Catalyst of Sorrows (Spoiler)

S P O I L E R

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I remember, long before "Catalyst of Sorrows" was available and I
learned that one of the main characters is Uhura, chief of Starfleet
Intelligence, I was very sceptical. I had learned that in the
Shatnerverse Sulu became the Federation president and Chekov became CIC
of Starfleet. A sarcastic "typical" went through my mind, although I
knew that giving Uhura that position was not Margaret Wander Bonanno`s
(MWB)`s idea and that - fortunately - the Shatnerverse is treated as a
parallel universe. I think I even posted at that time that I hope MWB
can convince me that she actually deserves to be at that position.

I was amused that MWB seemed to have read my mind: When she mentioned
that many people summarize Uhura`s past career with "Hailing frequencies
open, Captain", I smiled. How true, I was one of them. I am saying "was"
because to my big surprise MWB was even more successful at convincing me
than I would have ever imagined. I could see that having the position as
head of Starfleet Intelligence is a natural progression from her past
job on the Enterprise, I could see why her position there gave her the
basis she needed for it and I could also see that Uhura is indeed the
right woman at the helm of Starfleet Intelligence. Not only that, my
respect for her grew considerably.

What helped to achieve this is also the interesting way the book is
written. Past and present are constantly woven together into a tapestry.
The story moves forward but is accompanied by constant flashbacks that
in turn give the background to what is going on right now and form links
to what happened before. It is very clever and well done. It could
easily have been a frustrating disaster but MWB never lost control of
her storytelling. I had no problem to follow what is going on but it
demands from the reader to pay attention. I enjoyed this style very
much.

Another positive aspect is the rich history the book deals with. I found
it fascinating to read about the early history of the Romulans, the
insights into how they evolved as a people and how they are living at
the time this book takes place. Some of it was at least somewhat
familiar to me, other aspects were completely new. I can`t say how
accurate this portrayal is when considering TOS books because I very
rarely read TOS. But when looking at the "canon" universe, I didn`t
notice any discrepancies.

The mix of characters is interesting, too. Like Uhura, they are three
dimensional, complex people and very much in character. McCoy as the
grumpy old man left me amused but I also respected him a lot this time.
With him and Uhura (and of course Vaughn who doesn`t appear in this
book) I could see again how much older characters can enrich a story.
Then there are the two Vulcans Selar and Tuvok. The idea to have them
being "married" as a cover for this mission made me laugh. Also they are
distinct personalities and made an interesting team. Being a big fan of
NF, this was already a good reason for me to welcome the addition of
Selar a lot.

Not only two older characters and two (kind of) middle aged ones are
part of this mission but also two young adults. I liked the portrayal of
the young Sisko and his family. It was interesting to read about Sisko`s
first command, including the challenge how to handle this very unique
vessel that really deserved the name "Albatross". He did very well
indeed, the way MWB portrayed him also included a good portion of
humour. I liked that. It was also nice to include his wife and son,
scenes that also show a mix of humour and seriousness I enjoyed reading.
I couldn`t help but thinking that especially Keiko O`Brien could learn a
lot from the Siskos!

I liked Zetha as well. I must admit, when I read the back cover about
Zetha, the killing machine, I winced. I don`t like sensationalist, over
the top advertising, which is what the back cover is for, of course. I
just hoped it wouldn`t be as bad as it sounded and fortunately, it
definitely wasn`t. I must also admit, I had trouble at first seeing
Zetha, who is - if I remember correctly - 20 years old, as a child until
I realized that from the Romulan perspective, a people with a much
longer life span than human, she is very young indeed. She certainly is
an interesting contrast to Uhura and like her, she quickly earned my
respect and I cared about what happens to her. Nevertheless, the double
happy end concerning Zetha felt a bit too convenient to me, a bit too
constructed. But then I thought, what the heck, Zetha deserved it and it
is nice to read.
I had more problems with it that towards the end, Thamnos became too
stupid. That was indeed too constructed for my taste. But even with
these weaknesses, "Catalyst of Sorrows" is an excellent book.

What I also liked is the vast range of Romulan characters in the book.
These are first of all Zetha and Cretak on the predominantly good side
and Koval of the Tal Shiar, who is one of the worst. Koval is certainly
as bad as I remember him from DS9, in this book even worse. I also want
to mention Admiral Tal and his crew. It is good to know that such people
also exist in this society. Him facing Koval was refreshing to read,
although I had to wonder at the same time, what price he will have to
pay for it later.

To me, the most interesting part of the book was the end, meaning when
Uhura met Sloan. Sloan is described as working for Commander Starfleet,
the C-in-C office. It is obvious that in spite of all the power
Starfleet Intelligence has, Commander Starfleet is making the really
big, final political decision and has its own agents. I am always
looking for more information to whom Section 31 is actually answering to
and this book tells me a lot. Now I think it is indeed very likely that
at least at that time, Section 31 is something separate from Starfleet
Intelligence. I can`t imagine Uhura as head of Section 31. It must be
linked with Commander Starfleet, also because the orders given to Uhura
smell very much like that organization.

At the end I would like to say, that I welcome MWB`s return after her
long absence from writing Star Trek books. After having read "Catalyst
of Sorrows", I certainly would like to read more.

Baerbel Haddrell

On Mon, 1 Mar 2004 12:08:35 +0000, "." <"."@trekdata.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

 >I was amused that MWB seemed to have read my mind: When she mentioned
 >that many people summarize Uhura`s past career with "Hailing frequencies
 >open, Captain", I smiled. How true, I was one of them. I am saying "was"
 >because to my big surprise MWB was even more successful at convincing me
 >than I would have ever imagined. I could see that having the position as
 >head of Starfleet Intelligence is a natural progression from her past
 >job on the Enterprise, I could see why her position there gave her the
 >basis she needed for it and I could also see that Uhura is indeed the
 >right woman at the helm of Starfleet Intelligence. Not only that, my
 >respect for her grew considerably.

I understand your skepticism, but wasn't it already established in, I
believe, VULCAN'S HEART, that she was chief of Starfleet Intelligence?
I thought she was the one who sent Saavik on her mission to Romulus.

If so, it wasn't Bonnano's idea, though I'm glad to hear that she made
it believable.

Dave Roy<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->