Worlds of Star Trek

[redwood973]

On sort of an RPG-related note, anyone tried their hand at doing a writeup for the relaunch-version Andorians?

--Mac417

They are not the same?

[Mac417]

Originally posted by redwood973
They are not the same?

Nope. Fact is, the relaunch novels' idea of Andorians couldn't be farther from LUG/Decipher's.

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Andoria has been described as a hot, humid world, rather than the celestial snowball the RPGs depict.

Another difference lies in family and naming conventions. There are no such things as keth in the novels, and Andorian surnames each have a prefix that signifies each gender (see below). The two "male" prefixes are "ch'-" and "th'-, while the two "female" prefixes are "zh'-" and "sh'-." Hence the naming of DS9 science officer Ens. Thirishar "Shar" ch'Thane and his mother, Federation Ambassador Charivretha zh'Thane.

Andorians don't just marry in groups of four; they're a four-gendered race. Two each of the four are considered by non-Andorians to be respectively male and female. So male pronouns apply to two of their genders, and female pronouns apply to the other two. It's also of note that quads have to be selected meticulously for genetic compatibility, as not just any grouping of the four genders will result in childbirth. As a result, Andorians consider procreation a very high priority, one that earns shame if shirked, aminly due to the fact that the Andorian population has been steadily shrinking and extinction within the next generation is a very real possibility. Shar has basically been written off by one of his mothers due to the fact that not only did he choose to accept a Gamma Quadrant exploration mission rather than return to his quad, but his decision drove one of his betrothed to crippling depression and finally suicide.

[Balok]

I just finished "Unity" and found it to be a decent enough read. I've read better, but I've also read many worse, including some other Trek books. The story is engaging and the characterization is pretty well done.