Sword of Damocles (Star Trek: Titan, Book 4) | 
 enlarge | Author: Geoffrey Thorne
Publisher: Star Trek
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 69605
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 1416526943
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781416526940
ASIN: 1416526943
Publication Date: November 27, 2007
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Product Description
Fate: It is an idea as old as life itself. Do our choices shape the future, or is it the other way around? And if the path we walk is predestined -- if the way we are to meet our end is knowable -- what might that knowledge compel us to do?Titan 's travels take it to a world at the edge of reason. Orisha is a planet whose people have lived for centuries beneath an unfathomable celestial body in their sky. From the moment it first appeared, the object was thought to be something unnatural, an ill omen that has made them feel watched, exposed, vulnerable -- provoking a primal fear that has steered the course of their civilization. The Orishans call it "the Eye," and because it has consistently defied every scientific attempt to decode its true nature, many are convinced it represents an intelligence that is studying their world...and perhaps waiting to destroy it. But the secret behind the Eye threatens Titan as well as Orisha...and it holds a special meaning for one member of Captain Riker's crew in particular, whose lifelong quest to balance faith and scientific truth is tested against the harsh, unblinking glare of inevitability.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Least favorite so far August 13, 2008
C. Hilliard (Dallas, TX)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Of the 4 Titan books to date, this has been my least favorite. Plots involving time travel (no real spoiler, there are many in Star Trek literature) have to be written carefully so that the reader is not confused about when he/she is reading. This book is very confusing in that regard. The author also likes to get "cute" with the pronouns and intentionally confuse the reader in some places.
 They should make a movie... June 23, 2008
E. Kennedy (Arizona, USA)
I really enjoyed this whole series. I can't wait for the new one this fall.
 Well done. May 23, 2008
Diane Bellomo (Baltimore, MD United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoy the Titan novels for the same reason I enjoyed Challenger, New Frontier, and Vanguard. That is, they are not the same old Star Trek. While it's good (and comforting) to read about familiar characters, it's *great* to read about entirely new ones. And Titan is packed with 'em.
When I first began to realize this was going to be a temporal story, I got a little nervous, thinking "oh, no, reset button." In the end, thankfully, it did not turn out quite that way. I was most impressed with the story arc about a Bajoran member of Titan's crew, Jaza Najem, who figures centrally in the temporal theme, but who also has his own demons to battle. Faith vs. science (vs. faith) comes heavily into play, and it all struck a very deep chord in me.
For those of you who enjoy space battles in your books, there were a number of those. For those of you who like the "'shipping" aspect, there was plenty of that, too, though I've gotta say the Riker/Troi conflict seemed a little out of proportion to what the conflict actually turned out to be. Still, I gotta hand it to Will and Deanna: They ain't divorced yet! Living in a closed community such as a starship, it cannot be easy separating the personal from the professional, but these two do an admirable job.
Though I'm not much into ship diagrams, it was nice having Titan's included in this book. Congrats to design competition winner, Sean Tourangeau.
The Best Titan Novel to Date April 20, 2008
Jeremy (il)
There is non stop action in this story and finaly some marriage tension between Troi and Riker I loved that part. Though the surprise in the story is a bit of a letdown because you know that the Titan is not actually destroyed. Still a great novel though.
Decisions, decisions, decisions...Star Trek: Titan is full of them February 7, 2008
David Roy (Vancouver, BC)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Geoffrey Thorne is a relative newcomer to the published Star Trek mythos, with just a few short stories to his name. Sword of Damocles, the latest "Titan" novel, is Thorne's first full-length novel, and he's written an exquisite one. The Titan writers seem to be excelling at not having "villains" in their novels, instead having antagonists that have conflicting points of view with our heroes, and Thorne provides us with a perfect example of that here. All of that, and Pocket Books has given us technical diagrams of the new ship too!
While the technobabble can get a little thick in Sword of Damocles, Thorne never lets it get out of control, and it helps that he has some non-technological characters for others to explain things to. Thorne has created an extremely intricate plot, dealing with some time travel, cultural contamination (and its avoidance), and how things that are not understood can assume heightened significance in those who don't know any better. Thorne puts all of his characters through the wringer, as all of them must make choices based on both the Prime Directive (the non-interference policy Starfleet has) and what's best for their ship.
What I especially liked about Sword of Damocles, though, is that the fact that the crew is extremely diversified was not used as a cudgel over the reader's head. We saw the integration of the crew, but nobody actually *mentioned* it. It was a breath of fresh air given the past three books. Thorne doesn't avoid this by not using any of the alien crew members, but by showing us how they're interacting with the crew without actually announcing it. I hope future Titan books do the same thing. I realize that this diversity is sort of a novelty, but we're four books in now, so it really should be stopped.
Thorne's characterization is almost perfect, from Vale, Troi and Riker to the other Titan crew members and even the Orishans themselves. Commander Ra-Havreii, the rather arrogant chief engineer, is annoying to everybody, but somehow he walks that thin line of not turning off the reader as well. The reason for the rift between Riker and Troi seems a little basic for how much anguish it causes, but it is understandable, especially in their situation. Still, the writing is powerful and the characterization is right on the nose. The climax to the story veers a little bit into the heavy technobabble mode, but it's exciting nonetheless.
Thorne's prose is quite good for a first novel, and the book reads very smoothly, with very few clunky phrases throwing you out of the book. He describes both the character scenes and the action scenes quite well, never making it boring but also not overdoing the action too much. There were a couple of coincidences that I shook my head at, but for the most part they have a plausible explanation that makes it so they're not too annoying.
Sword of Damocles is the best Titan book since Taking Wing, and here's to many more adventures in the future. Of course, we'll have to see what the upcoming Destiny trilogy holds for our Titan crew before we get the next Titan book, and since that series is written by David Mack, maybe they'll all be dead! Whatever happens, though, Geoffrey Thorne has himself a winner here, and I look forward to reading some more of his stuff in the future.
David Roy
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