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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written, excellent plot, August 1, 2001
Like many of the early TOS novels, this one really has some substance to it. Diane Duane has done an excellent job of developing the back history of the Romulan culture, explaining how and why they split off from the Vulcans at the time of Surak, etc. Her detailed description of the long generation-ship journey to the planet which would become known as Romulus is especially well done. During this journey, the Rihannsu (which is what the Romulans call themselves) consciously changed their language and social structure to reject the logical way of Surak and become an old-new version of the warrior society that once existed on Vulcan. (I found myself wondering if Duane had patterned this history on certain aspects of modern Israeli culture, which has consciously rejected the pacifist philosophy of European Jewry to go back to the biblical warrior mode -- but that's a whole other story.) The plot itself takes place in the 23rd century, long after the Romulan-Vulcan split. The Federation has lost contact with an undercover operative on Romulus, and now fears for her life. Dr. McCoy is taken prisoner by the Romulans and ends up incarcerated at the same place where the Federation agent has infiltrated Romulan society and is passing for a household servant. Now she must be very careful about acknowledging McCoy, lest she blow her cover and get them both killed. Nahraht the Horta (a silicon-based lifeform who eats rock, and who also appears in several other Duane novels) plays an important, if at times humorous, role in the rescue of Dr. McCoy. To tell you more would be a spoiler, so let me just say that this book is one of the best reads in the TOS series. It also sets the scene for a number of characters and events in future books by Diane Duane.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What the Show Should Have Been Like!, February 18, 1999
A great pity this is out of print, as it's one of the best examples of real world-building in a Star Trek novel. It holds up as a work of pure speculative fiction, as very few other works set in this universe do. Instead of reading a juvenile history of some Terrestrial civilisation and crudely imitating it, as appears to be the practice of many Star Trek writers, Duane creates a complete and believable culture. If the people who write scripts for the shows and films had any sense, they would regard novels like this as canon and dump most of the absurd tripe that the creators of the Old Show (largely from outside real, that is to say literary, science fiction) developed.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad; interesting background on the Romulans, August 16, 2008
This review is from: The Romulan Way: Rihannsu #2 (Kindle Edition)
The Romulans are the "other" bad guys in the Star Trek universe, along with the Klingons, from whom they differ considerably. "The Romulan Way" features a fairly interesting storyline coupled with some very interesting flashbacks of early Romulan history, which explains (this author's interpretation) how the Romulans left Vulcan, and why they became implacable enemies of Earth and the Federation. This is an above-average Star Trek novel. Its main flaw is a somewhat murky style of writing, and a somewhat slow-moving plot. It did hold my interest, however, and most Star Trek fans will enjoy this story.
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