The Buried Age (Spoiler)

S P O I L E R

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I have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I always liked
Picard and was wondering what he did during the time between after
losing the Stargazer and becoming captain of the Enterprise. I already
had a hunch that he would at least spend part of the time following his
passion for archaeology and when first news about the book confirmed
that, my curiosity grew. I very much enjoyed the Mirror Universe story
featuring a Picard adventure in which archaeology plays a very important
part ("Glass Empires" - "The Worst of Both Worlds" by Greg Cox). The
excellent cover of "The Buried Age" also shows a Picard who obviously
just made a stunning discovery. This combined with the author`s style of
combining a strong sense of discovery and wonder, of SF-science with
strong character elements in his Titan book "Orion`s Hounds", caused me
to expect a story in a similar style that would be something special to
me.

I quickly found out that I was right: "The Buried Age" is indeed one of
the best Picard stories I have read so far and the style of the book
reminded me indeed of the Star Trek: Titan novel I mentioned. The
descriptions of the aliens, their history and their culture were very
interesting. Hardcore SF is not my cup of tea but the scientific and
technological parts of the book didn`t bother me most of the time, which
is already something positive. Sometimes they even captured my attention
and I made some more effort to follow these explanations. Nevertheless,
I think this is the only weakness at times in this book. The
explanations about the transporter problems, like when Janeway was
spewing her technobabble, just went past me. I neither had the
motivation nor the technical understanding to follow that. I remember
that I lost patience at one point and skimmed a few paragraphs. I also
think the idea of using a black hole as a giant computer for storing
data does not make sense. It was too fantastic and just sounded
ridiculous to me. At least there weren`t any hidden, floating parasites
in the transporter beam who could bite people, as shown in one TNG
episode.

But this barely counts compared with how much I enjoyed the book. I
definitely felt for a long time that I am going on a discovery as well
when Picard started his expedition. This feeling already started with
the powerful speech he gave in class. He certainly got my attention and
I smiled because his passion was so tangible and infectious.

I like it how the author tries to also give humanoid species he invented
something special, something that makes them distinctive among the many
humanoid species in the Star Trek universe. The symbiosis between plant
life and the Mabrae is very interesting indeed. By the way, I liked
Coray and I regret her death but on the other hand, it fits well into
the story.

I must admit, the many descriptions of how beautiful, wondrous and
otherwise perfect "Ariel" was got at times a bit on my nerves. But I was
also amused because I thought, this is a male author. Why should he not
write about such a kind of super woman? To be fair, I welcomed it that
Picard was certainly not just attracted to a beautiful packaging. It
also became increasingly clear that "Ariel" (even before she
rediscovered her identity) was a natural, skilled manipulator. The more
Picard felt attracted to her, the more I was getting suspicious and was
wondering - where is the catch?

The answer was a surprise to me and I found the explanation fascinating.
First of all, I love the parallels with Babylon 5 (although I am aware
of it that there must be other SF stories out there dealing with the
same idea). In Babylon 5 there was a clear division between the ancient
and the new races as well as the desire of some ancient races to guide
the younger ones. In Babylon 5 it was the Vorlons and the Shadows, very
roughly a competition between "order" and "conflict".

I think we saw something very similar, although not that obvious, in
this book. Also the Federation is guiding younger races but following an
opposite philosophy compared with "Ariel`s", meaning Giriaenn`s species,
the Manraloth. The book shows very well that extremes, that absolutes
are usually not the right answer. I very much agree with what the author
said about the Prime Directive and in the past I often pointed out how
much I disagree with the literal meaning of this law. The Manraloth on
the other hand don`t favour growth by conflict but growth by order. As
with the PD, it looks good on the surface but this extreme, absolute
form is not an approach I agree with either. That Picard was determined
to fight her and the Manraloth was very understandable and I very much
agreed with him.

Nevertheless, I could see the irony that Giriaenn felt the need to also
sacrifice lives in order to do what she sees as the greater good. Picard
condemned her but when he did, did he think of the times when the
Federation, when Starfleet did the same? Also Starfleet sacrificed and
sacrifices lives in the name of the PD. Picard saved the aliens in "Pen
Pals". Other Starfleet captains would not have done that and nobody
would have prosecuted these captains for doing nothing.

The climax was excellent. I was actually waiting for it that Picard
plays Sheridan`s part. It was not "Get the hell out of this galaxy!" But
in essence there is not a big difference, except that Picard was less
blunt and more diplomatic. When it became public knowledge thanks to
Sheridan and of course others as well that the Vorlons and Shadows had
been manipulating the younger races for ages, they rebelled, refusing to
be drawn into their wars any more. Picard made it clear that the
Federation, knowing about the history of the Manraloth and their efforts
to manipulate them, reacted very much the same: Picard explained that
humanity and species on a similar level will find their own way and that
the Manraloth (like the Vorlons and Shadows) should finally move to the
next level.

Another parallel is, of course, that Vorlons, Shadows and Manraloth
would have destroyed that what they saw as their destiny to guide - the
future of the younger races. They all started with the best intentions
but in time, their cause got twisted and corrupted. Hopefully, the
history of the Manraloth will also serve as a warning to the Federation
not to enter a similar path one day in the future.

To me, Babylon 5 is still one of the best SF series ever and with this
book, a lot of what made Babylon 5 special is now also part of the Star
Trek universe. This is great! I very much enjoyed the part when the
Manraloth met Q. It was also fun because it provided a direct link to
"Encounter at Farpoint". It explains a lot and it also makes me even
more curious about "Q &A", the new book featuring Q which is announced
for October.

At this point I want to mention the beginning of the book dealing with
why Picard decided to pursue archaeology until he decided to be the
captain of the Enterprise as Guinan had seen in her future. This book
provides the full story of what was shown in "The Battle" but is also
hinting at future developments seen in TNG. It also made good use of the
Stargazer characters we got to know from the Stargazer books. Then it
shows the brutal court martial mentioned in "Measure of a Man". I
expected it to be tough but was amazed at the personal betrayal
Phillippa was guilty of. Picard`s reaction was very understandable. I
couldn`t help it, I remembered the witch hunt he suffered later in "The
Drumhead", which was definitely worse. But the books managed to even
treat Picard worse in "A Time to..." than what happened on screen.
Well.... I can only hope that lessons have finally been learned!

I welcomed it to meet Data again and see the beginnings of a remarkable
career and growth as an individual. Unfortunately all appearance of Data
will be tained for me because of "Nemesis". Also this time it took some
effort not to let my frustration and anger about this dreadful movie to
spoil these well written, interesting and sometimes humorous scenes.

Deanna Troi`s introduction in "Encounter at Farpoint" was pretty
dreadful. I am grateful that this book shows an early Deanna I would
have liked to have seen much more often in early TNG on screen. I was
very impressed and not only because to Deanna her moral principles were
more important than following orders that are in conflict with them but
also because she understood Picard so well. I am sure, Picard would not
have succeeded without Deanna and Guinan at his side. I also enjoyed it
to meet Guinan again, I liked the appearances of Tasha, Geordi and Worf.
Picard indeed chose a remarkable crew for the Enterprise.

This is a remarkable book and I think people who like Picard should
definitely read it.

Baerbel Haddrell