Titan: Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett
Blurb:
As the U.S.S. Titan ventures beyond the outermost reaches of known space, the telepaths in her crew -- including Diplomatic Officer Deanna Troi -- are overwhelmed by an alien cryof distress, leading the ship to the scene of a shocking act of carnage: a civilization of interstellar "whalers" preying upon and exploiting a familiar species of sentient spaceborne giants.
Appalled but reluctant to rush to judgment, Captain William Riker and his crew investigate, discovering a cosmic spawning ground in a region of active star formation -- the ecosystem for a bewildering array of diverse but similarly vast life-forms. While attempting to negotiate an end to the victimization of these creatures, Riker's crew inadvertently grants them the means to defeat their hunters' purpose...only to learn that things are not exactly as they seem.
Author's annotations
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My review from 2006:
A great novel.
With Orion’s Hounds Christopher L. Bennett has brought the Titan series to a whole new level. Where the two opening novels didn’t fully used the obvious potential the series has, Bennett not only cashed in on this potential, but added much to the series and its protagonists. One character who has benefited from his work enormously is Tuvok, who more and more becomes my secret favorite of the series, simply because he has got more attention in the three Titan novels than in most of the Voyager series, both TV and literature. The scarred Tuvok is far more appealing to me than the often boring and too Vulcan Tuvok of Voyager. But most of the crew is characterized well, even Keru isn’t as annoying as usual. The only exception is, oddly enough, the captain of the Titan William T. Riker. Although he is one of the characters we know the most about, Bennett’s Riker remains somewhat bland and impersonal. His actions and reactions are those of any generic Starfleet Captain, if there wasn’t his marriage to Troi his place could have been taken by anyone. The “important” original characters are well defined, although at first you could think the Pa’haquel are just another “hunter-race”. But like the whole story their background is revealed step by step and the reader is learning it alongside the Titan-Crew. So the initial estimation that they are simple “bad guys” is altered toward a more balanced view while the story unfolds. Some of the other races in the alliance and the victims of the catastrophe don’t get as much attention, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,since I think the story would have been slowed down to much if all of the races would have been as much in the focus like the Pa’haquel. One other thing “Orion’s Hounds” achieves is that it sheds some light on the cosmozoan species, of whom we have seen a lot, but never learned much about before.
Overall the first real highlight of the Titan series and maybe even the real pilot, since it’s the first adventure that fits the mission description of the Titan.
As the U.S.S. Titan ventures beyond the outermost reaches of known space, the telepaths in her crew -- including Diplomatic Officer Deanna Troi -- are overwhelmed by an alien cryof distress, leading the ship to the scene of a shocking act of carnage: a civilization of interstellar "whalers" preying upon and exploiting a familiar species of sentient spaceborne giants.
Appalled but reluctant to rush to judgment, Captain William Riker and his crew investigate, discovering a cosmic spawning ground in a region of active star formation -- the ecosystem for a bewildering array of diverse but similarly vast life-forms. While attempting to negotiate an end to the victimization of these creatures, Riker's crew inadvertently grants them the means to defeat their hunters' purpose...only to learn that things are not exactly as they seem.
Author's annotations
__________________________________
My review from 2006:
A great novel.
With Orion’s Hounds Christopher L. Bennett has brought the Titan series to a whole new level. Where the two opening novels didn’t fully used the obvious potential the series has, Bennett not only cashed in on this potential, but added much to the series and its protagonists. One character who has benefited from his work enormously is Tuvok, who more and more becomes my secret favorite of the series, simply because he has got more attention in the three Titan novels than in most of the Voyager series, both TV and literature. The scarred Tuvok is far more appealing to me than the often boring and too Vulcan Tuvok of Voyager. But most of the crew is characterized well, even Keru isn’t as annoying as usual. The only exception is, oddly enough, the captain of the Titan William T. Riker. Although he is one of the characters we know the most about, Bennett’s Riker remains somewhat bland and impersonal. His actions and reactions are those of any generic Starfleet Captain, if there wasn’t his marriage to Troi his place could have been taken by anyone. The “important” original characters are well defined, although at first you could think the Pa’haquel are just another “hunter-race”. But like the whole story their background is revealed step by step and the reader is learning it alongside the Titan-Crew. So the initial estimation that they are simple “bad guys” is altered toward a more balanced view while the story unfolds. Some of the other races in the alliance and the victims of the catastrophe don’t get as much attention, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,since I think the story would have been slowed down to much if all of the races would have been as much in the focus like the Pa’haquel. One other thing “Orion’s Hounds” achieves is that it sheds some light on the cosmozoan species, of whom we have seen a lot, but never learned much about before.
Overall the first real highlight of the Titan series and maybe even the real pilot, since it’s the first adventure that fits the mission description of the Titan.
