Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

[Nerroth]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

David Mack said:

Man of Steel wrote:
Well then get Paramount to do it.

Yeah, sure, Marc. I'll just call up CBS Television and they'll jump to fulfill my desire and sell Star Trek Vanguard to their competitors at Time-Warner. After that, I'll make a phone call to the nice people at Citibank and ask them to drop off a huge satchel of money, no questions asked, at my apartment. And then, on my way home, I'll swing by the Ferrari dealership, drive a car off the lot without paying for it, and stop by Scarlett Johannson's place and say, "Don't ask so many questions, Scarlett, just get in the damned car," and she will, of course, comply.

That sounds more like one of Quinn's more hair-brained schemes to me!


I just finished reading RTW - and it's very impressive. And a nice cameo near the end, too.

You know what? There's an anime studio called Manglobe, who recently produced an excellent series called Ergo Proxy - they would be a great choice if Vanguard could ever be developed for the screen.

(If they could be tapped to produce a Buried Age anime, I'd be quite beside myself with excitement!)


I hope that with the arc we've seen in the first three books proves to be merely the beginning of a long-term effort to continue the story of Starbase 47.

It's a fun place to hang out.


Gary

 

[David Mack]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

^ Thanks, Gary -- I'm glad you dug RtW and the Vanguard series overall. It's my hope that I'll get the chance to write another installment of the series someday....

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

David Mack said:
^ Thanks, Gary -- I'm glad you dug RtW and the Vanguard series overall. It's my hope that I'll get the chance to write another installment of the series someday....

You'll probably get book 5, David, if the author sequence keeps up. I'm still waiting for my copy from Amazon UK, but it should be coming next week.

 

[Nerroth]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

David Mack said:
^ Thanks, Gary -- I'm glad you dug RtW and the Vanguard series overall. It's my hope that I'll get the chance to write another installment of the series someday....

They would be mad not to let you do so.

A quick question, though:

Spoiler: RTW spoiler

Will Desai be leading the case against Reyes, or representing him in court? (As an aside, it's curious how the book I read yesterday had a trial involving a lead character being prosecuted in the courtroom by a former lover - in The Buried Age - and that the end of this book has a very similar event taking place!)

Gary

 

[David Mack]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

^ Nerroth, all I can say is ... it hasn't been announced yet.

 

[JD]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

I know you're not allow to reveal sales numbers, but I was just wondering if the future books sell as well as the first three will the series continue for a while?

 

[Christopher]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

Yes, the Vanguard series is open-ended. It can continue as long as it sells well.

 

[Man of Steel]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

Christopher said:
Yes, the Vanguard series is open-ended.

Everything has an ending and a beginning .

 

[Nerroth]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

Tell that to the Prophets... they seem to take the idea with a grain of salt, at best.


Gary

 

[LightningStorm]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind

Tell that to any religious deity (hell, or Q).

God neither began nor will end. Of course philosophically speaking God shouldn't be referred to as any "thing."

But I'm getting off topic...


So.. How bout that Vanguard series? Good stuff! :thumbsup:

 

[SiddFinch1]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

Very enjoyable.


How do you deal with the fact that there are multiple authors in terms of developing plotlines? How are the fates of characters like the Commodore and T'Prynn decided- by whoever is writing the next book or do you all work in conjuncture?

 

[VanCardboardbox]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

Just finished. Holy Moly, this is a good book.

A strong story, vividly told and, for those who completely avoid spoilers prior to reading, a couple genuine surprises. And by "surprises" I mean "sucker punches". The good kind. It does not happen often while reading Trek lit that a turn of events really takes me aback and illicits the slow, low "whoa". Happened twice in RtW.

One of the things I quite like about David's work in general, and his contributions to the Vanguard series in particular, is that he treats his readers like grown-ups and trusts that we can take a little darkness and can navigate through some moral ambiguity.

That Sorrows of Empire and Reap the Whirlwind are both so remarkably strong and appeared within five months of each other? Again, "whoa".

Top shelf work, David.

 

[David Mack]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

SiddFinch -- With my editor, Marco Palmieri, I developed a series bible for Star Trek Vanguard that detailed the characters' personalities, histories, and issues, and it also mapped out the "big picture" story arcs for the series as a whole. It was intended as a reference not only for myself, but for other authors as well.

Marco coordinates our efforts and keeps us all in contact with one another. He, I, Dayton Ward, and Kevin Dilmore also have had sit-downs where we've discussed the long-term development of the series, and we also regularly trade e-mails about it, and we read and comment on each other's outlines and manuscripts. We throw ideas at each other, tell each other what we plan to do next, and work together to help each other out. We also sometimes throw curveballs at each other as a kind of challenge: "Top that!" or "Explain that, wiseguy!"

I know it seems like a lot of work, but it's really been a tremendous amount of fun working with all these guys.


VanCardboardBox, thanks for your comments. I'm really glad you enjoyed the book, and The Sorrows of Empire, as well. It's always gratifying to hear from a satisfied reader.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

David, I just finished "Reap the Whirlwind" on the train home from the city. A lot of fun, but because I've been rather busy, I've had to read it in numerous one-hour chunks over many weeks now.

I was also caught by surprise as I'd completely forgotten you had put a Minipedia in the back - I'd restrained myself from reading it when I bought the book - so about three pages before the end of the narrative, the book flicked open to reveal that I was really only three pages from the end of the current story! (Reminds me of the good ol' days when some ST novels had a surprise excerpt of an upcoming "giant" ST MMPB in the back.)

I'd also accidentally seen comments on TrekBBS about big surprises at the end, so I'd avoided all the details and responses. While reading this morning, all the details started being revealed, and I was very pleased.

The series has great characters who are revealing their complexities, two Caitians, at least three Andorians - how cool is that? And Tim Pennington continues to be a great character, redeeming himself over previous indiscretions.

As you may recall, fan writer Lana Pennington-Brown is a very good friend/editor of mine (and is the Pennington the DS9 writers had in mind when they made canonical reference to the Pennington School), so even though Tim started out in "Harbinger" as an untrustworthy love rat, he's already becoming a better man than he used to be (as he mentioned himself in the chapters of RtW I read today), and so I enjoy rooting for one of Lana's descendants. Makes the "Vanguard" novels even more fun!

I'm off now to read up on all the online posts about the book before I delve into "The Buried Age". Just wanted to say thanks.

 

[Csalem]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

Got my copy of the book yesterday and started reading it last night.

 

[Man of Steel]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

I have a great title for the next book: ASHES TO ASHES.

 

[SiddFinch1]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

Thanks for the reply David. Really enjoying the series and your work in the mirror universe as well.

 

[David Mack]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

Thanked you on the Psi Phi board, Therin, but two good posts deserve two good replies -- thanks, man! I'm really glad you enjoyed Reap the Whirlwind and that your friend Lana no longer needs to be (so) ashamed of her namesake.

Best,
David Mack

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

howsabout THE GATHERING STORM for book 4?

or

THE ONCOMING STORM?

or

INTERSTELLAR SHIT-STORM?


well, maybe not the last one...

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind excerpt is up

captcalhoun said:
howsabout THE GATHERING STORM for book 4?

If the storm motif is set to continue, something along the lines of Riding the Tempest might suit the series better, especially since (and I haven't actually read the book yet) there was one hell of storm raised by the revelations at the end and they need to be ridden for the crew to emerge at the other end.

I'm putting that forward as the next official title BTW, maybe Wardilmore will pick it up!