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A review by octavia_cade
The Captains' Honor by Daniel Dvorkin, David Dvorkin
2.0
No matter what you think of the idea of another culture evolving in parallel to Earth's, the central conceit of this book (and of the episode that inspired it) is that such has happened, so might as well swallow down disbelief at the thought of ancient Romans in Starfleet and make the best of it. Essentially, this civilisation has evolved as the Romans did, and became part of the Federation, and Picard and the Enterprise are assigned to work alongside the crew of the Centurion, who are from this Roman world. Credit where it's due, the authors do a decent job of integrating the cultural background of the Centurion into Starfleet. A lot of this integration comes across as anachronistic, but in a universe where Vulcan crews and Klingon crews are accepted as normal, for instance, it's one very short step to a crew defined by a history rather than a culture (they're both very much intertwined, of course, but you get what I mean).
It works here because the captain and crew of the Centurion may not be the heroes of the story, but they put forth a valid viewpoint regarding their assignment to protect a planet from invasion. They're arguing in good faith, and if that good faith doesn't last, exactly (I'm trying not to give away too many spoilers) then it's certainly credible while it does last. Also, there's a junior security officer, one of Worf's cohort, who is likeable and given a central role that is not one of redshirt, which doesn't often happen with security officers in this franchise.
Unfortunately, it's let down by the conclusion, which is absolutely weak. It's like the story ran out of puff... several storylines are wrapped up in bare paragraphs, and the final scene is entirely unearned. Picard may muse about how much of the Centurion's captain is reflected in himself, but the text goes out of its way, many times, to show the exact opposite. It's as if this reflection has been tacked on to end the story on a thoughtful note, and it really doesn't.
It works here because the captain and crew of the Centurion may not be the heroes of the story, but they put forth a valid viewpoint regarding their assignment to protect a planet from invasion. They're arguing in good faith, and if that good faith doesn't last, exactly (I'm trying not to give away too many spoilers) then it's certainly credible while it does last. Also, there's a junior security officer, one of Worf's cohort, who is likeable and given a central role that is not one of redshirt, which doesn't often happen with security officers in this franchise.
Unfortunately, it's let down by the conclusion, which is absolutely weak. It's like the story ran out of puff... several storylines are wrapped up in bare paragraphs, and the final scene is entirely unearned. Picard may muse about how much of the Centurion's captain is reflected in himself, but the text goes out of its way, many times, to show the exact opposite. It's as if this reflection has been tacked on to end the story on a thoughtful note, and it really doesn't.