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The End of The Fall in Books Pages: 1 Reply

dbrowning
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Witty Wildcat
(Felis sylvestris)

Posts: 27
   19th January 2014, 05:49    
Jim,

You've still got one of the best Trek sites on the web. I noted Peaceable Kingdoms was the only one of the group not to receive a five star rating from you. Both it and Revelation and Dust received 9 out of 10 in my own rating system with the middle three getting, easily, 10s. Your review matched my own thoughts about Kingdoms . . . and here is what I posted in a thread on TrekBBS:

I hope the statements by Riker and Akaar at the end of Peaceable Kingdoms related to Starfleet getting back to its mission of "seeking out new life and new civilizations" doesn't come at the expense of stories that expand upon and continue to deepen the familiar, interconnected Trek universe. I'd rather read more about the unfolding storyline and the interconnections amongst the intergalactic powers and the characters who represent them than "new life forms and new civilzations." Some of the latter is interesting, but I find the potential for conflict and change and surprise (what is the impact on the Typhon Pact, and the signatories to the Khitomer Accords, that the Romulan Praetor and the Gorn Imperator view the Federation, at least, as an entity they can "do business with"? If Romulus (and Remus?) is destroyed in 2387, how will that shake things up and affect the individual players in the Pact as well as those in the Accords?) in the universe we know to be more compelling.

Best wishes,
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Jim
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Posts: 385
   20th January 2014, 14:27    
Hi,

Thanks for your kind words. I've really enjoyed The Fall overall and really love the interconnected webs of stories in the post-TNG era. It feels far more realistic than believing that all the same people would be serving on the same ship for decades on end.

One thing that stood out for me was that the earlier books seemed to be building towards Picard's retirement - perhaps to be an Ambassador like in Countdown (not that I consider that a part of my personal canon) or even to have become President (as seemed to be hinted in a few red herrings through the series) - but then Peaceable Kingdoms threw that away and sent him back off captaining for another long-term mission.

Although now I think of it, maybe that will bring DS9 back to centre-stage and make me a happy Trek fan.

Jim
 
     
 
dbrowning
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Witty Wildcat
(Felis sylvestris)

Posts: 27
   26th January 2014, 06:12    
Jim,

So glad you mentioned the possible futures for Picard. I thought I recalled some hints at him "moving up" in previous novels, either as UFP President as you mentioned (glad to have my memory confirmed!) or as an ambassador as in Countdown, and I was confident of my recollection that fueling this was an ongoing question about whether he should be on the Enterprise with a toddler and wife. So I expected a climax in the final novel of The Fall that would set Jean-Luc off in a direction that might be a challenge to accept for many fans, though Will's promotion did cause me to wonder if two shifts like this would be made.

As to your comment--
Although now I think of it, maybe that will bring DS9 back to centre-stage and make me a happy Trek fan.
--I'd love to see DS9 back center stage as well. And I did wonder how that might be brought about if Starfleet (and its minders, Pocket Books) plans to send Ben to the Gamma Quadrant and Jean-Luc and crew off on a multi-year mission.

My hope is that DS9 storylines and the new station and its crew will be used as the vehicle for telling the kinds of political, wide-scope stories we have been treated to in recent years.
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Jim
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Posts: 385
   31st January 2014, 15:03    
Also, and this is spoiler-free just in case.

What happened with the massive great big cliff-hanger at the end of Titan: Fallen Gods!?!?
 
     
 
dbrowning
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Witty Wildcat
(Felis sylvestris)

Posts: 27
   2nd February 2014, 06:14    
At first I was scrambling trying to recall just what you referenced with--

What happened with the massive great big cliff-hanger at the end of Titan: Fallen Gods!?!?

--and then it came back in a flash: the issue with the Andorians, right? Great catch. A couple of times during the Fall arc, I think while reading A Ceremony of Losses and The Poisoned Chalice, that dangling plot surfaced, and I waited to see how it would effect what was happeing. And nothing. So, yeah, what about that?
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The End of The Fall in Books Pages: 1 Reply