A review by djwudi
Ein Ruf in die Dunkelheit by Michael Jan Friedman
2.0
Almost a standard 3-star “stranded in primitive conditions/‘Bread and Circuses’ variant” adventure, but had some _really_ weird oversights that knocked a star off.
Spoilers for my two biggest objections follow:
Geordi gets abducted, and there’s a scene of his abductors decide if whether or not to remove his visor (they don’t), after which...it’s never relevant again. Aside from one moment where it’s knocked off until someone hands it back again, it never comes into play, even in circumstances where it should (like sneaking around in darkness).
Even worse, though, was an ending resolution that involved the Enterprise relocating 18,000 refugees of various alien races. In one go. By itself. For a ship which normally carries a compliment of just over 1,000 crew and civilians, and rated to carry up to 6,000 (numbers from Wikipedia), packing it with nineteen times its standard compliment, or over three times its maximum rated compliment, strains credulity to the breaking point.
Spoilers for my two biggest objections follow:
Geordi gets abducted, and there’s a scene of his abductors decide if whether or not to remove his visor (they don’t), after which...it’s never relevant again. Aside from one moment where it’s knocked off until someone hands it back again, it never comes into play, even in circumstances where it should (like sneaking around in darkness).
Even worse, though, was an ending resolution that involved the Enterprise relocating 18,000 refugees of various alien races. In one go. By itself. For a ship which normally carries a compliment of just over 1,000 crew and civilians, and rated to carry up to 6,000 (numbers from Wikipedia), packing it with nineteen times its standard compliment, or over three times its maximum rated compliment, strains credulity to the breaking point.