|
Yep, it's Star Trek month yet again. We'll start with a series I haven't read since June of last year. Another thing that makes this column a clone of that particular column is that I'm going to try to mix things up a bit. I'm going to try to get to as many different Star Trek series as I can before my head explodes. Though knowing my work ethic- at least when it comes to all things Star Trek- I will probably keep reading them long after that.
- Star Trek - Vanguard- Summon the Thunder By Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore:
The Vanguard books have a cast of thousands. This book makes that cast even bigger. There are literally six different plots going on which doesn't change much from David Mack's first book of the series. Each ongoing plot has plenty of drive. The action is solid. It's a nice mix of old school and new school Star Trek. While Ward and Dilmore are more than adequate writers whose work I have thoroughly enjoyed there is just one thing wrong with the book. Harbinger brought at least one of their ongoing plots to a conclusion and had a surprise ending. Most of the stories in Summon the Thunder are left dangling. Unlike TV episodes where they have the constraint of 44 minutes of time, this kind of thing annoys me when Star Trek books do it. I like my multilayered plots in serialized fiction that are able to stand on their own at least to a certain extent. That way the book feels like it is a story unto itself rather than a placeholder for the next writer to come in and play with the toys given to him. Really- that's my only serious complaint. I still liked this book enough that I ordered the next two. So next year I'll at least have the option of reading a lot more of the story.
--And now to continue where I left off with Deep Space Nine back in November of last year.
- Star Trek - Deep Space Nine The Soul Key by Olivia Woods:
I rather enjoyed Fearful Symmetry so I had some pretty high hopes for the Woods's follow up. Save for the typical one or two typos most books nowadays contain it was an average Star Trek book. However there are several chapters worth of 'show not tell'. Some of that is understandable. It had been about 2 years between books and so much of it was a recap of almost every DS9 book since the relaunch along with a few bits and pieces inserted to see how the pieces were supposed to fit together. The other reason being this Mirror Universe story has already four books long and if they had given everything the proper space it would have taken two more. So the book felt rushed. Not only that, it becomes quite clear that with the big swap in editors at Pocket Books at the time they wanted to push as many of the 'created for the books' characters out of DS9 as possible. I could be wrong but it appears the stories of Taran'atar and Elias Vaughn either ended in this book or will come to a close within the next book or two. The book wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. The multiple on multiple versions of the same character via reality doubles and surgically crafted lookalikes gets thing a little head bending.
--And now a break from the epics--
- Captain's Table - Star Trek: Voyager Fireship by Diane Carey:
There are pros and cons to the pre-1999 or so Star Trek novels. They were all more or so less self-contained. Once a book was done it was done. Writers could focus on smaller stories without having to worry about cleaning up a mess from the last book or setting up the next one. On the other hand, they weren't allowed to do anything truly daring. The crew always had to return to their more or less static position. Which is more or less the problem with Fireship. It is the type of story that should have consequences. Janeway is on a diplomatic tour with their new friends of the month. She witnesses an explosion and then gets lost. Janeway thinks the Voyager crew are all dead. She begins grieving and moves on with yet another group of aliens who wind up rescuing her. Through dumb luck and a series of accidents she ends up a captain once again. It could have made an interesting story if you didn't know for a fact that the novels weren't allowed to permanently kill or maim main characters from the TV series. Secondly- while it is a fairly good character piece for Janeway, Carey doesn't really spend much time developing her new adopted crew. On the other hand, she gives one member of the invading alien race quite a bit of depth for a species we will never see again. Enough that while you might not like or agree with their actions, you understand why they are doing it. So in that regards, it is a better than average effort. Another downside- and this is something every Star Trek TV series is guilty of- is everything gets wrapped up in the narration at the last two minutes syndrome. It's one of those the solutions- while someone foreshadowed- snap together just a little too precisely in the last twenty pages of the book. If Carey had spent just another ten or twenty pages more it wouldn't have seemed that bumpy.
- Star Trek: Titan - Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett:
This book has the three things that make a good Star Trek story. 1) It features an ethical dilemma that the captain and crew must solve. 2) It addresses social issues. 3) It invokes peculiarities of The Prime Directive. I love Prime Directive stories simply because I think it is a great idea in theory. In terms of actually trying to live by it is pretty damned horrible. The Titan encounters a group of alien nomads that are hunting spacefaring organisms and converting them into starships. Considering the organisms are sentient, you can tell Riker and Company are going to take issue with this. See what I mean about the Prime Directive? Stick to the letter of it and not interfere when you could have stopped it and you become a party to genocide. If you do interfere you wipe out the culture traditions, mores, homes and government of an entire civilization. As a bonus, the story is very character driven. Almost every member of Titan's cast of thousands has a least a few small things to do while the main focus on the story goes to Riker, Troi and Tuvok. It handles flashback nicely. It introduces some interesting new aliens and nicely expands on the mythos of several others, most prominently The Space Jellyfish (from Encounter at Farpoint) and The Crystalline Entity (from Datalore and Silicon Avatar). While the three main plots are deadly serious Bennett does take a little time for humor in some of the more bizarre subplots.
- Star Trek: My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane:
Duane's is one of the most acclaimed Star Trek novelists of all time with very good reason. She nails the voices of the main characters and introduces weird elements of her own without them seeming out of place or overwhelming the story too much. The Rihannsu (or Romulan) cycle is considered her best Star Trek work. It is easy to see why. Duane writes Ael- a Romulan commander- who under normal circumstances could easily be the villain- as an incredibly complete character. She has motives and comes off as more than just mustache twirler or another Romulan commander who is just another in a longer string of Romulan commanders. Just because she isn't the villain of the story doesn't mean you can quite mistake her for Kirk's friend. It is a lot more complicated than that. Duane imbues her with enough of a unique personality- and enough motive- that her actions, which are a little out of place for a supposed enemy, seem completely justified. Not only that but while many Star Trek novelists pull a few rabbit's out of their hat- Duane does so in a way that surprises the reader. Every little subplot has its purpose even the quirky and comedic ones. Plus as a bonus, there is a very brief cameo by some characters from Doctor Who. Well sort of . . .
Next: British Month
|
