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Chaos is sweeping through the once peaceful planet of Sigma
IV. It leaves cities ravaged and burning husks and thousands
dead. A mysterious new virus spreading through the population
was once blamed for the carnage but now it seems as though
there is a much simpler answer to the population of an entire
planer apparently going insane. They are simply doing what
comes naturally, for centuries the prosperity and peace of
Delta Sigma IV have been an illusion, the inhabitants doped
by the Liscom gas, a gas that was slowly killing them off...
Now
for the first time the Bader and Dorset of Delta Sigma IV
must learn how to control the notoriously violent nature of
both their races. And yet again it falls to Picard and the
Enterprise-E to save the population of the planet from
themselves. With a solution that may be no better than the
problem. Meanwhile to solve both the personal and planetary
problems that dog them Will and Kyle Riker must unite. Doing
what they can to help Delta Sigma IV will bind both men closer
than ever, lead to triumph and eventually lead to tragedy.
A
Time to Hate is a book that mixes emotive moments with
action. It falls too heavily on the emotional side though.
The planet is in the midst of civil conflict and the crew
are right in the middle - which often means the firing line,
so this is understandable.
The problem with the previous book (A Time to Love)
was its lack of impression that the planet was at war with
itself. It felt more like choreographed moments of action
than a consistent planetary problem. But, with this book.
The plotlines tie in better with the action and the pace is
contrasted well.
The
Rikers share much of the action with Vale and her security
personnel and the author makes good use of smaller time characters
to express what is going on in regards to the more active
parts of the story.
Picard
and Dr Crusher have a more balanced and peaceful adventure.
While this is a style that reflects the differing roles of
the crew, it also seems a little too clean. Very rarely do
the two mix, very rarely does Picard or Dr Crusher get involved
in anything more dangerous than a room full of politicians.
In a situation where a whole planet is rioting, it seemed
a little unusual that such little crossover occurred.
As
I mentioned earlier, the book does concentrate heavily on
emotion. This is magnified because of the taut relationship
between Kyle and Will Riker. This was handled well, but much
of it was ground previously trodden in other books like Deny
Thy Father.
A
Time to Hate does more than any other book in the series
in showing how the bonds between the crew of the Enterprise-D/Enterprise-E
slowly break down. The ending is an anticlimax, due to the
fact that the mystery ended halfway through and the events
after that never really regained any momentum. However the
ending is extremely emotive and has the power to move both
through joy and tragedy.
An
average book, to be honest, that lacks that little extra that
helped make the others in the series that much more readable.
Charlie
Brine
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