Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
It's hard for me to criticize these books, but I will give it a shot. I'm absolutely not kidding when I say that it might be best to ask me again in ten years.
I like Peter Telep's books--in fact, all the movie material--more for the parts than the sum. I really, really like all background details, from ship names to little vignettes about Blair's past (... or future) to the copious amount of background on the Pilgrim religion. I see that as basically handing us a pile of extra tools to play with--here's the name of the President! Here's a new Kilrathi word! I relish that. And I really, really like seeing fresh eyes on the world, for better or for worse. That fascinates me in any universe, especially one where you have a hundred different mediums and writers using the same tools. I'm convinced there's a PhD for someone who wants to legitimately study different takes on the original Star Trek...
But yeah, most of what has been mentioned above rubs me the wrong way. I know that Peter Telep was specifically told he could not tell a 'Forstchen style' humans versus Kilrathi story and that after the first book that he couldn't reference the games at all... and I see that as what got us where we are. The fact that he was stuck with Pilgrims was doubly unfortunate, of course, with Pilgrims being pretty much cut out of the movie itself. So everything is working against you there. (But maybe not--I think fans of SAaB will tell you that Telep's novelization is incredibly well done and that the original book was weak... and there were no restrictions there, as far as I know.)
I am not bothered by the story itself. I think it's interesting and it has its roots in Wing Commander lore--from Tolwyn's willingness to commit genocide to the story of the first Pilgrims disappearing (which is from the Confederation Handbook.) I'd contest the Deus Ex Machina bit because it isn't a case of the Pilgrims showing up and solving all the problems... since you just wouldn't have the problem in the first place without them. I think the level of introspection is just about right for Wing Commander--aliens that have evolved beyond war are an old trope, but I think it's interesting to see them plopped in the middle of the war we are consistently glorifying... and as weird as it is I kind of like what it can set up for future stories. Another tool in the toolbox, anyway...
I don't like the sex. I'm not some prude, sex is a great thing to do if you can't get your hands on six bucks for a copy of Privateer... but writing it is very, very difficult... and it doesn't work here. And I don't like Blair's powers. I would--will--retcon them out of existence the first chance I get. I honestly don't understand what Telep was going for here, but in my mind it goes against the spirit of the character in the first place (but not against continuity--the fact that Blair is recognized as important before he's even out of the Academy is buried deep in our shared history.) My feeling is he probably took the 'he does math well!' jokes to heart and decided to take them exactly the wrong day.
I like Peter Telep's books--in fact, all the movie material--more for the parts than the sum. I really, really like all background details, from ship names to little vignettes about Blair's past (... or future) to the copious amount of background on the Pilgrim religion. I see that as basically handing us a pile of extra tools to play with--here's the name of the President! Here's a new Kilrathi word! I relish that. And I really, really like seeing fresh eyes on the world, for better or for worse. That fascinates me in any universe, especially one where you have a hundred different mediums and writers using the same tools. I'm convinced there's a PhD for someone who wants to legitimately study different takes on the original Star Trek...
But yeah, most of what has been mentioned above rubs me the wrong way. I know that Peter Telep was specifically told he could not tell a 'Forstchen style' humans versus Kilrathi story and that after the first book that he couldn't reference the games at all... and I see that as what got us where we are. The fact that he was stuck with Pilgrims was doubly unfortunate, of course, with Pilgrims being pretty much cut out of the movie itself. So everything is working against you there. (But maybe not--I think fans of SAaB will tell you that Telep's novelization is incredibly well done and that the original book was weak... and there were no restrictions there, as far as I know.)
I am not bothered by the story itself. I think it's interesting and it has its roots in Wing Commander lore--from Tolwyn's willingness to commit genocide to the story of the first Pilgrims disappearing (which is from the Confederation Handbook.) I'd contest the Deus Ex Machina bit because it isn't a case of the Pilgrims showing up and solving all the problems... since you just wouldn't have the problem in the first place without them. I think the level of introspection is just about right for Wing Commander--aliens that have evolved beyond war are an old trope, but I think it's interesting to see them plopped in the middle of the war we are consistently glorifying... and as weird as it is I kind of like what it can set up for future stories. Another tool in the toolbox, anyway...
I don't like the sex. I'm not some prude, sex is a great thing to do if you can't get your hands on six bucks for a copy of Privateer... but writing it is very, very difficult... and it doesn't work here. And I don't like Blair's powers. I would--will--retcon them out of existence the first chance I get. I honestly don't understand what Telep was going for here, but in my mind it goes against the spirit of the character in the first place (but not against continuity--the fact that Blair is recognized as important before he's even out of the Academy is buried deep in our shared history.) My feeling is he probably took the 'he does math well!' jokes to heart and decided to take them exactly the wrong day.