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Star Trek: Slings and Arrows #3
The Insolence of Office
A new six-part epic covering the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E , leading up to the events of the hit movie Star First Contact .A major turning point in the lives of two of the Enterprise crew! Newly promoted Admiral Hayes gives La Forge a shocking his VISOR is a security risk, and he must either have it replaced with ocular implants or be transferred to a less-sensitive post.Meanwhile, Troi has some issues of her own. Though she knows that her mother, Lwaxana, recently remarried to the Tavnian named Jeyal, she was unaware of the subsequent pregnancy -- and now Lwaxana's about to give birth. To make matters worse, the Tevnian government has decided that, even though Lwaxana and Jeyal have since divorced, the child still belongs to them.
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 6, 2022
Summer 2022 Reading Entry #8. "The Insolence of Office" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office") by William Leisner (2007). The third of a six-book series of ebooks (still not available in print form as of this time) released in 2007-2008 as part of Pocket Books' commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series.
Each of the books in this series is written by a different author (or team of authors), and they all take place in the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (so, following the film "Star Trek Generations", in which the Enterprise from the tv series, NCC-1701-D, was destroyed, and prior to the following film, "Star Trek: First Contact", in which its replacement, the Enterprise NCC-1701-E, was introduced).
The third of the six "Slings and Arrows" novellas welcomely brings the focus back entirely to two of the established "Star Trek: The Next Generation" characters (although we do get a few nice scenes with the Enterprise-E's new security chief, Lt. Pádraig Daniels, who was introduced and was basically the lead character in "Slings and Arrows Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong"), that being ship's counselor Deanna Troi and chief engineer Geordi La Forge.
The first of the shorter novellas in the series (books one and two were both close to 150 pages long, while books three and four are eighty-five and forty-four pages, respectively), "The Insolence of Office" feels much like an episode of "Next Generation" where they took two of the typical "B plots" and put them together. Which is by no means a bad thing as both of these "B plots" here fill in interesting gaps in what was shown on screen in the tv shows and films.
First, while on the way to conference of many Starfleet vessels regarding the looming threat of war with the Dominion, Deanna Troi gets word from Worf, now stationed on space station Deep Space Nine, of her mother's pregnancy. This (Lwaxana Troi's marriage to a Tavnian man, pregnancy, and breaking off of that relationship due to disagreement over Tavnian customs regarding the raising of children separately based on gender) was seen on the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode, "The Muse". Deanna Troi (played by Marina Sirtis, was not featured in that episode, however, and no mention was ever made again to either Troi's mother or the half Tavnian child she had in subsequent Next Generation films. Upon learning of this, Deanna Troi immediately informs Picard, who willingly diverts the Enterprise on its way to the conference to drop her off to visit her mother.
Once the Enterprise reaches the conference, Picard and La Forge are called into an unexpected meeting with a high ranking admiral who, to their surprise, gives La Forge an ultimatum: voluntarily get ocular implants surgery so as to be able to no longer need his VISOR device to see or be reassigned from his current position as chief engineer of Starfleet's flagship to a much less sensitive lower target (and less desirable) post at a planet or starbase. This is because of the recent use of La Forge's VISOR by the Klingon renegade sisters in the film, "Star Trek Generations", to access the vital deflector shields frequencies aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D which allowed them to breach the Enterprise's shields. They were able to defeat the Klingon sisters but the Enterprise-D was also destroyed in the process. This plus an earlier instance in which the VISOR was used in a plot to temporarily brainwash Le Forge into attacking his shipmates (from the TNG tv episode, "The Mind's Eye") has convinced the admiral that the VISOR must go.
La Forge, who has worn a VISOR his entire adult life, is at first quite resistant to the idea and (rightfully) angry at the coercion tactics the admiral is using to force him to make the change. Given that the next time we see La Forge in the film, "Star Trek: First Contact", he is no longer wearing the VISOR and instead has the ocular implants, it should be rather obvious just how this story ends up going. But, as I said, it fills in a "gap" in what we saw between the two films, that of how exactly La Forge made the change from the VISOR to the implants and how he came to the point where he did indeed voluntarily agree, despite the admiral's ultimatum, to the surgery.
Back on Betazed, Deanna Troi finds her mother resistant to talk about what all happened back on Deep Space Nine and on Tavnia. A Tavnian oficial shows up, insisting that when the child is born he must be turned over to him to ensure that he gets a proper Tavnian upbringing. In the midst of all of this, of course, Lwaxana goes into labor.
What's nice about "The Insolence of Office" is that it is two "smaller", more personal stories, a welcome break from the over arching plot concerning the Dominion, which I'm sure we will get back to in books five and six of this series. Leisner does a good job capturing the voices and personalities of both of the Trois and also of La Forge. And, I have to admit, it was a treat to see Lwaxana's mute but gargantuanly tall manservant, Mr. Homn (played in the tv series by seven foot tall actor, Carel Struycken, who also played the part of Lurch in the "Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values" 1990s films) again. And (SPOILERS), we also get a bit of Odo in this in what is presented as being the first time Deanna Troi and Odo meet. (They never meet on screen in a "canon" Star Trek tv episode of film but I'm thinking that they were shown together in at least one of the TNG/DS9 comic book crossovers prior to this).
Again, an enjoyable novella. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. Up next: Book 4: "That Sleep of Death" by Terri Osborne.
(Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella), #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition), #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon), #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition).
Each of the books in this series is written by a different author (or team of authors), and they all take place in the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (so, following the film "Star Trek Generations", in which the Enterprise from the tv series, NCC-1701-D, was destroyed, and prior to the following film, "Star Trek: First Contact", in which its replacement, the Enterprise NCC-1701-E, was introduced).
The third of the six "Slings and Arrows" novellas welcomely brings the focus back entirely to two of the established "Star Trek: The Next Generation" characters (although we do get a few nice scenes with the Enterprise-E's new security chief, Lt. Pádraig Daniels, who was introduced and was basically the lead character in "Slings and Arrows Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong"), that being ship's counselor Deanna Troi and chief engineer Geordi La Forge.
The first of the shorter novellas in the series (books one and two were both close to 150 pages long, while books three and four are eighty-five and forty-four pages, respectively), "The Insolence of Office" feels much like an episode of "Next Generation" where they took two of the typical "B plots" and put them together. Which is by no means a bad thing as both of these "B plots" here fill in interesting gaps in what was shown on screen in the tv shows and films.
First, while on the way to conference of many Starfleet vessels regarding the looming threat of war with the Dominion, Deanna Troi gets word from Worf, now stationed on space station Deep Space Nine, of her mother's pregnancy. This (Lwaxana Troi's marriage to a Tavnian man, pregnancy, and breaking off of that relationship due to disagreement over Tavnian customs regarding the raising of children separately based on gender) was seen on the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode, "The Muse". Deanna Troi (played by Marina Sirtis, was not featured in that episode, however, and no mention was ever made again to either Troi's mother or the half Tavnian child she had in subsequent Next Generation films. Upon learning of this, Deanna Troi immediately informs Picard, who willingly diverts the Enterprise on its way to the conference to drop her off to visit her mother.
Once the Enterprise reaches the conference, Picard and La Forge are called into an unexpected meeting with a high ranking admiral who, to their surprise, gives La Forge an ultimatum: voluntarily get ocular implants surgery so as to be able to no longer need his VISOR device to see or be reassigned from his current position as chief engineer of Starfleet's flagship to a much less sensitive lower target (and less desirable) post at a planet or starbase. This is because of the recent use of La Forge's VISOR by the Klingon renegade sisters in the film, "Star Trek Generations", to access the vital deflector shields frequencies aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D which allowed them to breach the Enterprise's shields. They were able to defeat the Klingon sisters but the Enterprise-D was also destroyed in the process. This plus an earlier instance in which the VISOR was used in a plot to temporarily brainwash Le Forge into attacking his shipmates (from the TNG tv episode, "The Mind's Eye") has convinced the admiral that the VISOR must go.
La Forge, who has worn a VISOR his entire adult life, is at first quite resistant to the idea and (rightfully) angry at the coercion tactics the admiral is using to force him to make the change. Given that the next time we see La Forge in the film, "Star Trek: First Contact", he is no longer wearing the VISOR and instead has the ocular implants, it should be rather obvious just how this story ends up going. But, as I said, it fills in a "gap" in what we saw between the two films, that of how exactly La Forge made the change from the VISOR to the implants and how he came to the point where he did indeed voluntarily agree, despite the admiral's ultimatum, to the surgery.
Back on Betazed, Deanna Troi finds her mother resistant to talk about what all happened back on Deep Space Nine and on Tavnia. A Tavnian oficial shows up, insisting that when the child is born he must be turned over to him to ensure that he gets a proper Tavnian upbringing. In the midst of all of this, of course, Lwaxana goes into labor.
What's nice about "The Insolence of Office" is that it is two "smaller", more personal stories, a welcome break from the over arching plot concerning the Dominion, which I'm sure we will get back to in books five and six of this series. Leisner does a good job capturing the voices and personalities of both of the Trois and also of La Forge. And, I have to admit, it was a treat to see Lwaxana's mute but gargantuanly tall manservant, Mr. Homn (played in the tv series by seven foot tall actor, Carel Struycken, who also played the part of Lurch in the "Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values" 1990s films) again. And (SPOILERS), we also get a bit of Odo in this in what is presented as being the first time Deanna Troi and Odo meet. (They never meet on screen in a "canon" Star Trek tv episode of film but I'm thinking that they were shown together in at least one of the TNG/DS9 comic book crossovers prior to this).
Again, an enjoyable novella. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. Up next: Book 4: "That Sleep of Death" by Terri Osborne.
(Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella), #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition), #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon), #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2017
This answers the question about how Geordi got his ocular implants, and what exactly happened to Troi's mother once she left DS9 pregnant. It is a good character piece, and looks into Deanna, Geordi and Data in detail. It answers quite a few questions, only problem is that it is very short. A very good read.
November 23, 2017
Probably the story I've enjoyed most in this series so far. It's much more focused on characters rather than action/plot, and gives some really nice development there for Geordi and Data. It also serves as a nice follow-up to the DS9 episode 'The Muse' and lets us know what happened to Lwaxana Troi. Shorter than the previous ones, but I think I actually liked that.
June 13, 2020
I like these small serial style novellas. This one is ok...George's dilemma was far more interesting than Troi's. Leisner did his best to spice it up, but Laxwana Troi has always been a difficult character to care about.
July 8, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. It wrote about what happened with Geordi’s visual upgrade between Generations and First Contact, as well as expanding on the DS9 episode where Odo married Lwaxana. Really filled in several gaps.
February 4, 2022
The books, even when they came out, were never considered canon in the Trek universe.... but still, we finally find out what the heck happened to Lwaxana's baby and how LaForge got rid of the visor!
October 5, 2022
This one was short, but I absolutely loved it. It had a lot of focus on Deanna, Lwaxana, and even Odo. I wish there were more books with that focus.
January 7, 2013
With this novel seeming shorter than either of the previous two, I expected to be disappointed. But although there's not a great deal of action, there's a lot of development, in terms of both character and crew integration.
This is also a novel you can't read without knowing your Trek, and as it focuses on Lwaxana, of prime import are the TNG episode Dark Page and from DS9 The Muse. It did seem as if The Muse concluded things fairly comprehensively, per Tavnian law, but then without stretching things a little bit you never get any novels out of the onscreen setups, I suppose.
Also, I really digged Geordi's"You use 'normal' like it's this huge selling point" - very relevant to me indeed.
So far, this is a very nice little series.
This is also a novel you can't read without knowing your Trek, and as it focuses on Lwaxana, of prime import are the TNG episode Dark Page and from DS9 The Muse. It did seem as if The Muse concluded things fairly comprehensively, per Tavnian law, but then without stretching things a little bit you never get any novels out of the onscreen setups, I suppose.
Also, I really digged Geordi's"You use 'normal' like it's this huge selling point" - very relevant to me indeed.
So far, this is a very nice little series.
April 12, 2015
I like that both of these stories get some attention in this miniseries, especially with regards to Lwaxana's pregnancy. I always found it bothersome that Deanna played no part in the story when it happened on Deep Space Nine, and it was nice to find out why that was. I also enjoyed the examination of Lwaxana's character and her choices of potential mates over the years. The story came to some interesting conclusions regarding her outlook on life.
With regards to Geordi's story, I never really found it necessary to explain why he changed from the VISOR to the implants, but William Leisner was able to craft a fascinating story out of the change.
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/04/S...
With regards to Geordi's story, I never really found it necessary to explain why he changed from the VISOR to the implants, but William Leisner was able to craft a fascinating story out of the change.
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/04/S...
August 27, 2016
The only part of this novella that's worthwhile is the part about Geordi's VISOR. The rest is blah.
October 17, 2018
I'm thoroughly enjoying this series of books
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews