empire.

 

[rfmcdpei]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Overall there was much to love. And if the current Praetor survives past the conclusion of this duology I'll eat raw Sehlat meat.

:-(

At this point, either Tomalak and Sela have to go, or Kamemor does. Can she pull it off? I can only hope.

I quite agree for a number of reasons...

1: It would be a refreshing change from the (by this point rather hackneyed cliche) standard portrayal of Romulan leaders as war mongering bigots with an overinflated sense of Romulan Exceptionalism.

It's open to question whether Romulans themselves are especially interested in an aggressive foreign policy at this point in their history.

2: Sela was pretty much tiresome from the first time she appeared and has never grown less so for me. To be honest I don't think much of Denise Crosby as an actor. She seems like a nice enough person and all but she's always left me more than a little cold in whatever role she's been cast.

One element of Indistinguishable from Magic that I quite liked was the novel's humanization of Sela, its portrayal of her as a vulnerable person who was capable of ruthless but effective decision-making. I'd hoped that, maybe, the events of the novel might have shifted her towards more productive stances.

But, well. Even though the Gamma Quadrant adventure went south badly and unexpectedly (if not unimagnably), it was her adventure.

3: Okay... Here's the thing. I know this is dumb. I really do. But frankly at this point Tomalak just feels like an insult to Andreas Katulas. I think the characterization of him as a competent but unimaginative officer (bordering on being a dullard and boor) is perfectly valid, bit given that the actor who played the character was a man of intelligence, sophistication, and charm (based on everything I've heard or read about the man) who created in G'Kar one of the most memorable characters in all of science fiction film or television I'd just rather that Tomalak die so I don't have to "look" at him any more.[/QUOTE]

Tomalak was never a subtle character, but he, too, bears responsibility for the mission going so badly wrong.

 

[rfmcdpei]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Finished last night, very good book and can't wait for the continuation...

Not to give anything away but maybe not everything is as it seems? Certainly one of the characters who people above said must have died is mentioned in the blurb of the next book anyway...

Spoiler: Who's the bomber?

Reading PoN again, it seemed to me the Slaine, the Cardassian exchange officer, is a likely candidate. There was a brief scene in Ops where she made excuses to Ro for not joining her at the new Argelian restaurant, saying that she had somewhere else to go, and there was a scene featuring a Cardassian terrorist movement with links to the Tal Shiar. My guess is that the Andorians were a ruse, at best Cardassian allies.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

I can't see Kamemor being bumped off just yet. In 2387, Spock was the Federation Ambassador to Romulus (I can't imagine him still being called "Ambassador Spock" if it's a job he hadn't done since before "Unification"), and I can't imagine that happening unless there's a friendly face in charge of the Empire.

Not necessarily. As you acknowledge, Spock was an ambassador long before he started going to Romulus. After leaving Romulus he could've been assigned as the Federation's ambassador to a different world/nation, or as an ambassador at large. Ayel and the Jellyfish computer do identify him as "Ambassador Spock," but nobody in the movie ever says that he was the ambassador to Romulus specifically.

Of course, I do home Kamemor survives. TNG-era Romulans have never been particularly interesting bad guys to me. They've been most interesting in the stories that have explored their more benevolent side. I would like to see the current friendly UFP-Romulan relations endure.

 

[DigificWriter]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Why would Spock automatically have to still be an active ambassador for the Federation to retain the honorific of 'Ambassador Spock'?

I'm currently on page 136 of the book and am really enjoying things so far. Some thoughts on what I've read:
* I really like the contrast that's being drawn between Praetor Kamamor's agenda and worldview and the agendas and worldviews of the other prominent figures of the governments of the other TP members

* I found it somewhat surprising that Ro sees her relationship with Vaughn as being a sort of surrogate father/daughter relationship because, from what I remember, there's no real indication of this in any of the previous DS9-R stories

* I'm interested to see if we get more information on - or get to see more of - the new DS9 crew members that DRGIII introduces; I'm also interested to see if we get to see Ro interact with Desca and if we get any info about how the return to the 'Starfleet CO/Bajoran Militia XO' command structure model works in the post Bajor-as-a-Federation-member climate

* I loved the interaction between Ro and Quark, and think these two have a great and very intriguing and interesting relationship in the post-WYLB DS9-R stories and am glad to see that it at least continues in some fashion despite Ro's shifting responsibilities aboard the station and her elevation in status and stature

 

[Christopher]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Why would Spock automatically have to still be an active ambassador for the Federation to retain the honorific of 'Ambassador Spock'?

Good point; former ambassadors do retain the title as an honorific. (So probably Worf could still be addressed as Ambassador Worf, though I'd assume his Commander title would take precedence while he's active in Starfleet.)

 

[rfmcdpei]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Of course, I do home Kamemor survives. TNG-era Romulans have never been particularly interesting bad guys to me. They've been most interesting in the stories that have explored their more benevolent side. I would like to see the current friendly UFP-Romulan relations endure.

Agreed. The appeal of Diane Duane's Rihannsu novels lay in their development of the Romulans from a potentially interesting warrior species into something much more complex. In contrast, having Romulans be depicted as people gaming for galactic hegemony at whatever the cost to other species is a bit of a let-down.

A Romulan civilization that actively and productively engaged with the rest of the interstellar community, instead of cordoning itself off or wasting its efforts on attempts at conquest, could enjoy a real resurgence.

 

[Reanok]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

I finally found a copy of this book at Barnes and noble they only had 2 copies left in their store.

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Sela seems one dimensional to me in her hatred of all things Federation.
Spock seems to be treated as an Ambassador in the novels, despite him camping out in Romulan space for an extended period of years.

 

[Mage]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

I've been one of the people who loved what was done with Sisko's character, a very bold and interesting direction. I was looking forward to this one very much, and couldn't wait to see how it would develop.

I'm glad I wasn't disappointed. I was afraid for a while that DRGIII might resolve the entire situation with Sisko/Kassidy/Rebbeca to quickly, and I'm glad he didn't. The development of their relationship over this novel was an interesting one.

The involvement of the Enterprise and her crew was a welcome addition, but I don't really see why it had to be the Enterprise, it feels like it could have been any random crew. It would have made sense if the Romulan's ship was their flagship as well, meaning that both governments send their flagships to show how seriously they take this undertaking.

Prynn and Vaughn..... Vaughn's one of my favorite lit-characters, from who he is to his relationship with his daughter and his wishes for the/his/their future. Seeing how everything might end for him, makes me so sad. But I can't help but hope that somehow, something or someone will come through for him.

Kira/Kay Eaton.... That really caught me offguard, I did NOT see that coming. The ending of the novel was a shock to everyone I suppose, but that scene really blew me away, and I can't wait to find out the why and how for all that.

Honoustly though, I'm going to leave my final judgement of this novel untill I've read the second installment. I feel that this is as much a two-parter as any two-part Trek episode, and I want to judge this as I would a two-part episode: as a whole.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

The involvement of the Enterprise and her crew was a welcome addition, but I don't really see why it had to be the Enterprise, it feels like it could have been any random crew.

I liked the idea of the Enterprise going on a Gamma Quadrant exploration mission. When DS9 first premiered, I sometimes thought it would be cool if TNG had the Enterprise assigned to a long-term GQ survey, so that they could do some serious, heavy-duty exploring and have periodic crossovers with DS9. So this is kinda like a longtime wish come true for me.

Plus it's gotta be a relief for Picard (not to mention Trys!) to be doing some actual exploration for the first time since the Borg Invasion. I'm glad that finally happened. I wish we could've seen more of it.

 

[Mage]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

The involvement of the Enterprise and her crew was a welcome addition, but I don't really see why it had to be the Enterprise, it feels like it could have been any random crew.

I liked the idea of the Enterprise going on a Gamma Quadrant exploration mission. When DS9 first premiered, I sometimes thought it would be cool if TNG had the Enterprise assigned to a long-term GQ survey, so that they could do some serious, heavy-duty exploring and have periodic crossovers with DS9. So this is kinda like a longtime wish come true for me.

Plus it's gotta be a relief for Picard (not to mention Trys!) to be doing some actual exploration for the first time since the Borg Invasion. I'm glad that finally happened. I wish we could've seen more of it.

Oh trust me, I love reading about the Enterprise and her crew. I just wish there was a reason why the Enterprise was needed for this mission. Though I suppose being a top of the line explorer is enough.

 

[Stoek]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Finished last night, very good book and can't wait for the continuation...

Not to give anything away but maybe not everything is as it seems? Certainly one of the characters who people above said must have died is mentioned in the blurb of the next book anyway...

Spoiler: Who's the bomber?

Reading PoN again, it seemed to me the Slaine, the Cardassian exchange officer, is a likely candidate. There was a brief scene in Ops where she made excuses to Ro for not joining her at the new Argelian restaurant, saying that she had somewhere else to go, and there was a scene featuring a Cardassian terrorist movement with links to the Tal Shiar. My guess is that the Andorians were a ruse, at best Cardassian allies.

As regards your supposition in the spoiler zone, that is some excellent thinking and certainly sounds plausible to me. It will be interesting to find out what the truth is.

 

[Kertrats47]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Wow! Just finished Plagues of Night. Here's my review!

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Re: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night by DRGIII Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Spoiler: Who's the bomber?

Reading PoN again, it seemed to me the Slaine, the Cardassian exchange officer, is a likely candidate. There was a brief scene in Ops where she made excuses to Ro for not joining her at the new Argelian restaurant, saying that she had somewhere else to go, and there was a scene featuring a Cardassian terrorist movement with links to the Tal Shiar. My guess is that the Andorians were a ruse, at best Cardassian allies.

Spoiler: The Bomber

Too obvious. I'm betting she's with Cardassian intelligence and working to stop the bomber. Given the parallels with TUC, I expect some Federation involvement -- and there is a rather shady human on the station who was featured prominently early in the book only to fade into the background during the second half -- except for a notable bit when she tried to raise suspicions about a couple Andorians.