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Star Trek: Typhon Pact #5
The Struggle Within
An original e-novella in the acclaimed Typhon Pact series! The Enterprise-E is on a diplomatic mission to the Talarian Republic, the last holdout in the Federation’s efforts to expand the Khitomer Accords in response to the emergence of the Typhon Pact. In the wake of Andor’s recent secession, the Federation is more concerned than ever with strengthening its alliances. The Talarians have been a tenuous potential partner at best, given the history of conflict and mistrust between them and the Federation. But the negotiations between Picard and the Talarians are disrupted by a growing public protest of those who are demanding greater rights—and before long, it becomes clear that the dissidents are not limiting themselves to nonviolent means….
103 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2011
37 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
About the author
Christopher L. Bennett
66 books220 followersChristopher L. Bennett is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, with a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in History from the University of Cincinnati. A fan of science and science fiction since age five, he has spent the past two decades selling original short fiction to magazines such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact (home of his "Hub" series of comedy adventures), BuzzyMag, and Galaxy's Edge. Since 2003, he has been one of Pocket Books' most prolific and popular authors of Star Trek tie-in fiction, including the epic Next Generation prequel The Buried Age, the Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations series, and the Star Trek: Enterprise -- Rise of the Federation series. He has also written two Marvel Comics novels, X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. His original novel Only Superhuman, perhaps the first hard science fiction superhero novel, was voted Library Journal's SF/Fantasy Debut of the Month for October 2012. Other tales in the same universe can be found in Among the Wild Cybers and the upcoming Arachne's Crime, both from eSpec Books. His Hub stories are available in two collections from Mystique Press.
Christopher's homepage, fiction annotations, and blog can be found at christopherlbennett.wordpress.com. His Patreon page with original fiction and reviews is at https://www.patreon.com/christopherlb..., and his Facebook author page is at www.facebook.com/ChristopherLBennettA....
Christopher's homepage, fiction annotations, and blog can be found at christopherlbennett.wordpress.com. His Patreon page with original fiction and reviews is at https://www.patreon.com/christopherlb..., and his Facebook author page is at www.facebook.com/ChristopherLBennettA....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
September 24, 2024
Oddly enough, this already short novella size book features two separate yet compelling story lines that really only tie in to each other thematically. Both feature events driven by Typhon Pact agitators looking to sway public sentiment by goading the Federation to compromise its own principles and act rashly. One features Picard and Crusher in a tale of diplomacy that ties in nicely to a TNG episode, the other two newer Enterprise crew members on a covert mission involving subterfuge and political intrigue. Both are strongly rooted in the notion that while abiding by Federation ideals may not always be the easiest or most expedient option, it helps to ensure its long term health and robustness.
January 9, 2012
High quality of writing means that I wish the story were longer and more drawn-out. Hardly a negative appraisal, I should think! As it stands, things wrap up a little too quickly.
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2011/10/s...
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2011/10/s...
September 27, 2015
It felt a bit weird to put two story lines in such a short novel. It made both of them feel rushed and compacted.
September 24, 2024
Star Trek: TNG Post-Nemesis era: TyphonPact series 05 The Struggle Within by Christopher L. Bennett
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0 Stars
The story with Jean-Luc Picard and the Talarian people was the B storyline plot (for me). It was good to see Jono (again), but I really wasn't very invested in what was happening. I kept hoping to get back to the main story (in my mind).
My favourite part of the book was with Lt. T'Ryssa Chen and Lt. Jasminder Choudhury. Their time together, and what they did (dealing with the Romulans and the others within the Typhon Pact)...effected the book MORE, and it was a lot of fun to see them in these types of situations.
The MAIN problem that I had with this book, was that it was NOT a book, but a novella. It was WAY too short. Why? This could've been made a full length novel. There were things that could've happened, but no... it was JUST 100 pgs long. Ugh. Not happy with that, at all.
Also, the cover of the book is misleading. Dr. Beverly Crusher and Commander Worf. Yes, they were in the book, but their storylines were NOT the ones that mattered. Not in the slightest. Ugh.
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0 Stars
The story with Jean-Luc Picard and the Talarian people was the B storyline plot (for me). It was good to see Jono (again), but I really wasn't very invested in what was happening. I kept hoping to get back to the main story (in my mind).
My favourite part of the book was with Lt. T'Ryssa Chen and Lt. Jasminder Choudhury. Their time together, and what they did (dealing with the Romulans and the others within the Typhon Pact)...effected the book MORE, and it was a lot of fun to see them in these types of situations.
The MAIN problem that I had with this book, was that it was NOT a book, but a novella. It was WAY too short. Why? This could've been made a full length novel. There were things that could've happened, but no... it was JUST 100 pgs long. Ugh. Not happy with that, at all.
Also, the cover of the book is misleading. Dr. Beverly Crusher and Commander Worf. Yes, they were in the book, but their storylines were NOT the ones that mattered. Not in the slightest. Ugh.
March 29, 2021
I complained that all the other books in the Mimi series were too long and drawn out. But this one had two great stories with strong female characters that were entirely too short but I loved this little gem anyway. Also...why is Worf on the cover?
March 9, 2017
For anyone who is reading the typhon pact this is a must read. ebook form only.
October 31, 2015
Great TNG short story about two uprisings on planets.
January 19, 2016
Warning: Strange digression into RL politics ahead.
I've always been fascinated with modern Arab cultures' struggle with the West. Not necessarily in terms of geopolitics but the sheer lack of ability to find common ground more often than not. During the Cold War, the Middle East was lumped in with the rest of the Third World less because it wasn't involved in the struggle between NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations than its members didn't want to ally with either.
Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was briefly one of the most listened-to men in the world due to his opposition to both sides, highlighting the Soviet Union's state-based atheism and the United States' commercial secularism as reasons for the Muslim world to go it alone. Obviously, his support of terrorism destroyed his influence world-wide and the world is better for it. However, it highlighted the culture divide for me when I first read about it. The United States frequently speaks about how it wishes to foster democracy world-wide but gets extremely irritated when the public votes for a government dissimilar from its own.
During the Second Iraqi War, one of the early questions about what was going to happen was whether or not the Iraqi people were going to become a theocratic oligarchy like Iran. Iraq, of course, didn't go this way but the biggest fear was that the people themselves would vote in leaders to install this. I found myself surrounded by classmates who were dreading democracy in action--because it was democracy they didn't like.
In December, 2010 the Arab Spring began in part due to the failed democratic protests in Iran but also due to a rising tide of other factors from education to internet access. The overthrow of governments was done through means both nonviolent and otherwise, eventually bringing down the aforementioned Muammar Gaddafi amongst others. Of particular note was Egypt, whose firmly entrenched dictator was overthrown and promptly replaced with a populist religious movement. For many, it was a sign of a new day beginning in the Middle East. For others, it was a cause for concern.
This relates to The Struggle Within as Christopher Bennett puts us squarely in an allegory to the Arab Spring with both the Talarians and the Kinshaya. For those who aren't enormous Star Trek nerds, the Talarians are a chauvinist race of warriors from TNG while the Kinshaya are a novels-only theocratic government of griffons.
Yes, really.
You can gauge roughly what sort of Star Trek fan by whether or not your reaction to that last bit is like mine (totally awesome) or like others I've read the posts of (stupid). For me, I fall on the line that a little craziness makes the Star Trek universe all the sweeter. I love the Kinshaya and would dearly enjoy seeing them interact with the Federation on a regular basis, particularly because if Starfleet had trouble with the Bajoran religion they'll lay an egg (pun intended) over the Kinshaya's. There's nothing particularly funny about the book itself, however, which depicts the Kinshaya's nonviolent protest movements entirely seriously. They're a deeply spiritual people who desire to have a little more freedom in how to worship their god.
The Federation sees all manner of possibilities in this descent, including the possibility they might turn into a more secular government. I liked this last bit as it highlights the Federation seeing what it wanted to see versus what will probably happen.
Of course, in RL, I support secularism not because of any irreligious thoughts (though people are welcome to have them) but because I believe dissent is important for any healthy functioning society and any religious conversion won by pressure is worthless. It is a failure of many modern Christians they fail to realize Freedom of Belief protects them every bit as much as it protects others.
The Talarian situation is equally troublesome to the Federation as they desire the violent chauvinistic people to join them in the expanded Khitomer Accords. I'm reminded of David Webber's Grayson people in the Honorverse when describing the Talarians.
They're not misogynists per say, there's no indication the women are physically abused (indeed, the taboo against such is extremely high), but they do restrict them from many cultural roles. No sooner does the Federation start compromising its principles by dealing with this decidedly un-Roddenberry group that the females start engaging in resistance for greater rights.
Part of what I like about this book is the fact the Federation really has no idea what the hell is going on in the minds of the dissidents. The Kinshaya are strongly motivated by mysticism, arguing with the government on points completely esoteric to your average Feddie, while the Talarian women's demands are not what you'd immediately expect. It's very similar to many RL situations where cultural grievances are not universal and outsiders often misunderstand (or deliberately misrepresent) demands to cater to their own perspectives.
My favorite parts of the book deal with Jasminder Choudhury and T'Ryssa Chen. They are my two favorite Novelverse characters and such a breath of fresh air from the "old faithfuls." Jasminder Choudhury's peaceful nature contrasts nicely to the typical Security Officer stereotype. It's moving to see her want to see the peaceful protests of the Kinshaya succeed over more violent action. T'Ryssa Chen, the Happy Vulcan is just awesome and I could read a whole book about her adventures. She, more than anyone else, serves as an audience surrogate for the strange dealings going on around her.
Seeing the Talarians return from their appearance in "Suddenly Human" and other spots was a welcome surprise, as well. They're not a bad race, albeit I grossly disagree with any form of non-equality, but they're leery of getting absorbed into the Federation wholesale. For a government so keen on cultural contamination, everyone around it seems to think it's some kind of root-beer-based Borg. I'm a little saddened by how their negotiations go but unsurprised.
In conclusion, I think this was a great tribute to the nonviolent resistance of the world and those who marched their way to freedom without guns. Selling nothing short to those who won their freedom with firearms, swords, or golf clubs--I applaud the courage lauded here and Christopher Bennett's tribute to it.
10/10
I've always been fascinated with modern Arab cultures' struggle with the West. Not necessarily in terms of geopolitics but the sheer lack of ability to find common ground more often than not. During the Cold War, the Middle East was lumped in with the rest of the Third World less because it wasn't involved in the struggle between NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations than its members didn't want to ally with either.
Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was briefly one of the most listened-to men in the world due to his opposition to both sides, highlighting the Soviet Union's state-based atheism and the United States' commercial secularism as reasons for the Muslim world to go it alone. Obviously, his support of terrorism destroyed his influence world-wide and the world is better for it. However, it highlighted the culture divide for me when I first read about it. The United States frequently speaks about how it wishes to foster democracy world-wide but gets extremely irritated when the public votes for a government dissimilar from its own.
During the Second Iraqi War, one of the early questions about what was going to happen was whether or not the Iraqi people were going to become a theocratic oligarchy like Iran. Iraq, of course, didn't go this way but the biggest fear was that the people themselves would vote in leaders to install this. I found myself surrounded by classmates who were dreading democracy in action--because it was democracy they didn't like.
In December, 2010 the Arab Spring began in part due to the failed democratic protests in Iran but also due to a rising tide of other factors from education to internet access. The overthrow of governments was done through means both nonviolent and otherwise, eventually bringing down the aforementioned Muammar Gaddafi amongst others. Of particular note was Egypt, whose firmly entrenched dictator was overthrown and promptly replaced with a populist religious movement. For many, it was a sign of a new day beginning in the Middle East. For others, it was a cause for concern.
This relates to The Struggle Within as Christopher Bennett puts us squarely in an allegory to the Arab Spring with both the Talarians and the Kinshaya. For those who aren't enormous Star Trek nerds, the Talarians are a chauvinist race of warriors from TNG while the Kinshaya are a novels-only theocratic government of griffons.
Yes, really.
You can gauge roughly what sort of Star Trek fan by whether or not your reaction to that last bit is like mine (totally awesome) or like others I've read the posts of (stupid). For me, I fall on the line that a little craziness makes the Star Trek universe all the sweeter. I love the Kinshaya and would dearly enjoy seeing them interact with the Federation on a regular basis, particularly because if Starfleet had trouble with the Bajoran religion they'll lay an egg (pun intended) over the Kinshaya's. There's nothing particularly funny about the book itself, however, which depicts the Kinshaya's nonviolent protest movements entirely seriously. They're a deeply spiritual people who desire to have a little more freedom in how to worship their god.
The Federation sees all manner of possibilities in this descent, including the possibility they might turn into a more secular government. I liked this last bit as it highlights the Federation seeing what it wanted to see versus what will probably happen.
Of course, in RL, I support secularism not because of any irreligious thoughts (though people are welcome to have them) but because I believe dissent is important for any healthy functioning society and any religious conversion won by pressure is worthless. It is a failure of many modern Christians they fail to realize Freedom of Belief protects them every bit as much as it protects others.
The Talarian situation is equally troublesome to the Federation as they desire the violent chauvinistic people to join them in the expanded Khitomer Accords. I'm reminded of David Webber's Grayson people in the Honorverse when describing the Talarians.
They're not misogynists per say, there's no indication the women are physically abused (indeed, the taboo against such is extremely high), but they do restrict them from many cultural roles. No sooner does the Federation start compromising its principles by dealing with this decidedly un-Roddenberry group that the females start engaging in resistance for greater rights.
Part of what I like about this book is the fact the Federation really has no idea what the hell is going on in the minds of the dissidents. The Kinshaya are strongly motivated by mysticism, arguing with the government on points completely esoteric to your average Feddie, while the Talarian women's demands are not what you'd immediately expect. It's very similar to many RL situations where cultural grievances are not universal and outsiders often misunderstand (or deliberately misrepresent) demands to cater to their own perspectives.
My favorite parts of the book deal with Jasminder Choudhury and T'Ryssa Chen. They are my two favorite Novelverse characters and such a breath of fresh air from the "old faithfuls." Jasminder Choudhury's peaceful nature contrasts nicely to the typical Security Officer stereotype. It's moving to see her want to see the peaceful protests of the Kinshaya succeed over more violent action. T'Ryssa Chen, the Happy Vulcan is just awesome and I could read a whole book about her adventures. She, more than anyone else, serves as an audience surrogate for the strange dealings going on around her.
Seeing the Talarians return from their appearance in "Suddenly Human" and other spots was a welcome surprise, as well. They're not a bad race, albeit I grossly disagree with any form of non-equality, but they're leery of getting absorbed into the Federation wholesale. For a government so keen on cultural contamination, everyone around it seems to think it's some kind of root-beer-based Borg. I'm a little saddened by how their negotiations go but unsurprised.
In conclusion, I think this was a great tribute to the nonviolent resistance of the world and those who marched their way to freedom without guns. Selling nothing short to those who won their freedom with firearms, swords, or golf clubs--I applaud the courage lauded here and Christopher Bennett's tribute to it.
10/10
October 24, 2023
This is the second book in a row with 'Typhon Pact causes political disruption'. The contrast is interesting, however, since the results come out differently. And, of course, in a realistic universe, why wouldn't the pact try the same strategy again, especially with so much success last time round.
It helps, of course, that this story is so short. I find books in general to be too long, and there isn't much of this that needed more fleshing out (the rebellious, downtrodden women turned a little fast).
You get a complete and satisfying story here, with some important character development. And all in one sitting to boot.
It helps, of course, that this story is so short. I find books in general to be too long, and there isn't much of this that needed more fleshing out (the rebellious, downtrodden women turned a little fast).
You get a complete and satisfying story here, with some important character development. And all in one sitting to boot.
December 30, 2017
This is only the third e-book I’ve ever read and I still don’t love it. I miss the texture of the paper on my fingers and I will miss having this on my bookshelf with my Trek collection.
I must thank Jim at http://www.shastrix.com/books/star-tr... for helping me to know what order to read these books in. I really miss the days of numbered Trek novels!
I enjoyed this novella. It was the perfect length for the story Bennett wanted to tell. Including characters from “Suddenly Human” was a nice touch and the themes explored here are very relevant to contemporary human history.
I must thank Jim at http://www.shastrix.com/books/star-tr... for helping me to know what order to read these books in. I really miss the days of numbered Trek novels!
I enjoyed this novella. It was the perfect length for the story Bennett wanted to tell. Including characters from “Suddenly Human” was a nice touch and the themes explored here are very relevant to contemporary human history.
March 7, 2018
Another I don't I'd read of the Typhon Pact, this one an E-novella with 2 main stories: our first in depth visit with the Kinshaya, first created in early 80s trek novels and they're pretty damn impressive, and exploring Talarian society, the ones from "Suddenly Human" as they become a potential expanded Kithomer Accord power. each society going through an upheaval, with Crusher and Jono captured by women staging an uprising while T'Ryssa and Jasminder infiltrate Romulan Reunificationists on a peace mission to the Kinshaya attempting to find centre and balance.
February 25, 2019
The Enterprise is sent to help a planet join a peace treaty. Jono is one of the ambassadors.
This is a fun, but short story about how the Typhon pact are manipulating events behind the scenes. It has an interesting take on female rights, and how different their culture is to the so called norm.
A good read.
This is a fun, but short story about how the Typhon pact are manipulating events behind the scenes. It has an interesting take on female rights, and how different their culture is to the so called norm.
A good read.
September 8, 2023
Still irks me the idea of Starfleet trying to influence political outcomes of worlds that don't even consent to a Federation presence, let alone are part of the UFP. And I think Picard behaved more like Kirk than than the cool headed Shakesperian diplomat we all adore. But I enjoyed T'ryssa's character development and I appreciate it covered a lot of ground quickly.
August 6, 2021
Short and a bit slow for me. On the plus side it had more politics and questions of ethics in, but otherwise just felt a bit stitched together for me and hasn't really added much to the ongoing story. If it wasn't for my compulsive need to read a series in order I would have skipped it.
May 10, 2024
Short sweet and hard to beat.
This was unusually short for a ST novel but I liked it. Often I feel novels become unnecessarily convoluted with extraneous characters and plot devices. This book laid out two clear story lines and wasted no time in developing the plots.
This was unusually short for a ST novel but I liked it. Often I feel novels become unnecessarily convoluted with extraneous characters and plot devices. This book laid out two clear story lines and wasted no time in developing the plots.
February 2, 2018
This is a good story. I did not know it was a novella. I would have liked for it to be longer.
August 23, 2018
Short & sweet. A nice break from the last ones intensity.
November 13, 2018
An outstanding yet short novella.
December 11, 2018
You know I think my favourite character from the next generation relaunch novels is T`ryssa Chen
August 26, 2019
this reads like bad fanfic.
April 7, 2020
Snoozefest
June 1, 2020
Star Trek as it was meant to be
Gene Roddenberry used his Star Trek TV series to put across many worthwhile lessons, and this novella follows that grand tradition.
Gene Roddenberry used his Star Trek TV series to put across many worthwhile lessons, and this novella follows that grand tradition.
June 27, 2023
Despite my better judgement after I stopped reading the novels after book four, a friend convinced me to finish the series. While entertaining, they don’t add much to the Star Trek universe.
December 30, 2023
Going back and forth on whether or not it’s a good thing this was short.
March 3, 2024
Simply awful. I’ve read fan-fiction with better character development than this. Forced dialogue and awkward pacing to speed-up plot points. Needless to say, a disappointment.
January 21, 2021
Das E-book war ganz okay, im Vergleich zu den anderen Typhon Pact Romanen allerdings nicht besonders gut.
Toll war aber, dass man endlich mal mehr über die Kinshaya erfahren hat, die bisher kaum Tiefe bekommen haben
Toll war aber, dass man endlich mal mehr über die Kinshaya erfahren hat, die bisher kaum Tiefe bekommen haben
January 16, 2023
An enjoyable, but short read. I've been wanting to know more about the Kinshaya since the Typhon Pact formed and I saw them in action against the Klingons, and now I got my wish.
There were two stories in these 80 pages.
Captain Picard was assigned to negotiate with the Talarians about possibly signing on to the Khitomer Accords, a task made pleasurable by a reunion with Jono (last seen in the tv episode Almost Human). His father Endar is the Talarian ambassador to the Federation, and Jono is his apprentice, groomed to replace Endar one day. His experience as a Talarian and as a human made him the perfect choice for this role.
Jasminder Choudhury and Tryssa Chen went undercover, joining a Romulan peace envoy of Romulans seeking to help a dissident faction of Kinshaya who rebelled against the dominant religious ruling party. If the dissidents managed to topple the current regime, there would be yet another moderate member of the Typhon Pact as opposed to one potentially inclined towards war with the Federation.
In each story, the Typhon Pact sought to make things rough for others. Even as Captain Picard and his crew negotiated with Endar and Jono, a contingent of female Talarians launched protests designed to get the Talarian leader to pay attention to their concerns. Unfortunately for all involved, there was a Tzenkethi woman advising the Talerian women and hoping to use their legitimate grievances to drive a wedge between Talar and the Federation, in hopes that they could woo Talar into joining them as they hoped to do with Andor.
Choudhury and Chen found that the Kinshaya were no longer content to resolve their "heretic" problem internally. When the dissidents held a peaceful rally, a contingent of armed Breen were there to squash the rebellion with disruptor fire. The Breen clearly had no desire to allow the Kinshaya to change leadership away from those who might one day vote to support a war with the Federation, and like the Tzenkethi, they were prepared to do whatever they had to in order to keep the Pact the way they liked it.
My issues with this.
One, it was tough to cover two such interesting storylines in only 80 pages.
Two, it wasn't made clear why the Breen had to step in to help the Kinshaya with their dissidents. The Kinshaya didn't have any weapons? They weren't capable of shooting those "heretics" themselves? Seemed to me like the Breen got shoehorned in just to show us more Pact interference in action. It made sense when the Tholians did what they did with Andor and when the Tzenkethi tried to get the Talarians on their side, but I just didn't get why the isolationist Kinshaya would ask for Breen military help to shut down their dissidents.
I did enjoy the read though, and I want more Typhon Pact stories!
There were two stories in these 80 pages.
Captain Picard was assigned to negotiate with the Talarians about possibly signing on to the Khitomer Accords, a task made pleasurable by a reunion with Jono (last seen in the tv episode Almost Human). His father Endar is the Talarian ambassador to the Federation, and Jono is his apprentice, groomed to replace Endar one day. His experience as a Talarian and as a human made him the perfect choice for this role.
Jasminder Choudhury and Tryssa Chen went undercover, joining a Romulan peace envoy of Romulans seeking to help a dissident faction of Kinshaya who rebelled against the dominant religious ruling party. If the dissidents managed to topple the current regime, there would be yet another moderate member of the Typhon Pact as opposed to one potentially inclined towards war with the Federation.
In each story, the Typhon Pact sought to make things rough for others. Even as Captain Picard and his crew negotiated with Endar and Jono, a contingent of female Talarians launched protests designed to get the Talarian leader to pay attention to their concerns. Unfortunately for all involved, there was a Tzenkethi woman advising the Talerian women and hoping to use their legitimate grievances to drive a wedge between Talar and the Federation, in hopes that they could woo Talar into joining them as they hoped to do with Andor.
Choudhury and Chen found that the Kinshaya were no longer content to resolve their "heretic" problem internally. When the dissidents held a peaceful rally, a contingent of armed Breen were there to squash the rebellion with disruptor fire. The Breen clearly had no desire to allow the Kinshaya to change leadership away from those who might one day vote to support a war with the Federation, and like the Tzenkethi, they were prepared to do whatever they had to in order to keep the Pact the way they liked it.
My issues with this.
One, it was tough to cover two such interesting storylines in only 80 pages.
Two, it wasn't made clear why the Breen had to step in to help the Kinshaya with their dissidents. The Kinshaya didn't have any weapons? They weren't capable of shooting those "heretics" themselves? Seemed to me like the Breen got shoehorned in just to show us more Pact interference in action. It made sense when the Tholians did what they did with Andor and when the Tzenkethi tried to get the Talarians on their side, but I just didn't get why the isolationist Kinshaya would ask for Breen military help to shut down their dissidents.
I did enjoy the read though, and I want more Typhon Pact stories!
April 26, 2012
Star Trek Typhon Pact: The Struggle Within by Christopher L. Bennett, is a good addition to the series with an important underlying moral issue, a good plot-idea but way too short to really exploit the real potential this story could have in a novel, but it also descripts the identity of the Holy Order of the Kinshaya in wider term with interesting parallels to sacred governmental bodies like we have nowadays on earth and the peaceful revolution of the people that occur under such brute political systems.
This story reads like a classic TNG episode and has the moral motivations of an Gandhi-like non-violent movement in its main focus and the extensions of its faith to make a peaceful stand for their rights versus an oppressive governmental force. Its emotional moving like all good star trek yarn with moral appeals to uphold firm to our own moral standpoints.
This novella also uses a lot of space to advance the characterization of Jasminder Choudhury, but at the exclusion of the main-cast. Not really a con for the story but if you like to read about the main-crew this may be the wrong story.
Note: You should probably re-watch this episode http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Sud... , for a better understanding of some characters and their history which helps to better understand their motivations in "The struggle within"
In summary it was a superb idea for a star trek story but way too short to really exploit its potential and that for not too low a price if you consider the bill for a full star trek novel with 300+ pages, hence only 3 stars. Note: I hated to be forced to buy this story in the e-book version; I don't have a kindle for handicap reasons and was thereby forced to read it on my PC. It would be nice to offer the client a printed version as well.
This story reads like a classic TNG episode and has the moral motivations of an Gandhi-like non-violent movement in its main focus and the extensions of its faith to make a peaceful stand for their rights versus an oppressive governmental force. Its emotional moving like all good star trek yarn with moral appeals to uphold firm to our own moral standpoints.
This novella also uses a lot of space to advance the characterization of Jasminder Choudhury, but at the exclusion of the main-cast. Not really a con for the story but if you like to read about the main-crew this may be the wrong story.
Note: You should probably re-watch this episode http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Sud... , for a better understanding of some characters and their history which helps to better understand their motivations in "The struggle within"
In summary it was a superb idea for a star trek story but way too short to really exploit its potential and that for not too low a price if you consider the bill for a full star trek novel with 300+ pages, hence only 3 stars. Note: I hated to be forced to buy this story in the e-book version; I don't have a kindle for handicap reasons and was thereby forced to read it on my PC. It would be nice to offer the client a printed version as well.
August 13, 2016
This eNovella is a short and sweet dip into the Enterprise crew's diplomatic visit to the Talarian Republic - a species first seen in the episode 'Suddenly Human' - and an undercover operation to a Kinshaya planet.
Whilst very short, and some have criticised it for that, the story is a good one and it feels like an episode of Trek in it's execution. The author, Christopher L. Bennett ties things together nicely although the B-story, for me, was more compelling.
The A-story tells how Jono, the character introduced in the earlier episode, has come of age and become a diplomat - using his human skills and understanding to negotiate a stand-off with the women of the Talarian homeworld, something his father and the other leaders could not do.
The B-story, however, I found to be much more interesting. If you like the characters of Chen and Choudhury then their undercover covert ops to the Kinshaya planet leads to some great development for these two characters. Chen's initial excitement is soon eroded whilst Choudhury finds her 'peace' as the peaceful protests become anything but.
Strong writing overall, let down by the length which didn't allow the author the full opportunity to explore things properly.
Whilst very short, and some have criticised it for that, the story is a good one and it feels like an episode of Trek in it's execution. The author, Christopher L. Bennett ties things together nicely although the B-story, for me, was more compelling.
The A-story tells how Jono, the character introduced in the earlier episode, has come of age and become a diplomat - using his human skills and understanding to negotiate a stand-off with the women of the Talarian homeworld, something his father and the other leaders could not do.
The B-story, however, I found to be much more interesting. If you like the characters of Chen and Choudhury then their undercover covert ops to the Kinshaya planet leads to some great development for these two characters. Chen's initial excitement is soon eroded whilst Choudhury finds her 'peace' as the peaceful protests become anything but.
Strong writing overall, let down by the length which didn't allow the author the full opportunity to explore things properly.
December 8, 2013
The book gives a glimpes at the intrigue that is going on between the Federation and her allies as an attempt is made to negogiate an expansion of the Khitomer Peace Accords and the Typhon Pact which is beginning to lean to a more moderate stance. Yet, the Tzenkethi Coalition have a special agent on Talar to undermine the Federation's efforts. Meanwhile, Jasminder Choudhury at the behest of Starfleet Intelligence has gone undercover as a Romulan Unificationist. She has taken with her T'Ressa (a Vulcan/Human contact specialist) to a planet within the Holy Order of the Kinshaya where a group of pacifists seek a peaceful overthrow of the current regime.
If you wish to know the outcome I suggest reading this book.
If you wish to know the outcome I suggest reading this book.
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