Admiral Uhura knows all!
Written: Sep 21 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good use of Uhura and Sisko
Cons: bland, plot wasn't that interesting
The Bottom Line: I've been waiting a couple of years to read this novel, so maybe more disappointing than it should have been.
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| hist's Full Review: Star Trek: The Lost Era - Catalyst of Sorrows |
It's taken me a while to get back to it, but I finally read the last book of the "Star Trek: The Lost Era" series. Catalyst of Sorrows, by Margaret Wander Bonanno, takes place very shortly before the beginning of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series begins, and it brings together many disparate characters throughout the Trek universe. It also doesn't quite live up to its stellar reputation among Trek Lit fans, as it's more passable than outstanding. Some petty annoyances really get in the way of me liking it.
Catalyst of Sorrows brings together Admiral Uhura (now head of Starfleet Intelligence), Ben Sisko (DS9), Tuvok (Voyager), Dr. Selar (TNG and the New Frontier series of novels), Dr. McCoy, and Dr. Crusher, in a story involving a manufactured virus and its effect on both the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Uhura's contact in the Empire sends a messenger to her with information on the virus, asking for Uhura's help in tracking curing it. Uhura's formed a committee of the greatest doctors in the Federation to help, but also has formed a strike team of Sisko, Selar, and Tuvok (along with the messenger) to infiltrate the Neutral Zone and try to find the source of this plague. But will they be able to do so before it's too late?
First of all, I really hate "disease of the week" stories, even when they're man-made, so that was the first strike against this novel for me. If it is manufactured, then that can add an intriguing element to the story, but the characters, writing, and situation have to be interesting too. Unfortunately, that's not totally the case here. Bonanno's writing has always been good, but here it's a bit pedestrian. She also jumps the timeline, with flashbacks interspersed in the narrative, sometimes with flashbacks embedded within these flashbacks. While I'm sure there's a narrative reason for it, as it didn't seem random at all, it was still irritating. There were a couple of times where I had to stop and think where we were in the narrative, and I was wondering why one of the characters was acting this way (it was a flashback).
It is interesting to see Sisko get his first taste of command, as he's been stuck in Engineering (by choice) throughout his career. His ties to his family showcase the problem with having families on board starships, as he tries to turn down the mission because he'd have to leave his wife and child. He slowly begins to come into his own and see himself as, quite possibly, command material, and that was good to see. Tuvok and Selar aren't as good, though. It's not that Bonanno writes them out of character, but more that we don't really see anything new about them.
I did especially like Uhura, though. It had previously been established in the novel continuity that Uhura eventually became head of Intelligence (her communications background serves well for that), but it was interesting to actually see her in action, as well as getting a glimpse of how she got the job. Bonanno writes Uhura well, and you can see the love of the character fly off the page as she turns one of the lesser-realized original series characters into a thriving one. I especially liked her annual "type up my resignation and then decide whether I'm going to send it" routine, as the job appears to be getting to her after all these years. There's even a bit of Section 31 thrown in, which also factors in her decision on whether to stay or not.
While the characters are fine (even the minor characters are at least decent), it was the plot I had more than a little trouble with. Not only do I not like disease stories, but I don't like stories where the solution is revealed via stupid villains. The identity of the perpetrator of the whole scheme comes to the attention of our heroes through sheer arrogance and stupidity. Up until that point, Sisko and his team have been floundering around, not really accomplishing much. Even the doctors were having trouble until McCoy realized that the scientist who created it probably is arrogant. It all seemed too arbitrary for me.
Other than those problems, and a general blandness to the narrative, there's nothing really wrong with Catalyst of Sorrows. It brings an interesting mix of characters, avoids needless continuity (other than the conceit of bringing all these different series' characters together), and has a couple of interesting Romulans as well. The writing is serviceable and the book is a fairly quick read. Perhaps I'm guilty of too high expectations due to how well the book has been received among Trek fans, but this is just another middle-of-the-road, thoroughly ok novel.
Other books in the Lost Era series
The Sundered
Serpents Among the Ruins
The Art of the Impossible
Well of Souls
Deny Thy Father
Catalyst of Sorrows
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: David Roy
Location: Vancouver, BC
Reviews written: 723
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