Over a Torrent Sea - Read Jim Fulner

Paperback, 356 pages

English language

Published Jan. 5, 2009 by Pocket Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-4165-9497-0
OCLC Number:: 232979644

As the Federation recovers from the devastating events of Star Trek: Destiny, Captain William Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan are ordered to resume their deep-space assignment reaffirming Starfleet's core principles of peaceful exploration. But even far from home on a mission of hope the scars of the recent catechism remain with them as they slowly rebuild their lives.

The planet Droplet is a world made mostly of water without a speck of solid ground. Life should not exist here, yet it thrives. Aili Lavena, Titan's aquatic navigator, spearheads the exploration of this mysterious world, facing the dangers of the vast, wild ocean. When one native species proves to be sentient, Lavina finds herself immersed in a delicate contact situation, and Riker is called away from Deanna Troi at a critical moment in their marriage.

But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavina and Riker are cut …

As the Federation recovers from the devastating events of Star Trek: Destiny, Captain William Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan are ordered to resume their deep-space assignment reaffirming Starfleet's core principles of peaceful exploration. But even far from home on a mission of hope the scars of the recent catechism remain with them as they slowly rebuild their lives.

The planet Droplet is a world made mostly of water without a speck of solid ground. Life should not exist here, yet it thrives. Aili Lavena, Titan's aquatic navigator, spearheads the exploration of this mysterious world, facing the dangers of the vast, wild ocean. When one native species proves to be sentient, Lavina finds herself immersed in a delicate contact situation, and Riker is called away from Deanna Troi at a critical moment in their marriage.

But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavina and Riker are cut off from the crew in feared loss. Troi must face a life-changing event without her husband, while the crew must brave the crushing pressures of the deep to undo the global chaos they have triggered. Stranded with her injured caption, Lavina must win the trust of the beings who control their fate—but the price for Riker's survival may be the loss of everything he holds dear.

2 editions

Jim Fulner reviewed Over a Torrent Sea by Christopher L. Bennett

Harder Science-Ficiton for the Star Trek Universe

3 stars

Over a Torrent Sea was different from most Star Trek books. It was much more "hard science fiction" than we have come to expect from Star Trek. While TNG has been described as "board meetings in space" this fifth book in the Star Trek: Titan series had a whole bunch of new scientific concepts found on the planet Droplet the Titan just "discovered."

Much of the beginning of the book revolves around whether there is any sentient life on this ocean planet where there is no actual land masses. That in and of itself deals with a bunch of different theory about how things like weather and sea currents etc. word work on a truly ocean-based planet.

Eventually they determine that not only is there, at least one, sentient species, but it is actually much more advanced in a way that humans, or other humanoids of the federation, …

Over a Torrent Sea was different from most Star Trek books. It was much more "hard science fiction" than we have come to expect from Star Trek. While TNG has been described as "board meetings in space" this fifth book in the Star Trek: Titan series had a whole bunch of new scientific concepts found on the planet Droplet the Titan just "discovered."

Much of the beginning of the book revolves around whether there is any sentient life on this ocean planet where there is no actual land masses. That in and of itself deals with a bunch of different theory about how things like weather and sea currents etc. word work on a truly ocean-based planet.

Eventually they determine that not only is there, at least one, sentient species, but it is actually much more advanced in a way that humans, or other humanoids of the federation, have seen in their use of biotechnology to have achieved their advancement. They've never seen anything that isn't alive before so the Titan's tech scares them and defines much of the story.

The most character development we get is from Ensign Aili Lavena, featured on the cover of the first Pocketbooks edition, whose aquatic lifestyle now makes her the one who for once isn't a fish-out-of-water on this new planet, particularly her native Selkie song language which is much better for communication here.

A giant asteroid appears and as usual Federation officers break the prime directive and calamity ensues.

If you like that kind of stuff Over a Torrent Sea is all-in-all pretty self-contained with most relevant information from earlier books spelled out. That being said, if you are a completionist I wouldn't recommend reading this right after book 4. It wasn't communicated in the previous book, but there was another story that takes place after Sword of Damocles in the Star Trek: Destiny series that greatly effects the overarching story line including: changes in characters & universe (or at least quadrant-wide) upheavals. I will take a break on Star Trek: Titan and start at that next and see what is really relevant, though I know much of it may be spoiled by reading this first. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Jim Fulner

rated it

July 26

Subjects

William T. Riker (Fictional character)
Life on other planets