Imbalance
The C plot of an early TNG episode has Picard practicing a formal greeting for the Jarada. They’re very touchy about protocol, very insular, and this is the first chance in a while for the Federation to try negotiating with them. Of course, the main plot of the episode intervenes, and there are shenanigans getting Picard back to the bridge to do his ceremonial duty. It’s disconnected enough from the rest of the episode that while I could remember that, I couldn’t place what episode it belongs to (“The Big Goodbye”, one of the better first season episodes).
This novel is set in late fourth season, and revisits the Jarada. They had been entirely a throwaway plot device, so I’m happy to see someone doing something with them. Setup is good; the Jarada ask to open negotiations, and ask for the Enterprise specifically. This is actually at one of their colony planets, and they seem… happy, eager, to discuss a treaty with the Federation. There are suspicions, but you don’t just walk away when someone is making overtures like this when all you know is ‘this is strange’.
After a reception, an away team is invited on individual tours of the colony, reflecting various specialties and hobbies. In fact, the Jarada seem to know an awful lot about the crew. (This is a plot point, which is used to explain some of the original episode; nice touch.) So we then get five chapters, all dealing with one of the crew being shown around and ending with things going south. Okay, actually a good structure, and from there you can build upon the various threads, and interweave them, and as they come together again build your climax.
Now, for problems. Let’s start with one that’s not the author’s fault: The top front-cover blurb reads, “A mysterious alien race holds a secret that could destroy the U.S.S. Enterprise.” Wow, you could put that on any TOS or TNG novel and it would be no more or less accurate, nor less attention-getting. Ugh.
The first problem between the covers is that one of the five away team stranded on the planet (yes, they get stranded, and no the communicators aren’t working; but it is nicely explained—if only that explanation worked its way back to the central plot) is Keiko O’Brian (being married to Miles for about half a season at this point), and we have a side-plot of marital troubles stemming from a cultural clash. As a concept, not a bad idea, as done here, a horrible one. Of course, both characters get filled out a lot in the future of this novel, so we get a very different take here, and frankly not very good ones. Both are filled out with fairly 20th-century stereotypes, and Miles especially comes out the worse for it.
The bigger problem is that the plot never regains the cohesion it needs after the split up of characters. Of the six threads (five on the planet, and on board the Enterprise), you only get minimal on-screen crossover and collaboration. Given some of what goes on in the novel, really hitting up the theme of collaboration, and everyone sharing their piece of the puzzle would help the climax a lot. But instead, that only happens piecemeal, and a lot is off-screen. The ending works, but needed a good rewrite. Overall, it’s still better than the very early (season 1) TNG novels, but still not on the recommend list.
Discussion ¬