octavia_cade's review
3.0
A little way into this I was really regretting picking it up. It was about the Ferengi. Wesley had a large role. And one of the guest characters was one of those science fiction staples: the person from the past, thawed out of cryogenics and trying to find their way in the future. I am entirely indifferent to that trope, I am largely irritated by the Ferengi, and I fucking loathe Wesley Crusher. But I stuck with it and you know what? Thompson subverted pretty much all of my expectations, and this ended up a likeable read.
First off, the Ferengi, though awful, were used effectively (i.e. sparingly) and got theirs in the end. Secondly, Wesley was also used effectively for once in his plot-armoured life, by which I mean no barely trained super genius saving the day. He was pretty much in disgrace anyway, back on the Enterprise after the Nick Locarno incident at the Academy, and much of his storyline was quietly doing junior officer level stuff with another junior officer from an insect race, and their friendship was low-key and well developed and if this was how Wesley had always been used, I wouldn't hate him nearly so damn much. Finally, the cryogenic time-jumper was clearly going through trauma from having to adapt to a new century, and trying to move on from what he had lost, and while that isn't a new twist in the trope it was honestly a fairly well-executed one, and married well with the main plot, which involved the exploitation of an developing world by Federation enemies. Much more enjoyable than I thought it would be, and given Thompson made me like this despite the three expected handicaps described above, I'll be keeping an eye out for other Trek novels by them in future, as I wade my way through the enormous backlist of this franchise.
Good thing I have a library card.
First off, the Ferengi, though awful, were used effectively (i.e. sparingly) and got theirs in the end. Secondly, Wesley was also used effectively for once in his plot-armoured life, by which I mean no barely trained super genius saving the day. He was pretty much in disgrace anyway, back on the Enterprise after the Nick Locarno incident at the Academy, and much of his storyline was quietly doing junior officer level stuff with another junior officer from an insect race, and their friendship was low-key and well developed and if this was how Wesley had always been used, I wouldn't hate him nearly so damn much. Finally, the cryogenic time-jumper was clearly going through trauma from having to adapt to a new century, and trying to move on from what he had lost, and while that isn't a new twist in the trope it was honestly a fairly well-executed one, and married well with the main plot, which involved the exploitation of an developing world by Federation enemies. Much more enjoyable than I thought it would be, and given Thompson made me like this despite the three expected handicaps described above, I'll be keeping an eye out for other Trek novels by them in future, as I wade my way through the enormous backlist of this franchise.
Good thing I have a library card.
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