Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Brinkmanship [Mass Market Paperback]

Una McCormack (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 25, 2012 | Series: Star Trek

The Venette Convention has always remained independent, but it is about to become the flashpoint for a tense military standoff between the two power blocs now dominating interstellar space—the United Federation of Planets and the recently formed Typhon Pact. The Venetan government turns to the Typhon Pact’s Tzenkethi Coalition for protection in the new order, and has agreed to allow three of their supply bases for Tzenkethi use. But these bases—if militarized—would put Tzenkethi weapons unacceptably close to Federation, Cardassian, and Ferengi space. While Captain Ezri Dax and the crew of the U.S.S. Aventine are sent to investigate exactly what is happening at one of the Venette bases, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise are assigned to a diplomatic mission sent to the Venette homeworld in order to broker a mutually acceptable resolution. But the Cardassian delegates don’t seem particularly keen on using diplomacy to resolve the situation, which soon spirals out of control toward all-out war. . . .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Una McCormack is the author of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels The Never-Ending Sacrifice, Hollow Men, and Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Vol. 1: Cardassia, as well as the Doctor Who novels The King’s Dragons and The Way Through the Woods. She lives in the United Kingdom.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek; Original edition (September 25, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451687826
• ISBN-13: 978-1451687828
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 0.9 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Una McCormack, author of three "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" novels, published by Pocket Books. I'm very surprised by this career turn: I didn't take it up until my mid-twenties, when I started writing fanfiction. Then the internet arrived, so I started posting my fanfiction online. I guess more people were reading it, because I was approached by the editor of the Star Trek books and invited to pitch some stories. Now I write both tie-in stories, and stories in settings I've made up myself.

I live in Cambridge, England, where I read, write, and teach. I'm a graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, and have a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Surrey. I watch a lot of telly: right now, I'm having a fling with "Chuck", but my one true loves are "Blake's 7" and "Doctor Who".

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but still good September 28, 2012

By That One Guy

Format:Mass Market Paperback

(3.5 stars out of 5, but rounding up)

Let me start off by saying that Brinksmanship is likely the last of the Typhon Pact books. Take that however you will. Personally, I have enjoyed the slower, Cold War-esque feel to the series. That's just me, though.

I'll start off with the pros:
First off, I have no idea what on Earth people are talking about a lack of character development. We once again get to see Ezri as a strong captain, far removed from the awkward counselor of the Seventh Season of DS9. She not only is Captain of the USS Aventine, she is the master of it. She wields her position like a sword, just as well as in Zero Sum Game. (Anyone who disputes this, please read where they destroy the feux-Vesta-Class) Crusher also gets to play a rather prominent role, rather than being the "oh, there's a medical problem. Hey Doc!" which has become her norm. We also see her and Picard considering their future with their child, Rene. They are pushing these characters off and away from the Enterprise slowly but surely, and we will almost definitely see the end of an era come Cold Equations over the next few months.

Also, we get a great look at the Tzenkethi, a species who David R. George spent a great deal of time fleshing out in Rough Beasts, Plagues, and Dawn. They have gotten the most development out of any of the Pact species, and I thoroughly enjoy them. A society that is both beautiful, deadly, and rigid. When I found out this book would be featuring them, I was excited, and I am pleased to say that it held them true. I can easily see how someone would be enthralled with their culture.

Now for the cons...

VENETTE:
You may note that I did not mention the Venette at ALL above. There is a reason for that. I hate them. It was a species created specifically for this book and it did not work in the slightest. They were once again this overly-alien species with no solid development. They will also likely never be mentioned again. If they are, God help us. I get that they needed a villain of sorts, or however you want to categorize them, to fit the role, but the Venette were simply terrible. They should have just made this one about the Tzenkethi and left it at that.

WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND (or out):
This could have gone from a good story to a great story by adding about another 30 pages of material. President Bacco was given literally just a couple of pages, as another reviewer stated. This annoys me. She has been very prevalent in all of the Pact books thus far because of the immense political intrigue that is taking place right now. But no... the most important figure in the Federation is given mere paragraphs to talk about what is going on. Also, would it have killed them to reference the FLIPPING DESTRUCTION OF DEEP SPACE 9?! It was Dax's home for years and oh, nope, she doesn't care, evidently. And... really... the end? Really? I mean... really? THAT was your excuse?

WHAT'S HIS NAME:
The utterly-forgettable friend of Dax's from college. You could take him out of the book and I wouldn't have noticed or cared. It gave us a nice glimpse to see how a more mature Ezri deals with boys she likes, but he could have easily been substituted.
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Now, don't let my more-organized take-down of this book give you pause. It is very well written, and Una is one of the best out there. Yes, there are things that annoy me about this, but if you look at the overall arc of how things have developed, it's really a great continuing narrative seen from dozens of different perspectives. If THAT isn't Star Trek, I don't know what is.

The Typhon Pact series has dealt with subterfuge, alien cultures, the lives of characters we love, political intrigue... Yes, it may be slower at times, but learning about the Breen, the Gorn, and the Tzenkethi has been well worth it.

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tl;dr
It's okay if you have a spare afternoon. Venette sucks, Dax is kinda awesome, Tzenkethi... woo. TP has a whole: 4/5

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Change October 6, 2012

By Trekfan

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This was a welcome change from the other titles in the Typhon Pact Series, of which I haven't been a huge fan to date. The admiralty and various heads of state, including the president, were all side characters or non-existent from the story which I really appreciated. Star Trek was never about the games of intrigue that are played in the halls of power, but about the captains and crews of starships in the field, which is what the author delivered. What I enjoyed the most was the in-depth look we got of the Tzenkethi. In case anyone didn't notice, this book is not about the Venette convention, or even the crisis that unfolded. The whole thing was about showing us the Tzenkethi civilization and explaining why they are the way they are. This was done masterfully and most importantly, it was believable.

Instead of painting the Tzenkethi as a cartoonish, shallow "bad guy" race that hates the federation because they're just so darned good, the author did a wonderful job of revealing a complex and fascinating species that enriches the Star Trek universe. On the character side, there were some great complicated characters we were introduced to whom I hope will make return appearances.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars IMHO, The side story takes center stage in this novel October 2, 2012

By Andrew Yee

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Spoilers and discussion of plot details ahead.

First of all, I agree that the main plot was not nearly as interesting as the secondary storyline on Ab-Tzenketh (which could have been a spin-off all its own, similar to the whole Worlds of DS9 thing).

The titular storyline kept my attention, but it was mostly political intrigue than action. While diplomacy is fairly common in many of the books, it's still disappointing that there are no space battles (just the standoffs that the title suggests) and no significant first-person action (even the covert, extralegal mission was abridged as dialogue). The diplomacy wielded by Picard and company would have worked, as usual, had they not been stonewalled, but the amount of the issues the characters had was unusual for a Star Trek novel, as even the characters themselves "noticed" this. Garak and the Cardassians seemed a bit more heartless than usual, although that was revealed to be a scheme at the end to force the Tzenkethi. However, while you're reading it, it's a little jarring.

Although new characters, the characters encountered on the Tzenkethi homeworld seemed "real" as their development progressed.

Although it's a stretch, I feel the author introduced several intriguing character developments. The friendship between the Cardassian agent and her Tzenkethi workmate, two "enemies", even to the point of the agent sacrificing her trip home, contrasted sharply with the enmity between supposed and potential allies: the Cardassian and Starfleet agents, the Federation and Cardassian delegations, and Dax and Heldon. On the ideological side, the conflicts between individuality and conformity, as shown as two societies (with the ones from their respective cultures, Cardassian and Tzenkethi, preferring that of the other), and whether the guises we put on for others reflect who we are were weaved throughout the story. The individuality versus conformity issue was likely a consequence of the seemingly Cold War inspiration for the story, which as another reviewer mentioned, really strained the prelude to war storyline.