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As tensions between the Klingon Empire and the Federation
escalate towards all out war, a group of anti-federation protesters
cross the border on an ill thought out attempt to broker peace.
With Koloth's ship heading for system 7348, to make diplomatic
contact with a group of lost Klingon's, the Enterprise
must make a decision, save the civilians and be late for their
meeting with Koloth or abandon them to Klingon interrogators...
Demands
of Honor is the second book in Kevin Ryan's Errand
of Fury trilogy. One of the really nice things about Ryan's
writing is that he is able to bring together a great number
of characters without the feeling that either, single individuals
are hogging the spotlight, or that the whole thing remains
sketchy.
Being a Trek book, obviously the crew of the Enterprise
get a look in, though this is nicely balanced with both Koloth's
crew, Adon and his people and of course the Starfleet characters
which were introduced in the previous book, Seeds
of Rage.
Being the second in a series of three, I was expecting this
book to be a bit of filler, but it seems that Ryan has thrown
away the guide on how to write a trilogy. This is more The
Empire Strikes Back than The
Matrix Reloaded. In fact, the second book ties
up so many of the story strands which started in Seeds
of Rage, that I'm not sure what Ryan can do with the last
book in the series. But, if the first two are anything to
go by, you're going to get a lot of bangs for your bucks.
Thematically, the book is about Michael Fuller who has rejoined
Starfleet after the death of his son at the hands of the Klingons,
Adon who has to avenge his father's death and Karel whose
brother had been sent into Federation space on a dishonourable
mission. Through the actions of these three men Ryan explores
the balance between honour and vengeance. Of course in order
to explore honour you need to show its antithesis. Providing
this is Duras (though I'm not sure which one it would be)
and Gurn, both who trade honour for power.
There are some nice touches in the book. The ongoing problems
with the Empire bring in the character of Ambassador Fox,
who appeared in the original series. Whilst these events are
used to integrate that overall story into canon, Ryan's book
maintains the strength of having characters which never appeared
in the show. This allows him to create and kill off new characters,
which goes a long way to providing real drama in the action
sequences.
So, Demands of Honor is a worthy successor to Seeds
of Rage, providing, as it does, a nice balance of action,
characterisation and plot. Personally I can't wait to see
how this all turns out.
Charles
Packer
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