Review: Immortal Coil (TNG)

Immortal Coil is a Next Generation novel about Data. It ties together
almost every episode of Star Trek (both the original series and the
Next Generation) that has to do with androids and artificial
intelligence. It's a well-written book that drags in the middle and
has a bit too much Star Trek continuity for my taste. It's definitely
worth the time and cost of reading it, though.

I'd heard wonderful things about this book, so when I saw it at the
library, I snapped it up. Data's always been one of the more
interesting characters on TNG. Quite a few books have been written
about him, but this is the first one to take place during the times of
the TNG movies, thus Data has his emotion chip. This opens up many
avenues for writers to explore.

Lang does a good job here. All of the characters are definitely within
the characters that fans know. Riker is his usual lecherous self (he's
extremely attracted to the new security chief), Troi gets some time as
the counselor on the ship, trying to help Data navigate the rocky
shores of his new emotions as they deal with grief, the first time
he's had to do that. Not only that, though, she gets some time as
commander on the bridge during battle, testing her tactical abilities
in a situation that we really haven't seen her in before. These are
just two examples, but all of the other main characters certainly
shine in their scenes as well.

But the star of the show is Data, and Lang is wonderful with him. He's
completely torn between turning off his emotion chip because he can't
deal with what it's giving him, and working his way through his grief
like most humans do. He also finds himself falling in love for the
first time, making hunches where he usually deals only with facts, and
generally not acting like the Data we're used to. He's maturing and
growing, doing things that he's not used to, and it's wonderful to
see. His relationship with McAdams is very touching, and even more so
when he finds out her secret.

The original characters created by Lang are good as well. McAdams is a
real treasure, with a wonderful sense of humour as well as sense of
duty. Some of the tale is told in flashback, showing an expedition
with Dr. Soong, Dr. Ira Graves, and Dr. Vaslovik. These three
characters are interesting people, and the reader doesn't miss the
Enterprise characters during the flashback sections at all. They are
all well-realized, intriguing characters that you want to know more
about. The only character that isn't that great is Sam, as he seems
completely uninteresting when you first meet him, and doesn't gain
that much when you find out why he's really around. He seems to be
around just to play a role, rather than to make you care about him.

The plot of the book is very good, with twists and turns that keep you
guessing. When the truth is finally revealed, it all falls into place
with no holes that I could see. There are a couple of moments when I
groaned at a bit of plot contrivance, such as how Riker and Barclay
are saved from almost certain death. However, these moments are few
and far between, and most of them can be easily explained so it's not
as cringe-worthy as they seem when they happen. The story holds your
attention during the investigation, and then explodes with tension as
events start to overtake it.

One problem, though, is that this tension dissipates when things start
to get explained. Picard is told some of the history behind what
happened, and Data lives some of it in a form of consciousness
transference. This grinds the book to a halt as a large part of the
backstory is told in excruciating detail. I don't know exactly how
Lang could get around it, but it truly suffers from the neglecting the
"show, don't tell" philosophy. There is way too much telling during
this sequence, and it becomes boring pretty fast. Thankfully, once
this part is over, the story picks up the pace again and races to a
very satisfying finish. The ending, where Data and his new love have
to part is very touching (and this is not a spoiler, because there is
no way that Paramount, the owners of Star Trek, would ever allow
something like a permanent love interest for one of the main
characters to be established in the books, so you know that things
have to end).

The other main problem with Immortal Coil, and I admit that this is a
personal thing, so may not affect you at all, is the excessive amount
of Star Trek continuity in this one. Some of it is very necessary for
the story that Lang wants to tell, but other references come at the
expense of the story. Sometimes, the reference has to be explained,
which causes the story to stop as Lang explains it. Others just make
the reader stop for a moment, interrupting the flow of the story. As I
mentioned, every artificial intelligence episode of Star Trek is
incorporated in some point in this story, and at times it's to the
detriment of the story. It's nice to have some sort of over-arching
narrative linking all of these stories, but I think Lang could have
left one or two out, and instead present something new. Given all of
this, though, Lang does a decent job with what he is given.

Overall, I would have to recommend this book. The slow middle part and
the overuse of continuity is what brings my rating down to four stars.
However, if you like continuity, this could easily be a 4.5 star book.
It is a fine example of a Star Trek novel, and is certainly worth a
look.

David Roy