🚀 go-pugleaf

Baerbel Haddrell
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Dies ist die Besprechung von "Before Dishonor", geschrieben von Peter 
David. Es ist kein New Frontier Buch sondern ein TNG Buch! Es enthaelt 
Elemente aus Peter Davids Klassiker "Vendetta". Seven und Janeway sind 
zwei der Hauptcharaktere. Wer Voyager Fan ist und spoilerempfindlich ist 
was Buecher angeht sollte meine Besprechung vielleicht lieber nicht lesen.



S P O I L E R

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I love this book but I would love it even more if there weren`t one 
aspect I will deal with at the end of my review. Nevertheless, it is a 
book that has a lot to offer. I enjoyed the references to PAD`s classic 
Borg novel �Vendetta� and smiled when I read the comments about female 
Borg which is, of course, referring to the disclaimer PAD was forced to 
put into �Vendetta� at that time. I laughed when I read about the 
ongoing debate if Pluto is a planet or not.

I was very curious how PAD would build on �Vendetta�. I think he 
succeeded to make the Borg scary and unpredictable again. He certainly 
kept me surprised and wondering what will happen next. I read some 
comments saying that PAD went over the top again but when I look at TOS, 
I think some of what was shown there was certainly more fantastic and 
unbelievable. All the changes made perfect sense to me and that makes 
the changes shown in this book so interesting. I certainly felt a chill 
when I read about the Borg absorbing ships now and even whole planets: 
Pluto and its moons being eaten by the Borg is certainly not something 
that left me cold and it definitely applied to the way the Borg 
developed a new means of reproduction.

 From early on there was the solution in form of the Doomsday machine 
and the Endgame virus. PAD provided a good background for both in this 
book, something I welcomed, and used them very skilfully. Until the end 
I was kept on my toes, wondering how things will end. The drama built up 
very well because there was no straightforward defeat of the Borg, as it 
should be

It is not a secret at all that PAD is not a Voyager fan. I was really 
curious how he will write Janeway and Seven. That Janeway didn`t listen 
to Lady Q`s warnings didn`t surprise me and was definitely in character. 
PAD didn`t put Janeway in a good light at all. In the TV series is was 
often the case that Janeway was torn from one extreme to the other, she 
certainly wasn`t developed consistently. I think it would have been 
fairer to Janeway`s character to thrive for at least some kind of 
balance but I can understand why PAD chose otherwise. When Janeway was 
turned into the Borg Queen, my first instinct was feeling a strong wave 
of Schadenfreude. Later I felt bad about that because nobody deserves 
Janeway`s fate. I welcome it that at the end, it was Janeway who made 
the defeat possible, who delivered the final blow that saved Earth from 
destruction.

I would never have imagined that PAD would kill Janeway in this book and 
that means, that Pocket Books was given permission to do so. I don`t see 
any believable way to resurrect Janeway and that makes me wonder, is 
that the end of Voyager Relaunch? I doubt it that it would make sense to 
write these books after Janeway`s death. I must admit, the memorial 
scene was touching. Me personally, I have no problems with Janeway`s 
death. But I wonder if this move is fair to the Voyager fans who also 
exist. I am sure, if Picard would have been killed instead, the outcry 
would be huge and I very much doubt anyway that Pocket Books will ever 
get permission to do that. I am actually surprised that Janeway`s death 
caused so little reaction and by now, I have read quite a few comments.

I like it that PAD kept the reader guessing about Seven`s fate. I am so 
glad that she survived because I would certainly be upset if PAD would 
have killed her as well! The way PAD wrote her appealed to me very much. 
He showed her complexity very well indeed and presented her as a very 
likeable, brave character. I smiled when PAD also made comments about 
Seven`s looks and I couldn`t agree more with him. Especially after this 
book, I doubt it that there will be more Voyager Relaunch books as we 
know them so far. But especially after this book I am hoping at the same 
time that Seven will still have an important place in the current Star 
Trek book universe.

Speaking of Seven, I want to use this opportunity to also comment on the 
cover. After finishing the book, I can see even more that this simple 
idea is also providing a powerful teaser. The reflections from the Borg 
ship on Seven`s sad face look like tears. PAD described her loss very 
well and it was appropriate to at least mention that Chakotay was also 
struggling to come to terms with Janeway`s death.

I am glad that the book also included another guest. Especially because 
I have been waiting for a new New Frontier book for a while now. I loved 
Calhoun`s guest appearance towards the end of the book. I couldn`t help, 
I had to remember that Seven lost the woman who was much more than her 
friend but her mentor. The relationship between Picard and Calhoun is 
not so different. Janeway shaped a lot of Seven`s life and Picard did 
the same with Calhoun. It was great seeing Picard and Calhoun together 
again, fighting together. I also had to think again that whatever turned 
Jellico around in his attitude towards Calhoun must have been remarkable 
because especially in early NF, I would never have imagined that Calhoun 
would have been allowed to act as a commodore, leading several ships 
into battle. PAD also inserted some nice humour here I very much 
welcomed and I keep wondering, when will the next NF book be finally out?

PAD likes putting Spock into NF and it was a nice surprise to meet him 
in �Before Dishonor� as well. He certainly is a very wise man and this 
showed especially when he was dealing with T`Lana. I think PAD writes 
Spock very well and I hope he will keep appearing in his books.

Looking at the regular TNG characters, PAD wrote Picard and Beverly very 
well, very much in the NF style I like so much. Their parts don`t offer 
any special surprised in this book but that can`t happen in every novel. 
It was time to focus on other characters and I am glad that especially 
Seven was given the opportunity to really shine in a novel.

Worf was great. PAD found a good balance I enjoyed very much: He was the 
mature Worf he evolved into, especially in more recent books, but we 
could see her more than usual nowadays that he is nevertheless a Klingon 
warrior. I don`t think his emotional reaction towards the mutiny is a 
throwback or even out of character. I think his reactions were very 
understandable and they showed very well that it is not a good idea at 
all to make a Klingon angry. PAD also gave him some great, hilarious lines.

I also liked the part Geordi played in this story. In his own way, 
Geordi also left an important contribution by appealing to Seven`s 
humanity and his empathy. PAD showed him as the kind, gentle and caring 
man he is and I think it is about time that Geordi gets more to do in 
future and is giving more background.

As I said, I love the book but there is one aspect I am definitely not 
happy with. With the start of TNG Relaunch new characters were 
introduced that looked promising: T`Lana, Leybenzon and Kahota. 
Leybenzon but especially Kahota fit well into the crew and there was no 
reason whatsoever to imagine they would start a mutiny against Picard 
and certainly not for the reasons given. In the case of T`Lana I think 
it is very regrettable that she regressed this much but I can`t say she 
was not in character.

This threesome who initiated the mutiny displayed an amount of 
stupidity, narrow mindedness and arrogance that was astounding. Their 
reason for it was that Picard refused to follow orders and instead did 
what he thought needs to be done. What they wanted was that Picard 
returns to Earth as ordered and be one of many ships fighting against 
the Borg in a suicide mission. It didn`t matter what arguments Picard 
had, even what actually happened after this order was given, they stuck 
to the idea that orders are orders no matter what. The longer the story 
went on, the more ridiculous the whole background of the mutiny became 
but still, all three were locked in a mindset that reminded me of a 
broken record. Their minds were literally stuck, unable and unwilling to 
move and adapt to what was actually required.

I was torn between laughing at their stupidity and clumsiness as well as 
some of the jokes PAD inserted at their expense, being disappointed and 
even a bit annoyed that characters that seemed promising have been 
corrupted this way and feeling sorry for the next author/s who have the 
task to deal with this mess afterwards.

T`Lana is certainly irredeemable after what happened. With the choice 
Jellico announced, stay with Picard or resign, I think she will resign 
and good riddance to her. T`Lana could never function as counsellor on 
the Enterprise again. Instead Jellico could have been honest and offer 
her a post as Starfleet`s watchdog. Picard would have done his best to 
keep her as far away from him as possible and I can`t imagine that many 
people would come to her with their problems. I am hoping that T`Lana 
will indeed be gone in the next TNG Relaunch book and I am not 
interested to meet her again.

I am not sure if I would have been so forgiving towards Leybenzon and 
Kahota, maybe just dismissing their actions as an attack of madness. 
What possessed them is a mystery to me and if it was a kind of madness, 
what will happen the next time when there is a serious crisis and Picard 
decides to follow his own judgement against orders? Leybenzon is a 
veteran of the Dominion War who wasn`t shaped in the Starfleet Academy. 
I would have thought he is much more able to be an original thinker who 
knows that the situation you are faced with can change very quickly and 
that just relying on orders from people sitting far away can even be 
dangerous. Not to mention that Picard`s history with the Borg should 
tell him that he knows better what he is doing than anybody else, except 
Seven. And Kahota, who was hand picked by Data and has her family 
including three young children on Earth, is actually agreeing that it is 
better to be part of a suicide mission, to be one amongst many ships? 
Her lack of trust in Picard and participation in this insane mutiny 
makes no sense to me whatsoever.

I think instead of writing a mutiny that seemed more of a dark comedy 
than an actual drama, it would have been better if these people actually 
had a reason to mutiny I could understand. Understanding such motives 
and agreeing are not necessarily the same but I would have liked to 
continue to respect at least Leybenzon and Kahota.

We also shouldn`t forget that this threesome had a lot of help on board 
by officers who followed them. Why did they do that? Are these three 
instigators of the mutiny that much respected, did they have so 
compelling arguments or a charisma they couldn`t resist? I don`t 
understand that because I would answer all these questions with no.

I wonder how this mess can be fixed. I would think that jJust never 
mention it again is not an option that would be available. I am very 
curious how Christopher L. Bennett will handle the Enterprise crew in 
the next TNG Relaunch book, �Greater than the Sum�.

Baerbel Haddrell