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A review by latad_books
Collateral Damage by David Mack
3.0
I liked the fast-moving pace of the story, even Picard's court room scenes, but I particularly loved the way Worf gets to shine in this tale.
A fun, fast-paced story that connects back to a few key moments in Picard’s life: the inquiry into what happened to one of Picard’s previous ships, the Stargazer, Wolf359 and his brother’s death. And to his many years as a Captain and a mentor to Worf. There’s also a connection to Voyager and one of its former crew members who gave birth to a daughter during then7-year trip back home. So, you it helped if you were familiar with these things when reading this book.
There are two major initiating events in this story:
-An new inquiry/court case is launched by the Federation Attorney General into evidence that has surfaced linking Picard to a coup some years previous against a Prime Minister of another planet. The conspirators were Starfleet Admirals and Section 31, a covert part of Starfleet Intelligence.
-A remnant of a species called the Nausicaans, whose planet was destroyed by the Borg on their way to Earth, begin stealing tech for some unknown purpose, one of which had been used for a sting by a Section 31 operative, Okona. Okona loses this to the Nausicaans, and begins chasing the Nausicaans around Federation space. The Nausicaans also hit and critically damage a station during the theft of some highly proprietary tech, which brings the Enterprise, with Acting Captain Worf (in Picard’s absence) to the rescue. Worf sends engineering personnel to the station, among them Geordie.
Okona, while hot on the Nausicans’ trail, is picked up by the Enterprise. His personality and his evasiveness rub everyone the wrong way, until Starfleet Intelligence forces the Enterprise to let Okona go.
So, there are multiple situations at play here, with Picard’s future and many lives at stake. Picard could face imprisonment, if found guilty, Geordie and everyone on the station could all die without critical repairs to the station. And Worf and the Enterprise are finding it hard to capture the Nausicaans and the stolen tech, while Section 31 is in the background muddying up the Enterprise’s ability to accomplish anything.
The action is pretty fast, there’s humour and peril, and I liked Picard’s characterization, while he answers difficult questions on the stand about a mission he had not realized had been twisted.
Geordie is his usual really smart and enthusiastic and positive self, doing his damnedest to solve problems and prevent deaths.
I think the character who really shone in his story is Worf. He’s really grown and learned from his many assignments and responsibilities, and gets a chance to resolve a terrible situation in a distinctly mature and thoughtful way. Yay for a character I always thought got short shrift on the tv show.
This story was a solid 4 stars for me right till the one sour note right at the end. The story loses a star for this.
Merged review:
I liked the fast-moving pace of the story, even Picard's court room scenes, but I particularly loved the way Worf gets to shine in this tale.
A fun, fast-paced story that connects back to a few key moments in Picard’s life: the inquiry into what happened to one of Picard’s previous ships, the Stargazer, Wolf359 and his brother’s death. And to his many years as a Captain and a mentor to Worf. There’s also a connection to Voyager and one of its former crew members who gave birth to a daughter during then7-year trip back home. So, you it helped if you were familiar with these things when reading this book.
There are two major initiating events in this story:
-An new inquiry/court case is launched by the Federation Attorney General into evidence that has surfaced linking Picard to a coup some years previous against a Prime Minister of another planet. The conspirators were Starfleet Admirals and Section 31, a covert part of Starfleet Intelligence.
-A remnant of a species called the Nausicaans, whose planet was destroyed by the Borg on their way to Earth, begin stealing tech for some unknown purpose, one of which had been used for a sting by a Section 31 operative, Okona. Okona loses this to the Nausicaans, and begins chasing the Nausicaans around Federation space. The Nausicaans also hit and critically damage a station during the theft of some highly proprietary tech, which brings the Enterprise, with Acting Captain Worf (in Picard’s absence) to the rescue. Worf sends engineering personnel to the station, among them Geordie.
Okona, while hot on the Nausicans’ trail, is picked up by the Enterprise. His personality and his evasiveness rub everyone the wrong way, until Starfleet Intelligence forces the Enterprise to let Okona go.
So, there are multiple situations at play here, with Picard’s future and many lives at stake. Picard could face imprisonment, if found guilty, Geordie and everyone on the station could all die without critical repairs to the station. And Worf and the Enterprise are finding it hard to capture the Nausicaans and the stolen tech, while Section 31 is in the background muddying up the Enterprise’s ability to accomplish anything.
The action is pretty fast, there’s humour and peril, and I liked Picard’s characterization, while he answers difficult questions on the stand about a mission he had not realized had been twisted.
Geordie is his usual really smart and enthusiastic and positive self, doing his damnedest to solve problems and prevent deaths.
I think the character who really shone in his story is Worf. He’s really grown and learned from his many assignments and responsibilities, and gets a chance to resolve a terrible situation in a distinctly mature and thoughtful way. Yay for a character I always thought got short shrift on the tv show.
This story was a solid 4 stars for me right till the one sour note right at the end. The story loses a star for this.
A fun, fast-paced story that connects back to a few key moments in Picard’s life: the inquiry into what happened to one of Picard’s previous ships, the Stargazer, Wolf359 and his brother’s death. And to his many years as a Captain and a mentor to Worf. There’s also a connection to Voyager and one of its former crew members who gave birth to a daughter during then7-year trip back home. So, you it helped if you were familiar with these things when reading this book.
There are two major initiating events in this story:
-An new inquiry/court case is launched by the Federation Attorney General into evidence that has surfaced linking Picard to a coup some years previous against a Prime Minister of another planet. The conspirators were Starfleet Admirals and Section 31, a covert part of Starfleet Intelligence.
-A remnant of a species called the Nausicaans, whose planet was destroyed by the Borg on their way to Earth, begin stealing tech for some unknown purpose, one of which had been used for a sting by a Section 31 operative, Okona. Okona loses this to the Nausicaans, and begins chasing the Nausicaans around Federation space. The Nausicaans also hit and critically damage a station during the theft of some highly proprietary tech, which brings the Enterprise, with Acting Captain Worf (in Picard’s absence) to the rescue. Worf sends engineering personnel to the station, among them Geordie.
Okona, while hot on the Nausicans’ trail, is picked up by the Enterprise. His personality and his evasiveness rub everyone the wrong way, until Starfleet Intelligence forces the Enterprise to let Okona go.
So, there are multiple situations at play here, with Picard’s future and many lives at stake. Picard could face imprisonment, if found guilty, Geordie and everyone on the station could all die without critical repairs to the station. And Worf and the Enterprise are finding it hard to capture the Nausicaans and the stolen tech, while Section 31 is in the background muddying up the Enterprise’s ability to accomplish anything.
The action is pretty fast, there’s humour and peril, and I liked Picard’s characterization, while he answers difficult questions on the stand about a mission he had not realized had been twisted.
Geordie is his usual really smart and enthusiastic and positive self, doing his damnedest to solve problems and prevent deaths.
I think the character who really shone in his story is Worf. He’s really grown and learned from his many assignments and responsibilities, and gets a chance to resolve a terrible situation in a distinctly mature and thoughtful way. Yay for a character I always thought got short shrift on the tv show.
This story was a solid 4 stars for me right till the one sour note right at the end.
Spoiler
To have Lieutenant Aneta Šmrhová and Okona sleep together felt totally wrong. This did not work for her character, considering her revulsion for his attitude and behaviour. Also, all of Okona's interactions with Šmrhová felt sometimes borderline to actually harassing, as he never listened to her refuse any kind of relationship with him. The scene was insulting to what was a really interesting character, and feels like a major writing misstep by the author.Merged review:
I liked the fast-moving pace of the story, even Picard's court room scenes, but I particularly loved the way Worf gets to shine in this tale.
A fun, fast-paced story that connects back to a few key moments in Picard’s life: the inquiry into what happened to one of Picard’s previous ships, the Stargazer, Wolf359 and his brother’s death. And to his many years as a Captain and a mentor to Worf. There’s also a connection to Voyager and one of its former crew members who gave birth to a daughter during then7-year trip back home. So, you it helped if you were familiar with these things when reading this book.
There are two major initiating events in this story:
-An new inquiry/court case is launched by the Federation Attorney General into evidence that has surfaced linking Picard to a coup some years previous against a Prime Minister of another planet. The conspirators were Starfleet Admirals and Section 31, a covert part of Starfleet Intelligence.
-A remnant of a species called the Nausicaans, whose planet was destroyed by the Borg on their way to Earth, begin stealing tech for some unknown purpose, one of which had been used for a sting by a Section 31 operative, Okona. Okona loses this to the Nausicaans, and begins chasing the Nausicaans around Federation space. The Nausicaans also hit and critically damage a station during the theft of some highly proprietary tech, which brings the Enterprise, with Acting Captain Worf (in Picard’s absence) to the rescue. Worf sends engineering personnel to the station, among them Geordie.
Okona, while hot on the Nausicans’ trail, is picked up by the Enterprise. His personality and his evasiveness rub everyone the wrong way, until Starfleet Intelligence forces the Enterprise to let Okona go.
So, there are multiple situations at play here, with Picard’s future and many lives at stake. Picard could face imprisonment, if found guilty, Geordie and everyone on the station could all die without critical repairs to the station. And Worf and the Enterprise are finding it hard to capture the Nausicaans and the stolen tech, while Section 31 is in the background muddying up the Enterprise’s ability to accomplish anything.
The action is pretty fast, there’s humour and peril, and I liked Picard’s characterization, while he answers difficult questions on the stand about a mission he had not realized had been twisted.
Geordie is his usual really smart and enthusiastic and positive self, doing his damnedest to solve problems and prevent deaths.
I think the character who really shone in his story is Worf. He’s really grown and learned from his many assignments and responsibilities, and gets a chance to resolve a terrible situation in a distinctly mature and thoughtful way. Yay for a character I always thought got short shrift on the tv show.
This story was a solid 4 stars for me right till the one sour note right at the end.