Synthesis

Real life's been getting more interesting lately, so I haven't posted about the latest Titan novel yet... and by now I don't remember many of the details I intended to mention. So this is a feeble excuse for a review. But what the hell.

Titan is a special series, in a lot of ways -- it's TNG if that show had really been about exploration, and if it had been more of an ensemble drama. It's Star Trek as widescreen science fiction. Swallow follows Christopher Bennett's lead in telling a big Titan story of exploration and a fascinating alien culture, with ideas bubbling up everywhere (though I had the sense Swallow's weren't as grounded in hard science as Bennett's), and at the same time it gives a number of characters good scenes and development. It's a novel that stands well on its own while also reflecting what's come before, in the other Titan novels and in Destiny. In short -- too short, it deserves a longer and more thoughtful review -- it's a damn fine entry that captures everything that makes Titan so appealing.