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Finally finished "A Rock and a Hard Place"
(Context: this is a TNG novel written by Peter David, and back in October, when I got into TNG books, this was recommended to me over and over as THEEEE best Riker-centric novel. It has a great painted cover with Riker and Deanna on the cover, with Riker squaring off against some sort of hideous bear-dog in combat)
I've been reading this on/off since October! Not because it's bad; just something clicked off in my brain, and when I COULD read Star Trek novels, I couldn't read this one. But I could read other, worse novels just fine XD Gradually, over a course of months, I worked myself up to the halfway point, and then last night I read the whole second half in one sitting.
Two main storylines, both fun:
1) Riker is sent off the Enterprise to help terraform a cold, icy planet called Paradise. He's selected because of his childhood in Alaska, and because one of the lead terraformers is actually his childhood friend, Carter!
2) Quintin Stone, one of Starfleet's problem children, is sent to the Enterprise as Riker's replacement, with the fleet desperately hoping that Picard can straighten him out. Stone never really disobeys orders or violates the Prime Directive, but he goes about his missions in an unsettling, callous, manipulative way that concerns everyone who meets him.
I love survival stories, and I love Riker, and Stone's side of the story was intriguing, so this was a really fun book all-around. In Paradise, Riker gets reacquainted with his old friend and his family, only for all three -- husband, wife, daughter -- to go missing one day. It turns out the people of Paradise are hiding all sorts of secrets from Riker. One is that they tried to genetically engineer beasts of burden that could withstand the snow. But instead they created bloodthirsty monsters with a taste for human flesh. Natch. The other thing is more routine: it's just that when tech breaks down, they don't want Starfleet to know -- it wounds their pride as terraformers. So Riker's friends went missing just trying to fix a broken probe, got attacked by a genetically-engineered mutant, and are now stranded in the icy, stormy atmosphere outside the climate-control city.
Riker, of course, has to save them. We've got gruesome, sad deaths; avalanches; cliff-climbing; brutal fights with ice picks; etc. On Stone's side, he reads everyone's file and memorizes their weaknesses, then exploits those to explain How He Got His Scars (yes I know). For example: he sees that Wesley lost his dad at a young age, so when Wesley sees Stone's scars, Stone explains, "My dad was a fencing instructor, and one time, the protective tip came off his student's foil, and the student accidentally stabbed him right in the throat. I ran to help, and the student jerked his foil back and lanced me right across the face!"
To Worf he claims that both his parents were massacred in a Romulan attack. To Beverly, he says he and his wife were captured by pirates, and he watched as the pirates killed her. Etc. It quickly becomes clear that Stone is Bothered by Riker's reputation, and although he evidently relishes being unpopular, it sticks in his craw that everyone loved Riker and hates him. We learn that Stone's scars cover his entire back, and that he has a bloodstained bullwhip hidden in his quarters. When Paradise contacts the Enterprise about Riker's rescue mission, Stone is sent to find Riker and bring him back alive, and as readers, we worry that Stone might just want to kill Riker himself.
...which, sorta? I mean, okay, so Riker fights a damn wolf-bear with an ice pick and then he tumbles off a cliff. He's hanging on with one hand, and his shoulder is dislocated, he's got a dozen little wounds, etc. Stone appears and takes Riker's hand, but then he doesn't pull Riker up. He just stays there, dangling Riker off the edge of a cliff, and tells him the true story of how he got his scars:
As a young officer, Stone was sent to a planet ruled by a monarchy. The royal family was enormous, and the king was proudly awaiting his first incest baby. But a coup d'etat occurred while Stone was there, and thanks to the Prime Directive, Stone couldn't intervene. He watched as revolutionaries whipped every member of the royal family to death in a purge, including the pregnant girl. Then they cut her baby out and killed it too.
0_0
Afterward the Federation was like "lol well they want to join the Federation so let's let them!" and the revolutionaries gifted Stone the bloody bullwhip as a token of gratitude. He went back home and whipped himself until he couldn't feel pain anymore.
...So he says all this and then he pulls Riker up off the cliff and they're buddies. Stone stays in Paradise to help with the terraforming, Riker goes back to the Enterprise, all is well.
Me to my roommate: "Well that was disappointing"
Him: "Really? Why?"
Me: "Well. I don't know. I guess I just thought that when Stone went after Riker, he was going to....you know..."
Him: ???
Me: "...whip him."
Him: "You're DELUSIONAL"
Me: "Well, I thought it made sense!!"
Him, mimicking me: "Where's the cock and ball torture I was promised?? NOBODY PROMISED THAT"
Like all Peter David ST books this had some highkey misogynitic moments and some weird Christian shit. Riker meets up with his old friend, Carter, and starts loudly blabbing out that Plain Jane girl who used to have a crush on him, only to discover that Plain Jane is now Carter's hot wife. We also find out that Riker's childhood nickname is Thunderball, because he moved through girls like lightning. Carter's teenage daughter Stephy is uncomfortably interested in Riker and comes onto him multiple times. When it's down to just her and Riker in a game of survival, Stephy's useless, weepy, screechy -- despite growing up on Paradise, she has no idea what to do, freezes up in the face of danger, and...comes onto Riker again.
Plus, Stone develops a weird sexual energy with Troi and kisses her against her will, AND Picard makes a VERY weird comment to Troi about how he's more intimate with her than any woman he's ever been with physically!! š
As for the Christian shit, it was like this:
Angry Terraformer: Did you call Starfleet on us?
Scientist: Well, Commander Riker is missing! Starfleet can help!
Angry Terraformer: We don't want Starfleet in our business! We're terraformers! We take a lot of pride in our self-sufficiency!
Scientist: Well, I tell you what. I believe in that pride of yours. I believe that pride is what enables man to explore new frontiers and make new strides. But I also believe in the Bible. And the Bible says pride goeth before the fall.
ššš
In my Star Trek??? No.
Let's see. I think this is the fourth Peter David book I've read: Imzadi, Triangle, Q-Squared, and this one; so I've got a pretty clear picture of my opinion on him now. Overall, on a technical level, he is a BETTER writer than 90% of the official Star Trek novel writers. He knows how to plot a book. His writing is quick and engaging. He's also, and imo this is a rare combo, great at crafting emotional character moments that satisfy the reader.
But his books are also laced through with misogyny and occasionally Christian morals. He's got a very firm view of masculinity and femininity which doesn't quite align with the characters on Star Trek, so he'll be wonderfully in-character at one moment and weirdly out-of-step on the next. Every book has at least one moment that slaps me in the face with the sheer Reagan-Era Focus on the Family of it all. I'd also caveat that if you don't like Riker, these books are not worth reading in the slightest, because they're all heavily focused on him (including Q-Squared).
DESPITE this, I would still say his books are better reads than most Trek novels, it just depends on your priorities. For me, with books and with movies, I prefer a well-crafted piece of art that's laced with problematic themes over a terribly-crafted piece of art that's totally unproblematic. I've read plenty of unproblematic Star Trek novels that were also absolute slogs with no redeeming qualities: out of character, poorly-plotted, completely illogical, cheesy dialogue, etc. The sort of book that just pisses you off to no end, without ever displaying any type of notable prejudice.
(Whether you can call any Star Trek novel 'well-crafted' is another point of contention. I'd definitely apply that label to Diane Duane's. Her books are on a whole different level from Peter David's.)
I've been reading this on/off since October! Not because it's bad; just something clicked off in my brain, and when I COULD read Star Trek novels, I couldn't read this one. But I could read other, worse novels just fine XD Gradually, over a course of months, I worked myself up to the halfway point, and then last night I read the whole second half in one sitting.
Two main storylines, both fun:
1) Riker is sent off the Enterprise to help terraform a cold, icy planet called Paradise. He's selected because of his childhood in Alaska, and because one of the lead terraformers is actually his childhood friend, Carter!
2) Quintin Stone, one of Starfleet's problem children, is sent to the Enterprise as Riker's replacement, with the fleet desperately hoping that Picard can straighten him out. Stone never really disobeys orders or violates the Prime Directive, but he goes about his missions in an unsettling, callous, manipulative way that concerns everyone who meets him.
I love survival stories, and I love Riker, and Stone's side of the story was intriguing, so this was a really fun book all-around. In Paradise, Riker gets reacquainted with his old friend and his family, only for all three -- husband, wife, daughter -- to go missing one day. It turns out the people of Paradise are hiding all sorts of secrets from Riker. One is that they tried to genetically engineer beasts of burden that could withstand the snow. But instead they created bloodthirsty monsters with a taste for human flesh. Natch. The other thing is more routine: it's just that when tech breaks down, they don't want Starfleet to know -- it wounds their pride as terraformers. So Riker's friends went missing just trying to fix a broken probe, got attacked by a genetically-engineered mutant, and are now stranded in the icy, stormy atmosphere outside the climate-control city.
Riker, of course, has to save them. We've got gruesome, sad deaths; avalanches; cliff-climbing; brutal fights with ice picks; etc. On Stone's side, he reads everyone's file and memorizes their weaknesses, then exploits those to explain How He Got His Scars (yes I know). For example: he sees that Wesley lost his dad at a young age, so when Wesley sees Stone's scars, Stone explains, "My dad was a fencing instructor, and one time, the protective tip came off his student's foil, and the student accidentally stabbed him right in the throat. I ran to help, and the student jerked his foil back and lanced me right across the face!"
To Worf he claims that both his parents were massacred in a Romulan attack. To Beverly, he says he and his wife were captured by pirates, and he watched as the pirates killed her. Etc. It quickly becomes clear that Stone is Bothered by Riker's reputation, and although he evidently relishes being unpopular, it sticks in his craw that everyone loved Riker and hates him. We learn that Stone's scars cover his entire back, and that he has a bloodstained bullwhip hidden in his quarters. When Paradise contacts the Enterprise about Riker's rescue mission, Stone is sent to find Riker and bring him back alive, and as readers, we worry that Stone might just want to kill Riker himself.
...which, sorta? I mean, okay, so Riker fights a damn wolf-bear with an ice pick and then he tumbles off a cliff. He's hanging on with one hand, and his shoulder is dislocated, he's got a dozen little wounds, etc. Stone appears and takes Riker's hand, but then he doesn't pull Riker up. He just stays there, dangling Riker off the edge of a cliff, and tells him the true story of how he got his scars:
As a young officer, Stone was sent to a planet ruled by a monarchy. The royal family was enormous, and the king was proudly awaiting his first incest baby. But a coup d'etat occurred while Stone was there, and thanks to the Prime Directive, Stone couldn't intervene. He watched as revolutionaries whipped every member of the royal family to death in a purge, including the pregnant girl. Then they cut her baby out and killed it too.
0_0
Afterward the Federation was like "lol well they want to join the Federation so let's let them!" and the revolutionaries gifted Stone the bloody bullwhip as a token of gratitude. He went back home and whipped himself until he couldn't feel pain anymore.
...So he says all this and then he pulls Riker up off the cliff and they're buddies. Stone stays in Paradise to help with the terraforming, Riker goes back to the Enterprise, all is well.
Me to my roommate: "Well that was disappointing"
Him: "Really? Why?"
Me: "Well. I don't know. I guess I just thought that when Stone went after Riker, he was going to....you know..."
Him: ???
Me: "...whip him."
Him: "You're DELUSIONAL"
Me: "Well, I thought it made sense!!"
Him, mimicking me: "Where's the cock and ball torture I was promised?? NOBODY PROMISED THAT"
Like all Peter David ST books this had some highkey misogynitic moments and some weird Christian shit. Riker meets up with his old friend, Carter, and starts loudly blabbing out that Plain Jane girl who used to have a crush on him, only to discover that Plain Jane is now Carter's hot wife. We also find out that Riker's childhood nickname is Thunderball, because he moved through girls like lightning. Carter's teenage daughter Stephy is uncomfortably interested in Riker and comes onto him multiple times. When it's down to just her and Riker in a game of survival, Stephy's useless, weepy, screechy -- despite growing up on Paradise, she has no idea what to do, freezes up in the face of danger, and...comes onto Riker again.
Plus, Stone develops a weird sexual energy with Troi and kisses her against her will, AND Picard makes a VERY weird comment to Troi about how he's more intimate with her than any woman he's ever been with physically!! š
As for the Christian shit, it was like this:
Angry Terraformer: Did you call Starfleet on us?
Scientist: Well, Commander Riker is missing! Starfleet can help!
Angry Terraformer: We don't want Starfleet in our business! We're terraformers! We take a lot of pride in our self-sufficiency!
Scientist: Well, I tell you what. I believe in that pride of yours. I believe that pride is what enables man to explore new frontiers and make new strides. But I also believe in the Bible. And the Bible says pride goeth before the fall.
ššš
In my Star Trek??? No.
Let's see. I think this is the fourth Peter David book I've read: Imzadi, Triangle, Q-Squared, and this one; so I've got a pretty clear picture of my opinion on him now. Overall, on a technical level, he is a BETTER writer than 90% of the official Star Trek novel writers. He knows how to plot a book. His writing is quick and engaging. He's also, and imo this is a rare combo, great at crafting emotional character moments that satisfy the reader.
But his books are also laced through with misogyny and occasionally Christian morals. He's got a very firm view of masculinity and femininity which doesn't quite align with the characters on Star Trek, so he'll be wonderfully in-character at one moment and weirdly out-of-step on the next. Every book has at least one moment that slaps me in the face with the sheer Reagan-Era Focus on the Family of it all. I'd also caveat that if you don't like Riker, these books are not worth reading in the slightest, because they're all heavily focused on him (including Q-Squared).
DESPITE this, I would still say his books are better reads than most Trek novels, it just depends on your priorities. For me, with books and with movies, I prefer a well-crafted piece of art that's laced with problematic themes over a terribly-crafted piece of art that's totally unproblematic. I've read plenty of unproblematic Star Trek novels that were also absolute slogs with no redeeming qualities: out of character, poorly-plotted, completely illogical, cheesy dialogue, etc. The sort of book that just pisses you off to no end, without ever displaying any type of notable prejudice.
(Whether you can call any Star Trek novel 'well-crafted' is another point of contention. I'd definitely apply that label to Diane Duane's. Her books are on a whole different level from Peter David's.)
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Hi there! I came across this post on my network page and had to add you after skimming your journal because hello fellow Trek novel aficionado! I have not read this one but the premise sounds cool and I will add it to my list (Iām intentionally not reading your longer review to avoid spoilers).
No pressure to add back but if you want to know who I am, I have a fairly extensive intro post at the top of my journal.
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