'The problem is twofold,' Spock Replied.
Devil's Bargain is written by Tony Daniel a veteran sci-fi author who has already penned another Star Trek novel Savage Trade (2015). Devil's Bargain is a relatively recent release (2013) and is almost entirely sensible. It's so sensible in fact, that I put it down and read another novel before picking it back up again, forgetting half the story in the process. It just didn't do anything for me.
As you might have guessed from looking at the cover (and previous posts), this novel was a recent purchase and selected on the grounds that it has Spock on the cover... I actually don't like the cover much, I don't really understand why Spock is red and the background is industrial and grey... it doesn't really fit with the the actual content of the novel.
The premise of Devil's Bargain is a simple (and well worn) one, Enterprise is sent to a frontier colony in the Omega sector - Vesbius (people really should stop foreshadowing their own disasters) - to evacuate the planet before an unstoppable meteor decimates the planet, causing an extinction level event. However, the colonists refuse to leave the planet, preferring to take their chances with the meteor, claiming that their lives depend upon staying. In the face of their refusal to leave the planet (a veritable Eden) the Enterprise crew must find a way to save the colonists. In an inspired moment, Spock suggests they enlist the help of the Horta in order to have them tunnel and break the meteor into smaller pieces. It's easy peasy, grab the Horta, get back to the planet, get the Horta to munch through the meteor, simple! And that's pretty much how the 'action' of the narrative plays out.
Genetic engineering is generally considered a bad thing in the Federation, and is especially contentious to Kirk; the genetic engineering on Vesbius is not particularly different. Although the original purpose of the genetic engineering is a sincere desire to remain on Vesbius and it's Eden like habitat, it soon twists certain individuals into supremacists, ala Khan. The vast majority of Vesbians are peaceful people, but there are elements in their council who want to subvert the peaceful populace... zzzz... *yawn*. Basically, terrorists, xenophobia, irony that Spock comes up with the idea to save them...
The terrorists simply wanted to leave the planet. I don't really see how this was a problem since they would die anyway within a couple of weeks and it's unlikely they could reverse engineer themselves in the time they had remaining... Surely, surely they could have just been allowed to leave and then the problem would solve itself? It doesn't make a lot of sense either, since they want to leave and they are also horrendously xenophobic. I can't even reconcile this plot point to the rest of the narrative, but I guess Daniel wanted to bring some sort of sentient villainy into the genetic engineering story line. Oh! And someone had to blow up the Vesbian emergency shelters and highlight that they were badly made and wouldn't survive the extinction level event.
The teenage Horta were quite irritating, but then, I can't think of a teenager who isn't, so perhaps the characterisation gets a pass. This narrative thread involves Spock making a bargain with the Horta, that if some of their number come and help Vesbius then he will stay with them and be their 'All Mother', because the original mummy Horta is dying and the teenage Horta are afraid. They are pretty much characterised as whiny children, and do the equivalent of throwing poo at each other, causing arguments. After many misadventures they do pull through however and help save Vesbius.
Also, they create a new clan and one of them wants to join Starfleet. Kirk thinks that this one Horta could one day Captain a Federation starship... Yes... Sure, whatever you say Kirk.
Kirk falls in love with an important daughter of Vesbius, and walks right off the cliff we call characterisation and into the sea of parody. They fall in love, have sex, and Kirk becomes pretty obsessed. The absolute worst part of this is that we get these long internal monologues from both parties of how this has to be temporary, but their love is beautiful, but perhaps Kirk can leave Enterprise and forget the stars to be with her, but no, alas he can't survive on Vesbius because of the genetic engineering... I can't even put a humorous spin on this. I'm sorry.
I have to disagree with Spock, the problem isn't two fold. There are many, many more problems with this instalment than two. The worn out narrative and it's uninspiring characters, the bad characterisation which makes the crew seem like parodies of themselves are problems. Daniel tries to pull in too many threads, too many story lines from the series and failing to do any of them really well. The humour is missing and Daniel just takes it all so seriously that it becomes boring.
I'm sorry, but I just can't recommend Devil's Bargain - 1/5.
((I didn't like writing this review either... It's just... not very inspirational))
Genetic engineering is generally considered a bad thing in the Federation, and is especially contentious to Kirk; the genetic engineering on Vesbius is not particularly different. Although the original purpose of the genetic engineering is a sincere desire to remain on Vesbius and it's Eden like habitat, it soon twists certain individuals into supremacists, ala Khan. The vast majority of Vesbians are peaceful people, but there are elements in their council who want to subvert the peaceful populace... zzzz... *yawn*. Basically, terrorists, xenophobia, irony that Spock comes up with the idea to save them...
The terrorists simply wanted to leave the planet. I don't really see how this was a problem since they would die anyway within a couple of weeks and it's unlikely they could reverse engineer themselves in the time they had remaining... Surely, surely they could have just been allowed to leave and then the problem would solve itself? It doesn't make a lot of sense either, since they want to leave and they are also horrendously xenophobic. I can't even reconcile this plot point to the rest of the narrative, but I guess Daniel wanted to bring some sort of sentient villainy into the genetic engineering story line. Oh! And someone had to blow up the Vesbian emergency shelters and highlight that they were badly made and wouldn't survive the extinction level event.
The teenage Horta were quite irritating, but then, I can't think of a teenager who isn't, so perhaps the characterisation gets a pass. This narrative thread involves Spock making a bargain with the Horta, that if some of their number come and help Vesbius then he will stay with them and be their 'All Mother', because the original mummy Horta is dying and the teenage Horta are afraid. They are pretty much characterised as whiny children, and do the equivalent of throwing poo at each other, causing arguments. After many misadventures they do pull through however and help save Vesbius.
Also, they create a new clan and one of them wants to join Starfleet. Kirk thinks that this one Horta could one day Captain a Federation starship... Yes... Sure, whatever you say Kirk.
Kirk falls in love with an important daughter of Vesbius, and walks right off the cliff we call characterisation and into the sea of parody. They fall in love, have sex, and Kirk becomes pretty obsessed. The absolute worst part of this is that we get these long internal monologues from both parties of how this has to be temporary, but their love is beautiful, but perhaps Kirk can leave Enterprise and forget the stars to be with her, but no, alas he can't survive on Vesbius because of the genetic engineering... I can't even put a humorous spin on this. I'm sorry.
I have to disagree with Spock, the problem isn't two fold. There are many, many more problems with this instalment than two. The worn out narrative and it's uninspiring characters, the bad characterisation which makes the crew seem like parodies of themselves are problems. Daniel tries to pull in too many threads, too many story lines from the series and failing to do any of them really well. The humour is missing and Daniel just takes it all so seriously that it becomes boring.
I'm sorry, but I just can't recommend Devil's Bargain - 1/5.
((I didn't like writing this review either... It's just... not very inspirational))
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