(no subject)
so....Christopher Bennett,
I seriously don't know where to start with you. I admit my opinion of you before I read any of your books is colored by the fact that I have seen evidence of your "better than thou" attitude on a certain nameless forum, though I didn't even make the connection between "Chris" the arrogant CNF poster and the "author" until AFTER I read one of your books.
HOWEVER....
That doesn't change your very serious faults at writing.
Thus far you've been permitted by God knows who at Pocket Books to publish not just one, but TWO, of the Star Trek Titan books. And with some differences, both of them have the same general outlook.
The A plotline--the action/adventure/exploration/sci-fi aspect that is the backbone of Trek, you do fairly well.
The B plotline(s)--the character-based and -driven aspects that flesh out Trek for what it is, you suck at.
And your treatment of female characters in particular obviously shows just how much you have ~*issues*~
let's start with your treatment of Melora Pazlar in "Orion's Hounds". Oh you were sneaky with that one and, probly in the eyes of most fans, got away with it. That one was no doubt easy because Melora was shown in her one episode of Deep Space Nine as bitchy, prickly and carried a chip the size of the Enterprise on her shoulder. The events of "Melora" and being on Titan have somewhat mellowed her but that famous prickly attitude is still there. HOWEVER, that is no cause to write her like a complete idiot who uses her bitchiness at every turn when you think she has nothing better to do. Um, NO. Also her treatment of Ra-Havreii is ridiculous. Is she going to bristle around him, given his reputation and butt heads with him? Duh. Does she need to stomp all over him? Not really.
Then there's your lovely chauvinistic piece, "Over a Torrent Sea". You must have a really BLIND editor because any editor with sense in their head would never have let this leave the cutting table. (Unless they're as chauvinistic as you)
I don't even know what your problem with Aili Lavena is/was but you treated her like complete trash.
Was it interesting to find out that there really HAD been a one night stand between Will Riker and Lavena when they were very young? Well, sure. I love backstories. And I THOUGHT (hoped?) that meant you had improved your character writing and that your treatment of Melora was a fluke.
OMG was I ever wrong.
First there's the eight abandoned children mention you invented. Way to make her look like a cold bitch (and be disliked by readers who don't know your little tactics). Then there's the fact that she and Riker had that fling way back in the mists of time and she's supposed to feel guilty abt it. (As if Riker didn't have a few hundred flings of his own...but of course he doesn't get guilt-trips, does he? Oh no, just Lavena.)
Then there's the whole her-and-Riker-are-stranded-and-he-falls-deathly-ill subplot of the whole damn book. And that he's so ill he's incoherent and she's left to take care of him in some pretty compromising positions. And the fact that this is, hi, her commanding officer, makes it all the more uncomfortable. But she does it because she has to...and it's the kind thing to do for your crewmate, obviously.
But of course, the point of this whole experience is to guilt trip Lavena even MORE, because she's doing for Riker what she never did for those eight children she dumped in favor of Starfleet. And oh! How it makes her realize how ~*badly she failed*~ those children and that it makes her feel "redeemed" by doing all this for Riker!
Yea, Bennett, because women can't possibly be fulfilled (even in the 24th century, mind you!) unless they're forced to experience the "caregiver" role. Because there aren't strong women in Starfleet who have survived just fine without feeling "justified" by being a "typical woman" (See Uhura, Janeway, Kira, et al).
Oh, and I still haven't forgotten your bragging blog (which of course you conveniently deleted some time ago) about how you are the first Trek author to have a nearly naked woman on the cover. And deleting it won't hide that you said it either because other people saw it and they take a dim view of you citing that as an "accomplishment".
This letter doesn't change your lack of writing skills, BUT I can take comfort in the fact that Titan's characters (particularly its female officers) will be better written in future Titan books by authors that are not you.
Disgusted,
me
I seriously don't know where to start with you. I admit my opinion of you before I read any of your books is colored by the fact that I have seen evidence of your "better than thou" attitude on a certain nameless forum, though I didn't even make the connection between "Chris" the arrogant CNF poster and the "author" until AFTER I read one of your books.
HOWEVER....
That doesn't change your very serious faults at writing.
Thus far you've been permitted by God knows who at Pocket Books to publish not just one, but TWO, of the Star Trek Titan books. And with some differences, both of them have the same general outlook.
The A plotline--the action/adventure/exploration/sci-fi aspect that is the backbone of Trek, you do fairly well.
The B plotline(s)--the character-based and -driven aspects that flesh out Trek for what it is, you suck at.
And your treatment of female characters in particular obviously shows just how much you have ~*issues*~
let's start with your treatment of Melora Pazlar in "Orion's Hounds". Oh you were sneaky with that one and, probly in the eyes of most fans, got away with it. That one was no doubt easy because Melora was shown in her one episode of Deep Space Nine as bitchy, prickly and carried a chip the size of the Enterprise on her shoulder. The events of "Melora" and being on Titan have somewhat mellowed her but that famous prickly attitude is still there. HOWEVER, that is no cause to write her like a complete idiot who uses her bitchiness at every turn when you think she has nothing better to do. Um, NO. Also her treatment of Ra-Havreii is ridiculous. Is she going to bristle around him, given his reputation and butt heads with him? Duh. Does she need to stomp all over him? Not really.
Then there's your lovely chauvinistic piece, "Over a Torrent Sea". You must have a really BLIND editor because any editor with sense in their head would never have let this leave the cutting table. (Unless they're as chauvinistic as you)
I don't even know what your problem with Aili Lavena is/was but you treated her like complete trash.
Was it interesting to find out that there really HAD been a one night stand between Will Riker and Lavena when they were very young? Well, sure. I love backstories. And I THOUGHT (hoped?) that meant you had improved your character writing and that your treatment of Melora was a fluke.
OMG was I ever wrong.
First there's the eight abandoned children mention you invented. Way to make her look like a cold bitch (and be disliked by readers who don't know your little tactics). Then there's the fact that she and Riker had that fling way back in the mists of time and she's supposed to feel guilty abt it. (As if Riker didn't have a few hundred flings of his own...but of course he doesn't get guilt-trips, does he? Oh no, just Lavena.)
Then there's the whole her-and-Riker-are-stranded-and-he-falls-deathly-ill subplot of the whole damn book. And that he's so ill he's incoherent and she's left to take care of him in some pretty compromising positions. And the fact that this is, hi, her commanding officer, makes it all the more uncomfortable. But she does it because she has to...and it's the kind thing to do for your crewmate, obviously.
But of course, the point of this whole experience is to guilt trip Lavena even MORE, because she's doing for Riker what she never did for those eight children she dumped in favor of Starfleet. And oh! How it makes her realize how ~*badly she failed*~ those children and that it makes her feel "redeemed" by doing all this for Riker!
Yea, Bennett, because women can't possibly be fulfilled (even in the 24th century, mind you!) unless they're forced to experience the "caregiver" role. Because there aren't strong women in Starfleet who have survived just fine without feeling "justified" by being a "typical woman" (See Uhura, Janeway, Kira, et al).
Oh, and I still haven't forgotten your bragging blog (which of course you conveniently deleted some time ago) about how you are the first Trek author to have a nearly naked woman on the cover. And deleting it won't hide that you said it either because other people saw it and they take a dim view of you citing that as an "accomplishment".
This letter doesn't change your lack of writing skills, BUT I can take comfort in the fact that Titan's characters (particularly its female officers) will be better written in future Titan books by authors that are not you.
Disgusted,
me