Changes: The Light Fantastic

Latest revision as of 00:18, 6 August 2023

The Light Fantastic is a 2014 Star Trek: The Next Generation novel by author Jeffrey Lang.

Description

He was perhaps the ultimate human achievement: a sentient artificial life-form - self-aware, self-determining, possessing a mind and body far surpassing that of his makers, and imbued with the potential to evolve beyond the scope of his programming.

And then Data was gone.

Four years later, Data's creator, Noonien Soong, sacrificed his life and resurrected his android son, who in turn revived the positronic brain of his own artificial daughter, Lal. Having resigned his commission, the former Starfleet officer now works to make his way on an alien world, while also coming to grips with the very human notion of wanting versus having a child.

But complicating Data's life is an unexpected nemesis from years ago on the U.S.S. Enterprise - the holographic criminal Professor James Moriarty. Long believed to be imprisoned in a memory solid, Moriarty has created a siphon into the "real" world as a being of light and thought. Moriarty wants the solid form he was once told he could never have, and seeks to manipulate Data into finding another android body for him to permanently inhabit... even if it means that is Data himself.

Summary

Data returns to his home on Orion Prime to find both Lal and her companion, an Alice series android, missing. A message from Professor Moriarty reveals that he is responsible and offers to release them if Data can provide him and Countess Regina Barthlomew with physical bodies.

Moriarty explains to Lal and Alice that the destruction of the Enterprise-D affected his and Regina's world, wiping their two daughters out of existence. Their programme was transferred to the Daystrom Institute but a further disruption during Vaslovik's raid on the facility saw the rest of their world wiped out.

Data enlists the help of Geordi and together they contact Albert Lee, an old crewmate now working at the Daystrom Institute, who helps them breach the facility and determine Moriarty and Regina have escaped. Data then begins a series of deceptions with collectors such as Harry Mudd, now aged to the point he needs a mechanical conveyance, and Kivas Fajo and manages to gain possession of one of the mind transfer devices from Exo III and a damaged blank template.

Data meets with Moriarty and offers to use the device to transfer Moriarty's mind into his own body. Instead, he tricks Moriarty and places him in a memory cube, where Regina voluntarily joins him. Realising she is expected to return to her home, Alice attempts to leave by taking Lal hostage but Mudd, who Data and La Forge brought hidden inside the template, orders her to comply.

Some months later, Moriarty leaves a message with Lal, telling Data he and Regina have been given their physical bodies and had their daughters restored.

References

Characters

Reginald Barclay • Regina Bartholomew • Leah Brahms • Broik • Beverly Crusher • Data • The Doctor • Kivas Fajo • Vic Fontaine • Mrs. Hudson • Jiro • Kelly • Geordi La Forge • Lal • Albert Lee • Jimmy McGuire • Gladys Moriarty • James Moriarty • Sophia Moriarty • Harry Mudd • Oban • Jean-Luc Picard • Settu • Shakti • Noonien Soong • Todd • Nyota Uhura • Worf
Referenced only: Akharin (Flint) • Braxton • Clea • Guinan • Jarrell • Kathan • Kevar • James T. Kirk • Roger Korby • Bruce Maddox • Rhea McAdams • Nog • Miles O'Brien • Oboloth • Rene Jacques Robert Francois Picard • Proxima • Katherine Pulaski • Q • Quark • William Riker • Ro Laren • Montgomery Scott • Deanna Troi • Varria

Referenced only: Aenar • Betazoid • Borg • Breen • Gorn • Rigelian • Romulan • Tholian

States and organizations

Body Electric • Breen Confederacy • Daystrom Institute • Port Authority • Project Full Circle • Starfleet • Starfleet Command • Tholian Assembly • United Federation of Planets

Other references

29th century • Alice series • Altair water • Annabelle series • ansible technology • bacon • barracuda • bioplast • blackjack • brandy • brown mustard • brussels sprout • Cardassian bola-nettles • cheese • chicken • Christmas • Citizen Kane • clay • cobalt • coffee • cortenide • craps • darjeeling tea • Dolores series • duranium • egg • Emergency Medical Hologram • Exo-type android • Green Thorn • Grub worm • havarti sandwich • Herman series • hologram • holomatrix • holosuite • honey • iron • isolinear chip • kanar • lagavulin • lettuce • Maisie series • mayonnaise • memory solid • mobile emitter • molybdenum • nano-compiler • ninchalla • Norman series • onion • orca • Oscar series • Sancho Panza • paradin • pitchak • plasteel • poker (Texas Hold'em) • positronic brain • potato • Don Quixote • Raiders of the Lost Ark • raktajino • replicator • The Rules of the Game • sjoko-wan • Soong-type android • spatula • Stella series • Stockholm syndrome • Sydney series • tequila • tomato • tricorder • tripolymer • Trudy series • turbolift • turkey sandwich • Varon-T disruptor • VISOR • waffle • water • Watership Down • xenolinguistics

Appendices

Images

Connections

Star Trek: The Next Generation novels set after Star Trek Nemesis

Death in Winter • Resistance • Q & A • Before Dishonor • Greater Than the Sum • Losing the Peace • Indistinguishable from Magic • Cold Equations (The Persistence of Memory • Silent Weapons • The Body Electric) • The Stuff of Dreams • The Light Fantastic • Takedown • Armageddon's Arrow • Headlong Flight • Hearts and Minds • Available Light • Collateral Damage

Timeline

Published Order
Previous novel: Indistinguishable from Magic	TNG novels	Next novel: Takedown
Previous story: Where Everybody Knows Your Name	Stories by: Jeffrey Lang	Next story: Force and Motion

Translations

2016: German : Das Licht der Fantasie, translated by René Ulmer. (Cross Cult)

External link

The Light Fantastic article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Fantastic}}
-{{Novel|
+{{novel
 | type = novel
+| cover image = theLightFantastic.jpg
-| title = The Light Fantastic
+| series = {{sT|The Next Generation}}
-| cover image = [[File:TheLightFantastic.jpg|220px]]
-| artist =
-| series = ''{{ST|The Next Generation}}''
 | author = [[Jeffrey Lang]]
 | publisher = [[Pocket Books]]
 | format = [[paperback]]
-| published = [[2014|24 June 2014]]
+| published = {{srcdate|2014|June|24}}
 | pages = 304
-| ISBN =
+| ISBN = {{iSBN|1476750513}}
+| date = [[2270]], [[2286]], November [[2384]], August-November [[2385]], March [[2386]]
-| date =
+}}
-| stardate =
+'''''The Light Fantastic''''' is a [[2014]] ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' [[novel]] by author [[Jeffrey Lang]].
-|altcover =
-| caption =
+==Description==
-|}}
-'''The Light Fantastic''' is an upcoming 2014 ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' [[novel]] by author [[Jeffrey Lang]].
-==Publisher's description==
 :''He was perhaps the ultimate human achievement: a sentient artificial life-form - self-aware, self-determining, possessing a mind and body far surpassing that of his makers, and imbued with the potential to evolve beyond the scope of his programming.
@@ Line 27: / Line 24: @@
 ==Summary==
+[[Data]] returns to his home on [[Orion Prime]] to find both [[Lal]] and her companion, an [[Alice series]] android, missing. A message from [[James Moriarty|Professor Moriarty]] reveals that he is responsible and offers to release them if Data can provide him and [[Countess Regina Barthlomew]] with physical bodies.
+Moriarty explains to Lal and Alice that the destruction of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|''Enterprise''-D]] affected his and Regina's world, wiping their two daughters out of existence. Their programme was transferred to the [[Daystrom Institute]] but a further disruption during [[Flint|Vaslovik's]] raid on the facility saw the rest of their world wiped out.
+Data enlists the help of [[Geordi La Forge|Geordi]] and together they contact [[Albert Lee]], an old crewmate now working at the Daystrom Institute, who helps them breach the facility and determine Moriarty and Regina have escaped. Data then begins a series of deceptions with collectors such as [[Harry Mudd]], now aged to the point he needs a mechanical conveyance, and [[Kivas Fajo]] and manages to gain possession of one of the mind transfer devices from [[Exo III]] and a damaged blank template.
+Data meets with Moriarty and offers to use the device to transfer Moriarty's mind into his own body. Instead, he tricks Moriarty and places him in a memory cube, where Regina voluntarily joins him. Realising she is expected to return to [[Mudd's World|her home]], Alice attempts to leave by taking Lal hostage but Mudd, who Data and La Forge brought hidden inside the template, orders her to comply.
+Some months later, Moriarty leaves a message with Lal, telling Data he and Regina have been given their physical bodies and had their daughters restored.
 ==References==
 ===Characters===
+:[[Reginald Barclay]] • [[Regina Bartholomew]] • [[Leah Brahms]] • [[Broik]] • [[Beverly Crusher]] • [[Data]] • [[The Doctor]] • [[Kivas Fajo]] • [[Vic Fontaine]] • [[Mrs. Hudson]] • [[Jiro]] • [[Kelly (waitress)|Kelly]] • [[Geordi La Forge]] • [[Lal]] • [[Albert Lee]] • [[Jimmy McGuire]] • [[Gladys Moriarty]] • [[James Moriarty]] • [[Sophia Moriarty]] • [[Harry Mudd]] • {{dis|Oban|Cardassian}} • [[Jean-Luc Picard]] • [[Settu]] • [[Shakti]] • [[Noonien Soong]] • [[Todd (bartender)|Todd]] • [[Nyota Uhura]] • [[Worf]]
-:[[Data]] • [[Lal]] • [[James Moriarty]]
+{{ref}} [[Akharin]] ([[Flint]]) • [[Braxton]] • [[Clea (android)|Clea]] • [[Guinan]] • [[Jarrell]] • [[Kathan]] • [[Kevar]] • [[James T. Kirk]] • [[Roger Korby]] • [[Bruce Maddox]] • [[Rhea McAdams]] • [[Nog]] • [[Miles O'Brien]] • [[Oboloth]] • [[Rene Jacques Robert Francois Picard]] • [[Proxima (android)|Proxima]] • [[Katherine Pulaski]] • [[Q]] • [[Quark]] • [[William Riker]] • [[Ro Laren]] • [[Montgomery Scott]] • [[Deanna Troi]] • [[Varria]]
+===Locations===
+:[[Alpha Quadrant]] • {{dis|Deep Space 9|II}} ([[Plaza]] • {{dis|Quark's|II}}) • [[Earth]] ([[Pacific Ocean]] • [[North America]] • [[San Francisco]] • [[Upper Haight]]) • [[Exo III]] • [[Galor IV]] • [[Happy Bottom Riding Club]] • [[Mudd (planet)|Mudd]] • [[Orion (planet)|Orion]] ([[Commons]] • [[Lode Stone]]) • [[Veridian III]]
+{{ref}} [[Beta Quadrant]] • [[Delta Quadrant]] • [[Europe]] • [[Gamma Quadrant]] • [[Hawaii]] ([[Kona]]) • [[Rigel III]] • [[Starbase 14]]
 ===Starships and vehicles===
+:''[[Archeus]]'' • {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} ({{class|Galaxy}} [[explorer]]) • {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-E|-E}} ({{class|Sovereign}}) • {{USS|Galen|NX-86350}} ({{class|Galen}})
-:
+{{ref}} ''[[Cetacean Probe]]'' • {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} ({{class|Constitution}} [[heavy cruiser]]) • {{USS|Voyager}} ({{class|Intrepid}})
-===Locations===
-:
 ===Races and cultures===
+:[[Andorian]] • [[Bajoran]] • [[Cardassian]] • [[Ferengi]] • [[Human]] • [[Klingon]] • [[Orion]] • [[Zibalian]]
-:[[Soong-type android]]
+{{ref}} [[Aenar]] • [[Betazoid]] • [[Borg]] • [[Breen]] • [[Gorn]] • [[Rigelian]] • [[Romulan]] • [[Tholian]]
 ===States and organizations===
+:[[Body Electric]] • [[Breen Confederacy]] • [[Daystrom Institute]] • [[Port Authority]] • [[Project Full Circle]] • [[Starfleet]] • [[Starfleet Command]] • [[Tholian Assembly]] • [[United Federation of Planets]]
-:
-===Science and Technology===
-:[[hologram]]
-===Ranks and Titles===
-:
 ===Other references===
+:[[29th century]] • [[Alice series]] • [[Altair water]] • [[Annabelle series]] • [[ansible technology]] • [[bacon]] • {{dis|barracuda|fish}} • [[bioplast]] • [[blackjack]] • [[brandy]] • [[brown mustard]] • [[brussels sprout]] • [[Cardassian bola-nettles]] • [[cheese]] • [[chicken]] • [[Christmas]] • ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' • [[clay]] • [[cobalt]] • [[coffee]] • [[cortenide]] • [[craps]] • [[darjeeling tea]] • [[Dolores series]] • [[duranium]] • [[egg]] • [[Emergency Medical Hologram]] • [[Exo-type android]] • [[Green Thorn]] • [[Grub worm]] • [[havarti sandwich]] • [[Herman series]] • [[hologram]] • [[holomatrix]] • [[holosuite]] • [[honey]] • [[iron]] • [[isolinear chip]] • [[kanar]] • [[lagavulin]] • [[lettuce]] • [[Maisie series]] • [[mayonnaise]] • [[tech cube|memory solid]] • [[mobile emitter]] • [[molybdenum]] • [[nano-compiler]] • [[ninchalla]] • [[Norman series]] • [[onion]] • [[orca]] • [[Oscar series]] • [[Sancho Panza]] • [[paradin]] • [[pitchak]] • [[plasteel]] • [[poker]] ([[Texas Hold'em]]) • [[positronic brain]] • [[potato]] • [[Don Quixote]] • ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' • [[raktajino]] • [[replicator]] • ''[[The Rules of the Game]]'' • [[sjoko-wan]] • [[Soong-type android]] • [[spatula]] • [[Stella series]] • [[Stockholm syndrome]] • [[Sydney series]] • [[tequila]] • [[tomato]] • [[tricorder]] • [[tripolymer]] • [[Trudy series]] • [[turbolift]] • [[turkey sandwich]] • [[Varon-T disruptor]] • [[VISOR]] • [[waffle]] • [[water]] • ''[[Watership Down]]'' • [[xenolinguistics]]
-:
 ==Appendices==
-===Background information===
+===Images===
+<gallery>
-{{TNG relaunch}}
+theLightFantastic.jpg
+soongLF.jpg
+lalLight.jpg
+</gallery>
+===Connections===
+{{tNG relaunch}}
+====Timeline====
+{{timeline-published}}
+{{published order
+| type = novel
+| seriesformat = ''[[TNG]]'' [[novel]]s
+| before = [[Indistinguishable from Magic]]
+| after = [[Takedown]]
+}}
+{{author order
+| author = [[Jeffrey Lang]]
+| before = [[Where Everybody Knows Your Name]]
+| after = [[Force and Motion]]
+}}
+{{end box}}
+======Translations======
+;[[2016]] : German : ''Das Licht der Fantasie'', translated by René Ulmer. (Cross Cult)
 ===External link===
-*{{memoryalpha}}
+* {{memoryalpha}}
-[[Category:TNG novels]]
+[[category:tNG novels]]

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