Showing posts with label challenger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenger. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2012

What Lay Beyond

Gateways: Book Seven of Seven: What Lay Beyond by Diane Carey, Peter David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Robert Greenberger, and Susan Wright
Published November 2001
Read March 15th, 2012

Previous book (Gateways): Book 6 of 7: Star Trek: New Frontier: Cold Wars
Next book (Gateways): S.C.E. #10: Here There Be Monsters


Spoilers ahead for What Lay Beyond and the rest of the Gateways miniseries!


From the back cover:
Created by the incalculably ancient Iconians, whose transcendent technology is quantum levels beyond that of the Federation and its allies, the Gateways offer instantaneous transport across unimaginable distances.  Throughout the known galaxy, from Deep Space Nine to the New Frontier, from the Delta Quadrant to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, the sudden reactivation of the Gateways has destabilized interstellar relations between planets and cultures previously separated by countless light-years.  Starfleet's finest have coped with the crisis as best they can, but circumstances have forced several valiant commanders to leap through separate Gateways into the unknown.
Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of The Next Generation
Colonel Kira Nerys of Deep Space Nine
Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager
Captains Calhoun and Shelby of New Frontier
Commander Nick Keller of the USS Challenger
All of these heroes, for their own reasons, have taken the ultimate gamble: hurling themselves personally through a Gateway without any knowledge or forewarning of what lay beyond.  Each must face their own unique challenge, struggling to find a way back to the ships and homes they left behind.
And waiting behind at least one of the Gateways are the ageless Iconians themselves, the primordial architects of the mysterious portals causing chaos throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
Where did they disappear to, many long eons ago, and what do they want now?  The answer lies on the other side...
What Lay Beyond brings the Gateways saga to a spectacular finish, in an all-star collaboration by six popular, bestselling Star Trek authors.
Among them, Diane Carey, Peter David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Robert Greenberger, and Susan Wright have written dozens of Star Trek novels.  This is their first mega-collaboration.


"One Giant Leap" by Susan Wright (TOS):

"One Giant Leap" tells of the aftermath of Captain Kirk's journey through the Kalandan Gateway at the end of One Small Step.  On the other side, he finds himself on the "birthing world" of Tasm and Luz's "pod."  There, both Captain Kirk and Luz are on the run from the rest of Petraw society.  Eventually, they work together, Luz in order to escape, and Captain Kirk in order to thwart the Petraw's attempts to build a working Gateway.

I felt that "One Giant Leap" was more of the same from One Small Step.  Nothing really wowed me, and the both the plot and the writing felt fairly pedestrian and generally un-engaging.  The descriptions of the setting were fairly dry with not a lot of depth.  I felt that as readers, we were "told" as opposed to "shown."  The text makes references to many days going by, but the story was so rushed that it didn't really come across.  The story as a whole felt rushed and not genuine at all.

Kind of uninspiring, and really made me skeptical of this whole "final chapter in a separate volume" thing.  I have to give "One Giant Leap" the same score as its parent story: 4/10.

Also by Susan Wright:


"Exodus" by Diane Carey (Challenger):

"Exodus" continues off from Chainmail, chronicling Commander Nick Keller's experiences on the other side of the Gateway.  He encounters the world of the Living, and attempts to convince them that the time has come for them to leave through the Gateway and rejoin the rest of the galaxy.  Because of the time differential between the two universes, Keller spends months living and working with the Living, while mere hours pass on "our" side of the Gateway.

Complicating matters is the arrival of a member of the "Living" through the Gateway.  Entering the "regular" universe was traumatizing to him in particular, and he wishes his people to remain on the harsh metallic world inside the Gateway.  Hoping to get people to rally to his cause, he opposes Keller, telling the people that those on the other side have abandoned him.

I thought that "Exodus" was an excellent conclusion to the Challenger entry in the Gateways series.  Diane Carey does an amazing job at making the metallic planet seem real and alien.  The plight of the Living is made real, and through Nick Keller, the reader gets a good idea of how alien and strange this world is.  The characters come across as real and, even though none of them are "canon" characters, I truly felt for them and was invested in the outcome of the story.

"Exodus" earns a 9/10 rating.  An excellent conclusion, and even though the story has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the Gateways tale, it was a must-read for me.

 Also by Diane Carey:

"Horn and Ivory" by Keith R.A. DeCandido (DS9):

"Horn and Ivory" is definitely an enigma in the Gateways series.  At the end of Demons of Air and Darkness, Colonel Kira finds herself going through one of the Iconian gateways.  Rather than merely through space, the gateway that Colonel Kira steps through seemingly takes her through time as well.  Finding herself in Bajor's distant past, Kira becomes an influential figure in the history of one of her planet's ancient nation-states.

However, all may not be as it seems.  There is some doubt in the story as to whether or not Kira's experiences are genuine, or a vision from the Prophets, or perhaps even simply a delusion.  Her experiences, however, help her to take charge of the situation once again.  Upon meeting an Iconian whose job is to monitor the gateway network, Kira is able to find her way back home and resolve the crisis developing at Europa Nova.

This was a very interesting conclusion to the Deep Space Nine portion of the Gateways series.  The story does take an abrupt left turn, but I feel that it works well.  Some great character development for Kira and an interesting narrative put this story in the positive column for me.  "Horn and Ivory" is a solid 8/10.

Previous book (Deep Space Nine relaunch): Demons of Air and Darkness
Next book (Deep Space Nine relaunch): Mission Gamma, Book One of Four: Twilight

More about "Horn and Ivory":

Also by Keith R.A. DeCandido:

"In the Queue" by Christie Golden (Voyager):

In the opening pages of "In the Queue," my long-sought after coordination between the Voyager story and the rest of the Gateways series seemed to finally manifest itself (see my review of No Man's Land).  However, my hopes were once again dashed as Captain Janeway's emergence from the gateway onto the bridge of the Enterprise-E turns out to be nothing more than an illusion.  The captain passes from one illusory scenario to another before she, and we, discover who is behind the tricks and deception.  We also find out the reason so many vessels were converging on Voyager's position through the gateways: it turns out that Q, seeing the dangers faced by the various crews, decided that Janeway would be a good choice to shepherd them to safety.  Q also reveals the source of the gateway technology used by the Iconians millennia ago, and the answer is certainly surprising.  With some help from Q, Janeway is returned to Voyager, where the perpetrator of the recent violence is dealt with.  Soon, the vessels in the ad hoc fleet are sent on their way home.

An interesting conclusion to No Man's Land, but in some ways, "In the Queue" was a little unsatisfying.  For one thing, Q is often used as the answer to anything strange or out of the ordinary.  Generally speaking, the television series didn't overuse him, as his awesome power is simply too easy to use as an out.  However, he appears in many novels and other media to a startling degree at times.  Sometimes his powers just seem like too much of a cop-out, a deus ex machina to the plot.  In this case, also, his motivations are suspect to me.  Q saving all of the ships so that Janeway and the Voyager crew could "look after them" and shepherd them to safety seems far too altruistic for the Q we know.  Sure, he has a special fascination for Picard and Janeway, but these always seemed like exceptions to his general disdain or lack of empathy for "lower" lifeforms.

The resolution to the problems in the fleet were the highlight of the story, with an interesting conclusion to the violent escapades.  This part of the story saves the rest from failing due to the "Q solution."  Overall, I would have to give "In the Queue" a score of 6/10.  Satisfactory, but in some ways, a disappointing way out for Janeway.

Also by Christie Golden:

"Death After Life" by Peter David (New Frontier):

New Frontier's "Death After Life" is an interesting departure from the rest of the Gateways series.  Like in DS9's "Horn and Ivory," the gateway that Calhoun and Shelby go through at the end of Cold Wars doesn't seem to be typical of the rest of the Gateway network.  The two captains find themselves in a bizarre world that seems to follow the pattern of Calhoun's beliefs in the Xenexian afterlife.  There, they are continually faced with mortal situations.  When they die, they automatically restart their journey until they are able to get past the obstacle in question without perishing.  Xenexian belief holds that if they outlast the day, they will live forever in this afterlife, continually doing battle with others in this realm.  Needless to say, the prospect is very appealing to Calhoun, who is even given a chance at a reunion with his father.

"Death After Life" was a very interesting story that gives us some more insight into the character of Calhoun.  Of particular interest is his relationship with his father, and what made him the man he is today.  The strength of the bond between him and Shelby is also explored, and we are able to see what the usually-inscrutable Calhoun's feelings truly are.

This conclusion felt like a very strange departure from the beginning of the story, and it certainly does take a left-turn from what I was expecting when I started this series.  Nevertheless, it is very well-written, and for the insights it gives us into the characters of Shelby and Calhoun, I have to give "Death After Life" a score of 8/10.  An excellent read, although it doesn't factor much into the rest of the Gateways stories at all.

Previous book (New Frontier): Gateways, Book Six: New Frontier: Cold Wars
Next book (New Frontier): Being Human
Also by Peter David:




 "The Other Side" by Robert Greenberger (TNG):

In Robert Greenberger's conclusion, "The Other Side," we finally get to meet the elusive Iconians.  However, rather than being the impressive, god-like enigmas that Picard expected, the Iconians are somewhat of a disappointment.  They seem to have stagnated as a culture, and they don't even know how to operate their own equipment.  They consult their records about how to shut down the Gateway network, and send Picard on his way.  His journey leads him to a planet which supports a pre-industrial population surrounded by the ruins of the formerly-great Iconian civilization.  There, Picard must find the devices that control the Gateway network and find a way to shut it down.  On the way, he meets a number of people who help and hinder his attempt.

"The Other Side" was an interesting conclusion to The Next Generation's portion of the story arc, Doors Into Chaos, and indeed, to the Gateways saga as a whole.  During Picard's time on the planet with the controls to the Gateways, he does a lot of moralizing and a limited amount of "interfering" in the lives of the people he encounters.  I would be somewhat interested in some sort of follow-up to the influence that Picard has on the people of the planet, especially since nearly everyone he encounters refers to him as a "young god."  The solution to the Gateway problem as a whole is interesting, as is the knowledge and power that Picard retains at the end, a fact he keeps to himself.

A satisfying conclusion, if a little pat.  The brief involvement of the New Frontier crew, along with the impacts of the other Alpha Quadrant stories in the conclusion ties the entire series together well.  "The Other Side" earns a 7/10 rating from me.  Not too bad!

Also by Robert Greenberger:

The Gateways series as a whole:

I have very mixed feelings about this series.  As a whole, this is a collection of very disparate stories held together very loosely by a central plot element.  In particular, the Challenger and Voyager stories are very separate from the rest.  The Original Series story sets up the Petraw deception, while in TNG and DS9 we see the outcome of their attempt to co-opt the gateway technology.  However, even within this framework, I felt that there was not much collaboration on creating a cohesive narrative.  While the stories started out as a joint effort, it felt like the authors all had very different ideas about who the Petraw are and what their end goals were.  This is, of course, inevitable when organizing a large-scale crossover event such as this.  Still, I feel that the cohesiveness could have been achieved a little more substantially than what we got here.  Also, I would be remiss in not expressing frustration at the withholding of the final chapters of each story released together in a final volume.  Years ago, I was reading only the Deep Space Nine relaunch and the New Frontier series.  Not wanting to miss these stories, I read Demons of Air and Darkness and Cold Wars.  Even though I had no interest in the stories from the other series, I had to buy a completely separate hardcover, What Lay Beyond, just to get the conclusions to the two stories I was interested in.  This was definitely frustrating, and felt like nothing more than a cheap money-grab.  

For the most part, Gateways is a mixed bag.  Some great storytelling is presented here, but there are certainly also some duds.  The completist in me is glad I read them, and if I were not compiling the entire series for a review, I might have skipped the Challenger story.  This would have been a mistake, as I discovered that particular entry to be a hidden gem.  The lesson here is that you never know where you might find a great story.  Sometimes you have to give something new a try!


My next read:

Next up is a classic Star Trek novel from years past, Peter David's The Rift.

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Chainmail

Gateways: Book Two of Seven: Star Trek: Challenger - Chainmail by Diane Carey
Published August 2001
Read January 30th, 2012

Previous book (Gateways): Book 1 of 7: Star Trek - One Small Step
Next book (Gateways): Book 3 of 7: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Doors Into Chaos


Spoilers ahead for Chainmail and the Gateways miniseries!


From the back cover:
Dangerous remnants of an extinct interstellar civilization, the Gateways connect the Alpha Quadrant with the farthest reaches of the galaxy.  Hidden away in various corners of the universe, the ancient portals could be the future of space travel, but they may also provide an open doorway for an invasion from beyond!
Twenty years ago, in the space near Belle Terre, a caravan of alien vessels disappeared into a gigantic Gateway.  Now the descendants of those aliens have returned, armed with incredible new weapons and abilities.  Captain Nick Keller of the U.S.S. Challenger, already struggling to maintain peace in the troubled sector, must now cope with a fleet of hostile aliens driven by their own fanatical agenda!


About the Novel:

Chainmail takes place in the very short-lived Challenger narrative begun by Diane Carey in the mini-series New Earth.  Assigned to picket duty in the space near newly-established Earth colony Belle Terre, the USS Challenger is a cobbled-together Starfleet frigate held together with spit, baling wire, and a lot of hope.  In the region, there are two alien races: the Blood Many, and the Kauld.  Challenger and the Belle Terre colony had previously signed a treaty with the Blood Many, and cooperate in a mutual defence of the space near Belle Terre and Blood territory.  In fact, the Challenger has several Blood crewmembers, including the first officer, a Blood officer named Shucorion.  With his rag-tag crew, Commander Nick Keller holds the line against the Kauld and any other threats faced by Belle Terre.

Chainmail begins in the middle of the action, with an away team from Challenger visiting a strange, seemingly-abandoned ship to rescue two crewmembers: ship's bosun Zane Bonifay, and Shucorion.  The ship carries a host of people who appear to be in suspended animation, posed throughout the vessel.  However, the temperature on the ship begins to rise, and the dead seem to come to life.

Adding to the mystery is the arrival of a number of ships through a large Gateway in space.  The ships are from a different universe, and a planet much different from the ones in our universe.  The planet is entirely composed of metal, and the only living creatures are above in the atmosphere.  The "Living" (what the new arrivals call themselves) subsist by harvesting one of these flying creatures for electricity and food.  They do this by sacrificing a number of themselves to attract the "herd," and then capture one of their number.  It is an extremely difficult life, whose sole purpose is to harvest enough energy to open the Gateway to return to this universe.  Although it has taken eleven thousand years, they have finally done so.  However, their origin is a shock to Nick Keller and the Challenger crew, as well as to the Blood Many.


My Thoughts:

After the disappointing first novel in this mini-series, I was wary of reading Chainmail.  The Challenger crew had been introduced in the New Earth series, which I have not read. After reading this novel, however, I may have to put it on my "to read" list.  The characters are quite dynamic, and I really like the interpersonal relationships between them.  Commander Nick Keller is not your typical commanding officer; thrust into his position, he is inexperienced and makes many mistakes.  While as a character trait this could be very annoying, Diane Carey pulls it off in a genuine, realistic way.  At it's core, Challenger is an allegory of the pioneering days of North America.  This makes sense, as New Earth was meant to parallel a wagon train of settlers heading into the "new world."  In this allegory, the Blood Many play the role of the Native North Americans, with Shucorion acting as Challenger's "native guide."  Commander Keller comes across as somewhat cowboy-ish himself, so it's no surprise I saw this particular character standing in for him in my head: 

Captain Malcolm Reynolds: my template for Commander Nick Keller
As for this particular story, because I didn't know the characters or the setting at all before reading Chainmail, I was concerned that I wouldn't become invested.  However, I was wrong.  The story is compelling and interesting, and by the end I truly cared what happened to these characters.  Although, and I'm sure this is going to be a very familiar complaint, the fact that the story ends on a cliffhanger to be concluded in What Lay Beyond remains irksome.

Final Thoughts:

It really is a shame that Challenger didn't take off as a series, and Chainmail remains the only Star Trek novel under the Star Trek: Challenger name.  Diane Carey is a supremely talented writer, and her take on the "new crew, new ship" paradigm is quite unique and interesting.  However, I suppose there just wasn't room for a new series in Trek lit that featured entirely new characters.  Truly a shame.

Chainmail itself was well-written and a pleasure to read.  However, its impact on the rest of the Gateways series seems limited.  The Petraw, who are the main aggressors througout the rest of the series, are not even mentioned in this story.  I suspect that this decision was made so that it could easily be skipped by people who weren't familiar with Challenger or the New Earth series.  While this story is not essential to the overall Gateways narrative, I am glad I did not skip it.  After the disappointment of One Small Step, Chainmail was a welcome breath of fresh air.

Final score: 8/10.
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