Customer Reviews

The Red King (Star Trek: Titan, Book 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first book of the Titan series, "Taking Wing," was great. It was a nice follow-up to Nemesis, had the Titan crew coming together, playing around with Romulans politics. Great stuff. Yet, this one takes a rather odd step away. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, but it's also nothing to brag about. It's a rather average read that doesn't leave an impression like the first book did.

One problem, as described in other reviews, is the extensive list of characters. Who can keep up with all of them? It's not as if the last book came out a month or so ago so if you were to pick this one up, you may find yourself struggling to remember this or that unique character. What makes it so bad is that a lot of these characters are secondary or fill-ins. We haven't been given the chance to focus on the main group. I hardly can pin-point who the main characters are because everyone who appears is given equal importance. The crew is diverse, one of the most diverse in Starfleet history. We get it! It makes the book terribly hard to get through when you vaguely can recall or keep up with the two dozen or so characters that appear.

Second, there is no "gay agenda" going on. There's a gay character, so be it. Yet, I do feel that these authors, who do tend to include non-heterosexual characters in their works, are putting a bit too much emphasis on the character of Keru. What's the big deal about him? He appeared in "Rogue Agent" and wasn't exactly a ground-breaking character. He appears in the "Worlds of DS9." He appears in the Riker-Troi honeymoon story in "The Captain's Table" anthology. Yet, he's not terribly interesting. Yet, he's given the most attention perhaps out of any of the "new characters" and it gets annoying. We barely get to know anything more about Dr. Ree, nor do we get anymore on Melora Pazlar, who appeared in a DS9 episode.

As for the plot, this is another nit-pick. Why go from the stand-point of something truly original to revisiting one of your own novels? The Neyel are a race created by these same authors in the Excelsior Lost Era novel "The Sundered." It seems as if the authors simply wanted to do a follow-up to that novel and bring in the Titan crew. The entire "Red King" idea seems hard to understand simply because the authors never really focus in on it. It goes from being something intriguing to suddenly become another big-space threat that the crew must out-think. And they do, but even that seems to go too easily.

The authors make Keru's coma a big plot, yet the resolution is quick and simplistic. They make a big deal about the "Red King" but that plot comes off as unoriginal by the end. You feel as if you've seen it before, probably in a dozen Star Trek episodes. Even the Tuvok-Akaar conflict, once revealed, seemed a bit "Oh. That's all?" I wouldn't go so far as to call the book campy, but perhaps terribly predictable and under-whelming. There are some good plots that simply aren't carried out well. They seemed to realize there was no real humanoid threat or bad guy, so instead, they turn Donatra, who's been the rather good-Romulan with a lot on her shoulders, into the bad guy. Why destroy a good character like that? Why revisit "The Sundered" in a new series' second book? It seems a bit wasteful of space and money to find that the authors decide to hype up their past work more so than continue to build up the new series.

That being said, the book is okay. It's sort of a quick read, but feels slow due to all of the characters packed in and the hand-full of plots being tossed at you. Hopefully, when a new author's take on the series and characters coming up in "Orion's Hounds," Titan will be a tad bit more original and interesting than this installment. Buy at your own risk/interest.

This book was something of a chore to get through. First off, the book comes hot off the heals of the first book, which wasn't terribly interesting either. Second, the story takes place in the Small Magellanic Cloud with a race apparently introduced by these authors in an obscure Lost Era novel. (I say obscure as I've read the vast majority of Trek novels, but that one was beyond my notice.) The use of this "race" left me wondering what I'd missed in their back story, but really the Neyel are wildly unimportant. Third, the Red King conflict makes little-to-no-sense. The authors borrowed an idea from a DS9 episode, but the problem was they borrowed it from a bad DS9 episode. I'm a rabid DS9 fan, so trust me when I say that wasn't their best work.

There is a conflict between Tuvok and the admiral that doesn't really make a lot of sense. How can a Vulcan have a decades-old feud? The feud also brings up some kind of advanced mental prowess that the admiral and his race apparently possess. Basically, the whole storyline feels like it's reaching too far, a few hundred thousand light years too far.

The Red King doesn't make for a good story because the Red King isn't really a character or a villian. The conflict is strained. The characters just aren't compelling. The first and second Titan books spend far too more time describing wildly non-humanoid races than telling a story. Skip and go directly to Orion's Hounds.

Star Trek novels are known for introducing a variety of different species, cultures, and religions, but this series bombards the reader with so many at once that the storyline becomes muddled and one is left begging for a glossary. I hope that the third book, written by a different author, will narrow its focus somewhat.

I don't take issue with the authors for including a gay character in the books. It makes sense, with that many different species, that someone would be. What I find annoying is that they focus so much time on him and seem to feel the need to have one of the other characters either make a pass at him or give him that "knowing look" in each one of the books. He's gay, I get it! Get on with the the exploration and adventure!

And, please, no more crew introductions for a while. Let me get to know the ones you've already introduced.

I liked the story although it seems that it was too short and too complicated. Almost as though there was meant to be a third book on the subject. I wish people would shut up on the diversity and gay issues. The "gay issue" if you could call it that is just one character and it's not like it's overbearing. It's nothing to get your panties in a bunch about. The diversity is a welcome change, it gives you a chance to learn more about other races in the Federation and how they work together. If there are supposed to be ~150 worlds in the Federation they can't all be human or human look alikes. In my honest opinion the only reason for all the humanoid characters was because the original budget and available technology just didnt allow for too much creativity.

Onto the story itself. I liked the concept and the ideas but I felt that it was rushed. I would have prefered to see more on the problems and resolutions instead of just big problems with quick solutions. I suppose the "getting lost in space" thing is old now but it could have taken them some more problem solving to get back home.

I ordered both this book and the first, however the second book arrived before the first and I have to admit I couldn't contain myself to wait so I read Red King first. Myself not having read the first book, was a little bit confused with all the characters and how to pronounce all the characters names and in the end a lot of them just merged into one. I also found that having not encounter many gay characters in the Star Trek universe and that there where three evident in this novel, not counting Sean Hawk who was killed in ST: First Contact, was a bit startling at first. I don't have anything against gay people in star trek, but having so many in one book was quite a new experience, but I guess Titan is all about diversity. Overall I found the book slow and boring in some places with some of the dialouge a bit wooden. I still however managed to read the book in three days. The thing I did like about the book was it's re-introduction of the Neyel, which was quite enjoyable after reading "The Sundered" also by Micheal A.Martin. I would recommend this book, only if you are a big TNG fan.

"Titan, Book Two: The Red King (Star Trek, the Next Generation)" has a most intriguing premise; the crew of the USS Titan, under the command of Captain William T. Riker, rescue altered humans, the Neyel, and other sapient species from one of the Magellanic Clouds, thanks to some timely, if reluctant, intervention by Romulan Commander Donatra and a fleet of Romulan warbirds. But is this great "Star Trek" literature of the kind I've come to expect from Diane Duane at her best? The short answer is unfortunately no, though this "Star Trek" novel has more fleshed-out characters than one I had read recently about the crew of Jonathan Archer's Enterprise, which was also written by these two authors. However, I suspect that diehard fans of "Star Trek" will find this a credible sequel to the film "Star Trek: Nemesis"; for this reason alone it deserves a marginal recommendation from me.

Riker, Troi and Tuvok on The Titan. I'm sold. I love the idea. Riker and Troi were always my favorite on The Next Generation. I always thought Riker would make and intense, cowboy-like captain. Throw in a little Voyager by adding Tuvok. I think it's great. Now, on to the title of this review... I really want to like this series. I wasn't that impressed with the debut novel, Taking Wing, but I figured given some time this could prove to be a good series. I think The Red King is a step in the right direction. My main problem with this series is the focus on the authors' original characters and the ridiculous amount of diversity within the crew. Now before I'm sued, let me just say that I'm all for diversity. This book just takes it to an almost comical level. To name a few examples, we have the dude who can seperate his body and make each segment act individually. The doctor recently escaped from Jurassic Park, and don't even get me started on the lady who can only breath water... I mean she wears a special water suit on the bridge! A water suit. It's too much. I'm fine with the Klingons, Ferengi, Cardassians, Bajorans, etc. I just think Dino Doctor, Water Lady and their wacky friends are a bit over the top. The vast majority of the people who read these books are doing it for Riker, Troi and Tuvok. Some of the original characters are very intersting, but most are very forgettable yet have equal page time with the heavy hitters. It's unbalanced and a little disappointing. All in all, I'd say this book is worth a read. Still, I am anxious to read book three; it is written by a different writer and I look forward to getting a new perspective on this promising series.

The book is campy and fun. It surprisingly gets away from the common theme of war that has been monopolizing many trek shows, movies, and novels for the past few years. My main complaint about the book is the excessive amount of characters. They were not thoroughly described in this novel or the previous one. On more than one occasion, I was confused as to the identity of the character that I was reading.

As for the homosexual aspect of the book, I dont mind and neither should you. It is nice to see that themes of the original series are coming into context in the books, such as tolerance. A good portion of the original series devoted itself to interacial tolerance, while this book focuses on sexual orientation tolerance.

This, the second of the Titan series picks up where the first left off, with the Titan, a Klingon ship and the Romulan fleet displaced to our neighboring galaxy, the Magellanic Cloud. Riker and his intentionally and wildly diverse crew must find a way to prevent the destruction of a vast volume of space and the inhabitants thereof by a new emerging universe. These inhabitants are actually genetically modified descendants of colonists marooned in this galaxy. At the same time, he must deal with grumbling Kingons and the intrigue of the Romulans and try to get everyone back home to the good old Milky Way.

Not having to repeat past all of the character introductions of the first volume, this story picks right up and moves faster than the first of this series. It is also less preachy, although the authors do manage to slip in some issues - such as the fact that although the crew is very diverse, the command staff is primarily human. There is also a discussion of value of saving a sentient being vs a plant.

A nit: Riker needs to cowboy up a bit. He displays more self-doubt than we would expect from a Star Fleet captain with his experience. It seems that Troi is constantly propping him up - behind every great man ....

In future volumes of this series, I hope to see more development of the non-human characters. It would be ironic if the authors were to be found guilty of the bias criticized in the book, i.e. focusing on the human/Vulcan characters at the expense of the others. Also, a lighter dose of political correctness would be refreshing.

You know, when I picked up the first Titan book ("Taking Wing") and saw that every other paragraph introduced an otherwise unheard-of species to the crew, I thought "okay, too much." But as I continued to read, I realized how important this was.

Too many reviewers have said it should be "taken for granted" that the Federation would employ beings from many species, and that all this mention in the Titan crew is overdone. While that's fine to say, the truth of it is, "taken for granted" has largely been defined as "not mentioned hardly at all," so I loudly applaud Andy and Michael's work to actually get it on the page. Okay, so it requires a scorecard to keep track. Big deal. At least you can be sure it's not the "same old Star Trek" aboard Riker's Titan. This goes not only for the species diversity itself, but also for their relationships and discussions (homosexuality, human bias, and genetic engineering, to name a few).

The Red King once again lifts up and celebrates all that diversity, while at the same time delivering a believable, fast-paced story that remains entertaining right to the end. I'm really looking forward to the next installment.