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vingilot's review
4.0
Another excellent collection of SCE stories, where our crew goes back out there after the disaster at Galvan, which means a new second officer who is about as far from Kieran Duffy as it gets, but that is kind of the point.
Aftermath
Excellent story, and great use of the crew's return to earth, they also get some assistance from fan favourite Miles Edward O'Brien, Chief petty officer Starfleet. The author manages to get his story to move forward, in s astory already filled to the brim with development.
The core of this story is really the crew getting used to their newest member. A Tellarite named Tev, who seems to fit in as well as a square peg in a round hole. Why did Scott Recommend him for this assignment? He is undeniably brilliant but knowing the original miracle worker, there's got to be more behind it.
Ishtar Rising
When the efforts to terraform Venus hit a roadblock, the SCE is asked to come in and help. Most importantly 110 and 111 are. Sadly the project leader was unaware that 111 had since past, and 110 goes by Soloman now.
Just an excellent story, filled with geeky references the biggest of which has to be the appearance of a holographic Carl Sagan. The core of the story though revolves around Soloman interacting with Bynars again for the first time since the lost of his mate. We get a real sense of the taboo he broke by staying unbonded to honour his partner.
There are also some fantastic acts of engineering brilliance, and bravery by the entire team. Just a great story, and not much more needs to be said about it. Go read it!
Buying Time
Alright, this one is just funny. For fans of the larger trek Library I think it is worth noting that this is not quite compatible with the DTI novels, or mainline canon really... Neither they, or Starfleet would have allowed the crew to time travel under any circumstances. However it is a fun time travel story none the less. As you might guess it involves a time travelling , now why would a Ferengi do that? Cheat in finance of course!
Collective Hindsight
This is how you do a framing device properly! Where both the flashbacks, and the current day story are told fully!
Another flashback set, but this time the frame is less obtrusive. It starts with the current day SCE crew being send on a mission to dispose of a ship they encountered before, when they had different commanders. The first part almost entirely focuses on this past mission, and it was great to get to meet their previous Vulcan commander, even if it was his last mission. Getting to see Duffy again was really cool too, he had been sorely missed.
Part two is the crew now properly handling the derelict runaway ship, using the lessons learned from the past. Tev really annoys the characters, and us the fans by being less than respectful of the efforts of Duffy, his predecessor.
Just another excellent read. Nothing all that special, but a moving story.
Demon
And another two parter, a gripping story of a prison trapped in the event horizon of a black hole. There is not much to say about this one, without giving stuff away but the story is excellent.
Another great collection, as slowly but surely the crew starts to come together again post Galvan. While Tev is not exactly liked, he is starting to fit in better.
Aftermath
Excellent story, and great use of the crew's return to earth, they also get some assistance from fan favourite Miles Edward O'Brien, Chief petty officer Starfleet. The author manages to get his story to move forward, in s astory already filled to the brim with development.
The core of this story is really the crew getting used to their newest member. A Tellarite named Tev, who seems to fit in as well as a square peg in a round hole. Why did Scott Recommend him for this assignment? He is undeniably brilliant but knowing the original miracle worker, there's got to be more behind it.
Ishtar Rising
When the efforts to terraform Venus hit a roadblock, the SCE is asked to come in and help. Most importantly 110 and 111 are. Sadly the project leader was unaware that 111 had since past, and 110 goes by Soloman now.
Just an excellent story, filled with geeky references the biggest of which has to be the appearance of a holographic Carl Sagan. The core of the story though revolves around Soloman interacting with Bynars again for the first time since the lost of his mate. We get a real sense of the taboo he broke by staying unbonded to honour his partner.
There are also some fantastic acts of engineering brilliance, and bravery by the entire team. Just a great story, and not much more needs to be said about it. Go read it!
Buying Time
Alright, this one is just funny. For fans of the larger trek Library I think it is worth noting that this is not quite compatible with the DTI novels, or mainline canon really... Neither they, or Starfleet would have allowed the crew to time travel under any circumstances. However it is a fun time travel story none the less. As you might guess it involves a time travelling , now why would a Ferengi do that? Cheat in finance of course!
Collective Hindsight
This is how you do a framing device properly! Where both the flashbacks, and the current day story are told fully!
Another flashback set, but this time the frame is less obtrusive. It starts with the current day SCE crew being send on a mission to dispose of a ship they encountered before, when they had different commanders. The first part almost entirely focuses on this past mission, and it was great to get to meet their previous Vulcan commander, even if it was his last mission. Getting to see Duffy again was really cool too, he had been sorely missed.
Part two is the crew now properly handling the derelict runaway ship, using the lessons learned from the past. Tev really annoys the characters, and us the fans by being less than respectful of the efforts of Duffy, his predecessor.
Just another excellent read. Nothing all that special, but a moving story.
Demon
And another two parter, a gripping story of a prison trapped in the event horizon of a black hole. There is not much to say about this one, without giving stuff away but the story is excellent.
Another great collection, as slowly but surely the crew starts to come together again post Galvan. While Tev is not exactly liked, he is starting to fit in better.
apostrophen's review against another edition
3.0
I admit it, I'm this big a geek.
However, that said, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series has been very good - the characters are well written, and the original cast of them way back in the first stories were about half gleaned from previous books or secondary (and tertiary) characters on the various Star Trek television series episodes. But then the authors went further, crafted really smart stories around these characters - finally included a gay fella - and continue to serve up interesting stories set in the Trek world.
So I do not apologize, I merely admit that I'm a geek.
Were these the best stories yet? Not really. I'm being a bit harsh, though - in the previous stories to this one, more than half the crew was killed on a mission, and thus a lot of the stories in this book serve double-duty as introductions of new characters, realignment of relationships, and the like. I must say, I rather enjoyed the new second officer - an arrogant Tellerite with absolutely zero social skills - and continue to enjoy what they've done with Soloman - the Bynar who lost his matched partner and now is navigating life alone. The introduction of a Betazoid security officer was also fresh, and I like where they're going with him.
All around, I enjoyed this - it didn't pack a story with the emotional punch of 'Hard Crash' by any stretch - that one will go down in my personal history as the only Star Trek story to ever really get me choked up - but there were very good moments in here. Just make sure you stock up on apple flavored jolly ranchers before you begin.
However, that said, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series has been very good - the characters are well written, and the original cast of them way back in the first stories were about half gleaned from previous books or secondary (and tertiary) characters on the various Star Trek television series episodes. But then the authors went further, crafted really smart stories around these characters - finally included a gay fella - and continue to serve up interesting stories set in the Trek world.
So I do not apologize, I merely admit that I'm a geek.
Were these the best stories yet? Not really. I'm being a bit harsh, though - in the previous stories to this one, more than half the crew was killed on a mission, and thus a lot of the stories in this book serve double-duty as introductions of new characters, realignment of relationships, and the like. I must say, I rather enjoyed the new second officer - an arrogant Tellerite with absolutely zero social skills - and continue to enjoy what they've done with Soloman - the Bynar who lost his matched partner and now is navigating life alone. The introduction of a Betazoid security officer was also fresh, and I like where they're going with him.
All around, I enjoyed this - it didn't pack a story with the emotional punch of 'Hard Crash' by any stretch - that one will go down in my personal history as the only Star Trek story to ever really get me choked up - but there were very good moments in here. Just make sure you stock up on apple flavored jolly ranchers before you begin.
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