Status Updates From Survivors (Star Trek: The N...

I have a sneaking suspicion this one's going in the DNF pile...

Ugh, I *hate* to be THAT guy, but... if you're going out of your way to acknowledge that "Datalore" has already happened, then Data shouldn't be using contractions!

Also, that first chapter was a LOT rougher than I've ce to expect from a TNG tie-in novel. Just sayin'.

“To WANT the impossible is self-defeating and can end in frustration. To WISH for an attainable goal, however, may mean achieving possible ones that one might not otherwise consider.” ~ Data

I don't believe in guilty pleasures, but while acknowledging that the writing here is not exactly good, I'm having a much fun reading it (in that way it really captures the spirit of early TNG).

It's funny how sometimes an author will develop the story in a way you completely disagree with and still their writing is so engaging that you can't stop reading it. (It's completely unrelated, but I remember feeling that with Kerouac as well). Data here is on point, but Tasha is saying some pretty sexist stuff, the writing is so dynamic though!

So far, It's been fun to spend some time in the universe of one of my comfort shows. Not to say that it's without fault (far from it!), To start, the whole premise is based on one of my least favourite arcs. But it's a quick read, with a space faring adventure at the core with some interesting development for Tasha that the series failed to include. I can see myself ploughing through this one in another sitting.

CW: coercion...

...and now this Commander is her fiancé and her supervising officer on the ship they were assigned on together...

Holy crap, more CW: Coercive subordinate-supervisor sex.

So, the Starfleet Officer who rescued Tasha (and whom she idolized and hero-worshipped as a teen) and was sort of a father to her, has returned to watch now Cadet Yar graduate from the Academy...he's a Commander, she a Cadet...he was her paternal caregiver...and now they bang...

I'm sorry, and I know this was the 80s, but *shudder*...and he calls her "girl"

Well, there's some CW for you: rape and cat-murder.

I know the novels aren't canon...but Tasha's last name "Yar" she took from an old lady that helped her for about a year so when she was a child...so, Ishara Yar makes no sense, at all.

Also, now her home world wasn't discovered by the Federation until the 24th Century, but I'm pretty sure in an earlier novel they said her home world seceded from the Federation.

Very strange writing style-- exclamation points in narration such as "It sailed over them, weapons blasting. All six guns fired at the looming shadow-- it spit sparks, but kept coming!
"Run!" Barb shouted."

To many flashbacks of Tasha's past. I enjoyed the first few flashbacks, which reveals how she became a member of Star Fleet, but now it's getting kind of annoying.

Getting near to the end talking about Gigabytes as if the number is beyond our capability in the 21st century. Data and Yar are going to prove someone is innocent.

Yar and Data are helping a mercenary to overthrow a dictatorship controlling the population. First in depth description of both characters in book form.

"Tasha, believe me, I do understand how important Starfleet is to you. But I also believe you will outgrow it. ".

😭😭

"Intoxicants are sold freely, but under strict government control. They appear to be used to supply a substitute for suppressed emotions."

"Yes," said Yar. "It's very easy to turn to chemical happiness when there is no other kind in your life."

I've barely begun and I am already consumed with nostalgiangst <3

Not bad so far. Really could have done without the intro. Hated it.

I'm not really sure why I'm even reading this. Must be some kind of masochism I didn't know I had in me.

The writing of this book is painfully awkward and repetitive. When two female characters are introduce one is described as "neither pretty nor beautiful" while the other is first "stunning" and then suddenly "not beautiful, hardly even pretty." I don't know how this woman has published books.

At this point it is seeming like this book started out as fanfic and somehow got published. Clumsy writing, bizarre romantic interludes and cringe-worthy dialogue. I will, however, soldier on.

and so the goodies are all together for the final act. What a romp!

Is he guilty? Everything but my intuition says yes. Oh the tension! The drama! The Love! The Betrayal!

Brilliant start, this whole novel screams backstory. Superb characterisation.