nicky2910's book reviews

This part is sort of a coda to the Gateways series of novels that was one of the first series-wide cross-over (loose meaning as the crews didn't really cross over, but the topic was the same for all - that being the simultaneous opening of the Iconian gateways throughout the galaxy and its ramifications) in that the daVinci is called in to the planet Maeglin, already mentionned in #6, where creatures came through a gate, got stranded there after the gate was shut down, and now wreak havoc... apparently at least.

This is another ensemble story, like the last one, but with a little bit more of an emphasis on the burgeoning relationships between Gomez and Duffy, and Stevens and Corsi respectively. Bart Faulwell, the ship's linguistics expert gets his place in the spotlight this time - and he's left on Maeglin to try and facilitate communication between the inhabitants and the newcomers, as the "monsters" use a sign language that can't be translated by the universal translator. I wonder if one of the upcoming novellas will deal with his time off the ship. Frankly, I hope so because he's one of the few characters who haven't really had any major screentime yet, so I'd be interested in getting to know him.

Otherwise, there are quite a few little details further stories could explore, like Corsi's past trauma that clearly distracts her, Lense's preference to let the EMH handle minor emergencies, the one security person who despises bugs (and ends up working with Pattie who's essentially a bug...) etc.

So far, I enjoy the SCE-novellas in general. They make up for a bit of light reading, nothing too involved up until now, and once we get over the getting-to-know-the-crew-and-all-their-little-quirks-phase I hope there are going to be stories that dig a bit deeper.