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Star Trek: Titan #5
Over a Torrent Sea
As the Federation recovers from the devastating events of "Star Trek: Destiny," Captain William Riker and the crew of the "U.S.S. Titan" are ordered to resume their deep-space assignment, reaffirming Starfleet's core principles of peaceful exploration. But even far from home on a mission of hope, the scars of the recent cataclysm remain with them as they slowly rebuild their lives. The planet Droplet is a world made mostly of water without a speck of solid ground. Life should not exist here, yet it thrives. Aili Lavena, "Titan"'s aquatic navigator, spearheads the exploration of this mysterious world, facing the dangers of the vast, wild ocean. When one native species proves to be sentient, Lavena finds herself immersed in a delicate contact situation, and Riker is called away from Deanna Troi at a critical moment in their marriage.
But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavena and Riker are cut off from the crew and feared lost. Troi must face a life-changing event without her husband, while the crew must brave the crushing pressures of the deep to undo the global chaos they have triggered. Stranded with her injured captain, Lavena must win the trust of the beings who control their fate -- but the price for Riker's survival may be the loss of everything he holds dear.
But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavena and Riker are cut off from the crew and feared lost. Troi must face a life-changing event without her husband, while the crew must brave the crushing pressures of the deep to undo the global chaos they have triggered. Stranded with her injured captain, Lavena must win the trust of the beings who control their fate -- but the price for Riker's survival may be the loss of everything he holds dear.
354 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2009
41 people are currently reading
638 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 67 reviews
November 4, 2020
A good space opera...but a bit too much sexual content.
June 4, 2013
Over A Torrent Sea is without question the worst Star Trek novel I've read since returning to the books after David Mack's Destiny trilogy. Set after the Borg Invasion of the Alpha Quadrant, the U.S.S. Titan led by Captain Riker resumes its deep space exploration and discovers an aquatic world (kind of like the one Voyager visited in the season 5 episode Thirty Days). Except this oceanic world is filled with truely bizarre but intelligent alien creatures. The crew sets out to try and communicate with the creatures but with little success. When an asteroid threatens the waterworld, the crew of Titan try desperately to warn the oblivious inhabitants of the coming danger.
Sounds exciting? It definitely is not. Author Christopher L. Bennett commits the cardinal Star Trek sin: Writing a Trek story that only nerds or Trekkies could understand or appreciate. Undeniably well researched, this book is filled with geographical and ecological science. But unfortunately this has resulted in pages and pages of dry exposition filled with near incomprehensible scientific jargon and Trek's trademarked technobabble. Bennett also introduces us to a nonhumanoid race that is truely alien (and could never have been realised on the tv shows). But again this results in lengthy, eloborate descriptions of these extra terrestrial creatures that leaves you scratching your head.
More importantly, the story lacks tension or excitement and unfortunately the characterization and dialogue of the few Trek characters we know from the series (Riker, Troi and Tuvok) is off the mark. They sound or act nothing like the characters we've come to know and love.
After David Mack's Destiny trilogy pulled me back into the world Trek Lit, Over A Torrent Sea almost made me regret that decision. Best avoided.
Sounds exciting? It definitely is not. Author Christopher L. Bennett commits the cardinal Star Trek sin: Writing a Trek story that only nerds or Trekkies could understand or appreciate. Undeniably well researched, this book is filled with geographical and ecological science. But unfortunately this has resulted in pages and pages of dry exposition filled with near incomprehensible scientific jargon and Trek's trademarked technobabble. Bennett also introduces us to a nonhumanoid race that is truely alien (and could never have been realised on the tv shows). But again this results in lengthy, eloborate descriptions of these extra terrestrial creatures that leaves you scratching your head.
More importantly, the story lacks tension or excitement and unfortunately the characterization and dialogue of the few Trek characters we know from the series (Riker, Troi and Tuvok) is off the mark. They sound or act nothing like the characters we've come to know and love.
After David Mack's Destiny trilogy pulled me back into the world Trek Lit, Over A Torrent Sea almost made me regret that decision. Best avoided.
October 5, 2021
I am a great fan of Christopher L. Bennett's work. He's one of those rare authors who attempts to take Trek technobabble seriously, which seems a bit like trying to roll Sisyphus' boulder, yet somehow manages to make things make semi-coherent sense. His Department of Temporal Investigations books incorporate a lot of RL physics to make Star Trek's "time travel runs on the power of plot" almost plausible.
Over A Torrent Sea is the first Star Trek Titan book to take place after the events of Star Trek: Destiny. Despite this, the events of the Destiny series are almost incidental to the book. They're not ignored, Captain Riker wonders why they're not rebuilding the myriad devastated worlds left behind, but the book gives an understandable reason for our heroes returning to their mission of exploration.
Actually, let me take that back, the events of Destiny are very important to the plot but reflects on the more personal losses of the crew as opposed to the widespread destruction the Borg inflicted. Members of the crew aren't thinking about the annihilation of Risa but people they knew who were killed, such as Tuvok's son or a family pet.
This is an interesting way of handling things and perhaps more realistic than leaving the entire crew with a case of PTSD. Star Trek: Titan is about exploration and having only one or two crew members broken up by events seems like a superior way of handling things than changing what the books are about.
My favorite reaction from the crew is the aforementioned trouble Tuvok has with his son's death. His son chose to sacrifice his life to save others, which Tuvok is angry about. No matter how logical the needs of the many are over the needs of the few, a father knows his son chose to die. It's a powerful personal story and one which is handled with both dignity and respect. I also liked Christopher Bennett's handling of Tuvok's wife and would have enjoyed hearing more of her opinions on the subject.
There's also fallout from Troi's pregnancy, which was my least favorite plot from Destiny. I felt her behavior during the trilogy was irrational and unprofessional. Unfortunately, this behavior becomes an actual threat to the crew's stability in this book. For a book series which is more 'realistic' than standard Trek, well semi-more realistic, the fact Troi wasn't packed up and sent home for her effect (however unintentional) on the crew stretched credibility. Still, the adventure which resulted was hilarious.
The main part of the book is another first contact situation where Riker and the crew of the U.S.S Titan encounter a race of Pre-Warp but extremely advanced in biological sciences aliens. This nicely deconstructs one of the elements of the Prime Directive which has never made much sense to me. Why is Warp-Travel the definitive "be end all" of civilization? The Ferengi were sold warp travel when they were primitives while another Pre-Warp civilization might be enlightened pacifists. It's an interesting question that relates directly to Riker's decision to pretty much throw the Prime Directive to the wind this book.
Over A Torrent Sea has a definite "old time" science fiction feel to it. Part of what has made Star Trek: Titan so interesting is the series has focused on developing new and unique cultures for our heroes to interact with. Care and attention is taken to develop the alien's culture, technology, as well as how they interact with their biosphere. Nods are even made to how their world may have evolved. The science is unlikely, but it doesn't mean it's impossible.
I will say, I'm of mixed feelings that the crisis inside the book is as much the fault of the U.S.S Titan as nature. While I suspect the author intended it to illustrate why the Prime Directive is important, i.e. don't go blundering into situations you don't fully understand, I prefer to see our heroes as positive forces rather than negative ones. Even if it's more realistic they'll make mistakes, potentially endangering an entire species is one which hurt my enjoyment of the book.
If I had to say what my favorite part of the book was, I'd definitely say it was developing the character of Aili Lavena as well as the developing relationship between Xin and Melora. The fact I've come to care as much about these 'lower decks' characters as the main cast, says a great deal about how effective the U.S.S Titan series has been in developing them.
Aili's story is about coming to terms with the fact she's a terrible parent, something which is an all-too-human frailty, while a great scientist. You don't usually see that sort of dichotomy and the fact she can't reconcile with her children is a nice way of showing things aren't always repairable. I also liked the contrast between Riker and Aili's attitudes towards sexuality. Riker has always been a gigantic horndog but he's in a committed monogamous relationship and finds Aili's disregard of that (as well as her family) disgusting.
Xin and Melora's relationship is surprising because it's one of the few fictional ones I actually have no idea how will end. Will they end up together? Will they break up? What will happen? Privately, I'm of the mind Aili was right and these two are no good for one another but I'll be interested in seeing how future authors handle it.
In conclusion, Over A Torrent Sea is a great book. It's a story about meeting new life and new civilizations while boldly going where no man has gone before. The fact there's no villains and the problems are purely natural in nature makes Roddenberry's vision stand out all the greater. Was it perfect? No, I had some problems with a few elements and it dragged in one or two places but I overall loved it.
Over A Torrent Sea is the first Star Trek Titan book to take place after the events of Star Trek: Destiny. Despite this, the events of the Destiny series are almost incidental to the book. They're not ignored, Captain Riker wonders why they're not rebuilding the myriad devastated worlds left behind, but the book gives an understandable reason for our heroes returning to their mission of exploration.
Actually, let me take that back, the events of Destiny are very important to the plot but reflects on the more personal losses of the crew as opposed to the widespread destruction the Borg inflicted. Members of the crew aren't thinking about the annihilation of Risa but people they knew who were killed, such as Tuvok's son or a family pet.
This is an interesting way of handling things and perhaps more realistic than leaving the entire crew with a case of PTSD. Star Trek: Titan is about exploration and having only one or two crew members broken up by events seems like a superior way of handling things than changing what the books are about.
My favorite reaction from the crew is the aforementioned trouble Tuvok has with his son's death. His son chose to sacrifice his life to save others, which Tuvok is angry about. No matter how logical the needs of the many are over the needs of the few, a father knows his son chose to die. It's a powerful personal story and one which is handled with both dignity and respect. I also liked Christopher Bennett's handling of Tuvok's wife and would have enjoyed hearing more of her opinions on the subject.
There's also fallout from Troi's pregnancy, which was my least favorite plot from Destiny. I felt her behavior during the trilogy was irrational and unprofessional. Unfortunately, this behavior becomes an actual threat to the crew's stability in this book. For a book series which is more 'realistic' than standard Trek, well semi-more realistic, the fact Troi wasn't packed up and sent home for her effect (however unintentional) on the crew stretched credibility. Still, the adventure which resulted was hilarious.
The main part of the book is another first contact situation where Riker and the crew of the U.S.S Titan encounter a race of Pre-Warp but extremely advanced in biological sciences aliens. This nicely deconstructs one of the elements of the Prime Directive which has never made much sense to me. Why is Warp-Travel the definitive "be end all" of civilization? The Ferengi were sold warp travel when they were primitives while another Pre-Warp civilization might be enlightened pacifists. It's an interesting question that relates directly to Riker's decision to pretty much throw the Prime Directive to the wind this book.
Over A Torrent Sea has a definite "old time" science fiction feel to it. Part of what has made Star Trek: Titan so interesting is the series has focused on developing new and unique cultures for our heroes to interact with. Care and attention is taken to develop the alien's culture, technology, as well as how they interact with their biosphere. Nods are even made to how their world may have evolved. The science is unlikely, but it doesn't mean it's impossible.
I will say, I'm of mixed feelings that the crisis inside the book is as much the fault of the U.S.S Titan as nature. While I suspect the author intended it to illustrate why the Prime Directive is important, i.e. don't go blundering into situations you don't fully understand, I prefer to see our heroes as positive forces rather than negative ones. Even if it's more realistic they'll make mistakes, potentially endangering an entire species is one which hurt my enjoyment of the book.
If I had to say what my favorite part of the book was, I'd definitely say it was developing the character of Aili Lavena as well as the developing relationship between Xin and Melora. The fact I've come to care as much about these 'lower decks' characters as the main cast, says a great deal about how effective the U.S.S Titan series has been in developing them.
Aili's story is about coming to terms with the fact she's a terrible parent, something which is an all-too-human frailty, while a great scientist. You don't usually see that sort of dichotomy and the fact she can't reconcile with her children is a nice way of showing things aren't always repairable. I also liked the contrast between Riker and Aili's attitudes towards sexuality. Riker has always been a gigantic horndog but he's in a committed monogamous relationship and finds Aili's disregard of that (as well as her family) disgusting.
Xin and Melora's relationship is surprising because it's one of the few fictional ones I actually have no idea how will end. Will they end up together? Will they break up? What will happen? Privately, I'm of the mind Aili was right and these two are no good for one another but I'll be interested in seeing how future authors handle it.
In conclusion, Over A Torrent Sea is a great book. It's a story about meeting new life and new civilizations while boldly going where no man has gone before. The fact there's no villains and the problems are purely natural in nature makes Roddenberry's vision stand out all the greater. Was it perfect? No, I had some problems with a few elements and it dragged in one or two places but I overall loved it.
August 29, 2015
A bit slow in parts but I really love the crew of Titan and its exploration focus!
September 6, 2024
Over a Torrent Sea by Christopher L. Bennett - Part of the Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart, and takes place in the Post-Nemesis era of novels
adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes
4.0 Stars
For the most part, I really enjoyed this story, but there is another part of me...that actually wanted a different story, and didn't get it.
Loved the waterworld idea. A planet without ANY land masses. That's terrifying (if you think of it), but also truly interesting. We, on earth have some much that we can still explore, and we haven't...yet. So, While I was reading this, my own fears of the ocean permiated the story.
I felt for Cpt. Riker and Ensign Aili Lavena (featured on the front of the book). She's a selkie and this story was "taylor made" for this adventure.
The inhabitants of this planet, Droplet are truly unique in their appearance and actions. I like how they walked the line with this pre-Warp society, though in many ways they failed the Prime Directive, but did their best...with what was given to them.
Love the interactions of all the crew members of the USS Titan...and the integrated and diverse crew. There are many difficulties that they are presented, but they use this diversity to help solve every problem, and that is encouraging.
Wish we could do that here on Earth in the 21st Century.
Lastly, having Deanna Troy in such danger, and knowing that the WORST was NOT going to happen, but still...the threat was enough. Oof.
Will be reading Synthesis, next.
adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes
4.0 Stars
For the most part, I really enjoyed this story, but there is another part of me...that actually wanted a different story, and didn't get it.
Loved the waterworld idea. A planet without ANY land masses. That's terrifying (if you think of it), but also truly interesting. We, on earth have some much that we can still explore, and we haven't...yet. So, While I was reading this, my own fears of the ocean permiated the story.
I felt for Cpt. Riker and Ensign Aili Lavena (featured on the front of the book). She's a selkie and this story was "taylor made" for this adventure.
The inhabitants of this planet, Droplet are truly unique in their appearance and actions. I like how they walked the line with this pre-Warp society, though in many ways they failed the Prime Directive, but did their best...with what was given to them.
Love the interactions of all the crew members of the USS Titan...and the integrated and diverse crew. There are many difficulties that they are presented, but they use this diversity to help solve every problem, and that is encouraging.
Wish we could do that here on Earth in the 21st Century.
Lastly, having Deanna Troy in such danger, and knowing that the WORST was NOT going to happen, but still...the threat was enough. Oof.
Will be reading Synthesis, next.
July 18, 2020
This is the eighth book in a series on Captain William T. Riker and his wife Counselor Deanna Troi's new ship, the USS Titan. Unfortunately, this is not a good place to come into the series, and I was quite a while orienting myself to the extremely diverse crew. (Unlike TV shows and movies, where having 99% humanoids saves on the budget, this series takes advantage of the book medium and has a crew with very few humans.)
Also very unusual, this book has a setting extremely difficult to pull of in a hard scifi world like ST: an entirely waterworld. Scientifically, its an almost impossible task to successfully imagine one of these, as there are thousands of concerns which would make it uninhabited and uninhabitable. Bennett is exceptionally well-researched and exceedingly creative in his technical idea, and I am more than a little tempted to copy some of them, they are so clever.
However, the plot suffers at times due to the super-technical nature of the problem. Characters act in strange ways at times, if you are used to their "voice" from the shows. I imagine this would be less noticable if you were reading through the whole book series.
Lastly, if has been a while since I've read this kind of quick-and-dirty paperbacks, so I forgot about the endless needed to break paragraphs during dialogue, even when the same character is speaking. I found it very distracting. There was one character that is referred to as an "it", which was also very distruptive to my reading flow.
Recommended for those in the flow of the Titan series.
Also very unusual, this book has a setting extremely difficult to pull of in a hard scifi world like ST: an entirely waterworld. Scientifically, its an almost impossible task to successfully imagine one of these, as there are thousands of concerns which would make it uninhabited and uninhabitable. Bennett is exceptionally well-researched and exceedingly creative in his technical idea, and I am more than a little tempted to copy some of them, they are so clever.
However, the plot suffers at times due to the super-technical nature of the problem. Characters act in strange ways at times, if you are used to their "voice" from the shows. I imagine this would be less noticable if you were reading through the whole book series.
Lastly, if has been a while since I've read this kind of quick-and-dirty paperbacks, so I forgot about the endless needed to break paragraphs during dialogue, even when the same character is speaking. I found it very distracting. There was one character that is referred to as an "it", which was also very distruptive to my reading flow.
Recommended for those in the flow of the Titan series.
March 28, 2021
Over a torrent sea - not for me.
What have I just read? I’m not sure I could even summarise it. I’ll be honest and say I read the first 150 pages and skimmed the rest of the book. Did I miss anything? Probably not, but maybe sometime can tell me if I did.
I’m not really sure why I hated this book so much. It began ok, with an interesting new planet and characters I knew well from the previous books. From then, I couldn’t get into it. I found the pace too slow and the story so uninteresting and not engaging. Each page was a slog and I just waited for something to happen. I was really bored.
After 150 pages, the plot was plodding along. Then, maybe even the author got slightly bored because he brought in a massive comet so push it along so the characters had something to do.
It was a frustrating read and now that I’m done, a great weight has been lifted and I can read more books again!
What have I just read? I’m not sure I could even summarise it. I’ll be honest and say I read the first 150 pages and skimmed the rest of the book. Did I miss anything? Probably not, but maybe sometime can tell me if I did.
I’m not really sure why I hated this book so much. It began ok, with an interesting new planet and characters I knew well from the previous books. From then, I couldn’t get into it. I found the pace too slow and the story so uninteresting and not engaging. Each page was a slog and I just waited for something to happen. I was really bored.
After 150 pages, the plot was plodding along. Then, maybe even the author got slightly bored because he brought in a massive comet so push it along so the characters had something to do.
It was a frustrating read and now that I’m done, a great weight has been lifted and I can read more books again!
May 8, 2025
I'm coming to the conclusion that Christopher L. Bennett is an author who understands the ideas of Star Trek but not the spirit. This is overloaded with technical jargon, seemingly more interested in the scientific concepts than it is in the characters. It's very difficult to get into the narrative, and often difficult to even picture what's happening. I ended up skim reading just to get to the parts where characters talk to each other and things actually happen.
As with every Titan novel so far, the cast list is so vast and so confusing that only a handful of characters get a look in, while I lose track of the rest. I don't remember if we've met Aili before, but she's a big part of this story and I liked her. The book is mercifully short and there is a fun side plot where the dinosaur-like Dr. Rees kidnaps Counsellor Troi as she goes into labour.
As with every Titan novel so far, the cast list is so vast and so confusing that only a handful of characters get a look in, while I lose track of the rest. I don't remember if we've met Aili before, but she's a big part of this story and I liked her. The book is mercifully short and there is a fun side plot where the dinosaur-like Dr. Rees kidnaps Counsellor Troi as she goes into labour.
June 10, 2025
I absolutely love this series! It is so chill. It's a Star Trek hang out series. The first half of the book is an interesting scientific mission. When the danger begins, it naturally occurs out of the earlier events. There is no bad guy, no evil aliens popping in. Just nature being crazy and destructive and smart people trying to help. So good.
April 19, 2023
Summary:
The Federation is politically, socially, and economically shattered after the Borg attack [Destiny]. They want to get things back on track, so the Luna fleet is being sent back out to explore, to Riker's chagrin; he wants to help in the clean up efforts.
Tuvok and T'Pel's son and his wife were killed by the Borg. Tuvok is grieving and isn't sure he wishes to return to Titan, but T'Pel convinces him.
Titan's first mission back is to a water planet nicknamed Droplet; it's unique in that is mostly water, but appears to have lifesigns. They take a shuttle and land on a floating island that is itself alive, consisting of polyps like coral. Aili goes for a swim, follows a small fish into a section of water where there shouldn't be any life, comes across some larger fish, and is stung unconscious by a jellyfish before being rescued by the shuttle.
Later, Aili is swimming again with Melora Pazlar when she hears a distress signal from the "squales" (squid whales) that they've been observing. She and Pazlar are attacked again, this time by hundreds of tentacles (seemingly from a dead polyp), which drag Aili deep down into the ocean. The squales save her, carrying her to the surface, but are scared off when the shuttle comes to rescue her.
Tuvok has been late to his duty shifts for the last 5 months. Ranul covers for him and understands that his grief needs time to heal.
On Droplet, they see a creature they name "weather balloon", which seems to have an excess of sensory organs, similar to some of the smaller fish they've seen in the ocean. It is seemingly destroyed by a lightning strike, but when taken back to the ship, it revives when they play squale sounds, and starts making squale noises of its own. They conclude that the squales bred the creature to take readings and transmit them back. They decided that since they've been observed for over a week, it's too late to pull out for the Prime Directive and they need to make contact. Riker himself will go down to the planet, since the squales language is so musical, and he's a jazz man.
Aili dives down to communicate with the squales, but they stealthily pull her down deep with their tentacles. 4 hours last the rendezvous time, she resurfaces and tells Riker that she taught the squales some Selkie and opened a dialog with them.
One of the asteroids around the planet is on a collision course; Titan plans to use their tractor beam to redirect it, but find it's more dense than expected. they try to carve it up with phasers/torpedos, but the asteroids is filled with radioactive elements that cause a feedback on the ship, knocking the warp core offline.
Riker and Aili try to warn the squales of the impending asteroid, but they take it as a threat.
Titan fails to divert the asteroid, and actually changes its course to be closer to Riker and Aili's location. They try to outrun it, but they are hit by the shockwave and both are flung into the water. On Titan, Troi senses Will drowning. Dr. Ree says this is no place for a baby, grabs Troi, attacks Tuvok and nurse Ogawa when they try to stop him, and flees with Troi on his back, insisting that they have to get off the ship. Ogawa catches up to Ree as he's boarding a shuttle, and convinces him that he needs a nurse to help deliver the baby. Ree warps away before Titan can stop him. Tuvok tells Vale that Troi's fears about losing her baby were amplified by his grief over the loss of his son, which psychically influenced Dr. Ree, and he convinces Vale to let him take a shuttle to go after them.
The squales save Riker and Aili, healing them somehow and leaving them under protective custody on a polyp island.
One of the search shuttles is attacked by a large dreadnought creature with a hard shell and lots of tentacles. The shuttle gets away, but a squale us killed.
The squales tell Aili that the song of the planet has changed; the crew on Titan realize that the energy the asteroid absorbed from their phasers, tractor beam, etc. have caused changes in the planet's magnetic field--which is also why the squales recoil at their technology.
The squales move Aili and Riker onto a floating jelly-creature to get them out of the path of an incoming hurricane. Aili tries to spoon Riker to keep him warm and they get into a fight; she lets slip that their tryst years ago was improper for Starfleet officers who don't understand her culture, and he says shouldn't have slept with half of Titan's crew then.
Dr. Ree lands the shuttle on Lumbu, a pre-warp planet, and asks to be taken to a hospital, shocking the Lumbuans greatly and violating the Prime Directive outright. Troi is afraid that Ree has become so attached to the baby, that he might even keep it himself.
Cethente, a crystaline-like entity aboard Titan who can withstand ultra-high pressure, takes a bathysphere deep into the depths of the planet and finds that there are actually creatures living down there--but they have been poisoned by the asteroid's radioactive elements, and are acting hyper-aggressively.
Aili explains to the squales that she and Riker are dying because their biology is too different for this planet. The squales take her to a facility and explain that they can modify her biology to make her better able to survive on Droplet, but that it could make their memories hazy. After her fight with Riker, she's not sure she even wants to go back to Titan, so she considers this--though she's sure Riker won't want to undergo the process.
After analyzing Cethente's findings from the deep, they determine that the plankton which feed on the minerals deep in the ocean later rise up to the surface layer and are eaten by the creatures there. The poisoning from the asteroid may lead to a mass extinction event.
Tuvok and his team arrive at the hospital. He tells Troi that she is still projecting her anxiety and anger about the baby onto Ree because of the loss of her first child, and because Ree wanted to terminate this fetus before the Caeliar saved it. Tuvok admits that he feels shame for being angry at his son for dying to help others. Troi tells Ree how she truly feels, and her water breaks. The police storm the building.
Xin and Melora come up with a plan to use thousands of probes to generate a particle field in the depths of Droplet to neutralize the effects of the asteroid. Aili goes back to the islet to tell Riker about the squales' life-pods and finds him feverish and near death. She nurses him back to consciousness and apologizes; she says she was an irresponsible mother because she never listened to her own mother, who let Aili's sister be killed by a predator. She says they shouldn't undergo the metamorphosis and should hold out hope for Titan to find them instead.
Troi gives birth to her baby with little fuss. Ree immediately feels abashed for what he did when Troi's effect wears off; Tuvok places him under arrested, and Ree willingly goes along. The locals believe them to be spirits, so the Prime Directive violation may not be punished too severely.
Aili talks to the squales again and they say they'll help her find someone from Titan; they didn't know she couldn't contact them, since they take always being in contact with each other for granted. Elsewhere, Xin tries to tell the squales that Titan is going to fix their planet with probes, whether they like it or not, and they deployed armored marine beasts in response, attacking Xin's gig and the whole island. The squales tell Aili they have a probe they captured earlier, and let her use it to send a distress call, which Vale sends a team to intercept. Aili sings to the squales that Titan is trying to help them; after bearing her soul to them, they not only relent, but help deploy the probes.
It's not long before the squales notice the probes having a positive effect. Riker promotes Aili to lieutenant for saving the planet. Troi, et al return with the baby, safe and sound. Riker says Ree will still need to stand trial, but only as a formality, as he is grateful that Ree protected his child.
Titan's visit has convinced the squales to dust off their centuries-old space exploration program that they'd all but given up on. Riker thinks perhaps Starfleet can check back in on them in a few years. Riker, Troi, and Natasha Miana watch their first launch from the planet just 2 weeks later.
The Federation is politically, socially, and economically shattered after the Borg attack [Destiny]. They want to get things back on track, so the Luna fleet is being sent back out to explore, to Riker's chagrin; he wants to help in the clean up efforts.
Tuvok and T'Pel's son and his wife were killed by the Borg. Tuvok is grieving and isn't sure he wishes to return to Titan, but T'Pel convinces him.
Titan's first mission back is to a water planet nicknamed Droplet; it's unique in that is mostly water, but appears to have lifesigns. They take a shuttle and land on a floating island that is itself alive, consisting of polyps like coral. Aili goes for a swim, follows a small fish into a section of water where there shouldn't be any life, comes across some larger fish, and is stung unconscious by a jellyfish before being rescued by the shuttle.
Later, Aili is swimming again with Melora Pazlar when she hears a distress signal from the "squales" (squid whales) that they've been observing. She and Pazlar are attacked again, this time by hundreds of tentacles (seemingly from a dead polyp), which drag Aili deep down into the ocean. The squales save her, carrying her to the surface, but are scared off when the shuttle comes to rescue her.
Tuvok has been late to his duty shifts for the last 5 months. Ranul covers for him and understands that his grief needs time to heal.
On Droplet, they see a creature they name "weather balloon", which seems to have an excess of sensory organs, similar to some of the smaller fish they've seen in the ocean. It is seemingly destroyed by a lightning strike, but when taken back to the ship, it revives when they play squale sounds, and starts making squale noises of its own. They conclude that the squales bred the creature to take readings and transmit them back. They decided that since they've been observed for over a week, it's too late to pull out for the Prime Directive and they need to make contact. Riker himself will go down to the planet, since the squales language is so musical, and he's a jazz man.
Aili dives down to communicate with the squales, but they stealthily pull her down deep with their tentacles. 4 hours last the rendezvous time, she resurfaces and tells Riker that she taught the squales some Selkie and opened a dialog with them.
One of the asteroids around the planet is on a collision course; Titan plans to use their tractor beam to redirect it, but find it's more dense than expected. they try to carve it up with phasers/torpedos, but the asteroids is filled with radioactive elements that cause a feedback on the ship, knocking the warp core offline.
Riker and Aili try to warn the squales of the impending asteroid, but they take it as a threat.
Titan fails to divert the asteroid, and actually changes its course to be closer to Riker and Aili's location. They try to outrun it, but they are hit by the shockwave and both are flung into the water. On Titan, Troi senses Will drowning. Dr. Ree says this is no place for a baby, grabs Troi, attacks Tuvok and nurse Ogawa when they try to stop him, and flees with Troi on his back, insisting that they have to get off the ship. Ogawa catches up to Ree as he's boarding a shuttle, and convinces him that he needs a nurse to help deliver the baby. Ree warps away before Titan can stop him. Tuvok tells Vale that Troi's fears about losing her baby were amplified by his grief over the loss of his son, which psychically influenced Dr. Ree, and he convinces Vale to let him take a shuttle to go after them.
The squales save Riker and Aili, healing them somehow and leaving them under protective custody on a polyp island.
One of the search shuttles is attacked by a large dreadnought creature with a hard shell and lots of tentacles. The shuttle gets away, but a squale us killed.
The squales tell Aili that the song of the planet has changed; the crew on Titan realize that the energy the asteroid absorbed from their phasers, tractor beam, etc. have caused changes in the planet's magnetic field--which is also why the squales recoil at their technology.
The squales move Aili and Riker onto a floating jelly-creature to get them out of the path of an incoming hurricane. Aili tries to spoon Riker to keep him warm and they get into a fight; she lets slip that their tryst years ago was improper for Starfleet officers who don't understand her culture, and he says shouldn't have slept with half of Titan's crew then.
Dr. Ree lands the shuttle on Lumbu, a pre-warp planet, and asks to be taken to a hospital, shocking the Lumbuans greatly and violating the Prime Directive outright. Troi is afraid that Ree has become so attached to the baby, that he might even keep it himself.
Cethente, a crystaline-like entity aboard Titan who can withstand ultra-high pressure, takes a bathysphere deep into the depths of the planet and finds that there are actually creatures living down there--but they have been poisoned by the asteroid's radioactive elements, and are acting hyper-aggressively.
Aili explains to the squales that she and Riker are dying because their biology is too different for this planet. The squales take her to a facility and explain that they can modify her biology to make her better able to survive on Droplet, but that it could make their memories hazy. After her fight with Riker, she's not sure she even wants to go back to Titan, so she considers this--though she's sure Riker won't want to undergo the process.
After analyzing Cethente's findings from the deep, they determine that the plankton which feed on the minerals deep in the ocean later rise up to the surface layer and are eaten by the creatures there. The poisoning from the asteroid may lead to a mass extinction event.
Tuvok and his team arrive at the hospital. He tells Troi that she is still projecting her anxiety and anger about the baby onto Ree because of the loss of her first child, and because Ree wanted to terminate this fetus before the Caeliar saved it. Tuvok admits that he feels shame for being angry at his son for dying to help others. Troi tells Ree how she truly feels, and her water breaks. The police storm the building.
Xin and Melora come up with a plan to use thousands of probes to generate a particle field in the depths of Droplet to neutralize the effects of the asteroid. Aili goes back to the islet to tell Riker about the squales' life-pods and finds him feverish and near death. She nurses him back to consciousness and apologizes; she says she was an irresponsible mother because she never listened to her own mother, who let Aili's sister be killed by a predator. She says they shouldn't undergo the metamorphosis and should hold out hope for Titan to find them instead.
Troi gives birth to her baby with little fuss. Ree immediately feels abashed for what he did when Troi's effect wears off; Tuvok places him under arrested, and Ree willingly goes along. The locals believe them to be spirits, so the Prime Directive violation may not be punished too severely.
Aili talks to the squales again and they say they'll help her find someone from Titan; they didn't know she couldn't contact them, since they take always being in contact with each other for granted. Elsewhere, Xin tries to tell the squales that Titan is going to fix their planet with probes, whether they like it or not, and they deployed armored marine beasts in response, attacking Xin's gig and the whole island. The squales tell Aili they have a probe they captured earlier, and let her use it to send a distress call, which Vale sends a team to intercept. Aili sings to the squales that Titan is trying to help them; after bearing her soul to them, they not only relent, but help deploy the probes.
It's not long before the squales notice the probes having a positive effect. Riker promotes Aili to lieutenant for saving the planet. Troi, et al return with the baby, safe and sound. Riker says Ree will still need to stand trial, but only as a formality, as he is grateful that Ree protected his child.
Titan's visit has convinced the squales to dust off their centuries-old space exploration program that they'd all but given up on. Riker thinks perhaps Starfleet can check back in on them in a few years. Riker, Troi, and Natasha Miana watch their first launch from the planet just 2 weeks later.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2009
Following the events of "Star Trek: Destiny," Captain Riker and the crew of the Titan are sent back to the original mission--exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations.
Early on in Christopher L. Bennett's "Over a Torrent Sea," the reasoning for sending Titan back out on its original mission instead of staying behind to rebuild the Federation is laid out in a fairly believable manner.
Then it's on to the planet of Droplet, a world made of mostly of oceans with a unique alien race living in the vast oceans.
After reading and enjoying several of Bennett's previous "Trek" novels I wish I could say this one was equally as enjoyable. Unfortunately, the story takes a bit of time to build up its momentum and even once things get rolling, it's still a lot of your standard "Trek" novel cliches repackaged (we're out of contact with the away team, the ship and world are threatened, there's internal crew conflict.).
Early on in Christopher L. Bennett's "Over a Torrent Sea," the reasoning for sending Titan back out on its original mission instead of staying behind to rebuild the Federation is laid out in a fairly believable manner.
Then it's on to the planet of Droplet, a world made of mostly of oceans with a unique alien race living in the vast oceans.
After reading and enjoying several of Bennett's previous "Trek" novels I wish I could say this one was equally as enjoyable. Unfortunately, the story takes a bit of time to build up its momentum and even once things get rolling, it's still a lot of your standard "Trek" novel cliches repackaged (we're out of contact with the away team, the ship and world are threatened, there's internal crew conflict.).
June 8, 2020
ugh no I hated it. skimmed the entire last half of the book. the characterisations were all off and the dialogue especially was awful. also I’ll never forgive the author for not allowing Riker to be present at the birth of his first child. I think after the amount of shit that Will and Deanna have been through that they deserved that much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2012
I have to admit the book was a bit boring. It is a nice idea to set up the story on a waterplanet but I had to fight till the end. I put the book several times away but I want mostly to finish books. So I read it till the end. The other Titan books are much better.
June 20, 2018
Over a Torrent kick off with the intrepid crew of the Titan encountering a water plant that after some investigating the realise is inhabited by a group sentient species known as the Squales and the planet being named Droplet! :D Initially both sides have trouble identifying themselves as sentient as on Droplet the Squales do not ave any metals and so rely on Bio-Engineering to make everything they need from probes to vehicles! :D This contributes to misunderstandings throughout as well as humour – when the Away Team realises they are the ones that have been under observation will have you it stitches! :D At the same time though it goes to show that the Federation is not all knowing and that it has much to learn! :D Though in the Federations favour they know this and are constantly seeking to improve themselves! :D This attitude of course eventually goes over brilliantly with the Squales once they have got over the hiccups that keep popping up throughout the book! :D
We get to see also how the crew is adjusting to the post-Borg universe that really lays in the character building throughout! :D We get to see Christine Vale in command and how she adjusts to the unexpected and deals with the Titan as it is being trashed trying to save the planet! :D At the same time Riker and Aili in the planet trying to open and improve on the diplomatic dialogue they are engaging in with the Squales! :D This gives us an insight into Aili that hasn't been there before really building her character up but at the same really developing her! :D Dr. Ree goes a little crazy trying to protect Deanna's unborn baby and this leads to a pursuit to the uninhabited planet of Lumbu where the locals amongst the usual military and politicians value philosophers which leads to some hilarious first contacts situations first as Ree wants to see the Obstetrics department and then when Tuvok comes to fetch them! :D Event though it only features in part of the book the Lumbu are as devolved as the Squales on Droplet and this makes the book have an adventuress feel to the everything that is going! :D Tuvok and his wife T'Pel get their limelight as well as they have been through the ringer but the sorting out of their issues is really brilliantly handled and Tuvok and T'Pel's reaction to Troi and Riker's Baby is brilliant! :D The baby in question getting named Natasha is a neat little touch as well and will the lumps in the throat going but in a good way! :D As an aside we also get to see Melora and Xin getting spun around a bit which further develops their characters! :D Over a Torrent Sea takes great pleasure in throwing it's characters around and seeing what falls out and this lead to great character development! :D
The action and cultural misunderstandings throughout come thick and fast and the way that the crew of the Titan have to adjust is excellently handled and gives us an entire alien ecosystem that is brilliantly developed though you would certainly wince along with Cethente as he is put down through the depths! :D The discovery of the second ecosystem is very surreal and really comes off the page brilliantly you really have feeling of being there and this dovetails with the rest of the story excellently! :D Throughout the book the story works on a palimpsest of the levels that come together brilliantly in ways that you would not expect! :D The decision to have diplomatic relations and the debate in regards to the Prime Directive are carefully debated and you can certainly see reasons why eventually they would want to change things to reflect different circumstances! :D Indeed that is the argument that Riker and Vale make between themselves and coming to the same conclusions much to Riker's surprise! :D This at the same time illustrates how Vale has settled into the role of First Officer so well she really keeps the crew and Riker on the edge of their toes as all points which is obviously her job but really allows her character to flourish and develop more as well! :D
Over a Torrent Sea does a brilliant job as well of continuing the Titans exploration mission as well really getting to grips with the issues the crew are facing as well as moving on existing plotlines and setting new ones up in the process! :D We are getting to see the Titan characters really getting pushed out of their comfort zones but at the same time this is really allowing them to crow both as characters and as a reflection the worlds, phenomena etc that they ere encountering which in turn for the great world building is making for a warp powered adventured that are full of depth and exploration both of the character but of the new ground etc that they are breaking! :D Over a Torrent Sea is a roller coaster of events that gel brilliantly together in ways that you would not expect which gives the book a great feeling of inventiveness! :D At the same time it sets things up brilliantly in terms of plotting and character development for future books! :D Brilliant, full of adventure, daring do and action packed throughout! :D Bring you Snorkel! :D Highly recommended make sure you have the next one! :D Crisp high five! :D
We get to see also how the crew is adjusting to the post-Borg universe that really lays in the character building throughout! :D We get to see Christine Vale in command and how she adjusts to the unexpected and deals with the Titan as it is being trashed trying to save the planet! :D At the same time Riker and Aili in the planet trying to open and improve on the diplomatic dialogue they are engaging in with the Squales! :D This gives us an insight into Aili that hasn't been there before really building her character up but at the same really developing her! :D Dr. Ree goes a little crazy trying to protect Deanna's unborn baby and this leads to a pursuit to the uninhabited planet of Lumbu where the locals amongst the usual military and politicians value philosophers which leads to some hilarious first contacts situations first as Ree wants to see the Obstetrics department and then when Tuvok comes to fetch them! :D Event though it only features in part of the book the Lumbu are as devolved as the Squales on Droplet and this makes the book have an adventuress feel to the everything that is going! :D Tuvok and his wife T'Pel get their limelight as well as they have been through the ringer but the sorting out of their issues is really brilliantly handled and Tuvok and T'Pel's reaction to Troi and Riker's Baby is brilliant! :D The baby in question getting named Natasha is a neat little touch as well and will the lumps in the throat going but in a good way! :D As an aside we also get to see Melora and Xin getting spun around a bit which further develops their characters! :D Over a Torrent Sea takes great pleasure in throwing it's characters around and seeing what falls out and this lead to great character development! :D
The action and cultural misunderstandings throughout come thick and fast and the way that the crew of the Titan have to adjust is excellently handled and gives us an entire alien ecosystem that is brilliantly developed though you would certainly wince along with Cethente as he is put down through the depths! :D The discovery of the second ecosystem is very surreal and really comes off the page brilliantly you really have feeling of being there and this dovetails with the rest of the story excellently! :D Throughout the book the story works on a palimpsest of the levels that come together brilliantly in ways that you would not expect! :D The decision to have diplomatic relations and the debate in regards to the Prime Directive are carefully debated and you can certainly see reasons why eventually they would want to change things to reflect different circumstances! :D Indeed that is the argument that Riker and Vale make between themselves and coming to the same conclusions much to Riker's surprise! :D This at the same time illustrates how Vale has settled into the role of First Officer so well she really keeps the crew and Riker on the edge of their toes as all points which is obviously her job but really allows her character to flourish and develop more as well! :D
Over a Torrent Sea does a brilliant job as well of continuing the Titans exploration mission as well really getting to grips with the issues the crew are facing as well as moving on existing plotlines and setting new ones up in the process! :D We are getting to see the Titan characters really getting pushed out of their comfort zones but at the same time this is really allowing them to crow both as characters and as a reflection the worlds, phenomena etc that they ere encountering which in turn for the great world building is making for a warp powered adventured that are full of depth and exploration both of the character but of the new ground etc that they are breaking! :D Over a Torrent Sea is a roller coaster of events that gel brilliantly together in ways that you would not expect which gives the book a great feeling of inventiveness! :D At the same time it sets things up brilliantly in terms of plotting and character development for future books! :D Brilliant, full of adventure, daring do and action packed throughout! :D Bring you Snorkel! :D Highly recommended make sure you have the next one! :D Crisp high five! :D
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2018
I sit here wondering if I will ever come across a Titan novel that will be a real thriller. This one was among the weakest of the post-Nemesis Trek novels I've yet read.
The premise is quite intriguing. The starship Titan and its grotesque zoo crew begin to survey a planet whose surface is entirely ocean. I really like the concept of this- I remember an Animated Series episode with a similar theme that captured my imagination. The crew discovers an intelligent form of life that look like something between squids and whales, and they call them "squales."
Basically, the plot centers around a few things. First, the efforts of a "Selkie" officer named Lavena, who is originally from a water world herself, to communicate with the squales. Second, the Titan's efforts to deflect an asteroid which just happens to be about to impact the planet; the efforts go haywire. Third, Deanna Troi is pregnant and about to pop, and an over-protective medical officer goes to extreme lengths to protect them in the midst of the crisis.
But along the way, I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never really did. The narrative is filled with scientific banter about the nature of the planet and its life, but these got really old fast. The dialogue between characters is atrocious. The story jumps the shark (pun intended) in multiple places (the aforementioned protective doctor taking the pregnant Troi to a warp-incapable planet to use their hospital facilities for birth; Riker becoming malnourished after being stranded on the planet and being found lying in his own filth). The interactions between Lavena and the squales seem forced and corny; the squales were perhaps the most shallow characters in the novel. And perhaps worst of all, it reads like a soap opera. Riker has apparently had a fling with this Lavena person a long time ago, and it leads to awkwardness and arguments that are just painful to read. Two other characters (Pazlar and Ra-Havreii, just read the book) have an even more painful treatment here.
I could probably go on a lot longer, but I'll just stop here. It just seems like Bennett was intrigued with the idea of an ocean planet, and tried to create a plot to fit it. And the result was a disjointed, forced, awkward narrative that was devoid of excitement. Now, I'm on to James Swallow's "Synthesis," and hopefully I will find something exciting there.
The premise is quite intriguing. The starship Titan and its grotesque zoo crew begin to survey a planet whose surface is entirely ocean. I really like the concept of this- I remember an Animated Series episode with a similar theme that captured my imagination. The crew discovers an intelligent form of life that look like something between squids and whales, and they call them "squales."
Basically, the plot centers around a few things. First, the efforts of a "Selkie" officer named Lavena, who is originally from a water world herself, to communicate with the squales. Second, the Titan's efforts to deflect an asteroid which just happens to be about to impact the planet; the efforts go haywire. Third, Deanna Troi is pregnant and about to pop, and an over-protective medical officer goes to extreme lengths to protect them in the midst of the crisis.
But along the way, I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never really did. The narrative is filled with scientific banter about the nature of the planet and its life, but these got really old fast. The dialogue between characters is atrocious. The story jumps the shark (pun intended) in multiple places (the aforementioned protective doctor taking the pregnant Troi to a warp-incapable planet to use their hospital facilities for birth; Riker becoming malnourished after being stranded on the planet and being found lying in his own filth). The interactions between Lavena and the squales seem forced and corny; the squales were perhaps the most shallow characters in the novel. And perhaps worst of all, it reads like a soap opera. Riker has apparently had a fling with this Lavena person a long time ago, and it leads to awkwardness and arguments that are just painful to read. Two other characters (Pazlar and Ra-Havreii, just read the book) have an even more painful treatment here.
I could probably go on a lot longer, but I'll just stop here. It just seems like Bennett was intrigued with the idea of an ocean planet, and tried to create a plot to fit it. And the result was a disjointed, forced, awkward narrative that was devoid of excitement. Now, I'm on to James Swallow's "Synthesis," and hopefully I will find something exciting there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2021
It's OK, typical Star Trek plot. Not a great one, but certainly not bad.
I heard and saw the familiar characters in the author's words, so good job there. There are science-heavy ST stories, and then like Droplet in this book, pure heavy science. That difference is similar to the difference between the movies "The Abyss" and "Sphere". If you are into that level of science for enjoyment reading, then you might really like this book.
After hundreds of ST episodes, we're trained to look for humans, the familiar alien races already expounded upon in the movies and shows, and this week's new "guest alien species." Novel writers can explore new races too costly to film, but you need to take the casual fans along with us geeks. The development of the Selkie race and the Droplet aliens in this book were great. Maybe that would have been enough for such a science-heavy plot. But the Titan series, and Over a Torrent Sea, in particular, serve up too many aliens in rapid-fire succession, and in too many carnival side-show facade moments. I eventually felt like Spock inside V'ger's imaging chamber when he tried to meld with it. I ended up with a Memory-Alpha browser window open on my phone to help me decipher the new aliens appearing on every other page. That broke the immersion, if you'll allow the pun.
I heard and saw the familiar characters in the author's words, so good job there. There are science-heavy ST stories, and then like Droplet in this book, pure heavy science. That difference is similar to the difference between the movies "The Abyss" and "Sphere". If you are into that level of science for enjoyment reading, then you might really like this book.
After hundreds of ST episodes, we're trained to look for humans, the familiar alien races already expounded upon in the movies and shows, and this week's new "guest alien species." Novel writers can explore new races too costly to film, but you need to take the casual fans along with us geeks. The development of the Selkie race and the Droplet aliens in this book were great. Maybe that would have been enough for such a science-heavy plot. But the Titan series, and Over a Torrent Sea, in particular, serve up too many aliens in rapid-fire succession, and in too many carnival side-show facade moments. I eventually felt like Spock inside V'ger's imaging chamber when he tried to meld with it. I ended up with a Memory-Alpha browser window open on my phone to help me decipher the new aliens appearing on every other page. That broke the immersion, if you'll allow the pun.
July 30, 2021
This book unfortunately was just a bit boring. The first half is just descriptions of the new water planet they're exploring and petty arguments between various crewmembers. The Titan series is growing very repetitive with plot points - how many problems can one crew have with telepathy, and how many times will they accidentally cause global (at least!) catastrophes before they all get fired and hauled off for court martials? They've (in)directly killed billions of life forms in 18months! There's also another "jelly" race and the crew still mostly seem miserable, or at best neutral, with each other, with moooore Riker/Troi drama. Those two can't catch a break.
Didn't really care for the huge amount of treknobabble or the relationships between Melora and Xin, or most of the Lavena/Riker stuff (though I was glad she decided to stay on Titan). In the end, I skimmed the final 15% just to find out the Riker-Troi baby name.
The water planet was a nice change of scenery and described well, just too much. I liked the Tuvok/T'Pel relationship, hope we see more of them.
Didn't really care for the huge amount of treknobabble or the relationships between Melora and Xin, or most of the Lavena/Riker stuff (though I was glad she decided to stay on Titan). In the end, I skimmed the final 15% just to find out the Riker-Troi baby name.
The water planet was a nice change of scenery and described well, just too much. I liked the Tuvok/T'Pel relationship, hope we see more of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2021
In the Star Trek: Destiny series, the Borg returned and shook the Star Trek universe. Now, everyone tries to get back to normal, and the Titan gets back to exploration. Captain Riker and his crew find a water planet, but unlike most that are called that, it's all water, no land.
As you might imagine, this makes for a unique culture, and there are a lot of misunderstandings as the crew try to communicate with these new people. Nothing goes completely smoothly, and there's the fairly standard Trek issue of "Captain goes on mission he shouldn't have and bad things happen," but really, when does that not happen?
I enjoyed the continuation of the series, and getting to see more of Riker, Troi, and the very unique crew of the USS Titan. Enjoyable read in a different corner of the Star Trek universe.
As you might imagine, this makes for a unique culture, and there are a lot of misunderstandings as the crew try to communicate with these new people. Nothing goes completely smoothly, and there's the fairly standard Trek issue of "Captain goes on mission he shouldn't have and bad things happen," but really, when does that not happen?
I enjoyed the continuation of the series, and getting to see more of Riker, Troi, and the very unique crew of the USS Titan. Enjoyable read in a different corner of the Star Trek universe.
December 31, 2018
I think Bennett's other Trek books have spoiled me. The others of his I read this year were expertly plotted and well paced and all the known characters seemed just right. Riker, Troi and Tukok seem their typical selves.
This one seemed a little rushed. I don't know why. Maybe it's all those sections (mostly in the middle) that broke the show not tell rule. I think he sort of got so lost in creating such a weird new planet that he sort of lost track of the story. Or was ordered to tie up or include a lot of other people's dangling plots for the next writer to resolve. I dunno. Something just seemed a little off.
It didn't take a long time to read because the book is slow. I was doing a Nanowrimo and I got sick during this huge block of time.
This one seemed a little rushed. I don't know why. Maybe it's all those sections (mostly in the middle) that broke the show not tell rule. I think he sort of got so lost in creating such a weird new planet that he sort of lost track of the story. Or was ordered to tie up or include a lot of other people's dangling plots for the next writer to resolve. I dunno. Something just seemed a little off.
It didn't take a long time to read because the book is slow. I was doing a Nanowrimo and I got sick during this huge block of time.
June 25, 2023
Star Trek: The One with the Squales. More enjoyable than some of the previous Titan novels, at least. It got kinda weird with Riker grappling with the nudity aspect, but it didn’t get Imzadi bad. Does try to make one think about customs of different cultures. The song stuff toward the end was nice, though I wish I could hear music set to it. Anyway, with how I have my Star Trek reading list arranged, it looks like I’ll be taking a month off from the post-Nemesis era and go through some DS9 stuff like Mission Gamma.
October 22, 2021
There was something special about this one, the character development seems to be centred around mental health and it was particularly fascinating in Tuvok's case. Not just fascinating though, I thought it was lovely.
Although the story is about a familiar type of alien planet (water world) and the song language is not very original, the drama was fabulous. I docked a star from my rating for way too much sexy talk, but if I'm being fair even this seemed to be handled better than in other Trek novels, it probably felt a little more natural and less swoony.
Although the story is about a familiar type of alien planet (water world) and the song language is not very original, the drama was fabulous. I docked a star from my rating for way too much sexy talk, but if I'm being fair even this seemed to be handled better than in other Trek novels, it probably felt a little more natural and less swoony.
February 27, 2023
Perfect Star Trek
After dealing with the Borg, Captain Riker and the crew of the Titan restart their mission of exploration. They discover a world mostly made of water, with fascinating alien creatures.
What follows is Trek at its finest. This is a book about exploring and making connections, both with ourselves and with strangers.
Read this!
After dealing with the Borg, Captain Riker and the crew of the Titan restart their mission of exploration. They discover a world mostly made of water, with fascinating alien creatures.
What follows is Trek at its finest. This is a book about exploring and making connections, both with ourselves and with strangers.
Read this!
June 1, 2021
Not quite as good as the other Trek novels I’ve read recently, but I liked the environmental theme and characterization. I would have preferred less time devoted to explaining Aili Lavena’s sex life and more on the plot.
August 3, 2021
Not a bad story at all, but the other reviews are correct when they say the descriptions get pretty wordy. If you enjoy very detailed descriptions and technobabble, you'll love this book. If not, it's fairly easy to skim past those descriptions and still enjoy the ride.
October 10, 2021
A catchy title and lovely cover art unfortunately cannot save this dull, marine-biology textbook. Read my full review here: https://scifibooks.club/reviews/star-...
August 3, 2022
I wish I liked this more. I enjoy Titan books, and have loved several of CLBs efforts in the past, but this one was just filled with way too much technical language. Pages and pages of the stuff, just intruded into a decent story.
November 6, 2025
Loved the science in this book about an ocean world. Well thought out even down to gravity, metals, and water solubility.
The characters seemed spot on. I am really enjoying the growth of this crew and it ties in So well to the Star Trek Destiny trilogy which was also a joy to read.
The characters seemed spot on. I am really enjoying the growth of this crew and it ties in So well to the Star Trek Destiny trilogy which was also a joy to read.
August 27, 2017
I kept waiting for something exciting to happen until the end of the book. Way to bogged down by relationships and emotions. Too much like a soap opera set on a Federation Starship.
November 10, 2018
It can feel a wee bit slow in parts, but overall a decent book. Been around 5 years since I last read this book
February 12, 2019
It's pretty much a given...if it's a Star Trek novel...I'll like it...
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