Review and Commentary: _Debtors'_Planet_
Ron C Carman
Review and Commentary: _Debtors'_Planet_ by W.R. Thompson
Copyright 15 May 1994 Ron C. Carman
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Caution, this post contains *SPOILERS*...
This is my second attempt at this, after my new editor ate
my first draft...
W.R. Thompson should have scrapped this book altogether.
More after this:
>TNG #30 Debtors' Planet Copyright May 1994
>Author: W.R. Thompson
>StarDate: UNKNOWN
>
>Plot Summary:
> When a Vulcan space probe reports that the Ferengi are advancing
>the people of the planet Megara from a primitive agricultural state
>to a sophisticated technological society, Captain Jean-Luc Picard
>and the Starship Enterprise are ordered to transport an unlikely
>passenger to the system, a ruthless twentieth-century businessman
>who is now a Federation ambassador.
> The Ferengi have been changing Megaran culture, turning a hard
>working and honorable people into vicious xenophobic killers. But
>the Ferengi are only hired hands. They have hidden masters, with
>plans to use the Megaran people as a powerful weapon against the
>Federation.
> Now Picard must find a way to use the talents of this new ambas-
>sador to free the Megarans. But the ambassaor [sic] is hiding a
>deadly secret of his own -- a secret that could unleash an unstop-
>pable destructive force on the Federation.
Even considering the paucity of good fiction from Pocket of late,
this novel has surprisingly little to recommend it. The characters
are, with two possible exceptions, nothing like the people we have
enjoyed watching on television for the past 7 years. The plot is
spotty and entirely too obvious. The dialogue between characters
is redundant and pointless, and the narrative is lifeless. So, on
to some specific points.
The plot revolves around the fact that the Ferengi have been
advancing a primitive people rapidly into industrialization. The
plot summary above makes a great fuss over the "hidden masters" of
the Ferengi, but this "secret" is given away very early on in the
novel; if this were kept unrevealed until nearer the end, it would
cause the reader to be more involved, but as it is, the novel makes
it all to obvious that the Ferengi are working for the Cardassians.
The plot also requires that our characters make some incredibly
dumb or unethical moves, and I'll touch on this again under charac-
terization. At one point, Picard and the ambassador are attending
a large diplomatic gathering at the palace, when rioting breaks out
in the city. Now, any smart captain would beam up at this point,
but instead, Picard and the ambassador remain on the planet and
are taken captive.
In another strange plot-device, Worf and Data have acquired the
help of a dozen or so Megarans to rescue the captain and the ambas-
sador. In the most unethical move I've seen, as soon as Picard
and Ambassador Offenhouse have been found, with a battle raging,
the Federation members beam up to the ship, leaving their Megaran
friends to their own devices. This of course is completely unwar-
ranted and about as ethical as a Ferengi...
On characterization, there is virtually nothing good to say.
With the possible exception of Picard and Wesley, every character
behaves completely unlike what we've come to expect from them.
And actually, Wesley is used quite well, and not nearly as annoying
as most of the episodes he was in.
Unfortunately, Wesley's status as boy-genius seems to have
mysteriously transferred to Alexander, and he's annoying enough
for both himself *and* Wesley. In one scene, Alexander figures
out how to detect a cloaked ship for Geordi. I almost decided
to burn my copy then and there.
All the other characters, on the other hand, seem to have had
had their IQs surgically lessened. The dialogue between them is
at times stupefyingly idiotic:
Troi: [The Ferengi] didn't actually *lie* about
anything, but he's hiding something. It's
obvious.
Riker: He acted wrong. Every Daimon I've seen
has been either arrogant or fawning, de-
pending on the situation.
Troi: He tried to appear cooperative, but I'd
say he's stalling for time.
Shrev: Commander Riker, if I interpret the sensor
readings correctly, a starship is entering
the Megaran system at bearing seventeen-mark-
eight.
Riker: I see. Counselor, do you suppose Chudak
is stalling until this ship arrives?
Which brings us to the final point on the characters, that of
Ambassador Ralph Offenhouse. First I must say that I like the
character. But having him in this novel, in this way, is incred-
ibly forced and not very credible.
Based on time references in the novel -- which I'll get back
to momentarily -- the *greatest* possible amount of time that could
have passed since Ralph Offenhouse re-awakened in the 24th Century
is about 4.5 years. I don't believe for one second that a 20th
Century relic could possibly become "an expert on the Ferengi",
let alone be appointed as a Federation ambassador in that amount
of time; it's preposterous. Thompson should have made him an
aide to one of the Federation's top ambassadors; that at least
would have been credible. As it is, it's a load of hogwash that
is impossible to swallow.
Speaking of time, it's patently obvious that Thompson put abso-
lutely NO research into this novel. Sie's very confused about
the ST Universe timeline. The first reference that sets up the
timeframe is a line that says "A year ago [Riker] had served as
an exchange officer aboard the Imperial Battle Cruiser Pagh".
Since this refers to the episode 'A Matter of Honor' (SD 42506.5),
the current Stardate must be around Stardate 43506.5. If this is
true, Offenhouse has had even less time to make his meteoric rise
(1.5 years), but subsequent events and references deny the validity
of this timeframe.
1) Alexander is aboard. But he did not come aboard
the Enterprise for the first time until "Reunion",
Stardate 44246.3
2) Wesley is aboard, on leave from the Academy.
But Wesley did not even leave for the Academy until
"Final Mission", Stardate 44307.3
3) Alexander is living aboard the Enterprise. But he
did not start living with Worf full-time until
"New Ground", Stardate 45376.3
4) Worf has sustained the back injury that almost killed him.
But he did not sustain that injury until "Ethics",
Stardate 45587.3
5) The cover-up involving Nova Squadron has occurred.
But those events didn't take place until "The First Duty",
Stardate 45703.9
This is extremely shoddy work, and both the writer and the editors
should be fired or shot (or both) for allowing it to happen.
In essence, what we have here is a piece of trash with a very
pretty cover on it (congrats to Keith Birdsong, who continues to
do incredible work...)
[_Debtors'_Planet_]
Characterization: 0
Premise: 3
Plot Handling: 2
Narrative: 3
Total: 2.0
In the coming months:
May: TOS #70 Traitor Winds, Lost Years #3 by L.A. Graf
June: Q-Squared (TNG HC) by Peter David
TNG Final Episode Novelization (May ship in May)
July: TNG #31 Foreign Foes by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur
Ratings for the most recent 5: Last Average 7.0
Current Average 5.4
----------------------------------------------------
TNG #30 Debtors' Planet May 1994 2.0
TOS #69 The Patrian Transgression April 1994 5.0
TOS H6 Sarek March 1994 9.8
TNG #29 Sins of Commission March 1994 4.8
TOS #68 Firestorm January 1994 5.3
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(c) Copyright 1994 Ron C. Carman
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--
| Ron C. Carman || That's the trouble with feeling as if you're |
| rcca...@mik.uky.edu || on top of the world. It's always a sure sign |
| rcca...@ukpr.uky.edu || you and it are about to switch places. |
| U.S. SnailMAIL: P.O. Box 24352 Lexington, KY 40524-4352 |
Arthur D. Keller
Do you read these books to enjoy them, or do you just like insulting people.
I ask only for information...
Art