Synthesis (Star Trek: Titan #6)

Swallow's entry in to the STAR TREK: TITAN series is an interesting twist on sentient machines and AI, along with an original threat that is comparable with other "high concept" sci-fi novels out there. Combined with Swallow's excellent capture of the crew's voices and wonderful drama, SYNTHESIS is a novel that lives up to the core values of TREK: the wonder of exploration and adventure. Highly recommended.

This book is a better treatment of Titan. No more side plots dragging the Titan crew into The Next Generation storylines. No Romulans or Borg. Titan is back to doing what they were meant to- To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.

There are a few twists and turns in the second half of the book so I'll keep away from too much of the story, except to say that the Titan comes across an Artificial Intelligence civilisation and it takes a lot of adjustment on the part of the crew to change their way of thinking to that of a machine society. I could see the situation in this book as being the precursor for the beginning of Culture (Iain Banks) or The Polity (Neal Asher).

Overall it's a well written book with an interesting plotline with an unexpected ending which leads itself open to new possibilities.

I apologise for the lack of specifics, but sometimes it's best not to spoil the whole book by giving everything away, like most tv and movie trailors tend to do these days.

Book 6 (Synthesis) of the Titan Series is good as the others. This book is a continuance of the Titan mission with Captain William Riker, Commander Vale, Commander Tuvok, and Commander Troi. The book takes place a few months after book 5. Titan is continuing its mission of exploring the unknown. This mission is an exploration of a society of all computers/artificial intelligence. Like all the other Titan books, its an enjoyable read. I highly recommend it.

Once more, Star Trek's Titan sails into the unknown, this time at the hand of James Swallow, and James does not disappoint.

Since I'm not crazy about three-book series or crossovers that span three or four different Trek incarnations, the relatively stand-alone nature of the Titan books are right up my alley.

In this story, Titan becomes heavily involved with a society of AI's who are not much like any artificial intelligence they've seen before. I found myself cheering for what occurred (thinking "Andromeda, finally!") and was only mildly disappointed by the ending. That's not to say the ending was disappointing, only that it wasn't what I was hoping for.

In between, we have the crew of Titan: wonderfully new, incredibly diverse, and *always* mighty interesting.

Oh, and the cover art, by Cliff Nielsen, is gorgeous and fits with the story - er, for the most part, anyway!

When Riker and crew make contact with a race of intelligent, emotional machines, the USS Titan is brought in the middle of an ancient war of attrition between the AIs and a mysterious entity known as the Null. Then the AIs reprogram the USS Titan--yes, the ship itself--into a living, thinking being that can make its own decisions. Ghosts of Lt. Commander Data flood the thoughts of Riker and Troi as they and the rest of the Titan crew must interact with (what are in many ways superior) artificial entities. The issue of trust is the main theme in Titan: Synthesis. Prejudice is rampant on both sides as a crew of mostly biologic organisms comes face-to-face with a culture of robots.

James Swallow does an excellent job using the diversity of the Titan crew to convey this story from multiple angles. He knows each character's strengths, weaknesses, and mannerisms like he had invented them. The plot is complex and mysterious at first and touches upon many facets of the crew members' lives.

Titan: Synthesis is a intriguing and well-paced read that should please anyone who has kept up-to-date with the series as well as people who are familiar with the Trek universe but has never read a Titan book before.

"Synthesis" by James Swallow is not only a great Star Trek story, it is a wonderful tale of science-fiction all by itself. We get to experience the dynamics of the entire crew, all the diverse aliens who make up the ever expanding Federation are also a huge part of the USS Titan's crew. They include a female Ferengi who specializes in geology, a Pacifican pilot who wears bulky gloves and a helmet when she's not inside her personal quarters that's been flooded with water, an intimidating reptilian Chief Medical Officer who eats dead animals in the mess hall directly within sight of his mainly vegetarian shipmates, a low-ranking Cardassian science officer trying to escape persecution for the deeds his race has done in the past, and a Vulcan tactical officer named Tuvok whom most people will recall from the Star Trek:Voyager series. (And those are just the ones I can remember! There are plenty more.) Riker & Troi have their baby daughter with them as well, and although she doesn't factor much into the overall story, the newborn infant certainly helps to add a more "human" element to this story.

The main antagonists in this book are the artificial life forms found found by the Titan within an unexplored region of the galaxy. They are "living computers" or more exactly, machines who are self-aware and live for the purpose of their continued existence. At an early point in the story, one of them bonds with the Titan's main computer system and this causes it to become self-aware as well. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens next, I won't spoil the resolution for you, nor will I tell you about the extremely dangerous path the crew of the Titan has to endure in order to get there.

Lastly, the part with Torvig observing his own species while on the holodeck was quite moving and remarkable, that segment of this fascinating story is worth the purchase of this book alone.

Good book

great book, great seller!

What happens when the Titan is given a body and is able to think for itself? Captain Riker must decide if his ship qualifies as a life form.

Doing not look back at the " Titan " series and realize that you missed this critical novel, for if you do, you'll only find stardust, because the rest of us, shall be light-years away, from the command -- " Engage "