| Title | : | Resistance (Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe Second Decade #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0743499557 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780743499552 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 306 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 2007 |
Resistance (Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe Second Decade #2) Reviews
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Resistance to read this is futile!
This novel is set in the “Relaunch” Expanded Universe of Star Trek, close after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis”.
A NEW CHAPTER…
This isn’t the novel set right after of Star Trek: Nemesis, that one is Death in Winter, but it’s quite close and you can feel it as the real starting point in a new chapter in the adventures of the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, after the events in the already mentioned theatrical film.
Data is gone. Riker and Troi left to the USS Titan. But the mission of the Enterprise-E continues and Captain Picard needs to find replacements for the crutial vacants in his senior crew, however that it won’t be easy.
Picard is choosing Word as his new First Officer, however Worf considers that he isn’t the right choice.
Picard wanted another Betazoid as the new Counselor, however there wasn’t any available and Starfleet sends a female Vulcan, Lieutenant T’Lana, petite, beautiful but she isn’t hesitant to take the opposite side in all Picard’s decisions.
The family isn’t the same anymore and Picard is feeling it and missing the absent friends.
In a positive note, Picard already expressed his feeling towards Dr. Beverly Crusher and finally they are enjoying a steady romantic relationship.
IN PICARD YOU CAN TRUST
Captain Picard is hearing the Borg again, and they aren’t happy. Through this “voices” of the Collective, Picard is finding out about a remnant party of the Borg, trapped in the Alpha Quadrant, and they are trying to “reborn” the Queen to engage into an all-out attack against the Federation.
Picard tells all this to Admiral Janeway, but he is unable to produce any tangible evidence but only his word.
Of course, it’s the word of Captain Jean-Luc Picard!
However, Janeway doesn’t share our trust in the word of him, so she ordered to wait for Seven of Nine, and only then, the Enterprise would be authorized to make an inspection where he believes is the rising new Borg cube.
But Picard is certain, in his mind, that he can’t wait until Seven of Nine would be able to reach the Enterprise. The Federation is in peril and he can’t waste any minute!
And you could think that you can put your money on Picard, until he started to came out with this insane strategy of becoming willingly into Locutus again!!!
THE BORG THAT YOU (DON’T) KNOW
This novel, Resistance, is quite entertaining and I enjoyed to read it a lot. J. M. Dillard, the author, was responsible to make the novelization of Star Trek: First Contact, so the Next Generation crew and the Borg weren’t anything unfamiliar to him.
However, the author exposed some very odd elements about the Borg that they didn’t make any sense.
He established that all the Borg drones were masculine and they need to do certain process to create a new Queen, turning a male drone into a female drone…
…what the heck did you smoked, man?!!!
Seven of Nine. She was a Borg drone for like 20 years or so. She was a female child, Annika Hansen, when she was assimiliated by the Borg. And 20 years later, when she is separated from the Borg Collective, she remains to be a female human. So, there are female Borg drones! Seven is the proof of that, and to make this even odder, the author mentions Seven of Nine in the narrative, so…
…how in the name of the Prophets, can he postulated something so senseless?!!!
Even having aside the issue of sexual genres in the Borg, the author also exposed an innecesarily process to came out with a new Borg Queen. Based on how the bees behave, he delivered an scenario where a Borg drone is chosen and then he (or she) suffered a transformation process to become a new Borg Queen.
Say, what?!
Come on!!! The author is showing to be a three-dimensional thinking human!
The Borg assimilated thousands of civilizations, taking all the relevant technology for them. The Borg Queen isn’t an individual. The Borg Queen is an embodiment of the Borg Collective Hive Mind. Why the Borg need a queen? Well, they don’t! We do! We, three-dimensional humans need a body to be the villain that we can fear. So, if a queen dies, easy! The Borg Collective Hive Mind could just download again the queen program into organic material easily to be cloned and to construct a new armor body, in a matter of minutes (if not seconds) since…
…they are The Borg!!!
So, if you are forgiving about those absurd concepts of all-male Borg drones and crazy making Queen processes…
…you can enjoy one heck of entertaining adventure, with several cool scenes (specially for Trekkers, like me), with a crew working in its new teamwork chemistry while fighting a merciless enemy…
…The Enterprise-E against the Borg, what else do you need to engage into this book? -
Though not quite amazing, I have to give this book serious credit for being a vast improvement over the other Trek books I've read lately.
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This TNG Novel is about how Enterprise is operating after Riker and Troi leave and a few new crew members arrive. Then Captain Picard thinks he hears the Borg...
This book just sucks you in, it has a lot of action and an intricate story that is pretty easy to follow. I felt like I learned a lot about Wolf, but the story really centered around the whole crew. There were a few times it felt like this author has his go-to phrases, but other than that I think it was a really fun read.
I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes Star Trek novels. J.M. Dillard has to be one of the best ST authors out there. -
This almost felt like a second go round at First Contact, picard exorcising the Borg once again. Despite new crew being mentioned, I didn’t feel as connected with them as I had in the other recent books I’ve read set a few years after this. Resistance in fact very much felt like the Jean-Luc and Beverly show, which was fine as far as it went, but not what I was really expecting.
janeway’s cameo also felt quite out-of-character, which was a shame. SO all-told, this felt like just another Borg story really. -
Resistance was an interesting read with plenty of action and high stakes, but at times the story felt rushed and a bit aimless. Some things in the plot seem to happen because they seem like a cool idea, rather than an organic plot dictated by the personalities of the characters. Contrived situations such as Picard's choices seem to be a bit out of left field, but there are enough saving graces that allowed me to enjoy the novel. Not stellar, but entertaining enough.
Review:
https://www.treklit.com/2019/07/resis... -
I like to pick up a Star Trek novel once in a while and this one was pretty good. J.M. Dillard usually produces great Star Trek so it's nice when her name comes up with a cover or title that catches my eye. This one has the Borg and follows the last Next Generation movie so it concentrates on Picard, Crusher and Worf. It was nice to see her devote some time in the book to Worf dealing with the loss of Dax. I enjoyed it.
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This is the first look at the Enterprise after the departure of so many of Captain Picard's senior staff. With Riker a captain, Troi and Commander Christine Vale with Riker and Data dead, the captain had to replace most of his senior staff. He was lucky to get Dr. Crusher back after the events of Death In Winter or he would have needed a new Chief Medical Officer as well.
Commander Worf is now first officer- and doesn't think he should have the job. Second officer was not noted, but Lt. Lionardo Battaglia is now chief of security, his lover Lt. Sarah Nave (a recent transfer from security chief to command) has the conn and T'Lana of Vulcan has replaced Counselor Troi. As Picard gets used to his new crew, he is beset by a familiar mental refrain: the voices of the Borg.
He hears them as they build a new ship, transform a drone into a new queen and prepare not to assimilate the Earth, but to attack. And he knows that by the time Admiral Janeway sends him Seven of Nine for consultation, it will be too late.
I enjoyed the tense action as the Enterprise flew once more into the breach against their most implacable foe. Lives lost? Yes. Drama? Yes. Borg showing just how relentless a foe they really are? Definitely yes. -
Comfortable.
No real surprises but a true to the beloved TNG. -
Abysmal. A dull, unbelievable (in the worst way) story that lacks a fundamental misunderstanding of its core characters.
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Resistance is futile... unless you're Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise.
Part Best-of-Both-Worlds, Part First-Contact, this is an enjoyable tale of how the Enterprise comes to be made aware of the remaining Borg in the Alpha Quadrant (remember they were dealt some serious blows in First Contact and in Voyager's "Endgame") are attempting to rebuild their power base by growing a new queen.
Naturally there are no other ships around, but at least (unlike in First Contact) Starfleet is willing to let Picard go, so long as he's chaperoned by the Borg expert, Seven of Nine. Unfortunately, deux ex plot clock occurs and she won't arrive until it's Too Late (TM), so off we go in violation of direct orders.
Once you get past that and accept that we are going to be once again, enterprise vs. single Borg ship, it's a pretty decent story. There's some new wrinkles to the Borg, and Picard makes some... interesting... choices. We also get some decent background on the ship's new Vulcan counselor (she doesn't say "fascinating" nearly enough though) and a permanent first officer appointed.
Recommended-for: Borg drones (this is what happens when you mess with Picard), Picard fans, Worf fans. -
Well, that was just delightful.
After the poorly written, dreadfully paced, tic-off-the-plot-point-boxes mess of a novel that was Death in Winter, and the perfectly functional but joyless and sterile first two Titan offerings, I was afraid that the post-Nemesis tie-in fiction was an utter waste of potential. Thankfully, Resistance is a spritely, energetic read that both advances the characters beyond the boundaries of traditional tie-in fiction and tells a solid story to boot.
Part of me wonders if this is due to the primary source material: Resistance is, more or less, a sequel to First Contact, while the other books I've mentioned by necessity had to deal with the fallout of Nemesis more directly. But I think a lot of credit goes to Dillard, whose prose style reads like a solid action script, and put me in mind of some of the better episodes of the titular series. For this kind of work, I can't think of higher praise. -
[1.5/5] It reads like fan fiction nonsense, throwing the characters into ridiculous situations and having them behave nothing like the people we've come to know, along with whiplash inducing changes of tone within the space of pages. I have no idea why it was decided that Picard would relive his Borg nightmare again, as if he had processed nothing. Both he and Worf are particularly out of character here.
Janeway's small appearance is similarly baffling and hypocritical. And don't get me started on the fact that all modern Federation ships now have a certain secret technology that just needs a special code to activate.
But I'll take a dumb and fun book over a clever and boring one any day, and this is a super quick read that barely pauses for a breath. If you can accept the fact that this is every previous Borg story turned up to eleven with no thought behind it, you may find something to enjoy. -
A decent enough novel and a continuation of the storyline from Death in Winter and introduces some new characters into the TNG universe, although I'm still unsure how I feel about them because seriously, no one talks back to Picard! Worf gets a promotion that's was long overdue, and the ending between him and Picard was classic. Obviously I'm a huge fan of the Borg (and it appears that when the Borg come every officer is a redshirt), but their inclusion in this novel was a bit to ancillary. Also there wasn't enough Picard/Beverly moments like in Death in Winter, but overall this is the second book I've read of the TNG re-launch and while not all that great, it has me looking forward to reading the next three direct sequels.
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Disappointing: Dillard has written far better Trek novels than this. The basic plot is ok, and it stands alone as a complete story while linking in to an ongoing series. However, almost every time she mentions bees she gets her facts wrong. For instance, it's physically impossible to turn a male drone into a queen! (What actually happens is that female eggs can turn into workers or queens.) I don't mind her comparing the Borg to an insect colony, and she can make up whatever Borg rules she likes, but if a writer wants to use real-world concepts then they should do some basic research first.
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This is one of the most emotional books in the return of the Borg story arc. Picard is forced to make a horrifying choice, how far are you willing to go to defeat an enemy bent on destroying you. This book really demonstrates strength, courage and a willingness to never give in, from both Picard and his crew as well as the Borg. This book, more than many others apart from the Destiny trilogy, shows the issue of the Borg's penchant to destroy anything both from their perspective and the Federations
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A fun adventure dealing with the Borg. The story flow was pretty good, and the tale had a few new faces. It was pleasant enough. =)
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Angst-filled Borg Adventure. The Borg Queen and the return of Locutus.
Worf vs Locutus
Into to T'lana -
An exciting Borg focused story which leads us into the troubles brought to a head in the Destiny trilogy. And we get a new vulcan councillor on the Enterprise E!
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A story about a bad command decision. It kept me engaged and at times was exciting. A good read for a Star Trek fan.
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Resistance sees Picard and the crew of the Enterprise disobeying Admiral Janeway's order to take on a renewed Borg threat to the Federation! :D Picards hearing of the Borg in his head and the intensity of what he is hearing really come through his scene meeting the new ships Counsellor T'Lana and her reaction being Vulcan set the stage for their relationship in the book but really emphasises the urgency of the situation Picard and the crew find themselves in! :D
At the same time though we get to see character development all over the place Riker and Crusher are clearly more than getting along, Worf is still coming to terms with what happened to Jadzia and initially refuses a promotion to permanent First Officer that Picard offers! :D Crusher proves again how tough she is when the cards are laid down and ruthless to boot! :D At the same time we get to see more of the newer members of the crew T'Lana joins the crew and we get to see more development with L. Lionardo Battaglia new Head of Security and Lt Sarah Nave at Conn! :D Resistance doesn't even hesitate with what it puts it characters through so be prepared! :D We get to see though the grit the crew are made of and the battle scenes both within and without the Borg ship are really gritty but brilliantly strategically handled! :D This really gets the new crew gelling but also get to boost Worf who has been told by Crusher to be Klingon! :D Picards stand and decision throughout are nothing less than the crew would expect which in turn makes Picard question things with T'Lana's help and her sparring with Picard is spot on and bodes well for future interactions between the two characters! :D
The Borg themselves are even more brutal and ruthless than we have seen before only assimilating when they have crushed their enemy or require information! :D It seem as becomes very apparent throughout that they have a serious flea in the ear when it comes to the Federation and their allies! :D The tactics that are employed and the Borgs continued adaption is brilliantly handled with the Federation officers in turn adapting to so there is a constant one-upmanship going on the keeps the book on a knife edge throughout! :D
The Borg Queen herself is as ruthless and arrogant as you would expect! :D Throughout though you get more insights into how the Borg create the queen and this in turn hints at how they may have come about in the first place as she always gives the impression of being a fully realised individual and not that of a hive mind certainly implying that she has been there sine day one! :D This adds mysteries on top of the action which gives the book a feeling of high stakes beyond what is readily apparent! :D
We get to see appearances from a Kathryn Janeway on the warpath and this sets thing up for future books as well! :D Janeway is clearly got everything on her plate and this comes through strongly in all the scenes that she is in with Picard and the dire warning she gives Picard would gives you the chills in his position! :D At the same time the Borg ships disablement and Seven of Nines dispatch to tit promises further plot points and stories as it is sitting out there and you have to consider what else the Borg have been up to beyond the Federation! :D
Resistance is excellently handled and is edge of the seat at every turn with daring solutions being tired left right and centre! :D How the Borg and crew in turn react is brilliantly handled with you really not knowing how the outcome will come out with intrigue and adventure at every turn and action packed throughout! :D Highly recommended and brilliant make sure you have the next one! :D -
So, last night I'm laying in bed, where I get most of my productive reading hours in, and my boyfriend turns to me and we have a conversation that starts out something like this, "So are you going to review that one?"
I set the Kindle down just enough to get a peek of him over the bevel, "Of course."
"Well, are you going to mention me?"
"Why would I do that?"
"I don't want you blaming this one on me, that's all." Maybe it was the fact that it was almost midnight and sleep was creeping in, but I just didn't follow and it must have showed because he immediately plowed on, "You know, for getting you to watch Star Trek again and that somehow translating into you getting into the books."
Ah-ha.
At the time I'd said I wouldn't mention him, but it seems like a good way to answer the question I'm sure was burning through your brain when you saw the title of today's review: Why in all hell would I read 'Resistance' by J.M. Dillard?
Here's the deal. About a year ago he said he'd never watched Star Trek: The Next Generation. I'd already watched through it in it's entirety twice before, but I will never turn down that kind of opportunity. A year, and a full seven sessions of Star Trek: TNG and four movies later, he's all but given up (he hates Voyager and I can't really blame him on that score) but I was still clinging onto a bit of nostalgia and found that this title picks up where the movies left off. I couldn't help myself.
It's been about a week since that sad day, and I've gotta say that while the book had most of the right pieces, the feeling just wasn't in it for me. In a sense it's laid out in a way that makes it feel like one, super long, episode - which is good. But I didn't fall in love with any of the new characters introduced to fill in some of the big casting holes (left by the Councillor especially), which made most of the "big emotional scenes" fall more than a little flat. As if that weren't bad enough, I kinda just got peeved that the book opens with shipping B-4 off for a good ol' fashioned tear down (for Science!) and ends with not a whisper of him again. That kinda crap just wouldn't happen in the series. Who knows... he's might be brought back in a later book? But I'm not going to read any further to find out. And this isn't even touching on the fact that it's yet another Picard/Locutus and the Borgs drama that only kinda-sorta touches on him and Beverly's now official romance.
If I were a die-hard trekie I'd keep reading, if only to find out what happens to B-4, but the synopsis and teaser chapter for the next book leads me to believe it focuses on Janeway (gag) and MORE BORGS!!!!! (grrrr. So. Sick. Of. Borgs.)
Bottom line? I won't be reading any further. I usually have a policy that I don't read anything that is based on a show or movie and this experience only helps to reinforce prior findings. It doesn't ruin the show, but it didn't really bring much to the table either. Unless you are a really, truly in need of a Next Generation fix, steer clear.
To comment on this review, read more like it, come and join me at my blog,
To The Point! -
In a world where the complete three-season run of Star Trek: Picard is a satisfying follow-up to Star Trek: Nemesis, is there really a need for these post-Nemesis novels that don't fit in that timeline? The answer is yes! I had a lot of fun reading this one. The second in a series that began with Death in Winter, you could read this one without having read that one and just know that Picard and Beverly are an item.
Picard hears telepathic messages about the Borg returning. Understandably, people in Starfleet would be skeptical. Admiral Janeway does suggest sending Seven of Nine on this mission, but Picard being the Picard of this era goes against orders when it seems there is a greater danger. I could see the lack of Seven of Nine being a sticking point for some people. And honestly, I can imagine an amazing premise in which Picard still hears the Borg voices and keeps searching them out, but it's all just in his head, as it's something he may never completely recover from, at least for a long time.
Some may call this novel "First Contact Redux," but I think there's enough different about it to keep it interesting. For one, there's no time travel, and there's no light-hearted subplot like that film had with Cochrane. It's a bit more serious, but not too dreary. And of course, the lack of Riker and Troi (off on their adventures in the Titan novel series) means different character dynamics. Picard wants to make Worf his new first officer, but he is reluctant, still feeling guilty about the choices he made related to Jadzia's death a few years prior. With Jadzia never mentioned in the Picard TV series, it's great that she has a presence here, with Worf even imagining a conversation with her a couple of times. And in the counselor position is a Vulcan named T'lana, who reads Worf as the stereotypical Klingon, but there is more depth to him, and this book takes advantage of that. I also love the interactions between Worf and Beverly. They really feel like friends in this.
I loved this book and I probably could have read the whole thing within the same day if I did not have other tasks I needed to take care of right away. The next book that came after this one was Q&A, but I already read that during my Q reading marathon a year ago. So I'll be moving onto Before Dishonor next, which should flow nicely given it continues the Borg-related threads. I'm very excited to get to it. -
I'm a fan of the novel series continuing TNG, and the evolution of the crews and properties that aren't featured on the screen anymore. These characters are very real to their fans, and the writers even tend to be especially talented at maintaining the flavor of the series.
Resistance is a Borg story, and (as I understand it) the beginning of the Borg story to end all Borg stories (literally?) - but, it works well as a stand-alone. There is without a doubt a good deal of retread here. Going back over the Locutus stories that were a highlight of TNG (maybe it's ultimate peak - resulting in the best seasonal cliff hanger in all ST). Somehow it remains fresh at the same time - with introduction of new characters that feel very real, reflecting on the fate of crew from the last screen stories (at the movies - too few Next Generation movies, IMO), and virtually turning the novels into crack for fans by playing tag with the companion/sister novel series (esp. Titan).
Bravely unafraid to have real consequences and legitimate threats that have lasting impact (something televised stories ultimately shy away from most of the time).
Janeway is a side character who is destined to be sucked into an extension of this storyline in the biggest way possible.
The focus is on Picard, Beverly Crusher, Worf, Sara Nave (comm/security), Leonardo Battaglia (security) and last but not least T'Lana.
T'Lana is the new ships counselor, replacing Deanna Troi - - she's an especially interesting choice because she's Vulcan. This is a beautiful set-up for examining the Vulcan approach to counseling and how it balances logic and handles emotion. I'm sold on this character and very interested in seeing her evolve.
Crusher's contributions are a lot of fun, too - shifting the way we see the Borg in a clever dynamic way that works really well. The Borg preceded the pop culture zombie renaissance, but in reality that's not true at all - in reality they *were* the pop culture zombie renaissance, and Trek producers and fans were just ahead of the curb in their tastes. This also makes for a timeless horror-themed candy feeling for this story arc. The Borg became a nuisance in Voyager - and were too-often front and center to the point of weakening their brand. This novel arc seeks to remedy the blandness of that overuse by giving them a Borg story to end all stories. -
This book was hardly remarkable in any way- indeed, it seemed cut from an all-too-familiar mold. You have a dire threat to the future of humanity, which the Enterprise must face head-on, alone of course. Captain Picard, of course, must defy authority to meet this dire threat. You also have a rather dull romantic subplot that is somewhat reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. The dire threat is, of course, the Borg. And in a way that's not altogether creative, J.M. Dillard has basically combined the TNG episode The Best of Both Worlds and the film First Contact into one story.
Yet, it managed to be much more of a page-turner than I expected it to be. The Borg are constructing a ginormous new cube, which somehow remains undetected to the Federation, and "birthing" a new queen for an attack on the Alpha Quadrant. This time they're out to kill, not simply to assimilate. They're motivated almost solely by a desire for revenge against the Federation and its allies for stubbornly refusing to be assimilated. Fresh out of spacedock after fighting Praetor Shinzon in the film Nemesis, it's up to the Enterprise to protect the quadrant once again. Picard starts hearing Borg voices thanks to the vestiges of their machinery still left in his body, and he is able to lead the ship right to the location of their massive new cube.
Here's the spoiler I hid the review for- I was a bit startled when I read that Picard was going to try and neutralize the queen by becoming Locutus again, having Dr. Crusher "re-assimilate" him. This is after an away team gets obliterated on a first attempt to take out the queen. Of course, the Locutus plan fails, and Picard is taken by the Borg and his "neutralizer chip," the gadget that's supposed to prevent them from assimilating him, is no obstacle. I find this hard to believe. Picard's tactical knowledge allowed the Borg to cause an unbelievable amount of damage in The Best of Both Worlds, and to put him in that position again seems quite stupid. Thankfully, all ends well, but I found this to be sloppy storytelling.
For Trekkies already familiar with the litverse, this book will not add much to the experience. If you want a good page-turner with a decent amount of action, you'll enjoy it. -
Summary (SPOILERS): Picard hears the Borg in his head again; it turns out they're back in the alpha quadrant and are building a new gigantic cube ship and spawning a new queen. Against Admiral Janeway's orders, Picard takes the Enterprise to intercept the cube before it becomes fully operational.
After the first away team is massacred ("they attack on sight!"), Picard decides to become Locutus again (Dr. Crusher kept all his Borgly bits), using a neutralizer chip to retain his consciousness. Picard beams over to the cube and attempts to kill the queen, but she promptly wakes up and assimilates the shit out of him (as one could assume was going to happen).
Dr. Crusher discovers that the Borg drones ooze some kind of gel that turns any standard androgynous drone into a new queen; she uses this knowledge to develop some kind of anti-estrogen hypospray that will turn the queen back into a normal drone.
Crusher, Warf, and a couple of red shirts beam over to the cube; most of the red shirts die; Crusher nails the queen with the hypospray right when all hope seems to be lost; everything ends up back at square one, with Picard back to his old self.
Review: This book was decent; I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. The writing itself wasn't great--in particular, I found the callbacks to the previous episodes and movies grating and a bit on the nose most of the time. I also didn't really care for the whole "the borg are all androgynous and ooze queen-gel that turns one of them female" bit, either; I don't recall that ever having been established in the primary cannon. Picard becoming Locutus again also seemed forced and unncessary; it felt like Picard's line of thinking went: "well we tried beaming 3 people over to kill the queen and that didn't pan out; the only possible option left is for me to become Locutus again!" So, overall it was OK, but more like fan fiction than a proper novel.
