Book Review: "A Burning House"
Seven years ago, I had given up on Star Trek books. Well, except for the ones written by Peter David. Most of the ones I had bought most recently were dissapointments, and I wanted to spend my money elsewhere. But then one day, reading the back blurb of a book idly, I was intrigued by the story, and decided to give it ago.
The book was 'Diplomatic Implausibility', and it blew me away. Keith DeCandido (known as kradical here) was, as a result, the first author I ever wrote to, commending him for his book. The first author I ever met at a signing, the first author I wanted to sign my book. Not that coincidentally, this was also the book where he first introduced the Klingon characters that I have become addicted to, the ones that star in his most recent novel, A Burning House.
Keith has shown his readers that he's not afraid of the big stories: in "The Art of the Impossible", he masterfully detailed 17 years of Star Trek history surronding a Klingon/Cardassian conflict, and the lives of numerous other Trek characters only mentioned through backstory. In 'Articles of the Federation', he gave us a glimpse outside the realm of Starfleet, and what it's like in the political and civillian world of the Federation. Now he's moved on to bigger and more ambitious scenarios, and takes us into the heart of the Klingon homeworld, framed around his well loved crew from the I.K.S. Gorkon.
It's been said that it's through watching people that are *not* human, we ourselves learn more about what it is to be human ourselves. In 'A Burning House', Keith shows us that Klingons are not only warriors, but range all over the spectrum of psychological possibility, capable of being both more and less than the much vaunted myth and reality of blood and honor that the Klingon military lives by. This book reminds us that a nation's military is not the whole of the culture, but that also when you get down to it, Klingon soldiers and officers come from the same wide expanse of cultural experience that we do.
Through the eyes of the common soldiers (or 'Bekks', to use proper terminology) Keith shows us the Klingon underclass, both in the depths of the inner city and out on rural farming land. Through the paradigm-changing Doctor B'Oraq, we learn more about the medical community (or lack therof) on Kronos, her story being on par with our own favorite docu-dramas like ER or House. And there is, of course still political and familial conflict aplenty as there is in most Klingon stories, culminating in a scene in front of the Klingon High Council that you'll not soon forget.
Moreover, as every KRAD novel does, ABH also manages to tie off a number of loose ends from Trek show and novel canon, bringing back into play old characters and stories whom we have not heard in some time. And, as every KRAD novel does, he does this with style and panache, as well as believability. There is not a happy ending for every character, but there is, at least, an understandable consequence for every action and reaction. And it only makes me hungry for more Klag, more B'Oraq, more Toq and Leskit, more Wol and G'joth, and yes, even more Kurak.
I bought this book, and finished reading it eight hours later. What greater compliment can you give than saying you cannot put the book down? If you're at all a Star Trek fan, buy this book.
Read it with honor.
The book was 'Diplomatic Implausibility', and it blew me away. Keith DeCandido (known as kradical here) was, as a result, the first author I ever wrote to, commending him for his book. The first author I ever met at a signing, the first author I wanted to sign my book. Not that coincidentally, this was also the book where he first introduced the Klingon characters that I have become addicted to, the ones that star in his most recent novel, A Burning House.
Keith has shown his readers that he's not afraid of the big stories: in "The Art of the Impossible", he masterfully detailed 17 years of Star Trek history surronding a Klingon/Cardassian conflict, and the lives of numerous other Trek characters only mentioned through backstory. In 'Articles of the Federation', he gave us a glimpse outside the realm of Starfleet, and what it's like in the political and civillian world of the Federation. Now he's moved on to bigger and more ambitious scenarios, and takes us into the heart of the Klingon homeworld, framed around his well loved crew from the I.K.S. Gorkon.
It's been said that it's through watching people that are *not* human, we ourselves learn more about what it is to be human ourselves. In 'A Burning House', Keith shows us that Klingons are not only warriors, but range all over the spectrum of psychological possibility, capable of being both more and less than the much vaunted myth and reality of blood and honor that the Klingon military lives by. This book reminds us that a nation's military is not the whole of the culture, but that also when you get down to it, Klingon soldiers and officers come from the same wide expanse of cultural experience that we do.
Through the eyes of the common soldiers (or 'Bekks', to use proper terminology) Keith shows us the Klingon underclass, both in the depths of the inner city and out on rural farming land. Through the paradigm-changing Doctor B'Oraq, we learn more about the medical community (or lack therof) on Kronos, her story being on par with our own favorite docu-dramas like ER or House. And there is, of course still political and familial conflict aplenty as there is in most Klingon stories, culminating in a scene in front of the Klingon High Council that you'll not soon forget.
Moreover, as every KRAD novel does, ABH also manages to tie off a number of loose ends from Trek show and novel canon, bringing back into play old characters and stories whom we have not heard in some time. And, as every KRAD novel does, he does this with style and panache, as well as believability. There is not a happy ending for every character, but there is, at least, an understandable consequence for every action and reaction. And it only makes me hungry for more Klag, more B'Oraq, more Toq and Leskit, more Wol and G'joth, and yes, even more Kurak.
I bought this book, and finished reading it eight hours later. What greater compliment can you give than saying you cannot put the book down? If you're at all a Star Trek fan, buy this book.
Read it with honor.