21st December 2024

In this second book, we meet up again with the established characters as they are thrown into a new series of mega adventures.

There’s little opportunity for recap, so I felt a bit lost in places given the time that’s passed since I read the first book.

It’s a wild ride with lots of really interesting science fiction concepts, although sometimes the wildness overwhelms me and I don’t find I’m able to follow it exactly, just have to go with the flow.

I enjoy the adventure, but did find that it took effort to read, where I prefer something that just flows smoothly end to end and I barely notice the chapters passing.

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27th May 2023

The second of Alex White’s books I’ve read, this time an original story in which they create a happily queer future full of music, technology, and giant alien not-robots who attempt to destroy humanity.

I really love the worldbuilding of White’s future, in which they don’t bother to explain things that would be mundane to the characters - we don’t know how they interact with their computers for example, just how they describe doing so.

The nature of the interaction between the characters and Mechas of the title is also fascinating. White has clearly done a ton of research into this and thought a lot about how to bring character to what might otherwise be generic baddies.

I found some aspects hard to visualise, but that’s not unusual for my brain for science fiction concepts or battle scenes, so I think that’s probably more on me than the text.

Looking forward to seeing how White develops this world in book two.

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23rd February 2022

This novel is a refreshing return to the midpoint of the DS9 TV series as we reunite with Jadzia Dax when she’s asked to try to help an old friend who has gone off the rails.

The tone of the book does feel different to many Star Trek novels - it feels aimed at less dedicated readers of the novels, and readers less familiar with all the (now) older TV series. It also has the slight feeling, particularly near the start, of being pitched closer to the “young adult” feel that the 2009 era Star Trek Academy novels had. But I don’t think any of these are bad things - they all fit well with a return to an era that the novels haven’t touched for a while.

In terms of the plot - I thought it really interesting, but I can imagine some readers would not like how it expands upon the canon, particularly in regard to Trill joining practices. I think White has certainly not felt constrained in creating new lore, and just about gets away with it.

The characterisation is where I think White shines. We spend most of our time with Dax, but four of the rest of the cast make significant appearances, and I do think it shows that White has definitely understood them all well, and utilises them. This comes across particularly in how Dax thinks of the other characters.

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