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In the aftermath of the assassination of the entire senate, the Romulan Empire is in disarray, with rival factions fighting to pick up the pieces and seize the reins of power. After several factions separately contact the Federation Council -- each laying claim to legitimate political power -- Starfleet Command sends Captain William Riker and the USS Titan to Romulus to set up a forum for power-sharing talks. But even as the factions take their first faltering steps towards building a new Romulus, civil war looms. Meanwhile the remnants of the Romulan intelligence service, the dreaded Tal Shiar, are regrouping behind the scenes, taking advantage of the political vacuum to mobilize ships and soldiers, threatening to touch off a conflict that would tear Romulus apart. With no other help available, Riker and the Titan crew are all that stands between the shattered Star Empire and a bloodbath.
I came to the Titan series out of order, but after reading the excellent Synthesis, I was hooked and just had to acquire the rest of the books in the series. Unlike Synthesis, this books is given the serious task of launching an entire new series albeit in book form. Not having to worry about budget meant that the writers could literally let their imagination run riot with the non-humanoid crew members and numerous alien characters and settings that feature in the novel. The writers really do use this to their advantage, but I do get the feeling that they bite off just a little more than they can chew with this one. There is a lot of story in this novel, more than enough to fill two novels and still leave some left over.
While the story is complex, for me it was just a little too complex with far too many elements thrown in and not really fully explored. The Romulans are always a great guest alien to feature as they are such a race of contradictions. You never know quite what the Romulans are going to do next, which always makes for good story telling. In this case though just too much is thrown in to the melting pot. The Romulan Empress, Donatra, Spock, Akaar and numerous other characters while all interesting and written with great skill and care, make for a very talk heavy plot which is places slows to a crawl.
For me, a couple of the sub plots could have been lost without any great impact on the book as a whole. The character of Akaar, which as a fan I really got a kick out of, I felt was left hanging with very little actual impact on the story. The same could be said for the addition of the Reman Mekrikuk. What I didn't realise at the time was that many of the threads and themes that the writers included in this novel, were in fact ground work for the second book in the series The Red King. The writers really should have taken a little more care to integrate all of the themes they were planning to carry forward, rather than just throw them in and hope for the best.
Criticism aside, praise needs to be given where it is due. The writing duo really do manage to breath life in to some brilliant supporting characters. Special mention to Dr. Shenti Yisec Eres Ree, a Pahkwa-thanh male, who is best described is a dinosaur with a strange sense of humour. Extra special mention should also go to Ranul Keru, the Titan's unjoined Trill Chief of Security. Not wanting to give too much away, but Keru is a true first for Star Trek who really does throw something new in to the mix.
One of the bravest aspects of this book, which can also be said of the entire series, is the commitment to a true multi-cultural crew. Mirroring the tensions in the world today, different creeds, colours and religions are thrown together in close quarters. I've always felt that the more enlightened 24th century would not have these problems, but a lot of it comes down to simple nature rather than being a cultural failure of some kind. Tensions rise as different natures clash, and it's going to be interesting to see how these resolve themselves over time.
A lot of novels trip themselves up trying to find their place in the Star Trek Universe, that can't be said about Taking Wing. From the off it knows it place, and it set's out to achieve and lives up to that expectation. With a mix of new and old faces, simmering crew tensions, Romulan plots and sub plots and a cliff hanger ending to boot, this book is definitely another one for the keep shelf and is highly recommended.
The Starship Titan continues on her outward voyage of discovery. Ranging farther and farther from Federation space, Captain William Riker and the crew look forward to living Starfleet's mission: seeking out new life, discovering new civilizations.
Striking a "sandbank" -- a spatial distortion -- the Titan is knocked out of warp, her crew shaken up but uninjured. Titan has stumbled across a battlefield, and floating in it, shattered and in pieces, are the remains of a ship. Searching for survivors, they discover the ship never had a crew. The away team removes the computer core, looking for answers. Once the device is restored, it becomes clear this is not just a computer, but a thinking, reasoning artificial intelligence.It identifies itself as SecondGen White-Blue, and it comes from a civilization composed entirely of sentient computers. Eons ago these artificial intelligences were charged to be the first line of defense against The Null -- a destructive force so all-consuming that generation upon generation have waged unending war trying to find a way to beat back this terror. Captain Riker offers to assist them, but years of war have left the AIs distrustful and suspicious, especially of organics.
The tide of the battle is turning, and The Null is winning. Set free, it will destroy everything in this system and then, unchecked, spread its mindless destruction into the heart of the Federation.
I have to admit that it's been quite some time since I picked up a Star Trek novel, and that's not something a good Trekkie should own up to. The general quality seemed to be slipping and none of the stories really seemed to pique my interest. That was until during a recent trip to a antiques fair and my gaze fell upon the cover of this book. Somewhere along the line it had completely slipped under my radar, probably because it was published during that god awful period when Starbase Adran was off line. What really drew me to this book was the recognition of the face of Carolyn McCormick along side Jonathan Frakes on the front cover. 11001001 was one of the high points of the first season of TNG and I always held out hopes that the character would return in some form or another.
Making my purchase I took the book home, where it say for a couple of days before I had the time to actually read it. I delved in to the pages of the book and was quickly engrossed in the trials and tribulations of the USS Titan. While the characters of Riker, Troi, Tuvok, Ogawa and Paslar were familiar, there were many new crew members to get to know along the way. Having so many familiar characters really gives the Titan a home away from home feeling, which is what I guess the creators of the series were aiming for. What really struck me about the characters was that each was treated with the upmost respect by the author. Riker and Troi in particular are exceptionally well written and woven in to an engrossing plot that really draws in the reader from the off.
One of the main themes of the book is racism, which is hinted at and never really stated out loud but is important to the artificial intelligence aspects of the story. The Federation is still recovering from a major Borg incursion and the characters are brought face to face with a similar alien species. This opens the door to conflict between the crew and comment by the ship's cybernetically enhanced Choblik Torvig Bu-Kar-Nguv. Racism in it's purest form is pure and simple fear, and there is no foe in the Star Trek universe more feared than the Borg. Seeing the characters react to that fear and see it woven in to an already complex plot really for me does make this book one for the keep shelf.
While as good as this book it, it does have a couple of problems. The sheer alienness of the setting really goes leave the author with a major headache, especially when trying to set the scene for some of the more way out there aspects of the story. There are a couple of places where the story slows to a crawl while the the author tries to describe certain aspects of the action that really just do seem to defy description at a couple of points. The other problem was more me than the book, as this is sixth novel in the series there are numerous events referenced that I didn't know what they were talking about. I've already picked up the other five Titan novels to correct that.This is a brilliant book, vibrant characters, engrossing story - a not to be missed novel. Just do yourself a favour, start with the first novel and move on, trust me you'll enjoy the ride alongside the crew of the USS Titan.
The Starship Enterprise gets the Haynes treatment! This fascinating Haynes Manual features cutaway drawings, technical illustrations and photographs along with comprehensive background information and specifications on the technology used on board the USS Enterprise, in all its various incarnations. Seasoned Star Trek writers lift the lid on the most iconic spaceship of all time, while accuracy and authority are supposedly guaranteed by Technical Consultant Michael Okuda.
When this book was first announced I knew that it was going to be one of those items that I would promise myself I would never buy, would without doubt end up doing just that. This time I have to admit that I didn't but it, I badgered my poor partner for weeks with links and comical reminders that boy would I love a copy of this book. I got my Christmas wish and this book was lurking at the bottom of my stocking this year.
I couldn't wait for Christmas day afternoon when I knew I would be able to put my feet up and spend some time delving in to this much waited for book. I have to say that when the time came to start reading, I was rather disappointed to say the least. While the cut away diagrams are brilliant, the content is somewhat stale and the majority of it is just a re-hash of what has been included in previous technical publications.
The feel of the book does just not quite sit right with me. I got the feeling prior to release that this book was going to be a bit retro with a dash of something new. The end product just ends up feeling a bit old and tired. To me it's one of those books that can't really make up it's mind what it wants to achieve or what it really wants to be about. Me personally I would have much referred it if they had invested more time and effort going in to much more detail on NCC 1701 and delve in to the areas of the ship that were never seen on the screen. Trying to do a bit on all the ships named Enterprise means that it doesn't have any real focus and just tries to do too much.
My biggest problem with the book was that while Michael Okuda was hired at great expense to give the publication a big name, there are quite a few errors that the nit pickers out there will have a field day with. For someone to be such an expert and allow these errors to get in to the final version of the books is quite a surprise to say the least.
While the book does have obvious problems with both content and feel, one thing that can't be denied is the quality of the artwork. While the final diagrams could have used a good proof reader to chisel out the obvious errors, the quality is amazing. I get the feeling that they were not produced by big fans of the series, as I seriously doubt that fans would settle for producing artwork with errors. Perhaps Haynes should learn a key lesson, that fans would have paid much more loving attention the content than free lance graphics artists would have.
With some excellent graphics, but lacking in content, my advice would be pick up a copy when this book inevitably hits the clearance rack.
