Orion's Hounds

Finally a Titan book that completely convinced me! In my opinion it has three major points, that are reflecting it's strength: 1) crew diversity In the first two books it was constantly mentioned, that this ship features the most biodiverse crew in whole Starfleet and the characters became intoduced, but apart from discribing differences in species appearances, the authors did not make clear, what such diversity means for a ship's crew. This book makes the difference! The alien key characters are portrayed beyond body characteristics. One really gets the feeling, that they are aliens and not just strangely looking humans from another planet. Even more noticable is, that the author lets these aliens express their cultural and biological distinctivness without succumbing to Federation standards (which are pretty much human standards), like usually shown in ST. From this arises conflict among the crew, but also strength. The characters have to adjust themselves to oneanother and have to overcome prejudice, cliches and fears in order to function as a crew - fascinating! 2) no moral highground for the Federation The author manages to portray the Titan crew as well as their opponents as complex societies with complex ethics and moral, that are not necessarily superior to one another. Christopher L. Bennett dares to take a second, unbiased look - bravo! 3) a strong Deanna Troi Finally Deanna experiences a character developement, that logically reflects her past. She is one of, if not THE main character of this book and has the chance to show how fine an officer, how skilled a telepath and how passionate a wife she is. She's written strong without having to take on characteristics, that are traditionally associated with males - refreshing!

Readers of Trek!!! Did it ever bother you that in TNG Riker and Picard would be speaking to each other only to be disturbed by the communicator, never finishing the conversation?! Riker couldn't kiss Troi-or for that matter, Troi couldn't kiss Worf-without the twerp of the intercom! The viewer understood the reason for the interruptions: Too much dialogue or character development curtailed the plot development. This same technique was taken from the small screen and put into the books; however, the reason was different. Paramount wanted to keep watch over the Star Trek characters, fearing outside writers would go too far or better said, the company wanted to protect its copyright priviledges. The results were mixed. When the strategy worked, books such as True Q or Vendetta were produced. The conversations were brief, but the action was ongoing. When the strategy failed no one asked about Nightshade or Boogeyman. Regarding the protection of the franchise, this lead to stagnated characters. While Picard, Data, and Worf were given almost every opportunity to grow and explore on film and in books, Riker, Troi, Geordi and Crusher were allowed to basically languish, leaving them in an eternal time warp that stunted their development. For almost twenty years, this has been the pattern for TNG until now. What makes Orion's Hounds so special is the ability of its characters to mentally and physically evolve and communicate with each other. Personal growth and development appear to be prerequisites that each character carries with him or her. This is done using dialogue, which has often been sacrificed in Star Trek lore in order to please the objectives of TPTB. In Orion's Hounds, the characters are allowed to finish their conversation, reflect on their experiences and make decisions in accordance with earlier dialogues and events. Riker talks to Troi, Troi communicates with Vale, and Ree consults with Tuvok. Their conversations are not trivialized and abbreviated, making the reader unhappy. It is just the opposite. The reader is treated to mature conversation by the characters who are affected by their experiences and who very much want to work out their problems. How does Riker distinguish himself as a leader and what are his fears and strengths since he is no longer under the shadow of Picard? Although Vale is Number One, Troi has maturity and experience on her side. How do these women come to a consensus over their roles, so that there is a smooth chain of command on the Titan? Tuvok holds logic above all else, but what if he is no longer capable of total control over his emotions? These questions, which were for many years ignored or left up to the television programs, are written about. For people who said this book was poorly written, I can understand their unhappiness. I, too, would be upset if the rug was suddenly pulled out from underneath my feet. Over the years, despite its diversity, the reality of Star Trek is

Orion's Hounds is by far the best titan book so far. this story is why star trek is made for the only down side is the 2nd half of the book slows down but it is the best one so far....

FINALLY! A book where Counselor Troi shows her true value. I always thought she got short changed on the air, and in the books written while the series aired. Up to now, I always considered her part-Betazoid empathic skills to be more of a gimmick than an asset. This book easily dispels that notion. This was by far my favorite Titan book. (No slight to Misters Mangels and Martin is intended. I thoroughly enjoyed those books also.) I liked the beginnings of Mr. Bennett's development of the dynamics among Riker-Vale-Troi. They're reminiscent of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad, yet totally unique as well. I hope that particular element carries over to the next installment. I'm glad to see that some of the crew, both those who are already familiar to us and those who have been recently introduced, are getting a little more character development. I'm anxious to see more of the same. Hopefully, Mr. Bennett will be asked to write for this series again. I would certainly purchase it without a moment's hesitation.

I agree with the previous reviewer. This book is a 5 star; I don't know why someone would give it a 1 star. Titan Book Three is a terrific completion to the three part series depicting Captain Riker's first missions. The characters are well thought out and this book further defines all characters. This book is much better than Book Two in that you learn more about the characters. This book is very upbeat and well-worth reading; much more reminiscent of what made Star Trek so great. This book is well worth reading. I hope that the Star Trek franchise will produce more Titan books and possibly a movie or series with Titan. These books are really terrific and so reminiscent of the plots that made Star Trek so great!