chuhl
12/31/2017
Christopher Bennett continues his future history of the early days of the Federation. Jonathan Archer argues that the Federation should adopt a non-interference policy, while Trip Tucker struggles to bring down Section 31, the extralegal black ops organization, from within.
It's smart, thoughtful entertainment. Bennett understands these characters well and has obviously given a great deal of thought to what their positions would be, based on their personalities, past experiences, and priorities. They express their points of view eloquently and persuasively.
However, that style of writing, which makes the political debates compelling, is less effective when characters are speechifying to each other about their personal lives and romantic relationships. Sometimes Bennett writes more naturalistic dialogue and uses more humor in those situations, and it works so well that I wish he'd do it more often.
A trigger warning: Maltuvis, the evil Saurian dictator, is obviously based on a certain figure who's very much in the news lately. He wants to build an impenetrable wall to keep out aliens and he despises journalists. Sound like anybody we know?