Matthew > Recent Status Updates

Emony: the story of Dax's third host is a charming little tale, and I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was due to its simplicity. There's no sci-fi here, it's just a little romantic story against the backdrop of some simmering racial tensions. Interestingly, much of the story is told through the eyes of a very young Leonard McCoy.

Tobin: He is a nervous and fidgety scientific engineer, serving on a research vessel when the Romulans attack. It's quite a humorous story, made all the more so by having him teamed up with a Vulcan.

Lela: This is a delightful story about Dax's first host, and very true to the spirit of the morality of Star Trek. Lela is a young and inexperienced politician who awkwardly with a first contact situation and realises the importance of learning from the mistakes she makes, even when she felt like she was doing the right thing.

Ezri: The framing story is set after the end of the TV show and shows Ezri finally beginning to come to terms with her unwanted joining. It involves Vic, who was never my favourite character, but he's on the sidelines. It's a strong opening and good insight into Ezri's feelings.

That's certainly a vivid description of what it's like to get run over by a car. Nasty.

Ha'mara: Sisko and Kira become trapped underground together, and she is forced to put aside her mistrust of him. It's set immediately after the series pilot and does manage to capture the personalities that these characters had back then. It lays some seeds of plots to come later in the show and is generally enjoyable with some good tension and vivid writing.

It's making me feel cold!

I don't really follow any of this business/investment talk, but I sure am intrigued.

Turncoats: the first story in the book that I've considered skipping. The story itself is interesting enough, focusing on the defector Ensign DeSeve, but the writing is absolutely horrible. It made the story difficult to follow. There are moments where a character seems to leave a room but then is suddenly back there without explanation. Dialogue is very odd. Not at all a fan of this one.

Thinking of You: the most fun story so far, a holodeck-gone-wrong adventure with Barclay, Ro and Lwaxana Troi. It's kind of creative despite being the sort of tale which became excessively used. It benefits mostly from the unique combination of these three misfit characters.

Among the Clouds: didn't enjoy this one, it's very weird. As has happened before, when a writer realises they are not constrained by the effects budget of a TV show, they throw in things that we would never be able to see on screen. So, a chunk of this story is about Geordi riding around on the back of a giant alien squid during a huge battle high up in a planet's atmosphere. Characterisation feels off, too.

Redshft: a tale about Dr. Pulaski trying to fit in on board the Enterprise and having to deal with an emergency. This managed to get her character down pretty well, as well as an exasperated Chief O'Brien. Nice to see an attack on the ship that's not done from the perspective of the bridge crew.

Acts of Compassion: a story which uses the odd pairing of Dr. Crusher and Lt. Yar as they go to help out some Cardassians. Yeah, that's a strange mix. It has some decent action but ultimately I didn't feel like it really went anywhere, especially since it doesn't tie into any character development seen in the TV show.

Meet with Triumph and Disaster: a story about the original captain of the Enterprise-D who was supposed to take command of it when it was launched, somebody we have no connection to. It's a well written piece about the doubts he has and let's us get a strong feeling about the kind of person he is. Nothing dramatic, but a nice character piece. Enjoyed it.