Review and Commentary: _Sins_of_Commission_ by Susan Wright
Ron C Carman
Review and Commentary: _Sins_of_Commission_ by Susan Wright
Copyright 23 March 1994 Ron C. Carman
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Caution, this post contains *SPOILERS*...
Susan Wright delivers decent characterizations ensnared
in a tired, overused plotline that feels like a cross
between "Sarek" (the episode) and "Homeward".
Definitely not inspiring, folks.
More after this:
>TNG #29 Sins of Commission Copyright March 1994
>Author: Susan Wright
>StarDate: UNKNOWN
>
>Plot Summary:
> While on a mission to save the planet Lessenar from environmental
>collapse, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise becomes entangled in a
>web of treachery and murder.
> When a member of a strange, emotion-casting race is killed on board
>the ship, all evidence points to Lieutenant Worf and one of his oldest
>friends. Soon the crew of the Starship Enterprise is crippled by an
>emotional onslaught as the surviving aliens respond in anger and pain
>to the death of their comrade.
> Worf must overcome this alien influence and find the true killer
>with the destruction of the Starship Enterprise, the survival of Lessenar,
>and his Klingon honor hanging in the balance....
That plot summary is almost completely worthless, but I suppose it
is the best that can be expected, considering what a tangled mess the
plot of the book is. I don't by any means mean that the plot is intricate;
it just seems to roll along with no goal or direction. Also, the plot
is so unoriginal that it could have been pulled together from several
different episodes.
To go into a bit more detail, the Enterprise is in orbit of the
planet Lessenar, where the crew's mission is to aid the Lessenarians
in cleaning up their planet, whose environment they have destroyed
through apathy and ignorance. Obviously, this is something that has
been done to *death*. On numerous occasions we have seen how the
Enterprise can help repair badly malfunctioning or polluted planetary
environments ("When the Bough Breaks", "Pen Pals", "A Matter of Time").
Lessenar is discussed early on, and then virtually dropped until the
ending of the novel.
When a tourist liner enters orbit and soon thereafter falls prey
to a mysterious explosion which cripples the vessel, the Enterprise
is forced to evacuate the liner's passengers. Those passengers include
a Ferengi manager of a group of aliens called Sli who are allied with
the Ferengi Empire and with whom no one except the Ferengi seems to know
how to communicate. The Sli broadcast and amplify emotions -- their
own and those of the people around them. Their ability begins to inter-
fere with the Enterprise crew by enticing them to give free reign to
emotions, feelings, and behaviors which they would normally suppress.
This sounds awfully familiar doesn't it? We've seen it before, in
"Sarek" and "The Naked Now". The thing that bothers me is that the
author doesn't even bother to take advantage of the opportunity this
presents. She could have used this to really show us something about
the characters; instead, we get a lot of confusion, and virtually no
plot advancement.
Meanwhile, we're treated to sub-plots about Worf's troubles with
Alexander, and the mental insecurities of Simon Tarses. Neither of
these is particularly impressive, and I found the sections about Worf
and Alexander extremely tedious and overdramatic.
The ending is an incredibly unjustified twist. After we find out
that the Ferengi are responsible for the destruction of the tourist
liner -- they were engaged in a plot to keep the Federation from form-
ing diplomatic ties with the Sli -- there's a short scene in Picard's
ready-room wherein Picard tells Counselor Troi that they will soon be
leaving Lessenar. Commander Riker explains that the Lessenarians who
were hardest hit by the environmental conditions used the communications
devices supplied by the Enterprise -- in an effort to aid in the dist-
ribution of relief supplies -- to overthrow the government, which they
believed was not doing enough to help them. Riker and Picard agree
that this could constitute a violation of the Prime Directive, and as
such, they may not remain at Lessenar.
This is obviously an *unacceptable* interpretation. If a planet
qualifies to receive emergency aid during an environmental crisis,
then the Prime Directive does not apply to that planet.
In the area of characterization, Ms. Wright does a reasonably
sound job. Picard and Guinan in particular were quite well done;
I could definitely visualize (audiolize?) them saying some of the
things Wright wrote for them. Troi and Worf felt off in some areas,
but otherwise were well portrayed.
And now the nitty gritty details; the details that can either
boost a book to excellence or mire it down in mediocrity. It seems
that Ms. Wright doesn't like to do her homework, as a lot of the
details are *very* wrong, and others feel wrong. Giving a name to
the Klingon homeworld was probably a mistake, but I'll let people
who know more about the subject pick that nit.
The author also should have done a little research into the
technology, particularly the technology from past novels or episodes
which might have been useful to her. I'm referring, of course, to the
fact that she sent an away team down to Lessenar *wearing* BIOFILTERS.
Obviously, you can't wear a biofilter; it's part of the transporter
system. Clearly, what she intended was some sort of environmental
protection suit or gas mask which filters harmful pollutants from
the air breathed by the wearer; something like this was used by Kirk
et al in the novel _Enterprise:_The_First_Adventure_ (I believe they
called it a field suit, but don't quote me on that).
At one point, Picard receives a subspace message from an admiral.
He calls her Maria, and asks her how her grandson Jono is doing. The
author clearly refers to her as Admiral Rosso. Actually, Jono's
grandmother is Connaught Rosa; how in *hell* Ms. Wright came up with
"Maria Rosso" I'll never know. *Nemecek* even comes closer than that,
with "Connaught Rossa". Please, if you're going to use a character,
at least get the name right.
Overall, this is a barely average story, cobbled together from
several tired old ideas, and held together with just as little
narrative and plot work as possible. You've probably got better
things to do with your time.
[_Sins_of_Commission_]
Characterization: 8
Premise: 4
Plot Handling: 3
Narrative: 4
Total: 4.8
In the coming months:
March: TOS #69 Patrian Transgression by Simon Hawke
April: TNG #30 Debtor's Planet by W. R. Thomspon
DS9 #6 Betrayal by Lois Tilton
May: SFA #4 Capture the Flag by John Vornholt
TOS #70 Traitor Winds, Lost Years #3 by L.A. Graf
The Star Trek Encyclopedia - Mike and Denise Okuda
Ratings for the most recent 5: Last Average 7.8
Current Average 7.4
----------------------------------------------------
TNG #29 Sins of Commission March 1994 4.8
TOS #68 Firestorm January 1994 5.3
TNG H4 Dark Mirror December 1993 10.0
TNG #28 Here There Be Dragons December 1993 7.5
TOS #67 The Great Starship Race October 1993 9.5
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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. |
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