Review of
What Price Honor?
Published:
November 2002
Reviewer Rating:
Avg User Rating:
(3.21)
The Enterprise answers a distress call and discovers an alien outpost on a small planetoid. But the crew soon discovers that they've stumbled into the middle of a war between two alien races over the technology from similar installations across this sector of space. Reed gets personally involved in the conflict when it causes the death of one of his crewman, and he vows to get to the bottom of the entire situation.
The structure of this novel constantly shifts between two points in time a few days apart - one being when the Enterprise first arrives at the outpost, and the other a few days later when they meet with a delegation from the Sarkassians - one of the warring races. Normally I'd find this constant shifting annoying, but in this case it actually helps build the tension since you're not completely aware of how the earlier timeline plays into the second. It actually worked to pull me through the story and this structure actually plays back into the storyline. Very cool, when it's all over!
Malcolm Reed is really the focus of this book and we get a few new insights into his character. Since this book was written while the show was still in production, it doesn't really do anything to develop the character deeply since it could have been contradicted at any point. But we do get nuggets about his past, his family, and how he relates to the crewman under him. We really don't get to see Reed as the leader of security personnel very often, so it's nice to see how he actually handles his department. Similarly, he also gets a brief brush with romance in this book which broadens him nicely and gives him a more human side.
While the overall plot is pretty generally "Star Trek," the structure is what really makes it work. I'm sure most readers will guess what's going on by the midway point, but the tensions and the "hows" payoff nicely as the book reaches it's conclusion. Really a fun read that will keep most readers quite entertained.
A nice piece of fiction that fits into Season one of the show.
The structure of this novel constantly shifts between two points in time a few days apart - one being when the Enterprise first arrives at the outpost, and the other a few days later when they meet with a delegation from the Sarkassians - one of the warring races. Normally I'd find this constant shifting annoying, but in this case it actually helps build the tension since you're not completely aware of how the earlier timeline plays into the second. It actually worked to pull me through the story and this structure actually plays back into the storyline. Very cool, when it's all over!
Malcolm Reed is really the focus of this book and we get a few new insights into his character. Since this book was written while the show was still in production, it doesn't really do anything to develop the character deeply since it could have been contradicted at any point. But we do get nuggets about his past, his family, and how he relates to the crewman under him. We really don't get to see Reed as the leader of security personnel very often, so it's nice to see how he actually handles his department. Similarly, he also gets a brief brush with romance in this book which broadens him nicely and gives him a more human side.
While the overall plot is pretty generally "Star Trek," the structure is what really makes it work. I'm sure most readers will guess what's going on by the midway point, but the tensions and the "hows" payoff nicely as the book reaches it's conclusion. Really a fun read that will keep most readers quite entertained.
A nice piece of fiction that fits into Season one of the show.
