**This is an old review I am cataloging and may not reflect my Current thoughts on the matter**
THIS WAS A GOOD BOOK OKAY. It was the second TNG book I read and thus will be the second I review. So here we go, Into the Nebula by Gene DeWeese.
***SPOILER WARNING, THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
This book was a ton of fun to read, and while it was far more plot-centric than character-centric unlike most TNG episodes, the plot was good enough and the characters in character enough that it really worked. It’s basically about this dying world that’s been infected by the Plague, a dust cloud of death floating around the planet and severely polluting the world’s atmosphere, for centuries. A hundred years ago they made a basic starship and sent away a bunch of their citizens to find a new homeworld. The Enterprise finds the dying planet and the old, decaying starship (which still has a lot of living people on it) and they try to find what is causing the Plague and if there is a way to save the planet.
This book does plot great, it keeps you second guessing what’s going on and what are motivating the OCs of the story (who I found to be interesting and enjoyable characters, by the way). Its pacing is perfect so that you neither get bored nor feel things are being solved too fast. There’s plenty of tension between the OC’s and the main characters for a variety of reasons, and it manages to be entertaining to read, especially since things keep evolving at a fast pace. There’s little to no filler/unnecessary scenes in this book which is very refreshing and I personally liked the to-the-point style of writing.
My only complaint was that there wasn’t as many character-centric scenes as I would have liked. There was one scene towards the end between Geordi and Data that felt like it could have actually been in the TV series, and it really stood out because of that, but it was pretty much the only one. The book was so focused on telling the plot and showing the OC’s thoughts and reactions to things that we didn’t get many emotional scenes or even narration between the main characters. Of course, the book did what it was aiming to do extremely well which is why I still love the book, I just wish it had been aiming to have more character-building scenes for the main cast.
I liked everything the plot did with the Plague, the resolution there I thought was interesting (it’s caused by the toxic waste from a parallel dimension, which was a fun plot point that led to a lot of action and Data being Data, so that was pretty awesome). The OC’s motivations felt realistic so that you actually do end up caring somewhat about what happens to them. And I liked how Data was written, he was more often than not the right combination of naive/child-like and ultra-intelligent/professional (often with fanfic, published or otherwise, he’s usually portrayed as too emotional or too emotionless, and I think this book did a good job mostly keeping him in character).
Basically, I think this was really really good book. If I reread it I could probably find some more minor flaws/instances to complain about, but aside from the lack of emotionally driven scenes involving the main characters, I had a lot of fun reading it for it’s well-written and intriguing plot, and would strongly recommend it to any TNG fan. Also, it had a lot of Data in it so…that wins it a lot of points. XD I’d give it an 8.5/10.
THIS WAS A GOOD BOOK OKAY. It was the second TNG book I read and thus will be the second I review. So here we go, Into the Nebula by Gene DeWeese.
***SPOILER WARNING, THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
This book was a ton of fun to read, and while it was far more plot-centric than character-centric unlike most TNG episodes, the plot was good enough and the characters in character enough that it really worked. It’s basically about this dying world that’s been infected by the Plague, a dust cloud of death floating around the planet and severely polluting the world’s atmosphere, for centuries. A hundred years ago they made a basic starship and sent away a bunch of their citizens to find a new homeworld. The Enterprise finds the dying planet and the old, decaying starship (which still has a lot of living people on it) and they try to find what is causing the Plague and if there is a way to save the planet.
This book does plot great, it keeps you second guessing what’s going on and what are motivating the OCs of the story (who I found to be interesting and enjoyable characters, by the way). Its pacing is perfect so that you neither get bored nor feel things are being solved too fast. There’s plenty of tension between the OC’s and the main characters for a variety of reasons, and it manages to be entertaining to read, especially since things keep evolving at a fast pace. There’s little to no filler/unnecessary scenes in this book which is very refreshing and I personally liked the to-the-point style of writing.
My only complaint was that there wasn’t as many character-centric scenes as I would have liked. There was one scene towards the end between Geordi and Data that felt like it could have actually been in the TV series, and it really stood out because of that, but it was pretty much the only one. The book was so focused on telling the plot and showing the OC’s thoughts and reactions to things that we didn’t get many emotional scenes or even narration between the main characters. Of course, the book did what it was aiming to do extremely well which is why I still love the book, I just wish it had been aiming to have more character-building scenes for the main cast.
I liked everything the plot did with the Plague, the resolution there I thought was interesting (it’s caused by the toxic waste from a parallel dimension, which was a fun plot point that led to a lot of action and Data being Data, so that was pretty awesome). The OC’s motivations felt realistic so that you actually do end up caring somewhat about what happens to them. And I liked how Data was written, he was more often than not the right combination of naive/child-like and ultra-intelligent/professional (often with fanfic, published or otherwise, he’s usually portrayed as too emotional or too emotionless, and I think this book did a good job mostly keeping him in character).
Basically, I think this was really really good book. If I reread it I could probably find some more minor flaws/instances to complain about, but aside from the lack of emotionally driven scenes involving the main characters, I had a lot of fun reading it for it’s well-written and intriguing plot, and would strongly recommend it to any TNG fan. Also, it had a lot of Data in it so…that wins it a lot of points. XD I’d give it an 8.5/10.