Review of
The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm
Published:
October 2011
Reviewer Rating:
Avg User Rating:
(3.15)
With their coalition allies taking a neutral stance, Earth and Alpha Centauri are left to fend off the rising Romulan treat alone. Desperate battles are fought as the Romulans continue to take systems closer and closer to Earth. A final assault is massing and Earth has few defenders but a beleaguered Starfleet with few resources left to fight.
My disappointment with these books continues. I was so excited to read about the Romulan War only to be let down. The storytelling in these last two books features so much "tell, don't show" attitudes that I feel I'm reading Cliff's Notes or something. There is little depth to most of the encounters in the war that everything feels like an anecdote or a textbook compared to a novel. Martin may have been going for a sort of newspaper account kind of feeling, but it really fails if that's the case.
In the last book at least, we were treated to some world-building that showed us areas of the Star Trek universe we hadn't really been exposed to, but here that is all but tossed aside. Martin does visit the Martian colony again in a sequence that starts out really interesting, but is quickly written off and he wraps up the sequence in a few brief and hurried few paragraphs. A major let-down to a section of the book that I was finally enjoying.
The last hundred pages or so returns to traditional storytelling as the final battle of the war is played out in detail. We get to experience some drama and tension in the narrative instead of a fairly bland outline. This proves to be the best section of the book by far - wrapping up the current story and setting up a future for the series. It just seems to be "too little, too late" for me to say I had much enjoyment of the book.
This entire two-book set seemed very rushed and disjointed. Martin did these novels after parting ways with Andy Mangels, his former writing partner. Maybe that accounts for some of it, but if so, Pocket really needed to have an editor step up and make these books a bit more workable.
Such terrible treatment for such a seminal moment in Star Trek history. I'd only recommend this to a fan who wanted an overview of the war, but not necessarily a compelling novel.
My disappointment with these books continues. I was so excited to read about the Romulan War only to be let down. The storytelling in these last two books features so much "tell, don't show" attitudes that I feel I'm reading Cliff's Notes or something. There is little depth to most of the encounters in the war that everything feels like an anecdote or a textbook compared to a novel. Martin may have been going for a sort of newspaper account kind of feeling, but it really fails if that's the case.
In the last book at least, we were treated to some world-building that showed us areas of the Star Trek universe we hadn't really been exposed to, but here that is all but tossed aside. Martin does visit the Martian colony again in a sequence that starts out really interesting, but is quickly written off and he wraps up the sequence in a few brief and hurried few paragraphs. A major let-down to a section of the book that I was finally enjoying.
The last hundred pages or so returns to traditional storytelling as the final battle of the war is played out in detail. We get to experience some drama and tension in the narrative instead of a fairly bland outline. This proves to be the best section of the book by far - wrapping up the current story and setting up a future for the series. It just seems to be "too little, too late" for me to say I had much enjoyment of the book.
This entire two-book set seemed very rushed and disjointed. Martin did these novels after parting ways with Andy Mangels, his former writing partner. Maybe that accounts for some of it, but if so, Pocket really needed to have an editor step up and make these books a bit more workable.
Such terrible treatment for such a seminal moment in Star Trek history. I'd only recommend this to a fan who wanted an overview of the war, but not necessarily a compelling novel.
