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3.5
Synthesis (Star Trek: Titan, #6)
ByPublisher Description
The Starship Titan continues on her outward voyage of discovery. Ranging farther and farther from Federation space, Captain William Riker and the crew look forward to living Starfleet's mission: seeking out new life, discovering new civilizations.
Striking a "sandbank" -- a spatial distortion -- the Titan is knocked out of warp, her crew shaken up but uninjured. Titan has stumbled across a battlefield, and floating in it, shattered and in pieces, are the remains of a ship. Searching for survivors, they discover the ship never had a crew. The away team removes the computer core, looking for answers. Once the device is restored, it becomes clear this is not just a computer, but a thinking, reasoning artificial intelligence.
It identifies itself as SecondGen White-Blue, and it comes from a civilization composed entirely of sentient computers. Eons ago these artificial intelligences were charged to be the first line of defense against The Null -- a destructive force so all-consuming that generation upon generation have waged unending war trying to find a way to beat back this terror. Captain Riker offers to assist them, but years of war have left the AIs distrustful and suspicious, especially of organics.
The tide of the battle is turning, and The Null is winning. Set free, it will destroy everything in this system and then, unchecked, spread its mindless destruction into the heart of the Federation.
Striking a "sandbank" -- a spatial distortion -- the Titan is knocked out of warp, her crew shaken up but uninjured. Titan has stumbled across a battlefield, and floating in it, shattered and in pieces, are the remains of a ship. Searching for survivors, they discover the ship never had a crew. The away team removes the computer core, looking for answers. Once the device is restored, it becomes clear this is not just a computer, but a thinking, reasoning artificial intelligence.
It identifies itself as SecondGen White-Blue, and it comes from a civilization composed entirely of sentient computers. Eons ago these artificial intelligences were charged to be the first line of defense against The Null -- a destructive force so all-consuming that generation upon generation have waged unending war trying to find a way to beat back this terror. Captain Riker offers to assist them, but years of war have left the AIs distrustful and suspicious, especially of organics.
The tide of the battle is turning, and The Null is winning. Set free, it will destroy everything in this system and then, unchecked, spread its mindless destruction into the heart of the Federation.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesSynthesis (Star Trek: Titan, #6) Reviews
3.5
“Star Trek: TNG/Titan - 06 Synthesis by James Swallow
adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes
3.5 Stars
After reading the previous book in the Titan series, Over a Torrent Sea, which I gave 3.75 Stars...I was hoping the next book would "speak" to me, and in a sense it did, but then it didn't, either.
I feel that this story was OVERLY complicated, and actually muddled the overall story he (the author) wanted to tell.
In this book, we are confronted with AI, but NOT in the way that we fear it will become a menace to our society (and how it has been misused and deployed in the Star Trek Universe, either). This AI democratic in nature, but also oblivious to the human's needs in another.
There was one tie-in character from the TNG TV series, Minuet from S1:E15 ""11001001", where the Bynars manipulate the computer systems on the Enterprise D...and a hologram character in a New Orleans bar, becomes alive, and her name is Minuet...and Commander Riker is smitten with her, and her with him.
The episode has its flaws, but it also was a fairly interesting setup on the Holodeck, and how characters could actually be more than we could ever have imagined...from our couches in the 1990s.
In this story, Minuet appears again, and used as an Avatar for the computer race of beings...and an ambassador for their survival.
A lot of ways, I enjoyed the scale and the different angle that the author took with AI, but it also became a detrimental aspect, for he bloated the story...at times to where I was just pushing through...to get to the conclusion of his overall idea.
In a way, it was a better story in concept, than it was when it was finished...in my opinion. Not sure how others will feel, but these have been my thoughts.
I love one part of the ending, which can/may make this VERY diverse crew...even more diverse. Very interesting, where this may go from here.”
“Titan encounters an AI race fighting a war against an entity called the Null. The sentries of the race don’t want Titan involved except for an individual called White-Blue that creates an AI of Titan itself (based on Riker’s holodeck program Minuet).
The plot is fine, but the pacing feels kind of slow. It took me longer than usual to finish the ending.”
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