Federation is the kind of book where you walk away a bit disappointed by the ending, but in the long run, you realize it is a Trek classic. Throughout the book I was looking forward to the crews of both Enterprises interacting. If you want interaction between each crew, read The Return by William Shatner. However, I thought the ending was done rather nicely. The highlight for me was the character development of Zephram Cochrane. Not only did the Movie First Contact change the history of this book, but they made a drunk out of Cochrane, which we know he is not. This book is neither slow nor fast, but I read it in five days. I have high respect for the authors, and they are very knowledgeable Star Trek fans. And in this book, they have captured the best of both crews.
The best thing about this book was the authors' perception of the 21st century. I am talking about the time after us, and the time before the Federation. These were the scenes involving Zephram Cochrane.
I suspect that fans of the original Star Trek will like this book better than the NextGen fans. Although, either way, it is very good in my opinion.
All in all, I thought this was book was very well put together.
Prime Directive was a good idea, but done from the wrong angle. Although, I still find it hard to believe that the Federation would crack down so hard on Kirk, Uhura, McCoy, Chekov, and Sulu, just for violating the Prime Directive. After all, they violated it in every other episode in the series. This book is divided into three parts. The first part, your given absolutely NO clue to why the Enterprise crew is being blackballed by everyone. In the second part, Kirk is relating the Story of how it happened. In my opinion, it was the second part that saved the book, I thought it was a VERY good story. And it gave you MUCH insight to how the Federation handles First Contact missions. However, the last part was somewhat slow. And then the ending was plain ridiculous. The aliens who got the Enterprise blamed for destroying the planet were plain and simply stupid. It ruined the whole book.
Here is another classic example of a book taken from the wrong angle. "Sarek" is the wrong name for this book. I can't think of one, but "Sarek" was mislabeled. Maybe it should be called, "Farewell to Amanda" but not "Sarek". With that being said, this book started out SLOOOOOOOW and DRAAAAAAGED on. But, once the ending came in sight, I started picking up the reading realizing I couldn't put it down. This was a VERY thought out plot. You have to be a Star Trek History buff to get some certain things, and to recognize some of the characters.
The main characters, Kirk, Spock, Sarek.. et al, were developed GREAT. I will say that much for them. The one character who I didn't like but turned out all right was Peter Kirk. He seemed to be a klutz at first but established himself to be a "man" by the end.
I didn't enjoy how they had flashbacks of Sarek, Amanda and Spock. It was rather distracting from the real story. They could of done better than having Sarek read his wife's journals of her past. A cool Time Travel plot by Peter David like in Imzadi would be a perfect example.
Overall, though, read this only if you are a TRUE Trek fan.
TITLE: WINDOWS ON A LOST WORLD, book #65
I don't have much to say because it was a while when I read this. But the parts that stuck out in my mind was that it started off really slow, but by the middle it held my interest. I thought that the trio of Kirk, McCoy, and Spock in this was great. There are a couple of characters introduced, but none that are worth mentioning.
I thought this book was unreal. First of all, I don't like reading about a bunch of old over-the-hill officers trying to survive yet another action adventure. I also thought it was unreal how some cadet has an affair with Kirk. Maybe if it was twenty years before, but lets face it, Kirk is not the ladies man at the age of sixty that he was at thirty. The aliens that this book introduced where very creative, but very irritating to read. They're just your average religious, primitive, four-legged freaks. Lastly, this book was too wordy.
Peter David has done it again! He even wrote this book not in his typical humorous style, but has taken a serious approach to it. (With a few one liners as usual).
The only style of his that you can recognize in this book is that it is an "ambitious" novel. He takes events from Star Trek shows and movies and tries to tie it together, while doing an excellent job. In this case, he took the life of Sulu and made it more interesting, since after all, he is more or less an average character. Just like as in Imzadi, he made you like Troi and Lwaxana, two irritating characters. Here, because of this book, you feel you need to pay special attention to Captain Harriman and Demora Sulu next time you watch Generations because the book makes you feel you could relate with them. They aren't just "other" actors on the set.
The only knock on this book I have is this: The plot was about 40 pages long. The first 20 and the last 20. The rest was history that didn't tie in to the plot. However, Star Trek History Buffs like me will appreciate this because it ties in the original show as well as the most of the first seven movies. As far as the plot: nothing stunning. But edited well and not in the least bit corny. This is definitely a well-written book.
TITLE: INVASION: FIRST STRIKE, book #79
First Strike is an EXCELLENT book. Let me rephrase that. First Strike is an excellent book from beginning to end. It starts out in pure action. Chapter five hooks you. I read this in a couple of days. In this book, you will find Captain Kirk at his BEST. Plus, A new Klingon character, General Kellon was very well developed. So was the Alien Commander, Vergo Zennor. This book was good throughout the whole thing, and believe it or not, the ending was even better. The author set you up PERFECTLY for the part two with the Next Generation crew. For that review, click here, and you will find an opposite review. Anyway, I love the new Aliens, called the "Furies", the new characters are great, this book has no boring scenes, and it was a highlight out of all the Trek books I have read.
An average book for Peter David, an above average book for everyone else. And so it goes again... This book really didn't get interesting until the last half. The beginning half was a nice treat to read because it is one of the few books that actually go into Captain Pike's Enterprise. This book isn't as funny as most of his, but as usual you appreciate all the characters. Even the new species introduced are decent, if not weird. Depending on if you like it or not, their is a touch of a romantic plot in here. But its not sexual like Peter David has known to get sometimes. Overall, a fine read, but no rush.
TITLE: SHIP OF THE LINE
This book was one of the most well-rounded books I've read. It has great characters, a great plot, action, drama, TWO of the crew from the Enterprise, (although one is completely hologram based, but still great nonetheless), and ties in Star Trek history nicely. You get great insight on both Picard and the reasons why is insane in the movie First Contact, and you get a peek at Kirk's
sensitive side. The ending may of been a bit anti-climatic, but still fun to read. Overall, this is an ALMOST Trek classic. Diane Carey has earned my respective with this book.
TITLE: Q-SPACE
This book was nothing but average. Nothing Special about it. The main reason to read it would be because of Q. The past two books Q was in, (both written by Peter David), Q was a master piece. To the authors credit here, Q may of been more realistic in this book, but not nearly as funny. The characters were all in fact realistic, but the description in some areas were so heavy it held back the flow of the book. Don't plan on me reading the next one. I only got this one because I found it in the trash. The next two might be more
interesting though, because you can tell a lot will be revealed about Q and the past. But nothing all THAT
significant.
TITLE: Q-SQUARED
Let me sum up my reaction after I finished this book: WOW! Let me give you a word of advice: READ IT! This book was SO creative, SO well thought and SO well put together. Not to mention the fact that it was written by the best Trek author ever, Peter David. This book also has the ever present David humor. I am glad no one writes about Q because they'll ruin him. But not with Peter David. You could hear John De Lancie's voice in your head as he is talking in the book. This book has great character development. There are no "clone" characters in here that some authors fall in the habit of writing. The plot is GREAT and has many twists at the end.
This book deals with Alternate universe. In here, Peter David completely made two of them up. "Track A" was rather humorous.
Also, This book ties in The Original Star Trek by bringing in the character Trelane. The fact that Peter David recognized he was a Q and made the story about it was pure brilliance.
To sum up, drop the book you're reading and buy it now! The only two warnings are, number one, you need Star Trek knowledge to make sense out of some things, and number two, you need to read it within a few days or you'll get lost. TRUST ME!
Peter David is an expert. He has effectively taken a story that I could care less about, the romance of Troi and Riker, and turned it into an awesome book. This was a different type of Peter David story, but yet a kind that he usually writes. Confused? Let me explain. It was different for him because the humor was at a minimal. Well there was a little, but not the norm that you would find in his books. (Although the parts with Lt. Barclay at the end of the book had me rolling!). This was, however, his typical story in that it was very creative. I was NOT expecting this book to be like that. And, actually, it wasn't all that creative, until the ending. This was when the characters from the future (via the Guardian of Forever) were interacting with the characters of the present. So that was a pleasant surprise.
Back to the story of Troi and Riker. I don't read Romance (as you had noticed no doubt), but the story of their beginning romance was great! I loved every minute of it. It was so funny how Troi kept rejecting him. Even Deanna Troi's mom, wasn't that irritating as usual. This is probably the most "sexual" Star Trek book you will read, but it won't be offensive to sensitive readers. Overly sensitive readers however....
Overall, I say this was an excellent book with TWO great plots. (The Romance and the Time Travel) So go ahead and buy it. Do yourself a favor. In fact, I am at a point now where I go to the bookstore looking for Peter David books only. He is a remarkable writer. Better than Clancy, Grisham, Crichton or any Trek author.
The ONLY negative I could think of is that in the end, some of the characters didn't act as I would think they would in the show. Namely Picard (who was hardly in the book). But that's just my opinion. Nothing more.
Giving this book a B- is too harsh, but I need to make a point. Imzadi (the
original) was so good, of course a continuation would be a disappointment. There was nothing here that was a big Surprise. A big Peter David
disappointment. I think he is starting to write so many novels (because of the
New Frontier) he is talent is watered down a bit. In every book, even his worst, I start laughing at SOMETHING that is VERY funny. Not one thing in this books. The history was good. It wrapped around
Generations and First Contact rather well. A few interesting twists with Tom Riker and Sela and Odo and but not much else. There was ONE part in the book that was a surprise, but nothing else. This was a decent book. But not Great. Not Imzadi (the
original) in anyway. Even the sex stuff is toned down here. (which is a
positive and negative depending on how how like that kind of stuff). Overall, I bought the Hardback and regret it. A definite Paperback buy. There is no way this will become a New York Times Bestseller like the
original. So, unless you like History of Star Trek, that the shows don't bring out, this book is for you.
TITLE: VENDETTA
If it wasn't for Peter David, this book would have scored a C-. I thought it was interesting, but I didn't really like the species that were harassing the Borg. Especially, Guinan's half-sister, Delcara, was quite annoying. She was obsessed with the destruction of the Borg, but al least she was well developed. This book lacked the typical Peter David humor that would have made it much better if he added a few jokes. The ending was interesting and kept my attention, but the rest was a bit slow and the sub-plots were weak. (Namely, Geordi trying to humanize that Borg chick).... Lastly, I thought the fact that the Borg assimilated that Ferengi and made him a Locutus type was funny. But I suspect the author wasn't trying to make it seem that way. So it is safe to say, this was a decent book, but a failure for Peter David.
The Return was VERY surprising. I only read it because a friend kept telling me too. It did start out very slow and wordy, and plus the fact that William Shatner is writing it, I kept thinking: "Let go of Kirk already! He's died!" Until he gets resurrected in this book. However once I got past that, I realized I was reading a great book. It was everything Generations wasn't. It had character interaction between all off Picard's Enterprise with the key essentials of Kirk's Enterprise, Ambassador Spock, 150 year old McCoy, and the born-again Kirk. When this book got good, I could NOT put it down. I had to read the last two hundred pages straight. I even canceled my evening plans to finish it. Plus, it even incorporates a few Deep Space Nine Characters. The only thing that bugs me is, Kirk should have died in this on the Borg home planet, but Shatner has to get one more book out of a Kirk story. (The Book Avenger) Dying on the Borg planet would be a lot more meaningful than dying on that stupid bridge that he fell off of. Notwithstanding, this was still an awesome book. Put away your prejustice and buy it now!
Though not as ambitious or compelling as The Return, William Shatner (with the help of Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens), once again proved he is a first rate trek author. In his previous book, he was being ambitious and changing history around, but did it in such a way that you were forced to read. But, The Return lacked a solid plot. It was just a long drown out action scene. Avenger however, is just as good, BUT, it has a REAL DEEP plot. The action only came in during the ending. Like The Return, Avenger was slow to start. But you better pay attention, or your going to miss the point of the ending. It may help to read the first book of the trilogy by Shatner, Ashes of Eden, there are a couple of overlapping characters, but I didn't read
it so it may be all right. I understood this book fine. A nice surprise is when Kirk runs into the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) that was pretty funny. Overall, just do not be biased because "Captain Kirk" is writing this book, (although he is
very biased himself!), after reading the ending, you will be very satisfied. Just get through the sluggish beginning.
TITLE: STAR TREK:
GENERATIONS
The Movie Star Trek Generations was a bit disappointing. But then, I don't think there is any "right" way to kill Captain Kirk. However, the movie, although not that bad, still left a lot to be desired. But the book fills in the gaps very nicely. The most noticeable being all the stuff the author added before where the movie started. It showed nicely how Kirk was a depressed person after his crew was disbanded. It even had a few scenes with Kirk talking to McCoy and Spock. It had a scene of Sulu's reaction when Kirk first "dies". And most importantly, it added a scene of Kirk's first encounter with the Nexus, before Picard asks for his help. Many people probably wonder why the great Captain Kirk wasn't so eager to help Picard at first. This book answers the question, and makes the movie even more understandable. Therefore, it is worth reading.
If there was a grade between a C and D, I would have gave it that. This was a horrible book that had its moments. WAY too wordy. VERY slow. And, with a stupid ending of how they got back into there own universe. However, the only positive thing I remember was when the Crew (good and bad) met. I loved the plot of having them sneaking aboard the "dark" Enterprise and replacing their "clones". Although it DID take a long time too get good. The other highlight was the "dark" copy of Troi. She usually is a WEAK character, and still is, but her copy is cool. Also, the author takes Star Trek WAY too seriously. It would have helped to add some humor in here. She made Picard and crew to be a bunch of "sticklers"... as if they weren't already.
Okay, maybe I'm a little biased towards Peter David, but he IS after all the best Trek author. I don't think this book was that bad as some people say. BUT it had a WEAK plot. It was a non-depressing version of Romeo and Juliet. The aliens in this book were rather unrealistic.
Let me put this way: the book is 250 pages long. Q shows up around page 60. The first 60 pages are boring. Once Q appears, the book was very good, for a while. The character of Q was on par with how he acts in the show. But as the last 50 pages came, it concentrated on the rather dull plot, and the scenes with Q, weren't all that exciting either. Frankly, he did not act as he would in the show.
Even though the ending wasn't all that, I have to admit, (and I hate to admit), that Lwaxana Troi was the highlight. It was so funny when she was beating up Q.
All in all, it's not a bad book. Although, don't exactly put it on the priority list either. The combination of Peter David and Q saved this book.
WOW! What a disappointment! Diane Carey set the tone for a continuation with her book First Strike. However, these two authors wrote a VERY dry continuation, with a bunch of Characters who are clones. I mean come on, just because Picard says "make it so" or "engage", does NOT mean that he is well developed. The WORST thing is, I didn't like was the fact that in the first book, the Enterprise and a whole Klingon fleet could BARELY stop one Fury ship. And that ship was just a scout! But in this book, the Enterprise-D, two Klingon Bird of Preys, two more Federation ships, and one VULCAN ship for crying out loud! were able to casually destroy these eight or nine fury Warships. I find this inconsistent. Also, the authors set NO will for me to continue to the third Invasion book, Time's Enemy, although I eventually did, two months later. But this was such a worthless book. However, I read it in less than ten hours, so it is not like it was plain boring were I couldn't stand it. If this book was on its own, than, MAYBE it was decent. But after reading the first book, this was just a plain bore.