posted
...is finally finished, or at least complete in itself. Only took 22 years.
For over twenty years Duane's name on a Star Trek book was all that was required for me to buy it, and I was delighted to find out, five or six years ago, that she was going to get to continue her Rihannsu series even though the Star Trek universe went a different direction with the Romulans since her first books. Turns out that a lot of people, including me, like her version better
And she hasn't lost her touch. The characters can get a little too perfect at times, but she brings two wonderful things to the series (aside from the great dialogue): she gives the races cultural identities that make sense, even though they don't match up with human ones, and she writes Starfleet officers you can really imagine earned their jobs.
In many of the shows and almost all the movies, I always had the sense that I could be an officer on the Enterprise. I mean, except for Spock, Scotty, and McCoy the rest had jobs that looked pretty easy. Sulu pushed a few buttons and piloted the ship. Chekov shot at stuff. Uhura had the switchboard. And Kirk outtalked, shot at, or seduced whatever he encountered. Easy.
Not in Duane's Starfleet. Her Sulu figures orbital trajectories on the fly and runs combat simulations for fun. Her Uhura is a skilled linguist and a consultant on the Universal Translator team. Unlike the genial guy in the movies who acted bewildered when presented with a dying Klingon, her McCoy knows medicine inside and out. And all of them have more than a passing knowledge of astronomy, which is hardly surprising.
So, who else can join in the Rihannsu love?
(Quick review: this, along with the last two books, makes for one BIG book that details Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu and her efforts to bring honor back to the Rihannsu empire, and it doesn't shy away from the very big ending. Great characterization, as usual, lots of conflict even though you never really fear for any of the main characters, and eventually all her old characters make an appearance. Satisifying ending.)
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