After the Fall

Star Trek: New Frontier #15

by Peter David

MacKenzie Calhoun, captain of the U.S.S. Excalibur, finds himself reporting to Elizabeth Shelby, Commodore of the first Federation space station in sector 221-G, while Burgoyne and Selar confront their son's deadly genetic illneess, and Si Cwan and his wife face new challenges as the newly elected president and first lady of the Thallonian Republic. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Space, Science Fiction Fantasy, Media Tie In

Hardcover

First published November 30, 2004

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this didn't have nearly so bad a cliffhanger as Being Human, there was one. Hopefully it'll be fully resolved in Missing in Action.

One thing that has to be noted is that the book takes place three years after the previous book (and we get a strange "Note to Our Readers" about it), so in this "fast-forward" we get characters in different places in their lives (breakups, marriages, promotions, resignations, etc.). They all still felt like themselves, though, so I just went with it.

There was barely any Soleta in this book, unfortunately, and I'm no longer convinced that she'll ever return to a place of prominence and humor that I loved with her in earlier books. Also a very disappointing lack of Shelby. Mac/Shelby interactions practically make this series live.

The overarching plot in this book is very intriguing and I'm very interested to see where it goes. The subplots that were introduced also intrigue me, but none were resolved in this volume.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stone and Anvil was a work that was probably a good ending to the New Frontier series but I have to say that I am glad the series continued. Mostly because I really enjoy this novel. Interestingly, this book has a three year time skip and I wonder if there's RL reason for this like trying to bring the series up to the same timeline as the rest of the books. Either way, it puts a lot of characters in very different places.

We get to finally see the rebuilt Thallonian Empire as a non-evil organization or commonwealth in the Thallonian Protectorate. Well, mostly non-evil because I'm not sure about Si Cwan's number two in Prime Arbiter Fhermus.

The main plot is that Fhermus' son is engaged to Kalinda, Si Cwan's sister, and the rest of the Protectorate assumes this is an attempt to create a political dynasty. Which would be very smart of them but they claim (correctly) that, ugh, they are just a couple in love. The announcement of their engagement, though, is enough to bring Xyon out of hiding as he refuses to let Kalinda marry another man when he still has feelings for her.

Xyon is an interesting example of a very enjoyable dislikable character. His sheer selfishness and self-centeredness makes him a both interesting to read even as you want to scream at him. Even when confronted with the fact that he's hurt everyone by faking his death, he refuses to believe it was a big deal. I support him and Kalinda as a couple but, man, is he a terrible boyfriend and his attempts to win her over via duel is imitating the worst of Mac/Shelby's relationship.

We also have the Priatians, who are a race that used to rule all of Thallonian Space before Si Cwan's people drove them off their planets and conquered them. Robin Lefler is sympathetic but their demands are ridiculous. Sadly, it also resembles the dismissive attitude many individuals have toward indigineous restoration movements. It doesn't help the Thallonians are, well, jackasses and seeing them forced to cede territory seems fine to me.

Kat Mueller gets a pretty good amount of screentime this time around as well. I've always enjoyed her character and especially like the way she plays off of Shelby. She's been promoted to captain of the Trident with Elizabeth now an admiral. I really enjoyed her conversation about having sexual encounters with other people during a long distance relationship (even if it is just feeling Shelby out to see if she'd be okay with sleeping with Mac again--hint: she's not, Kat). Sadly, the book makes Kat extremely racist against Andorians.

It's funny that the book was written before ENTERPRISE because Kat mentions how little Andorians are associated with the Federation, how they're mostly ignored, and how promoting one to Commander is considered a fig leaf toward their society. Given they're now one of the more famous races, it's kind of funny how the books treat their being ignored by TNG. Then again, maybe I'm just an Andorian fanboy (*hugs picture of Pava*).

Perhaps the most controversial element of this book is Soleta defecting to the Romulans. She got outed off camera as a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid and this resulted in her being kicked out of Starfleet. It's a true Drumhead situation since I'm not sure that it would be illegal to find out your ancestor was someone after joining Starfleet. However, we have the same, "threatened to resign and didn't do any good" with Calhoun that Janeway and Picard both tried and failed to do. Honestly, I'd be more like, "I was unwittingly party to terrorism" would be a bigger issue for Soleta.

[Vic Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

LOVED the skip forward in time because I was feeling like the characters needed more to work with. A bit sad we didn't get to see the Selelvian/Thallonian vs the Federation war because that sounds like it would SLAP (maybe it's discussed in a different book???). However the characters do feel as if they're matured which I appreciate and I liked seeing how the political landscapes have changed over time, especially in New Thallon.
Another thing I enjoyed was Muller's viewpoint and the new Thallonian characters, as well as the Priatians who were excellent villains in this book. Obviously I can't wait to see where Soleta's story is going because I LOVE her and everything to do with her Romulan arc.
Where this book dragged was in the Xyon/Kally, Si Cwan/Robin, and the Burgoyne/Selar storylines. I've never loved the more mysognistic viewpoints of Xyon or Si Cwan but they were so much worse in this book. There are so many scenes where they think these super degrading things about women and it's passed off as a) funny or b) 'charmingly traditional'. Xyon was painted as a hero even though throughout his WHOLE plot he was being manipulative and extremely shady. Him being 'right' and a helpless 'victim' in the end only makes this representation worse. SOOO I can't wait for that to be over. Don't even get me started on Si Cwan.
With all that said I'm eager to get to the next installment.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The timeline jumps three years. The author gives us a note in the beginning to clarify that we aren't in an alternate reality and that no one is going to time travel and revert things. We have simply moved forward.

Given that, I expected more of a reveal. We don't see Calhoun for the firsr half of the book. But there's nothing major there, he's just simply irrelevant to the story up to that point.

A New Thallonian Protectorate has been established, a congress rather than a monarchy. While Si Cwan is navigating diplomacy, Kalinda has fallen in love with the son of Si Cwan's chief political rival. Xyon, Calhoun's son, hears about the impending wedding and comes out of hiding to try and convince Kalinda that she should be with him, creating an interplanetary incident in the process.

Peter David does a good job of giving each character their own internal motivations. The humor is the same, funny if you can ignore aliens using modern English puns (which I can't anymore).

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, well. In this volume of the series, we see a long lost son of Calhoun finally showing himself back amongst the living. He's gotten his own ship, with a very nice looking AI running it for him. He kidnaps Kalinda, Si Cwan's sister and gets apprehended and gives her back, apparently. But, things are not as they seem and it really hits home in the end with a startling surprise cliff hanger at the end. Definitely recommended.

[David Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great storylines, but... no need for that whiny teenager Moke to go all millenial. OMG, someone needed to shut him up. That storyline was absolutely the worst, most useless, part of the whole thing. It was bad enough when Worf had to deal with a whiny Alexander in TNG... and now we get more of it here? Boo!

[Peter Rydén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lite tröttsamt är det kanske med alla dessa gigantiska fiender som dyker upp i hela Star Trek-universat, men här gör Peter David ändå en bra bok. Fokuset låg alltså inte på denna hemska, bortglömda, fiende som plötsligt hotar hela civilisationen, utan mer på karaktärerna. Här är också Peter Davids stor fördel i sitt författande!

[S.J. Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit jarring by design, which can be frustrating, at times, but still a story well told. Even if I'd prefer to have actually been there for a few things which are hastily recapped...

4/5 We're building up a new threat here, aren't we?

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good fun read, like all the New Frontier books, but also beginning a trend towards darker stories.

[Tyrone Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the new series. Great characters. Refreshing.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek: The New Frontier: After the Fall by Peter David is the 15th book in New Frontier series proper, and the 22nd chapter in what I like to call Star Trek : The Prime Time Soap. The book opens up not long after the short story in the Captain's Table anthology that detailed Lt Soleta's departure from Starfleet and details her very surprising new career, then jumps three years in time in order to keep up with David's desire to keep the stories moving in "real time." I will not go into detail about Soleta's career change at this time

Three years later the Selelvian/ Tholian War is pretty much over, and Mackenzie Calhoun is still captain of the USS Excalibur--his wife, Elizabeth Shelby has been promoted off the USS Trident and is now the admiral of Space Station Bravo. Replacing Shelby on the Trident is her former nightside XO Kat Mueller. Kat has a new first officer, Cmd Desma, an Andorian. Surprisingly, it seems that Mueller has a problem with Andorians that she is struggling to overcome--but in the meantime, will the tension negatively affect the security and efficiency of the Trident?

The past three years have also had an effect on the crew of the Excalibur. Cmd Burgoyne 172 and Dr Selar's son Xyon--or Xy for short--has continued his incredibly accelerated aging process, and is now looking like a 26 year old, rather than the 4 year old he really is. With the accelerated growth has come massive intelligence and emotional maturity and stability --so much so he actually breezed thru Starfleet Academy in record time and now is the Science Officer on the Excalibur. Unfortunately, his growth is still accelerated and only has a few years to live before he dies of old age. The marriage between Burgy and Selar has not survived the strain of their son's condition but both remain aboard. Zak Kebron is now not only Security Chief, but is the new Ship's Counselor. Calhoun's adopted son Moke is now something of a troubled teen with abandonment issues and while Mac is doing the best he can to help the boy deal with his emotional issues, it is readily apparent that Mac is not that good at helping. Morgan Lefler remains the ghost in the machine onboard the Excalibur. She has essentially become the defacto Ops Officer, and usually interacts physically with the rest of the crew via strategically placed holo-emitters all throughout the ship. Lt Cmd Robin Lefler--Morgan's daughter--has left the ship to become the Starfleet liason with the new Thallonian Protectorate. She is now married to Prime Minister Si Cwan.

With the establishment of the Thallonian Protectorate the extended mission of the Excalibur and the Trident came to a close and both ships were given new assignments. The Protectorate is ruled by Prime Minister Cwan and Prime Arbiter Fhermus. Cwan's sister Kallinda is engaged to Fhermus' son Tiraud. The problem for the Protectorate starts with a visit from the Priatians, the first space-going race to emerge in what is now called Thallonian space. Their civilization has collapsed centuries ago and many of the worlds in their former empire are now home to new races. The Priatians want their worlds back--it is an old argument and it is rebuffed once more. Then out of the blue, Calhoun's biological son Xyon (Xy's namesake) reveals he's still alive by kidnapping his old flame Kallinda, and tries to reignite their love. When it fails he agrees to return her home. He does not get the chance--an alien ship of unknown origin and very advanced tech grabs Kally and leaves Xyon adrift.

Xyon is found by Thallonian forces and soon Calhoun and Mueller are drawn into the situation. It is revealed that Kally is the captive of the race known as the Wanderers, who are the ancestors of the modern Priatians and are Promised To Return Priatia To Glory. Eventually the Trident tracks Kally down and retrieves her easily. Too easily. The Wanderers are not mentioned. Calhoun gets Xyon back, but not easily and not before Xyon is tortured in captivity. The issue of torture may spell doom for the marriage of Robin and Cwan. Kally is quickly married to Tiraud, but one will not live the night. And finally the Excalibur runs afoul of the Wanderers and seems destroyed--but are they really?

All in all a great read, but my major problem is that despite the fact that Mac and Elizabeth are still in married and in love there seems to be no mention of any kind of relationship between her and Moke. It's not even one of his stated abandonment issues. Definitely something I hope is addressed in the next book

Next up--Missing in Action!

[***Dave Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Series reboots (or "Three years later ..." tales) are always risky. They may be narratively necessary (how may events can one reasonably cram into 24 hours, as an example), but they've very tricky. For the one hand, there are changes in characters and their lives that may seem unfair, or glossed over, or arbitrary (just like in real life). Indeed, it may feel more like an exercise in the author artificially setting up a new set of conflicts and story opportunities without going through the ground work of telling us about them and making us believe them.

David tries valiantly here, and not too much happens in between "Sword and Anvil" and this volume that seems particularly out of character or illogical (Shelby, Soleta, Lefler, and Xy having the most dramatic changes). But the novel seems to lurch unevenly, dealing with multiple narratives (as usual) but trying to make us feel the current risks, plus how they stem from the recent past, plus how this has changed the dynamics between all the individuals ... and it just never seems to completely gel, even with a cliff-hanger ending to pump up the action. It doesn't help that David seems to throw every spare character into the mix, and that two of them -- Xyon and Mueller -- seem less well defined (and enjoyable) than their previous incarnations, even while playing much larger roles.

"It was okay" is my rating, which is faint praise given my usual enjoyment of the New Frontier novels -- but it's true that you could actually do worse than read this particular novel. It's not a bad jumping-on point for first-time New Frontier readers, since so much of the backstory and relationships are explained (though it's still like coming into Hamlet in the third act with someone whispering the details to you as the play goes on). Recommended for mostly for completists of the series, Peter David fans, and those who expect to continue reading further (and hopefully better) New Frontier tales.

[reherrma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mit diesem Roman startet Peter David quasi seine ST-Serie Star Trek New Frontier neu, seit dem letzten Roman der Reihe sind mehr als 3 Jahre vergangen, zum erstem Mal ordnet David den Roman zeitlich in die Star Trek Historie ein, er spielt wenige Tage vor den Ereignissen von Star Trek Nemesis.
Elizabeth Shelby ist zum Admiral befördert worden, Kat Müller übernahm ihr Kommando über die TRIDENT, Soleta arbeitet, warum auch immer, mit den Romulanern zusammen, Si Cwan hat Robin Lefler geheiratet und ist der neue Herrscher des Thallonianischen Reiches, der Geist ihrer Mutter Morgan ist in den Schiffscomputer der EXCALIBUR eingegangen, Captain Calhouns Sohn Xyon lebt noch und entführt Si Cwans Schwester Callinda, in die er unsterblich verliebt war, die ihn aber wegen seines vorgetäuschten Todes verschmäht, kurz vor ihrer Hochzeit mit einem thallonianischen Adeligen. Das ist kurz gesagt das Setting, am Schluß des Buches überschlagen sich die Ereignisse, so dass man der/den Fortsetzung/en entgegenfiebert. Peter David ist es mit diesem Roman wieder einmal gelungen, einen derart humorvollen Roman zu schreiben, bei der ich mich mehrmals ertappte, dass ich kaum noch lesen konnte vor lauter Lachen. Wenn man die vorhergehenden Romane kennt, die schrulligen Figuren liebgewonnen hat, dann ist man vom "New Frontiers"-Virus befallen, ich kann das nur jedem ans Herz legen, der spannenden Weltraumabenteuer mit einem gehörigen Schuss Humor mag...

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book occurs three years after Stone and Anvil. It starts with Soleta, who has left Starfleet after they discover that she's half-Romulan, trying to join the Romulans. Then we discover Xyon, Calhoun's son, who everyone thinks is dead but has survived the black hole, has found out that Kalinda, his former love, is engaged to marry someone else. Robin Lefler has married Si Cwan and the two of them are on New Thallon, Lefler as the Starfleet Amabassador and Cwan as the Prime Minister. Xyon comes to New Thallon to confront Kalinda who is no longer interested in him. He kidnaps her and then she is kidnapped from him leaving him in an awful mess which involves Calhoun and the Excalibur and Captain Kat Mueller and the Trident.

I liked this book. David keeps the action moving and manages to get most of the characters involved somewhere in the book since his character list has grown extensive.

You'll want to get the next book because he ends it on a cliffhanger.

"Did you see that? I took two punches to put him down. I must be getting old."

[John Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading this after a couple of years, the "time jump" actually makes it a good jumping on point. Although it obviously follows up on the previous books in the series, I don't need to re-read all of them to refresh my memory for the subsequent novels. It seemed a bit odd to skip a few years, since the previous books were so closely linked together, but it's really the equivalent of the films (e.g. the gap between Insurrection and Nemesis) and it gets all the 24th century stories in synch.

As for the story itself, there's a good plot, character development, and humour. Basically, everything I'd expect from the author. I'm also glad to see Lyla get a bit closer to her 2099 counterpart.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s three years later and nearly everyone associated with Excalibur and Trident has moved on in some way or another, except their creator, writer of stuff Peter David. He continues to crank out entertaining books like the world is ending tomorrow. Does he know something we don’t? If only he didn’t write so many stories that end with the words to be continued …

Published in hardcover by Pocket Books.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 3 out of 5]

After quite the time-lapse (three years?) the crew of the Excalibur are quite scattered. In the "New Frontier" series, which I quite enjoyed at its start, and has been waning ever after for me. I must admit, I was happy to meet the Captain's son again, but I'm annoyed at where they took the half-hermat, half-Vulcan child.

[Greg Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot this one was in the nightstand pile. A fun read even for those that aren't caught up on the New Frontier. Loses points for ending on a cliffhanger -- now I have to go find the next one -- but it was very, very good. Impossible to put down, I blew through it in an evening.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I found the 3-year gap interesting and the characterization was top rate, as usual, this book was REALLY plot-light. That showed even worse when the book anti-climaxed, then ended with a "To Be Continued". Not filling.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soleta was a real surprise. The Spock thing is wearing a little thin, though.

[Cupcakencorset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread (in sequence) on 9/19/2006. Made much more sense that way.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay, Peter David! Again. That is all.

[omiczech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine new story with all the favorite characters and an interesting plot. Easy to read and quite funny.