Challenger

Star Trek #94
New Earth, Book Six of Six
Challenger by Diane Carey
Published August 2000
Read June 26^th 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #93: Book Five: Thin Air
Next book (The Original Series): #95: Rihannsu, Book 3: Swordhunt

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Thin Air!

From the back cover:

Far from the reaches of the Federation, the Starship Enterprise has been guiding the development of a once obscure planet upon whose fate the future of the galaxy may now depend. The Enterprise has been the sole representative of the Federation, fighting a constant battle to protect the colonists from enemy aliens and standing alone against all those who have their own designs on the colony world. 

But all adventures come to an end. It is time for Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to turn over the guardianship of the colony to another ship and crew. The new ship arrives in the midst of a deadly attack on the colony -- and is destroyed. With the Enterprise off fighting a new and powerful enemy that threatens the colony as well as its enemies, Commander Nick Keller, first officer and ranking survivor of the decimated crew, is marooned and at first alone -- but he must find a way to complete his original mission and come to the aid of the Enterprise in what might be its most desperate hour.

My thoughts:

In this, the sixth and final novel in the New Earth miniseries, we find the focus of the main plot shifted away from the usual gang of Kirk and company. Rather, the main character is Commander Nick Keller, who we are introduced to as the second officer of the U.S.S. Peleliu. The Peleliu is a Starfleet picket ship, assigned as Enterprise's replacement at Belle Terre. En route to her new assignment, the Peleliu comes under attack by the Kauld. The first officer is killed, and Keller must step up into the position. As the captain of the Peleliu becomes more and more erratic, Keller finds himself in the unenviable position of deciding whether or not he should be relieved of command.

Meanwhile, a strange robotic mechanism seems to be repeatedly stealing quantities of mined olivium ore. Kirk and the Enterprise set off in pursuit, having to leave Dr. McCoy and Commander Uhura behind, as they have failed to report in. In fact, the two officers have been captured by an antagonist we first met in book one: Billy Maidenshore, the criminal who attempted to sell out the colonist fleet to the Kauld, has commandeered a prison vessel and taken Uhura and Bones as prisoners. Using Uhura's expertise, Maidenshore has maintained his cover and used the vessel to amass a fortune in olivium.

Challenger put Uhura and McCoy together in a fight for their lives, a pairing that isn't common in Trek.

When the Peleliu is critically damaged due to the actions of her captain, the Belle Terre colony is left without protection with the Enterprise away chasing down the supposed olivium thieves. Keller finds himself having to come up with a solution fast, after having arrested his captain and removing him from the field. His answer: to build a new starship using scraps and parts from the Peleliu, as well as other ships that have been decommissioned from the Belle Terre fleet. While the idea seemed to be pretty far-fetched, I actually found myself really enjoying this part of the novel, especially with the involvement of Scotty who is on hand to help Keller put his plan into motion.

I also enjoyed the resolution to the olivium storyline, with the revelation of where the material comes from and why the lifeforms behind the robotic probe were taking it from the colony. Additionally, we learn more about the fate of the Rattlesnake, a ship that went missing in the novel Belle Terre. The ending of this part of the story had a much more sci-fi twist than I was expecting, given the tone of the rest of the novels.

While I am still not a fan of the Billy Maidenshore character, I felt that he was used to much greater effect in this novel than he was in Wagon Train to the Stars. The eventual comeuppance he gets at the hands of Bones and especially Uhura was very satisfying indeed.

I quite enjoyed the characters that were introduced in this novel, and it is a shame that the Star Trek: Challenger book series didn't continue past its single entry, Chainmail, part of the Gateways crossover series. I enjoyed the "aw, shucks" nature of Commander Nick Keller, and liken him to a kind of Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly type character. There was one moment, however, that kind of took me out of the story, when Keller goes on an extended monologue about the value of big business and how they are the best form of charity there is. Capitalist ventures that succeed and are very profitable are the best thing for a planetary ecosystem to thrive, says Keller. I guess he's as much of a libertarian as Diane Carey is. No surprise there, I suppose.

Chainmail is the only other novel to feature Nick Keller and the crew of the Challenger.

The New Earth series has been a very mixed bag, with most of the entries failing to live up to the promise that the overall premise offered. However, I noticed a definite turnaround with the previous book, Thin Air. How does the final installment, Challenger, stack up?

Surprisingly, quite well! With one or two small hiccups, Challenger bested my expectations and turned out to be a great wrap-up to an overall-lackluster series. I would actually have enjoyed seeing these characters more in later novels, a fact that surprised me.

Final thoughts:

Challenger is an excellent conclusion to a series that has been frustratingly hit-or-miss, and mostly miss. The series overall could have used a big dose of cohesiveness, with each book flowing better into the next one. Instead, the series is very disjointed, but Challenger manages to bring everything to a satisfying close. There is a line on page 247 about how the space shuttle Challenger was the only shuttle that NASA lost, which has sadly not aged well. If only that prediction had come true! Overall, the novel was a fun read, with only a bit of a digression into a libertarian screed that kind of pulled me out of the story. Other than that, though, Challenger beat my expectations quite handily!

Also by Diane Carey:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation #1: Ghost Ship (1991)
• Star Trek: Best Destiny (1991)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ship of the Line (1997)
• Star Trek #89: New Earth, Book One: Wagon Train to the Stars (2000)
• Star Trek #90: New Earth, Book Two: Belle Terre with Dean Wesley Smith (2000)
• Gateways, Book Two: Star Trek: Challenger: Chainmail (2001)
• "Exodus" from Gateways, Book Seven: What Lay Beyond (2001)

My next read:

My next review is for Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q & A by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Thin Air

Star Trek #93
New Earth, Book Five of Six
Thin Air by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith
Published August 2000
Read May 16^th 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #92: Book Four: The Flaming Arrow
Next book (New Earth): #93: Book Six: Challenger

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Thin Air!

From the back cover:

Many light-years away from the safety of the Federation, the Starship Enterprise stands guard over an alien world whose unique natural resources could change the balance of power throughout the galaxy. The ship's crucial assignment: to maintain a Federation presence on the Planet below, to defend the world's newly arrived inhabitants from hostile aliens, and to fight a solitary battle against all who would claim the planet's riches for their own.

Against all odds, Kirk and his crew have preserved the struggling Federation colony on Belle Terre, but their heroic efforts may have been in vain In a last-ditch attempt to drive the entrenched settlers off their new home, the alien Kauld have contaminated the planet's atmosphere with a destructive biochemical agent that will soon render the entire world inimical to human life. With only weeks to spare, Spock races to find a scientific solution to their dire predicament, while Kirk takes the battle to the enemy, determined to wrest the secret of their salvation from the very forces out to destroy the future of this new Earth!

My thoughts:

The newly-established colony at Belle Terre is once again threatened by the Kauld, and similar to the previous novel, The Flaming Arrow, the attack is an unconventional one. In that case, a huge laser was directed at the planet which would destroy the colony; in this novel, the attack is more methodical and insidious: the introduction of a substance that would initiate a chemical reaction, creating a sort of thin foam that covers the surface of the planet, suffocating everyone and everything in its path. The description of the effect this smothering substance has on people caught in it was horrifying to say the least.

Thin Air is a huge improvement over the previous novels in the New Earth series. Everything seems to come together well in this installment, including pacing, characterization, and the writing in general. The threat is a unique and terrifying one, with a lot of thought put into it. More so than at any other point in the series, I was concerned for the well-being of not only our hero characters, but the inhabitants of the Belle Terre colony as well. The attempts made by Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew to combat the chemical weapon deployed on Belle Terre made a lot of sense, and the ultimate solution was logical.

Belle Terre is once again attacked in this novel, but not in a conventional manner; rather, elements from beneath the surface explode, forming a type of suffocating "foam" that will render the planet uninhabitable.

Rusch and Smith get the characters' voices perfect in this novel, which makes sense given their experience in writing Star Trek fiction. Additionally, this novel seemed to flow well from the novels before it, a feat that is impressive given the series' track record so far. Plot points hinted at in the previous novels are picked up here, making the story feel a part of a cohesive whole, rather than a patchwork of disjointed stories by different authors, as the previous novels have.

There is a subplot that I found interesting as well: certain members of the colony seem to have a sensitivity to the olivium that is being mined in the system. These children have been quarantined on the medical ship. The mother of one such child is aboard as well, and I found myself enjoying the story as she fights for her son's survival against what turns out to be a corrupt medical officer. The budding romance between the mother and the captain of the medical ship was fun, and I found myself truly caring about these characters whom we had only just met.

Similarly, I found Lillian Coates' part in the novel quite compelling. At one point, she is trapped in an area being affected by the suffocating foam, and her plight had me totally engrossed. She showed remarkable resourcefulness before having to brave the environment and being rescued at the last moment by a team from the Enterprise. Far from being a typical "damsel in distress," Coates did everything she could to survive, and I found myself wondering how I would fare given the situation she was in.

The fact that the story is "just" yet another attack on the colony by the Kauld that Kirk and company have to save them from does count against this novel, but it was done in a unique enough fashion that I am pretty much willing to forgive it. It is unfortunate that it has taken five books for this series to finally hit on a story that works for me, as the overall concept is a fascinating one and deserves better than to wallow in predictable and disjointed plots. Thin Air stands as a truly good entry in the series, but does not make up for the failings that preceded it.

Final thoughts:

The first novel in the New Earth series that I genuinely really enjoyed! The authors have crafted a unique and fascinating problem for the characters to overcome, and the descriptions of the effects of the Kauld suffocation weapon were vivid and visceral. A great entry in the series, but it is quite unfortunate that it took five books to get here. Here's hoping for a strong finish in book six!

Also by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith:

• Star Trek: Voyager #2: The Escape (1995)
• Star Trek #78: The Rings of Tautee (1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (1998)
• Enterprise: By the Book (2002)

My next read:

Next up is my video review of the recent TNG novel, Available Light, by Dayton Ward!

The Flaming Arrow

Star Trek #92
New Earth, Book Four of Six
The Flaming Arrow by Kathy Oltion and Jerry Oltion
Published July 2000
Read April 16^th 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #91: Book Three: Rough Trails
Next book (New Earth): #93: Book Five: Thin Air

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for The Flaming Arrow!

From the back cover:

Beyond the borders of the Federation, Kirk must bring peace and security to the final frontier. His new mission: to defend an isolated human colony an a newly discovered world, deter aggression from neighboring alien races, and ensure the survival of a brave new Earth. 

Belle Terre's stubborn colonists have survived the countless hardships and natural disasters of their new home, only to face a deadly foreign enemy. The alien Kauld, intent on claiming the world's unique resources for their own are determined to destroy the human settlements at any cost. Months away from any hope of Starfleet reinforcements, the Starship Enterprise is all that stands between Belle Terre and an all-out alien invasion. But Kirk and his valiant crew may not be enough to save the planet from a relentless assault by the ultimate superweapon!

My thoughts:

As I continue reading the New Earth miniseries, I find myself hoping that the overall story improves with each successive book. The overall premise is an interesting one: the Enterprise shepherds a long-term colonial effort as the colonists attempt to tame a new world. However, the execution has fallen short of expectations. The absolute low-point of the series for me, so far, has been book three, Rough Trails. So, going into this book, the fourth in the series, my expectations have been lowered significantly. It can only go up from here, right?

Thankfully, that does seem to be the case! The Flaming Arrow tells the story of a Kauld attack on the Belle Terre colony using an unorthodox method: a huge space laser, with a beam light-minutes long, which will completely obliterate the colony and its inhabitants if allowed to hit the planet. The laser is deployed from deep in space, away from the prying eyes of the Enterprise and her crew, and travels towards Belle Terre at the speed of light, relatively slow in the world of Star Trek.

I enjoyed the "low-tech" weapon deployed in this novel, as it made for an interesting problem to overcome for our heroes. The problem-solving employed by Spock as the Enterprise gathered clues and began its search for the laser beam was interesting to read about, and I also appreciated the roles that Scotty and McCoy had in the story. The two of them are out on a recon patrol using a small vessel, and their adventures made for some interesting reading, with the pairing of two characters who don't usually have a lot to do together.

Scotty and Bones had a fun B-plot together, reminding me of their quest to build a whale tank in Star Trek IV.

There were, however, aspects of the story that didn't sit well with me. For one thing, many of the characters we've come to know in previous novels seem off in this installment. Lilian Coates, who lost her husband earlier in the series, is one of the colonists we've learned a lot about through the course of the last few books. Her actions in this novel seemed out of place compared to her characterization in the previous novels, but of course that could be a symptom of so many different writers contributing to the overall narrative.

Speaking of which, the disconnect that I experienced in Rough Trails continues in The Flaming Arrow, in which situations and the overall state of the colony feels completely divorced from what has come before. There is still some stubbornness among the colonists, but nothing approaching the hatred many of them had for Starfleet in the previous novel. I wish there had been more of an effort to reconcile the differences between the various novels to make the entire miniseries feel more cohesive.

Final thoughts:

Some interesting ideas contribute to an overall gripping story, but many of the drawbacks in the rest of the series continue to play out here. Characterizations and situations feel off from what has been established in other novels in the series, and the aimlessness of the series continues to mar what should be an interesting concept. The plot by the Kauld in this novel was interesting enough to hold my attention, but overall I'm still not sold on the New Earth series as a whole.

My next read:

My next review is for the Christopher Pike novel, Burning Dreams, by Margaret Wander Bonanno.

Rough Trails

Star Trek #91
New Earth, Book Three of Six
Rough Trails by L.A. Graf
Published July 2000
Read March 13^th 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #90: Book Two: Belle Terre
Next book (New Earth): #91: Book Four: The Flaming Arrow

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Rough Trails!

From the back cover:

Months after their departure from Earth, the struggling colonists have barely established a precarious toehold on Belle Terre, a ravaged world still recovering from a catastrophic planetary disaster. Fierce cyclones, storms, landslides, and flash floods make the survival itself a never-ending challenge. While Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise patrol the sector, on guard against predatory aliens and greedy space pirates, officers Chekov, Uhura, and Sulu stay behind to assist the hapless settlers in their desperate battle to put down roots in the turbulent soil of and angry planet.

But the imperiled colonist are fractious and intensely individualistic group, not inclined to take orders or direction from their Starfleet guardians. Chekov and the others find their ingenuity and diplomatic skills tested to their limits -- to save a people who don't want their help!

My thoughts:

I tried reading the New Earth miniseries years ago, but wound up not being able to get through it. Picking it up again this year to do these reviews, I couldn't remember where in the series I had abandoned it the first time around. As I got into Rough Trails, it all came flooding back to me.

That flooding pun was unintended, but I'll go with it.

In Rough Trails, the Belle Terre colonists struggle with the fallout from the events of the previous novel. Called "The Burn," the devastation wrought by the olivium moon explosion has thrown the colony into complete disarray. Radioactive fallout blankets parts of the colony, and some communities have descended into virtual lawlessness. All in all, the colonists of Belle Terre and their protectors from the Enterprise are having a pretty miserable time of it.

The plot of the novel kicks off when the shuttle that Chekov is hitching a ride on disappears, crashing while en route to a Belle Terre community. Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty must work to find their missing crewmate while confronting another looming disaster: a large impact crater containing a huge amount of water is threatening to spill its banks and flood a number of communities.

I have to be completely honest: I found this a very difficult novel to get through. The passages describing the hardships faced by the colonists and the crash survivors aren't just bleak, they are downright funereal. Seemingly endless passages going on and on about how dismal and hopeless the situation had become made this a really hard book to want to pick up once it had been put down.

This novel's focus on Chekov, Uhura, and Sulu over the more "main" castmembers was one of the aspects I enjoyed.

However, there are a few things about the novel that I did appreciate. First, the fact that it focuses on the "secondary" characters of Chekov, Uhura, and Sulu was most welcome. The Star Trek television series, films, and most of the books tend to fixate on Kirk, Bones, and Spock, and seeing a story where they were nearly non-existent was a very welcome departure from the norm. Second, there were a few twists in the story that I truly didn't see coming. The true nature of the "antagonists" for much of the novel, the Carsons, was really quite interesting. I had resigned myself to the Carsons being your typical rote villains, when it turned out they were anything but.

Probably the most frustrating thing about Rough Trails is the seeming discontinuity between this novel and the one before it. In Belle Terre, the Enterprise crew has just managed to save the entire planet after having evacuated its inhabitants. At the end of that novel, things seem optimistic and the colonists plan to inhabit the far side of the planet, virtually untouched by the explosion of the olivium moon. In this novel, however, the colonists have established a large number of disparate communities, eking out a hardscrabble existence in the wake of the natural disaster the explosion has caused, and resenting the hell out of the Starfleet personnel for reasons that seem hard to fathom. The colonists have descended into violence, at times completely out of control, and things seem completely disconnected from the previous novels. I like the idea of exploring these issues, but the change in conditions between the novels seemed far too abrupt.

Final thoughts:

Some interesting ideas are explored in this novel, most notably focusing on characters other than the "big three," but it is not enough to make me recommend it. The overwhelming bleakness made it a very difficult book to get through, and the disconnect between this novel and the previous one was very confusing. The ending made up for it a bit, but many of the plot elements and the behavior of the colonists seemed very out of place when put in the context of the rest of the series.

My next read:

Next up is the conclusion of Voyager's Spirit Walk duology: Enemy of My Enemy by Christie Golden.

Belle Terre

Star Trek #90
New Earth, Book Two of Six
Belle Terre by Dean Wesley Smith with Diane Carey
Published June 2000
Read January 21^st 2019

Previous book (New Earth): #89: Book One: Wagon Train to the Stars
Next book (New Earth): #91: Book Three: Rough Trails

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Belle Terre!

From the back cover:

A six-month distance from the Federation, the planet Belle Terre offers a new life to more than 30,000 families, pioneers, scientists, expatriates, go-getters, loners, and entrepreneurs, all under the watchful eye of Captain Kirk and his crew. But the would-be colonists have barely settled in the untamed wilderness of their new home when Spock makes a startling discovery: not only does the planet's moons contain a rare ore of almost inestimable value, that same moon is also violently unstable. Within months, it will inevitably explode -- destroying all life on Belle Terre!

My thoughts:

The fleet of colony ships, escorted by the USS Enterprise, has finally arrived at their destination: the glistening world they have called Belle Terre. However, their adventure to colonize this planet, located far outside the borders of the Federation, may end before it has a chance to really begin. One of the moons orbiting this new world has a core made up of a material called quasar olivium, an extremely rare substance that exists in a state of quantum flux and thus is also highly unstable. While olivium would make the perfect power source for the Federation, it will also soon cause the moon to violently explode, destroying Belle Terre and the colonists who have settled there.

Of course, it's up to Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise to stop this disaster from happening. Eventually, they are able to hit upon a partial solution, using another space body to puncture a hole in the olivium moon, relieving some of the pressure, but still impacting the environment of Belle Terre significantly. The solution is a costly one, requiring the use of nearly the entire fleet of colony ships to implement. After a series of setbacks and false starts, the fleet is ultimately successful in preventing the worst of the disaster.

After the somewhat disappointing start to this series, Wagon Train to the Stars, I found myself pleasantly surprised by Belle Terre. The threat of the olivium moon was an interesting one, and while you know that the crew will succeed in their plan, it was close enough to complete disaster at a couple of points to certainly keep the tension high. I also appreciated that it wasn't a complete success, and that there is still a great deal of fallout from the nearly-extinction level event that the explosion of the moon represents.

The central conflict of Belle Terre is obviously people vs. nature, a fact that I certainly appreciate after the cartoonish villainy of the antagonist in Wagon Train to the Stars. It is gratifying to see the characters grapple with a scientific dilemma rather than a one-note villain like Billy Maidenshore.

There is also a secondary story in which one of the colony ships, a cutter called the Rattlesnake, sets off to find another habitable world in case the colonists need to evacuate Belle Terre permanently. This storyline is left somewhat open-ended; in the course of their investigation into the disappearance of a nearby civilization, the crew of the Rattlesnake discover a "darkness" that passes through the system at regular intervals. The ship gets a little too close to the phenomenon and loses all power, leaving them unable to alert the rest of the colonists or the Enterprise of the danger the darkness presents, nor are they able to send a signal for rescue. I rather enjoyed this little side story, even though it had a tragic ending. I really hope that these events are followed up on in a later novel in the series.

Final thoughts:

A definite improvement over the first book in the series, Belle Terre presents the crew with an interesting scientific mystery and dire consequences if they fail to find a solution. While it wasn't exactly the most gripping Star Trek novel ever, I felt that the jeopardy was ratcheted up enough to hold my interest and attention throughout. The crew is, of course, ultimately successful, but they still end up paying a high price for their relative victory. There are storylines begun in this novel that I hope are picked up again later in the series. Definitely a solid entry in the New Earth series.

My next read:

Next up is my review of the final I.K.S. Gorkon novel: Klingon Empire: A Burning House by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Wagon Train to the Stars

Star Trek #89
New Earth, Book One of Six
Wagon Train to the Stars by Diane Carey
Published June 2000
Read January 8^th 2019

Previous book (The Original Series): #88: Across the Universe
Next book (New Earth): #90: Book Two: Belle Terre

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Wagon Train to the Stars!

From the back cover:

After saving Earth from the threat of V'Ger, James T. Kirk is called again to the final frontier. His new mission: to lead a valiant group of settlers to a distant world, to defend the struggling colony from alien threats, and to explore the diverse mysteries and dangers of a strange new Earth!

Far from the Federation, a newly discovered M-class world has been eyed as a potential home by a group of hardy and determined colonists. Starfleet can spare only one starship to escort the would-be settlers on their perilous voyage, but that ship is none other than the legendary starship Enterprise, commanded by the most well-known captain in the quadrant. Now Kirk finds himself responsible for the lives of 30,000 men, women, and children -- a task that grows all the more difficult when the expedition is caught in the middle of an ancient feud between two dangerous alien races!

Notable quote:

"I don't know why you let him get to you Jim. It wouldn't be the first time a corrupt carpetbagging hair-oil peddler decided he wanted some kind of public adulation and actually got suckers to vote for him by promising them whatever they want." 

Kirk leaned forward a little more, and met him with a glare of absolute agreement. "And anyone who promises you everything you want," he stated, "wants everything you have."

My thoughts:

Wagon Train to the Stars kicks off a six-book series that features the Enterprise  escorting a fleet of colony ships to a planet well off the beaten track. Along the way, they have to contend with pirates, differing attitudes, and even a villain within their own ranks. The colonists intended on making the journey alone, but Starfleet insisted on sending an escort along with them, giving James T. Kirk yet another excuse to eschew his Admiral role and once again sit in the center seat of his beloved U.S.S. Enterprise.

Making sure to ditch the "pajamas" they were saddled with in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Kirk and his crew don the "monster maroons" and head out into the unknown with a fleet transporting 30,000 colonists and their supplies to a far-flung world that lies well outside Federation space. The colonists are very independent-minded and wish to be free of the strictures of the Federation, intending to found the colony on this new planet, called Belle Terre, with the principles of self-determination and individual liberty. This is no surprise, given the political leanings of the author, Diane Carey, who is very famously libertarian.

Before embarking on the mission, Kirk ensures that his crew get the spiffy new uniforms, casting aside the "pajamas" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

This, of course, leads to conflict between the leader of the colonists and the regimented Starfleet crew of the Enterprise, who are still tasked with protecting the flotilla even when it seems, at times, that the colonists don't want that protection. However, Kirk and his crew continue to provide the colonists with protection and administrative duties during their long trek to Belle Terre.

Speaking of administration of the fleet, this is another area in which Diane Carey's real life has a large influence over the novel. Carey is an avid sailor with a great deal of experience in navigating ships on the open ocean, experience that she brings to bear in writing this novel. The duties that the crew of the Enterprise have with regards to the fleet are couched in naval terms and the entire endeavor has the feeling of a terrestrial ocean-going voyage. Star Trek and naval tradition have long gone hand-in-hand, so this works quite well in my opinion.

Because this is the first novel in a miniseries, we get setup for a number of elements that will presumably play a role in the books to come. The first is a war between two groups: the Blood and the Kauld. For the most part, I enjoyed the fleshing out of these species and their long-standing feud. They look as though they will be an ongoing thorn in the side of the colonization efforts, and I admit to not quite knowing what to make of Shucorion, a Blood who is playing the long game and setting himself up to be a guide that the Belle Terre fleet must rely on. I have read a novel that takes place after the New Earth series, Star Trek: Challenger: Chainmail in the Gateways crossover series, so I know a bit about what the future holds for this character; I am quite curious about what will happen with him along the way.

One aspect of the story that I didn't really like at all was the primary antagonist: Billy Maidenshore, a con man and thief who has previously crossed paths with Kirk. His actions later in the story go so far beyond the pale that I can't think of him as anything other than a sociopath. I prefer the villains to generally be a bit more relatable, but there is nothing redeemable about this character. Any time he shows up in the story, I found myself mentally checking out, which is definitely an unfortunate reaction when reading any novel.

Instead of seeking out strange new worlds, the Enterprise leads a flotilla of colony ships with the mission to tame one.

New Earth is an interesting concept that has been done frequently in other science fiction settings, and it's fun to see it played out in the Star Trek universe. I find myself concerned, however, that it may not hold my attention for a six-novel series. This first novel wasn't bad per se, but I wouldn't exactly call it gripping, either. I can see this story working for a duology or even a trilogy, but I am curious to see how sustainable it is for six consecutive novels. Hopefully the novels that follow (by different authors, I might add) are much more exciting than this one was, or this may feel like a *very* long series indeed.

Final thoughts:

For the most part, Wagon Train to the Stars is a generally enjoyable beginning to the New Earth series, but it didn't really "wow" me. I'm curious to see how things go once the fleet finally makes planetfall, but there is nothing that really stands out as truly memorable or exciting. I did in fact start reading this series years ago when it first came out, but didn't make it very far before losing interest. I'm determined to get through it this time, however, and give it a fair chance. While this first entry is enough to keep my interest throughout, it doesn't make me excited to continue the series. That said, let's see where it goes from here! New Earth may yet surprise me.

Also by Diane Carey:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation #1: Ghost Ship (1991)
• Star Trek: Best Destiny (1991)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ship of the Line (1997)
• Star Trek #90: New Earth, Book Two: Belle Terre with Dean Wesley Smith (2000)
• Star Trek #94: New Earth, Book Six: Challenger (2000)
• Gateways, Book Two: Star Trek: Challenger: Chainmail (2001)
• "Exodus" from Gateways, Book Seven: What Lay Beyond (2001)

My next read:

Next up is book two in the New Earth series: Belle Terre by Dean Wesley Smith with Diane Carey.