Showing posts with label Peter David. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter David. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Before Dishonor

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Before Dishonor by Peter David
Published November 2007
Read August 26th 2019

Previous book (The Next Generation): Q & A
Previous book (Post-Nemesis Continuity): Titan: Sword of Damocles

 Next book (The Next Generation): Greater Than the Sum
Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Before Dishonor!

 From the back cover:
An enemy so intractable that it cannot be reasoned with. The entire race thinks with one mind and strives toward one purpose: to add our biological distinctiveness to their own and wipe out individuality, to make every living thing Borg.

 In over two centuries, the Federation has never encountered a greater threat. Twice Starfleet assembled and threw countless starships to stand against them. The Borg were stopped, the price paid in blood. Humanity breathed a sigh of relief, assuming it was safe. And with the destruction of the transwarp conduits, the Federation believed that the killing blow had finally been struck against the Borg.

 Driven to the point of extinction, the Borg continue to fight for their very existence, for their culture. They will not be denied. They must not be stopped. The old rules and assumptions regarding how the Collective should act have been dismissed. Now the Borg kill first, assimilate later.

 When the Enterprise manages to thwart them once again, the Borg turn inward. The dark places that even the drones never realized existed are turned outward against the enemy they have never been able to defeat. What is revealed is the thing that no one believed the Borg could do.

 My thoughts:

Following the defeat of the Borg in the novel Resistance, the massive cube has appeared dormant. Starfleet has assigned the U.S.S. Einstein to lead the investigation of the cube, and Admiral Kathryn Janeway insists on accompanying them, ignoring the warnings of "Lady Q," the consort of the Q we have come to know and "love." Once Janeway and her team board the cube, the unthinkable happens: having evolved beyond the need for traditional assimilation, the cube "absorbs" Janeway and the rest of the away team, transforming the former captain of Voyager into their new Borg Queen. Seven of Nine, sensing that Janeway has been captured by the Borg, attempts to convince Starfleet to send her to investigate. When Admiral Jellico ignores her warnings, she sets out to make her own way to the cube, enlisting the aid of Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise along the way.

The massive, damaged Borg cube from Resistance is not as dead as Starfleet thought...

Before Dishonor has a rather infamous place in the annals of Trek Lit among many of its readers, for a variety of reasons. Many people cite the mis-characterizations of both the regular characters and the newcomers, others take issue with the loss of a particular character (more on that later), and others decry the seemingly out-of-place humor that pervades the novel. On the other side, many readers love this novel, praising its action-packed nature and fascinating depiction of an evolved threat from the Borg. I myself read this novel years ago when it was first released, and my reaction to it was quite mixed.

One character that I feel Peter David got right is Seven of Nine. Now serving as an instructor at Starfleet Academy, Seven's journey to attempt a rescue of Admiral Janeway was one of the highlights of the novel. Along the way, she meets a smuggler named Grim Vargo. I also enjoyed this character, and would not be opposed to seeing him pop up again in a future novel.

Speaking of characterizations, however, I felt that the novel dropped the ball on the TNG crew. Picard in particular comes across as quite "jokey" and a bit irreverent, which is not how I see Captain Picard at all. Additionally, it felt like the progress that Worf has made as a character was thrown out the window, and he is back to being the brawler from the early days of TNG, rather than the more thoughtful, reserved, and diplomatic Worf we've come to know in recent years. However, even more egregious to me was the depiction of the newer officers on the Enterprise, specifically Kadohata, Leybenzon, and T'Lana. The three of them are instrumental in leading a mutiny against Picard when he doesn't follow Starfleet's orders to return to Earth when the Borg attack, instead proceeding to "Trophy World" to attempt to revive the "Planet Killer" (from TOS's "The Doomsday Machine") to counter the Borg threat. While I can buy these officers becoming involved in a mutiny, the steps leading to this outcome didn't ring true for me. Kadohata has been shown to be a more reasoned individual before, and would likely show more loyalty to Picard, having served with him since the early days of the Enterprise-D. Leybenzon seemed entirely too hot-headed, actually yelling at Picard on the bridge at one point, while T'Lana refused to even entertain the possibility that she might be wrong, even when confronted by Ambassador Spock. While I was never a fan of T'Lana, I expected more sense from her than this.

Picard hatches a plan that makes this novel a sequel to one of my favorites: Vendetta, also by Peter David.

My favorite part of the novel comes from Picard's plan to use the "Doomsday Machine" against the Borg. This aspect of the story serves as a direct sequel to David's earlier novel, Vendetta, in which a woman named Delcara waged a one-woman war against the Borg with a larger and deadlier version of the Doomsday Machine. Without wanting to ascribe intention to Peter David which I know nothing about, it felt like he was much more invested in this part of the story. Seven of Nine is chosen to "pilot" the weapon, and her interaction with the device and the way it seems to tempt her to stay with it forever cast my memory back to Vendetta and the tragedy of Delcara. This was by far the most interesting part of the story, and I would have liked more of a focus on these events.

Towards the end of the novel, the massive Borg cube (which now has the ability to simply absorb starships and other matter) threatens to destroy Earth unless Captain Picard is turned over to them. Along the way, the Borg cube "eats" Pluto (which is now apparently once again classified as a planet, flying in the face of current scientific understanding). Adding to the silliness is almost-comedic commentary by Admirals Jellico and Nechayev. Despite the fact that the Earth is facing an existential crisis, I did not feel the tension at all, and the tone of the novel seemed in direct contrast to the events being depicted.

Admiral Janeway meets an unexpected fate in this novel.

Finally, we have to tackle the event that immediately comes to mind when talking about Before Dishonor: the apparent death of Kathryn Janeway. Many Janeway fans malign Peter David (unfairly, in my opinion) about this event. Personally, I don't have an issue with it, and in fact I applaud that the novels were audacious enough to kill a canon character of such importance. It does strike me as odd that it takes place in a TNG novel rather than a Voyager one, but at this point, the stories are so enmeshed that it makes little difference. We, of course, all know just how permanent "death" is in the Star Trek universe, and with Janeway walking with "Lady Q" into an uncertain future at the end of this novel, we can all be pretty sure that she'll be back... right?

 Final thoughts:

 Before Dishonor occupies a strange place in the Trek Lit world. I feel like if it were more of a standalone novel, rather than in the middle of an on-going continuity, it would be more palatable; however, given that the tone of the story is so markedly different from the previous and subsequent novels, it feels very much out of place. Normally, I enjoy Peter David's trademark comic-style humor, but it feels like it is dialed up to eleven in this novel. This stands in stark contrast to the heavy elements of the plot: an existential threat to the Federation, a mutiny, and the death of a major character. I also recently re-read Vendetta, and I feel like a much better balance of tone and stakes was struck in that novel. For me, Before Dishonor greatly misses the mark. There are a couple of elements I enjoy, but they are not enough to make this an enjoyable read overall. My score for Before Dishonor is 2/5.

 More about Before Dishonor:

Also by Peter David:

My next read:

Next up is my review of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater Than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett.

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Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Triangle: Imzadi II

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Triangle: Imzadi II by Peter David
Published October 1999
Read February 6th 2019

Previous book (The Next Generation): #49: The Q Continuum, Book 3 of 3: Q-Strike
Next book (The Next Generation): Star Trek: Insurrection
Purchase:
Hardcover: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 Triangle: Imzadi II is also available as part of an omnibus, Imzadi Forever, along with the previous book, Imzadi.

Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk


Spoilers ahead for Triangle: Imzadi II!

 From the back cover:
lmzadi: to the people of the planet Betazed, including Counselor Deanna Troi of the Starship Enterprise it means "beloved" and denotes a special closeness that can never be truly broken. Or can it? Once William Riker was Deanna's imzadi, but now the ship's counselor has embarked on an unlikely romance with Lieutenant Commander Worf. At first glance, they cannot be more different, but over time they have discovered hidden reserves of courage and compassion within each other. Yet does Worf's future truly lie with Deanna, and whom shall Troi ultimately call "imzadi"?

 My thoughts:

In the final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, an unexpected romance took shape: the brief romantic relationship between Deanna Troi and Worf. The seeds of it had been planted much earlier; some would argue that as early as season 5, their shared responsibility for Worf's son, Alexander, put them on the path towards romance. However, while many felt that the relationship strained credibility, it seemed to have been completely ignored following the end of TNG. There is no mention of the relationship in Generations, or on Deep Space Nine after Worf joined the cast of that show at the beginning of its fourth season.

Worf and Troi's relationship, which developed at the end of TNG, is explored in this novel.

In this novel, Peter David chronicles the events that led to the end of that relationship. In many ways, Triangle is quite clever in how it fills in the gaps following the end of TNG going into Generations and beyond. The novel offers plausible reasons why the relationship ended and even adds more to the reasoning behind Worf's decision to hang out with the monks on Boreth following the destruction of the Enterprise-D before taking the assignment on Deep Space Nine. Peter David shows his usual deep knowledge of Star Trek canon and history with how well everything fits together.

That said, I did have a number of issues with this novel. There are many examples of Peter David's typical humor throughout the story, and most of them work quite well. However, there were a few instances where it seemed a little too "over the top" and took me out of the narrative somewhat. One of the reasons I enjoy Peter David's New Frontier series so much is because that set of characters lends itself better to that particular brand of humor. The TNG crew, however, are usually a little more "serious" than New Frontier, and at times the humor felt jarring.

Another small complaint is the use of the character of Sela. Perhaps it is because I have read too many novels with Sela as the villain, but I feel like her constantly having her plans thwarted would mean that she would fall out of favor in the Romulan Empire, but she keeps popping up, trying one more crazy plot to bring down the Federation or elevate the Romulans, and they never seem to work out. Her plan in this novel, in particular, seemed so convoluted to border on ludicrousness.

This leads to the conclusion of the novel, which employs Peter David's typical "crazy third act." Usually this works quite well, such as the craziness that wraps up his previous novels Q-Squared and even Imzadi. However, in this case, it fell a bit flat for me. At one point, Will Riker's transporter double, Thomas Riker, is masquerading as Will, which is certainly something we've seen before. However, we later see Will Riker masquerading as Tom, masquerading as Will, in a plot that is just way too over the top, but at the same time didn't give me the same sense of "fun" that the conclusions to Peter David's other novels have in the past.

The ending, with Will's rebuffing of Troi, was jarring. However, it kind of makes sense given that they don't get together until much later. But why would Troi put up with his idiocy?!?

Finally, I want to talk a bit about Troi. Throughout the novel, we get a love triangle between her, Worf, and Will. We learn a lot about Worf and Riker's feelings, and see them compete for Troi's affections. However, we never really get a good insight into how Deanna feels about how things are going. It strikes me as odd that we never really get a sense of her agency, or even her perspective on the plot. Additionally, at the end of the novel, she and Worf break up, ostensibly because the bond between Will and Deanna is so great, and Will has implored her to be with him. However, once the break-up happens and Deanna goes to Will, he suddenly tells her that they should wait because she is a "raw nerve" from her breakup with Worf. I gotta tell you, if I were Deanna, I would tell Will to take a long walk off a short pier! I realize that part of this is because at this point in Trek canon, Riker and Troi can't get together because that won't happen until Insurrection, but it is such a complete about-face at this point that it strains credibility that Deanna would ever even speak to him again!

 Final thoughts:

Despite my above complaints, I didn't hate Triangle: Imzadi II. Like I previously mentioned, I feel that much of the reasoning behind the end of Worf and Troi's relationship is clever in how it fits into the timeline following Generations. However, there are enough small issues with how the story turns out (and the fact that we don't get a lot of perspective from Troi and the story instead feels like a Riker/Worf outing with Troi as the prize to be fought over) that I feel like I was left wanting more. And, while some of the humor and typical Peter David "craziness" is to be expected, there were some parts that took me a little too far out of the story. A good novel that could have been a great novel, but somewhat missed the mark, unfortunately.

 More about Triangle: Imzadi II:

 Also by Peter David:

My next read:

Next up is my review of Death in Winter, the first novel of the TNG post-Nemesis novels by Michael Jan Friedman.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Q-Squared

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Q-Squared by Peter David
Published August 1995
Read May 16th 2017

Previous book (The Next Generation - Hardcover): All Good Things...
Next book (The Next Generation - Hardcover): Star Trek: Generations
Next book (The Next Generation - Published order): #31: Foreign Foes
Purchase:
Hardcover: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 Spoilers ahead for Q-Squared!

 From the back cover:
In all of his travels Captain Jean-Luc Picard has never faced an opponent more powerful that Q, a being from another continuum that Picard encountered on his very first mission as Captain of the Starship Enterprise. In the years since, Q has returned again and again to harass Picard and his crew. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes merely obnoxious, Q has always been mysterious and seemingly all-powerful. 

 But this time, when Q appears, he comes to Picard for help. Apparently another member of the Q continuum has tapped into an awesome power source that makes this being more powerful than the combined might of the entire Q continuum. This renegade Q is named Trelane -- also known as the Squire of Gothos, who Captain Kirk and his crew first encountered over one hundred years ago. Q explains that, armed with this incredible power, Trelane has become unspeakably dangerous. 

 Now Picard must get involved in an awesome struggle between super beings. And this time the stakes are not just Picard's ship, or the galaxy, or even the universe -- this time the stakes are all of creation...

My thoughts:

I first read Q-Squared nearly twenty-three years ago, back when it was first published. I don't think it was the first Star Trek novel I ever read, but it was certainly the most well-loved. A gift from my aunt and uncle, Q-Squared became one of those novels that I would return to multiple times, re-reading every few years or so. My most recent re-read was last year for episode 190 of the Literary Treks podcast, and I was curious as to whether or not I would love the book as much as I did at the age of thirteen.

As it turns out, I need not have worried.

Q-Squared brings together the characters of Q and Trelane, the seemingly-omnipotent man-child from the TOS episode "The Squire of Gothos." Trelane was pretty obviously the inspiration for the creation of the Q character, so it makes sense to bring them together here. Trelane is just as out-of-control as he was in that classic episode, and Q is tasked with riding herd on him. However, it soon becomes apparent that Q is in over his head, and Trelane eventually amasses enough power to be a real threat to Q, as well as to the rest of the universe.

Q-Squared brings William Campbell's Trelane to the 24th century.

I think I loved the book so much as a kid because it hit all the right notes for me. I fell in love with Peter David's writing style, with his whimsical moments balanced perfectly against the deadly seriousness of the peril in the story. It is a very difficult balance to achieve, and Peter David managed to somehow strike just the right tone, with such disparate story elements as the extreme trauma experienced by William Riker of a parallel universe, tortured for decades at the hands of the Romulans, and some ridiculous over-the-top Q shenanigans such as the cast of Winnie the Pooh coming to life in the schoolroom of the Enterprise-D.

There are a few things that don't jive with a strict interpretation of canon Star Trek, but longtime readers of this site will know that I am pretty easy-going when it comes to those sorts of things. We all know that Star Trek novels are considered "non-canon," which means that at any given moment, a "canon" source (anything on television or in a film) can come along and wipe out from the continuity anything that the novels have established. Therefore, I didn't lose a lot of sleep when Voyager established that the Q don't tend to have children in the traditional sense, thereby making Q-Sqaured's assertion that Trelane is a Q child invalid. To me, a good story is a good story, whether or not it fits in with established continuity. And Q-Squared is certainly a good story.

Q finds himself in over his head in trying to deal with Trelane and asks Captain Picard for help.

As a young Star Trek fan, I distinctly remember seeing "The Squire of Gothos" very early in my life. Much like Q-Squared, I'm fairly certain it wasn't my first, but it was very close to it. The idea of a seemingly-omnipotent being really fascinated me, and the twist that he is just a child was really compelling and a great ending. This is a theme that Star Trek visits often: the idea of unlimited power in the hands of someone or something who is ultimately immature or child-like. Along with "The Squire of Gothos," I would contend that "Charlie X" and even the character of Q himself play with the idea of immaturity and omnipotence coupled together. Q-Squared continues this exploration quite expertly, giving Trelane ultimate power. His tantrum at the end of the novel when things ultimately don't go his way shows that he is still the immature and out-of-control youth we met in "The Squire of Gothos."

 Final thoughts:

Q-Squared, in addition to being simply a damn good book, is incredibly funny as well, which should come as no surprise given who the author is. There are numerous character moments that are laugh-out-loud funny, while at the same time remaining a poignant and fascinating exploration of Q, Trelane, our TNG heroes, as well as numerous alternate universes. I remember as a young man being fascinated with all of the various universes (labelled as "tracks" in the novel) coming together and intermingling in this novel. A fun exploration of TNG and an interesting pairing of Q and Trelane make this one an absolute favorite that I will likely continue to return to for years to come.

 More about Q-Squared:


 Also by Peter David:

My next read:

Next review: My video review of The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard. Look for that one soon!


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Monday, March 12, 2018

The Siege

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #2
The Siege by Peter David
Published May 1993
Read February 15th 2017

Previous book (Deep Space Nine): #1: Emissary
Next book (Deep Space Nine): #3: Bloodletter


 Spoilers ahead for The Siege!

 From the back cover:
When Deep Space Nine is forced to curtail entry to the wormhole due to increased graviton emissions, an air of biting tension settles over the station. But when this anxiety leads to the murder of an Edeman religious leader, Commander Benjamin Sisko and Security Chief Odo realize they face a larger problem.

 The missionary is only the first to die; soon Sisko and Odo have more lifeless bodies on their hands and a killer who strikes without motive. Then, both the Edemans and the Cardassians arrive threatening to destroy the station unless the murderer is given to them for retribution. Now in order to save Deep Space Nine and stop the killing, Odo must try to destroy a powerful assassin who is the only link to his mysterious past.

My thoughts:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine went on the air in January of 1993, and The Siege, the first original novel set in the DS9 series, was published just four months later. This means that the author, Peter David, had not seen any completed episodes prior to beginning work on the novel. In fact, he only had access to the series bible and scripts for the first few episodes. I therefore find it quite remarkable how well he was able to capture the tone and the characters of what, at the time, was a huge departure from the Star Trek we knew and loved.

The Siege is certainly a dark story, dealing with a murderous shapeshifter roaming the station and killing visitors and residents in a number of horrific ways. However, in true Peter David style, there is a great deal of humor present in this novel as well. This can make the story seem a little tonally disjointed at times, but for the most part, I think the balance works. Some readers may be put off by the violence present in the story, and it is indeed graphic at times. However, I feel like it works in the context of this novel.

There is also a B plot to the story, in which a group of religious missionaries are on the station attempting to convert followers to their beliefs. The son of the head of this group is stricken with a life-threatening illness, and Dr. Bashir of course wants to do everything he can for the boy. However, the child's father, Mas Marko, will hear none of it. One of the tenets of their religion is the belief that their god wills all things to happen. Anything that occurs "naturally" is his will, and it is heresy to go against it. Seeing this illness as their god's will, the family will do nothing to intervene. This, of course, does not sit well with Bashir, who goes to great lengths to convince the family to allow him to treat their son.

Dr. Bashir finds himself caught up in an ethical dilemma, and he responds as you would expect of the naive season 1 Bashir!

This plot reminded me a great deal of a first season Babylon 5 episode, "Believers," in which a similar situation is dealt with. Dr. Franklin must choose between saving a boy's life and honoring the wishes of the parents who believe the treatment involved contravenes their religious beliefs. These stories end in different ways, but both are tragic for the people involved.

I do have one problem with how this plot is resolved, and that is that we do not see any fallout from Bashir's actions. For all of his good intentions, he does violate Starfleet protocol as well as the prime directive quite flagrantly. I would have liked to have seen some consequences, even if it was just one of Sisko's quite effective castigations.

Once again, I want to call out Peter David's excellent grasp of the characters in this novel. This being the first DS9 original novel, I would have expected the characterizations to be all over the place. Rather, David has managed to capture their voices quite well. There are a few misses here and there, which is to be expected, but there are far more hits than misses overall. Kudos to Peter David for crafting an excellent story that fits very well in Deep Space Nine's first season!

 Final thoughts:

A well-crafted, interesting story. The Siege can get a bit dark at times, but that is offset with Peter David's typically humorous writing. The characters are very well represented, especially given this novel's place so early in the creation of the Deep Space Nine television series. A lack of payoff to some of the plot elements doesn't detract too much from an otherwise excellent story.

 More about The Siege:

Also by Peter David:

My next read:

Look for my video review of last year's Enteprise: Rise of the Federation novel, Patterns of Interference by Christopher L. Bennett.


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Sunday, September 13, 2015

The Returned, Part 3

Star Trek: New Frontier
The Returned, Part 3 by Peter David
An e-book exclusive novella
Release date: September 7th 2015
Read September 9th 2015

Previous book (New Frontier): The Returned, Part 2
Next book (New Frontier):
Kindle: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 Spoilers ahead for The Returned and Star Trek: New Frontier!

 Publisher's Description:
Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur are back, picking up three months after the stunning events depicted in New Frontier: Blind Man’s Bluff. Calhoun's search of Xenex has failed to find any survivors, and now he is bound and determined to track down the race that killed them—the D'myurj and their associates, the Brethren—and exact vengeance upon them. His search will take the Excalibur crew into a pocket universe, where he discovers not only the homeworld of the D’myurj, but another race that shares Calhoun's determination to obliterate his opponents. But is this new race truly an ally…or an even greater threat?

My thoughts:

Here it is: the conclusion to the e-book trilogy The Returned. Calhoun and crew witness the near-total destruction of the D'Myurj species and now find themselves leading an even greater threat back to our own galaxy. The Dayan, bent on the destruction of all life everywhere, are using Calhoun and the Excalibur to access the wormhole to bring them to the Milky Way Galaxy, where they will presumably systematically wipe out all life.

Meanwhile, on New Thallon, Mark McHenry faces off against Q who is posing as "The Awesome," the god of the Thallonians. Q is keeping his cards close to his chest, not revealing why he is showing such interest in the Thallonian line of succession and aiding Shintar Han in his desire to kill Robin Lefler and her son, Cwansi.

The Returned, Part 3 does an adequate job in resolving the various storylines that came out of parts one and two. The story was generally engaging, and it kept my interest throughout. The typical Peter David whimsy is definitely present, as is his tendency to go to dark places from time to time. However, I felt that something was missing. Some parts felt very "paint by numbers," almost as though the author was kind of bored with writing these characters. The final act of the story is wrapped up at a breakneck pace, with a crazy, soap opera-ish ending. I suppose that is par for the course for New Frontier, but it still felt a little cheap.

As I mentioned above, there are a few "dark" moments in the story, most notably when Q assaults two of the characters by removing their lungs and allows them to suffer in order to force Mark McHenry to go along with his plan. And there is also a very unexpected sexual assault perpetrated on Captain Calhoun by Soleta. I would have been interested to see where this story might go, but the assault itself is dealt with just a little too flippantly for my tastes.

This happens a couple of times in the story. Ideas such as consent, lack of control, all-power beings, and even genocide aren't quite given the depth that they need. I enjoy exploring these ideas, and I feel that literature should force us to examine our beliefs and worldview, but this story doesn't quite get there for me.

Still, I don't want to say to skip this story. If you are a fan of New Frontier, you will enjoy seeing the characters back in their element, with a huge, over-the-top galactic threat, facing off with the usual irreverence of the New Frontier gang. Just take everything with a grain of salt and try not to worry too much when the story gets pretty far off the rails.

 Final thoughts:

New Frontier fans will be happy to see the gang back together, and the story features Peter David's usual whimsy and dabbling in darker story ideas. I would have liked to have seen a deeper exploration of some of the issues at the heart of the story, but that is not to be. Still, I don't think you should skip this if you enjoy New Frontier. There are some developments that are important going forward, and I do truly hope that New Frontier continues to go forward.

The "Next book (New Frontier)" space above remains open, hopeful that someday I will have a title to type in there again.

 More about The Returned, Part 3:

Also by Peter David:

Next time on Trek Lit Reviews:

I continue to review the TOS Mere Anarchy series with book two: The Centre Cannot Hold by Mike W. Barr.

DFTBA!


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Saturday, August 15, 2015

The Returned, Part 2

Star Trek: New Frontier
The Returned, Part 2 by Peter David
An e-book exclusive novella
Release date: August 3rd 2015
Read August 5th 2015

Previous book (New Frontier): The Returned, Part 1
Next book (New Frontier): The Returned, Part 3
Kindle: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 Spoilers ahead for The Returned and Star Trek: New Frontier!

 Publisher's Description:
Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur are back, picking up three months after the stunning events depicted in New Frontier: Blind Man’s Bluff. Calhoun's search of Xenex has failed to find any survivors, and now he is bound and determined to track down the race that killed them—the D'myurj and their associates, the Brethren—and exact vengeance upon them. His search will take the Excalibur crew into a pocket universe, where he discovers not only the homeworld of the D’myurj, but another race that shares Calhoun's determination to obliterate his opponents. But is this new race truly an ally…or an even greater threat?

My thoughts:

Continuing directly from Book 1, The Returned Part 2 finds Captain Calhoun and his crew in the pocket universe, seeking out the D'myurj homeworld on a mission to rescue the Federation captives being held there. Having found a D'myurj ship with nearly the entire crew murdered, Calhoun discovers their attackers: the Dayan. A single D'myurj survivor is found aboard the disabled vessel and brought to the Excalibur. After agreeing to help the Dayan seek out and destroy the D'myurj, Calhoun learns from the rescued alien that the Dayan may be an even greater threat.

The underlying themes of this book are much more complex than it would seem at first blush. It wasn't until discussing the book with Matthew Rushing on episode 115 of Literary Treks that I came to really appreciate the depth of the story that Peter David is telling here. In many ways, the issue faced by Calhoun with regards to the D'myurj is similar to a classic Star Trek trope: the idea that the motivations of aliens are more complex than we humans (or people of the Federation) give them credit for. In the classic episode "Arena," the Gorn seemingly commit a wanton act of mass murder in their attack on the Federation colony on Cestus III. At the end of that episode, we learn that the Gorn thought that the Federation was the invader, and they were merely protecting their own people from what they perceived as the violent encroachment of the colonists. Similarly, it seems that the D'myurj attacked the Xenexians in order to preserve their own species, which is in danger of being wiped out by the Dayan. While still a horrible crime, Calhoun finds that their motivations may not have been what he thought they were.

Mark McHenry
As usual, the quirkiness of the New Frontier universe is present on every page of this novella. Peter David's prose is always a pleasure to read, and I definitely enjoyed the juxtaposition of the harsh nature of the Dayan and their almost soft-spoken manner when dealing with Calhoun and his crew.

Robin Lefler and Mark McHenry's story on New Thallon continues here as well, with McHenry gaining planetary fame due to his seemingly god-like powers. There is also a surprise guest star who makes his identity known at the end of the book. Those of you who have read the story will know why I'm excited to see this mystery character and Mark McHenry come together...

 Final thoughts:

In some ways, The Returned, Part 2 suffers from what Matthew Rushing and I have termed "middle book purgatory." It's difficult to give a solid rating to a story that is incomplete. There are a lot of interesting themes and ideas up in the air, and I am looking forward to seeing how they are resolved in Part 3. Part 2 was definitely enough to hold my interest, and I once again find myself wishing I had the third part already downloaded. September can't come fast enough!

 More about The Returned, Part 2:

Also by Peter David:

My next read:

Next week, my review of #13 of the S.C.E. series: No Surrender by Jeff Mariotte.


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Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Returned, Part 1

Star Trek: New Frontier
The Returned, Part I by Peter David
An e-book exclusive novella
Release date: July 6th 2015
Read July 7th 2015

Previous book (New Frontier): Blind Man's Bluff
Next book (New Frontier): The Returned, Part II
Kindle: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

 Spoilers ahead for The Returned and Star Trek: New Frontier!

 Publisher's Description:
Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur are back, picking up three months after the stunning events depicted in New Frontier: Blind Man’s Bluff. Calhoun's search of Xenex has failed to find any survivors, and now he is bound and determined to track down the race that killed them—the D'myurj and their associates, the Brethren—and exact vengeance upon them. His search will take the Excalibur crew into a pocket universe, where he discovers not only the homeworld of the D’myurj, but another race that shares Calhoun's determination to obliterate his opponents. But is this new race truly an ally…or an even greater threat?

My thoughts:

When I started this review site back in 2011, the newest New Frontier novel was soon to be released: Blind Man's Bluff. While I didn't enjoy that story as much as I had the previous novels, I considered myself a fan of New Frontier. I first started reading Peter David's ground-breaking Trek novel series back when it began in 1997. As much as I enjoyed the ongoing stories of Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway, the prospect of an all-new novel-only series was too tempting to pass up. Luckily, New Frontier proved the be a success, and the series paved the way for more original Trek lit such as Stargazer, Corps of Engineers, Vanguard, and Seekers.

Calhoun and his crew are back!
Imagine my surprise when it seemed that 2011's Blind Man's Bluff might be the last New Frontier story. What's worse, the story had a cliffhanger ending, with Captain Calhoun's people being wiped out and Starfleet itself the victim of infiltration by an enemy called the D'myurj. Thankfully, a new New Frontier story has been released: The Returned, presented in three parts by way of e-book exclusive novellas.

I wound up enjoying this story more than the previous one. Peter David is in top form here with the New Frontier characters' trademark wit and charm on full display. Calhoun, of course, comes across as larger-than-life in his typically heroic fashion. I like how far the characters have come: Admirals Jellico and Shelby seemingly "manipulate" Calhoun into taking a course of action that he probably would have taken anyway, while he is all the while completely aware of how his wife and commanding officer think they are guiding the events. Meanwhile, we get Soleta back on the bridge of the Excalibur, and even Mark McHenry returns, bringing his "godlike" powers to bear in the defense of Robin Lefler and her child.

There are a few small issues with the story, but nothing that negatively impacts the experience of the return of one of my favorite series. The cliffhanger ending is, of course, frustrating. Were this a complete trade paperback or mass-market paperback release like previous stories, it would simply be a tense chapter break. However, in this three-part iteration, the ending comes just as I want desperately to read more. This is, of course, the point, but it is frustrating nonetheless!

Finally, I do have to make a comment about the cover of this story. The current U.S.S. Excalibur is a Galaxy-class starship, replacing the Ambassador-class Excalibur lost in a previous novel. Unfortunately, the cover features the older Excalibur for apparently no reason that is revealed in the narrative. Sadly, it just seems to be an oversight on the part of the cover artist. Again, it has no impact on my enjoyment of this story, but it is a little unfortunate. Regardless, the cover is beautiful!

*This* is the Excalibur that should be on the cover!

 Final thoughts:

A great start to the next chapter of New Frontier! The story is, of course, difficult to rate without the rest of it to read, but I'm excited for the return of some of my favorite characters, and I very much look forward to the continuation and resolution. Here's to much more New Frontier to come, if the Great Bird of the Galaxy wills it!

 More about The Returned, Part 1:

Also by Peter David:

 My next read:

Next week, look for my review of the first story in the TOS mini-series, Mere Anarchy. It's Things Fall Apart by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore!


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Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Captain's Daughter

Star Trek #76
The Captain's Daughter by Peter David
Published December 1995
Read January 10th 2014

 Previous book (The Original Series): #75: First Frontier
Next book (The Original Series): #77: Twilight's End
Purchase The Captain's Daughter:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for The Captain's Daughter!

 From the back cover:
When Demora Sulu, an exemplary young Starfleet officer, suddenly attacks her commanding officer, who kills her in self-defense, everyone is stunned. No one is more grief-stricken than her father, Captain Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior. Determined to learn the truth behind his daughter's bizarre death, Sulu goes to the planet where she was killed, and finds himself confronted by an old enemy eager to destroy Sulu's reputation and his life!

My thoughts:

One of the more intriguing new releases coming later this year is David R. George III's The Lost Era: One Constant Star, featuring Captain Demora Sulu of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B. A revisit to that era has piqued my curiosity. In anticipation, I decided to go back and read a couple of books that featured that ship and her crew.

The first, The Captain's Daughter, is a great story by Peter David featuring the early days of the Enterprise-B's career. Set shortly after the presumed death of Captain James T. Kirk at the beginning of Star Trek: Generations, The Captain's Daughter is partly concerned with the fallout from that incident. In Generations, the character of Captain John Harriman comes across as barely competent; or, at the very least, in way over his head. And when, on a mission to investigate a distress call, Ensign Demora Sulu ends up being killed by Harriman in an act of self-defense, the Captain's problems seem to multiply.

I feel that The Captain's Daughter is the beginning of an attempt to redeem his character somewhat. We get an insight into what Harriman's failures in that ill-fated shakedown cruise have done to him, and how much of what happened was not entirely his fault. Chekov almost seems to serve as a proxy for the Star Trek audience who saw Harriman as incompetent. When Demora (who is Chekov's goddaughter) is allegedly killed, the hatred of Harriman comes to a head. However, we see that Harriman's actions were at best justified, and at the very least unavoidable.

A character I was always curious about: Ensign Demora Sulu.
Half of the story occurs in flashback, and we learn the origins of Demora Sulu. When I first watched Generations twenty years ago (GOOD LORD! Twenty YEARS?!?), I was very curious about her character. Like Kirk, I wondered "when did Sulu find time for a family?" In The Captain's Daughter, Peter David has fleshed out that story beautifully.

Best scene in the novel: Captain Harriman relieving his father, Admiral "Blackjack" Harriman, of command of the Enterprise. This selection showcases Peter David's formidable wit at its finest!

 Final thoughts:

The Captain's Daughter was a delightful read, both when I read it nearly ten years ago, and again when I read it to write this review. While Peter David's work can sometimes border on the farcical, I found that this novel had just the right amount of whimsy and David's trademark "tongue-in-cheek" style. He managed to strike the perfect tone for a story that is both serious and amusing. Like a lot of PAD's works, The Captain's Daughter has a certain amount of heart, making for a sentimental yet fun read.

 Further resources:

Also by Peter David:

My next read:

At the moment, I'm reading the new release for February: the much-anticipated continuation of the Voyager "relaunch," Kirsten Beyer's Protectors!


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