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War has come and on its heels chaos stalks the universe. Pitted
against a dictatorial Romulan Empire intent on unleashing
its apocalyptic Sunseed weapon against, not only the Federation
but also against the dissidents within its own borders, are
men and women of courage and honour. Commander Ael t'Rllailleu,
late of the Romulan Star Empire and Captain of the Bloodwing,
has set in motion events which will either free her people
from the tyranny under which they labour or bring down the
great civilisations. Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise
must follow the Bloodwing deep into the heart of the
Romulan Empire to cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war -
hoping that freedom for the Romulan's will mean safety for
all...
The
Empty Chair is the fifth and last book in the Rihannsu
series, written by Diane Duane, whose name should be familiar
to any Star Trek fan.
Given that I was pretty harsh about the previous two books
in the Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages collection,
it was nice to see Duane back on form with this, her last
story.
The
large portions of pontificating have been expunged in favour
of a much greater balance between character development and
action, as have, thankfully, the incomprehensible sentences
in Romulan. Depending which part of the previous stories you
enjoyed, this will either be a good or bad thing. For myself
it makes for a much more engaging read.
The
book continues to focus on the major protagonists from the
previous books. Obviously, the crew of the Enterprise
are represented, though their characters are now so well known
there is little in the way of radical alterations which can
be made which wouldn't have had Duane lynched by the nearest
fanboy.
For
the Romulans, Ael continues to grow and change and, apart
from the Federation spy Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto, continues
to be the most interesting character in the book. A number
of new characters are introduced or further fleshed out. The
Hamalki physicist K's't'lk joins the Enterprise to
help counteract the Sunseed technology, though in truth most
of the characters' attributes and contributions could have
been given to Scotty with little detrimental effect on the
overall book.
The
books works pretty well as a stand alone story. Whilst it's
true that to get the most out of The Empty Chair it
would be preferable to have read the previous four in the
series, it not strictly necessary as Duane provides enough
of the back story to get you up to speed on events.
So,
the book represents, overall, a very satisfying end to what
was a fairly inconsistent series. Given the constrictions
writing for the crew of the Enterprise it would be
intriguing to see some books about Ael's attempt to reconstitute
the Romulan Empire; after all, even in canon, this is a blank
sheet - a veritable playground just waiting for Duane's imagination
to go romping through.
Charles
Packer
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