Scan barcode
betanine's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I like the idea of this book and enjoyed reading it. I found I got bogged down with the telling sections and found times when I didn't understand terminology unique to book. The continued inclusion of the wider Star Trek universe appeals to me, as Miller did with the Picard novel Rogue Elements.
The theme of this book is born out of our collected experience of the pandemic. I appreciate the perspective Miller provides. Now understanding this point, I find I enjoy a reread more than the first time through.
The theme of this book is born out of our collected experience of the pandemic. I appreciate the perspective Miller provides. Now understanding this point, I find I enjoy a reread more than the first time through.
bri77a's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was very disappointed by this book. I haven’t read a ton of Miller’s work, but everything I have read from him before I’ve really enjoyed, so I had fairly positive expectations going in.
The plot is incredibly complicated without managing to be interesting or nuanced. The book needs to pick a political struggle—you can either do the liberating the people from the tyrants who refuse to allow technological advancement plot, or the liberating the sentient fire beings from being used and exploited to run things plot. Doing both plots feels weird, and they did not mesh well. Introducing the fire beings thing near the end felt like a sudden swerve to the left and not in a cool plot twist/reveal way, more in a “this book is losing its structure” kind of way.
The different weight this book gives to each main character feels off, we have points of view from three of the four starfleet officers that are stranded on the planet: Pike, Una, and Uhura, but it feels about 70% Pike, 20% Una, 10% Uhura. Spock is also on the planet, but for whatever reason he is not included as a main character. He was so absent I kept forgetting he was even there. Sure, as a Spock lover, that was disappointing, but “lack of Spock” is not really a valid criticism of a book. However, it is awkward to write a story about four starfleet officers getting stranded on a planet and then only follow the story of three of them. If Miller didn’t want Spock to be a main character he could’ve just had Spock stay on the ship. Instead, he wrote him along, so there is an awkward void in the book that feels like the author forgot about one of his own characters.
Uhura, on the other hand, is included as a main character, and her POVs are important to the sentient fire plot, but she was very underutilized. She really only seems to be there to be clingy with her sentient fire friend and to be scared. Which, sure, Uhura is a sweet character, but she still is supposed to have a personality. She is also supposed to be a very capable and smart character, which doesn’t really come across in this book, where she is fumbling over this creature and looking mildly insane as she doesn’t explain it to Una. I personally don’t think Miller had a good handle of Uhura as a character.
Really, this novel would have made more sense and been a lot better if he just cut Spock and Uhura out of the story entirely, which is a wild thing to say considering Spock and Uhura are easily the two best characters in the TV show.
Lastly, the most important side character written for this novel, Lila, was terribly grating. She was annoying, her friendship with Pike wasn’t convincing, and her actions were unrealistically disproportionate. Her motivations were convoluted and the logic jumps used to explain them didn't make sense. She was actually literally (and I mean the real dictionary definition of literally) insane, but the book ends on a scene of her just re-integrating into society and being treated as a totally reasonable person, without any de-escalation or time to adapt on her part. She just says sorry and they move on. Weird.
The plot is incredibly complicated without managing to be interesting or nuanced. The book needs to pick a political struggle—you can either do the liberating the people from the tyrants who refuse to allow technological advancement plot, or the liberating the sentient fire beings from being used and exploited to run things plot. Doing both plots feels weird, and they did not mesh well. Introducing the fire beings thing near the end felt like a sudden swerve to the left and not in a cool plot twist/reveal way, more in a “this book is losing its structure” kind of way.
The different weight this book gives to each main character feels off, we have points of view from three of the four starfleet officers that are stranded on the planet: Pike, Una, and Uhura, but it feels about 70% Pike, 20% Una, 10% Uhura. Spock is also on the planet, but for whatever reason he is not included as a main character. He was so absent I kept forgetting he was even there. Sure, as a Spock lover, that was disappointing, but “lack of Spock” is not really a valid criticism of a book. However, it is awkward to write a story about four starfleet officers getting stranded on a planet and then only follow the story of three of them. If Miller didn’t want Spock to be a main character he could’ve just had Spock stay on the ship. Instead, he wrote him along, so there is an awkward void in the book that feels like the author forgot about one of his own characters.
Uhura, on the other hand, is included as a main character, and her POVs are important to the sentient fire plot, but she was very underutilized. She really only seems to be there to be clingy with her sentient fire friend and to be scared. Which, sure, Uhura is a sweet character, but she still is supposed to have a personality. She is also supposed to be a very capable and smart character, which doesn’t really come across in this book, where she is fumbling over this creature and looking mildly insane as she doesn’t explain it to Una. I personally don’t think Miller had a good handle of Uhura as a character.
Really, this novel would have made more sense and been a lot better if he just cut Spock and Uhura out of the story entirely, which is a wild thing to say considering Spock and Uhura are easily the two best characters in the TV show.
Lastly, the most important side character written for this novel, Lila, was terribly grating. She was annoying, her friendship with Pike wasn’t convincing, and her actions were unrealistically disproportionate. Her motivations were convoluted and the logic jumps used to explain them didn't make sense. She was actually literally (and I mean the real dictionary definition of literally) insane, but the book ends on a scene of her just re-integrating into society and being treated as a totally reasonable person, without any de-escalation or time to adapt on her part. She just says sorry and they move on. Weird.
moholub's review
5.0
A classic Star Trek romp through alien skies with deep moral questions. Always interesting to see how the characters translate from screen to page, especially in a franchise with so many overlapping iterations of certain characters, and I think Miller did a great job keeping in tune with the mood and tone of the Strange New Worlds show while also exploring more facets of Chris Pike (namely, of course, his love of horses) and his team. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
starblaze's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
lissystrata's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
alsoapples's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
booksunderthewoods's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75