It isn't often you come across a work of fanfiction like the Unity Saga, which takes a standard premise – "What if Universe X met Universe Y?" – and not only gives it a truly epic scope, but stamps it with its own identity. However, this should be no surprise when the author is Chuck Sonnenburg, veteran Internet reviewer and connoisseur of Star Wars and Star Trek.
On that note, readers who come into the story off SF Debris should know what to expect. From the incisive look at the respective 'verses, acerbic wit and in-depth nerd trivia, all the more impressive given how in the late 90s, one couldn't simply check a wiki... You've got the works.
With this in mind, it's a shame to say I admire this story more than I like it.
Had I to name what the Unity Saga's writing puts me in mind of, I'd point to one thing. Joss Whedon, at his most excessive. (Please note, this isn't a judgement on Whedon as a person, which is its own can of worms; merely his iconic style.) As mentioned earlier, the Unity Saga is fanfiction with strong personal identity. Problem is, said identity feels less like Wars or Trek than it does Chuck Sonnenburg borrowing these franchises' iconography to tell his version of Dune. In the snarky, angsty style of Whedon.
If this sounds like a recipe of conflicting ingredients, that's because it is. While to the story’s credit, the merging of the two settings winds up surprisingly organic, less can be said for its handle on tone or characterisation.
Simply put, characters in the Unity Saga all speak in the same voice. At one point, Emperor Palpatine refers to the Borg as "cybernetic lemmings". There’s no witticism the writer thought up which he didn’t feel like putting into a character's mouth, regardless of how well it fit.
Still more problematic is the portrayal of female characters. I get this was written in the less gender-political days of the 90s-00s, but I’ve a hard time tracking that Chuck could know Mara Jade or Seven of Nine and reduce them to overly-emotive rival love interests for Luke Skywalker.
And, spoilers for the first trilogy; while it is kind of impressive that the author's got the guts to depict the Federation's deception and eventual subjugation by the Galactic Empire, there is a discomforting similarity in the Unity Saga with the path canon itself would take. Star Trek, a future built on self-improvement and moral contemplation, turned bleak and dog-eat-dog; Star Wars, a fairy-tale about hope and friendship, stuck in a cycle of eternal recurrence; both now featuring a disproportionate focus on Chosen Ones.
One wonders if Chuck, a famed snarker, ever looks backs on his own story and sees this ultimate irony. At least canon never went "Your parents were selfish, but you don't get to be". Gee, thanks, that's the message I want out of Star Wars or Star Trek, let alone the spawn of both.
Worth reading, yet mainly as a companion piece to Chuck's other work.
The Unity Saga – ambitious, witty and clever, yet oddly dispiriting
It isn't often you come across a work of fanfiction like the Unity Saga, which takes a standard premise – "What if Universe X met Universe Y?" – and not only gives it a truly epic scope, but stamps it with its own identity. However, this should be no surprise when the author is Chuck Sonnenburg, veteran Internet reviewer and connoisseur of Star Wars and Star Trek.
On that note, readers who come into the story off SF Debris should know what to expect. From the incisive look at the respective 'verses, acerbic wit and in-depth nerd trivia, all the more impressive given how in the late 90s, one couldn't simply check a wiki... You've got the works.
With this in mind, it's a shame to say I admire this story more than I like it.
Had I to name what the Unity Saga's writing puts me in mind of, I'd point to one thing. Joss Whedon, at his most excessive. (Please note, this isn't a judgement on Whedon as a person, which is its own can of worms; merely his iconic style.) As mentioned earlier, the Unity Saga is fanfiction with strong personal identity. Problem is, said identity feels less like Wars or Trek than it does Chuck Sonnenburg borrowing these franchises' iconography to tell his version of Dune. In the snarky, angsty style of Whedon.
If this sounds like a recipe of conflicting ingredients, that's because it is. While to the story’s credit, the merging of the two settings winds up surprisingly organic, less can be said for its handle on tone or characterisation.
Simply put, characters in the Unity Saga all speak in the same voice. At one point, Emperor Palpatine refers to the Borg as "cybernetic lemmings". There’s no witticism the writer thought up which he didn’t feel like putting into a character's mouth, regardless of how well it fit.
Still more problematic is the portrayal of female characters. I get this was written in the less gender-political days of the 90s-00s, but I’ve a hard time tracking that Chuck could know Mara Jade or Seven of Nine and reduce them to overly-emotive rival love interests for Luke Skywalker.
And, spoilers for the first trilogy; while it is kind of impressive that the author's got the guts to depict the Federation's deception and eventual subjugation by the Galactic Empire, there is a discomforting similarity in the Unity Saga with the path canon itself would take. Star Trek, a future built on self-improvement and moral contemplation, turned bleak and dog-eat-dog; Star Wars, a fairy-tale about hope and friendship, stuck in a cycle of eternal recurrence; both now featuring a disproportionate focus on Chosen Ones.
One wonders if Chuck, a famed snarker, ever looks backs on his own story and sees this ultimate irony. At least canon never went "Your parents were selfish, but you don't get to be". Gee, thanks, that's the message I want out of Star Wars or Star Trek, let alone the spawn of both.
Worth reading, yet mainly as a companion piece to Chuck's other work.