Jonathan Frakes Books

Where do I start. Well,I won't get into the plot,because you simply have to read it and be amazed.But I'll say this-you will agree with me when I say that this Novel is one of the best Star Trek Novels ever written.

Especially if your favorite character is Commander William Riker.This is the only work of fiction that made me actually cry.It's amazing how much you feel for Riker and the journey he goes through.And his past with Deanna Troi is simply amazing and that alone is worth getting this Novel.You run into the evolution of other Star Trek Characters like Wesley Crusher who plays a big role in the Novel.What I like about this Novel the most is that the plot is perfectly blended between character development and action.And unlike alot of other Novels that dwell into a character's past,you're actually excited and not hesitant reading about it.

By the end of the Novel your simply speachless.You can't believe you were lucky enough to get to experience this fantastic piece of literature.And you feel sorry for those who haven't.Peter David is one of the premiere Star Trek Novelist bar none.And you'll see why after reading this perfect work of art.

I cannot recommend this Novel more highly and you would be hard pressed to find a more engaging,emotional and suspense filled Star Trek Novel or Sci Fi Novel period.

This is the best Star Trek book I've read to date. True to the series and characters. The story, plot and effective writing style make this a can't put down book. I wanted it to go on forever!

The first three-quarters of Imzadi is average Star Trek fiction. It deals too much with the sexual attraction and thoughts of young Will Riker and Deanna Troi as they meet for the first time on Deanna's home planet of Betazed. Deanna is shy, reserved, and virginal. She is under her dominating mother's thumb. Will is a brash ladies' man who never felt this way about anyone . . . you get the picture. They have a steamy affair in the jungle . . . at one point I thought even I could take a stab at writing Star Trek fiction.

The other part of the story is darker and more compelling. Moving at a slow pace for the first three-quarters, but speeding up and becoming intense, complicated, and gripping in the last quarter, is the story of the old Will Riker of the future. Riker lost Deanna when she died a mysterious and agonizing death just before she was to attend a pivotal peace conference with the confrontational Sindareen. Riker was never the same.

I won't reveal more of the plot except to say that at the end Will is pitted against his old friend Data in a life-or-death race against time. Excellent and well-thought out writing in the last pages of the book.

When this novel begins, Will Riker is an admiral stationed on a backwater Star Base doing routine tasks. Deanna Troi has been dead for decades and he has been but a shadow of his former self since her death. Lwaxana Troi is on her deathbed and she has requested that Riker be there before she dies. Captain Wesley Crusher takes Riker to Betazed and he finds a bitter, spiteful Lwaxana who still blames him for Deanna's death. After Lwaxana dies, Will learns that in a final act of revenge, she wants Will to go through her possessions.
We get a hint that all is not right when there is a scene where Data is at the Guardian of Forever, reviewing when Kirk had to chose to let Edith Keeler die in order to save history as he knew it. Riker relives the moments when Deanna dies and then we are taken through the beginning of Riker's relationship with Deanna Troi.
He is a young lieutenant in Star Fleet and commander of a small Star Fleet garrison on Betazed. Some Sindareen mercenaries raid a museum on Betazed in order to steal some Betazed artwork and Riker is tasked with stopping them. Deanna is taken hostage and Riker orders that the ship containing her be fired upon. It is destroyed, but Deanna survives the crash along with the Sindareen commander. Riker moves out into the jungle and fights the Sindareen commander and rescues Deanna.
The action is dramatic and the relationship between Riker and Deanna is intense. After some sputtering beginnings, they go hot and heavy, but then they part. The story moves to the obvious conclusion that time has been disturbed, so Riker violates Star Fleet orders and goes back in time to repair the damage. There is a series of climactic scenes where Deanna, a shape-shifter, Admiral Riker, Commander Riker, Captain Picard, a past and a future Data, and Lieutenant Worf all interact. I laughed about one of the scenes where Admiral Riker reminds a flustered Captain Picard that he is the senior officer present. The final rescue of Deanna involves a Data, who is not malfunctioning, going back in time to kill Deanna. He disables the Data back in time by hitting his power switch and taking off his head. Riker finds the "old" Data and since he doesn't have time to reattach the head, Riker runs through the corridors carrying Data's head while Data controls his body from a distance. It contains one of the best and most unusual climactic scenes of all Star Trek ventures.
This is an excellent book, not only do you learn a great deal about the history of the relationship between Riker and Troi, but the action is non-stop, even when it is relational in nature.

In reading novelizations of TV series, you find many fall flat, but there are certain writers who rise to the challenge and do something compelling and new. When it is done right, they make you feel that the series is still current, or even that they have taken it to a new level. Christopher Golden did it for "Buffy" in "Tales of the Lost Slayer" trilogy. Peter David, a truly fine author, did it for Star Trek in both the Mackenzie New Frontier books, and this epic concerning Deanna Troi's life and death, and romance with Riker. Superbly crafted and written, it is a fine exploration of the emotional depths of their relationship, its beginnings, and its end. Superb. Not just for Trekkies.

This book takes the last Star Trek: TNG episode and turns it into a decent, short novel. Having seen the episode a few years back, I read the book already knowing the story. But the novel does a good job of taking you through the story and adding a few elements here and there to more fully explain what's going on and why. This book isn't the kind I'm likely to ever re-read, though.

Could not put this one down. This is an amazingly well-written book that trancends the genre.

There are a couple of major quibbles I have with the plot, however, and while it is not the fault of the book that the flaws are there (they were there in the episode) I still find that I can't rate the book higher given those sloppinesses. I don't know what I'd have done if I were making the novelization, and had to choose between diverging from the episode or making sense, but still...

The first flaw is in the claim that the three beams that created the anomaly were from "three different Enterprises, at three different times". Nice idea, but they WEREN'T. One of them (the one in the future) was from Beverly Crusher's medical ship; the future Enterprise never sent off a tachyon pulse. The second is that the anomaly, supposedly an "anti-time" anomaly, moves BACKWARD in time from its origin point, yet Picard and company find it FORWARD in time from its origin point, and growing.

I realize that when dealing with temporal anomalies, time travel, and weird physics, anything is possible. But it would be nice if things made sense INTERNALLY; if they can't be made to do so, it would be nice if the characters in the book at least acknowledged the wrongness and their inability to explain things. These flaws went a long way toward ruining a good story for me.

Star Trek: The Next Generation; All Good Things... novelization by Michael Jan Friedman based on All Good Things... Written By Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga is base on the television episode by the same name.

What you found in the television episode is covered in this book, but the leaps in logic and continuity are better covered in this novel. What I found very inteesting was the author's way of coveying time... past, present, and future. It was smooth and integrated in the storyline making for a logical progression.

The book is about Captain Jean-Luc Picard's fight to save the human race from the ravages of the "Q." The verdict is in, and humanity must be destroyed. As Picard makes his case for humanity, "Q" takes Picard on trips to the past and future making for an interesting read.

As Picard looks "Q" in the eye and stoically asks "Q" having reached a verdict... have you decided upon a sentence? "Q" replies that he has... It's time to end your trek through the stars... and make room for a more worthy species. "Q" has wrapped up humanity's fate... You're to be denied existence... you will be destroyed.

Knowing this, Picard makes a valent attempt to save all humanity. This is a Picard/"Q" book and it is very well-written, intriguing and is the novelization of the classic final episode of The Next Generation's television journey. A very fast read as Picard in his effort to save humanity, must sacrifice himself and all those he holds dear... perhaps more than once as this has a time travel theme to it... and if Picard fails... Mankind is doomed.

"All Good Things" is only the second of three episode novelizations for Star Trek's most prolific author, Michael Jan Friedman. As is standard fare for a Michael Jan Friedman novel, it is another excellent read. When setting out to put a novelization of an episode in print, the main things the readers are looking for are personalization of the characters thoughts during "on screen" moments and some added "between" the scenes, scenes. MJ Friedman accomplishes this with great ease.

The only sad thing about this novel is that it was, at the time of its publishing, just another sign that an era of extraordinary and historic television had come to an end. The upside would be the movies, for the better part, but overall, this show is sorely missed by many.

Credit to Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga for the original screenplay for "All Good Things..." which made up the outstanding conclusion to seven years of the some of the best television episodes ever to grace the home theater.

The cover art for this, the hardback and the later published paperback is "right on" with the overall theme of the television shows grand finale!

The premise:

As Star Trek The Next Generation began with Q introducing himself in "Encounter at Farpoint," so does it end with him once again challenging humanities right to be among the stars in "All Good Things..." How does he go about this; in his usual style of harassing but teaching Captain Picard, all at the same time. Captain Picard wakes to find himself on board the Enterprise D at the time in which he belongs, yet before he awoke he was thoroughly convinced several years had passed and he'd been an old man.

What follows from there is nothing short of one of the most brilliant episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation and an outstanding novelization in which Captain Picard is bounced around between three different time periods and the past, present and future of not only the Enterprise and her gallant crew are at stake but humanity itself is at stake.

I highly recommend this novelization to any and all fans of Star Trek, whether you can find it in hardback or paperback. I believe this is one story that Gene Roddenberry would truly have been proud of! {ssintrepid}

This DVD can be used as a benchmark for your plasma monitor (or large-screen LCD).

... and aside from the excellent photography and good sound, its actually a good movie....
if you happen to like teenage films (and I do).

Check the scene in the consulates mansion on the first date... particularly the honey bee in flight against the
pink flower petals.... the "frozen" water of the sprinkler... the close-ups of the faces
in the kitchen scene.... the rat scampering along the tiles.

From the point of view of lighting, focus and high quality imaging it
deserves 5 stars

I watch a LOT of movies... and I am also a professional photographer...

trust me, this disc is just the thing you need to restore your confidence
in your home theatre setup.... after watching all the "other" movies !!

It could be the handful of hours rest that I am currently working on or the pathetic excuses for film that I am currently enjoying, but "Clockstoppers" didn't anger me or make me smile. This was a near-perfect example of a film that played it safe, worked with the teen audience, and boasted special effects that honestly, were appealing to the eye. "Clockstoppers" won't win you awards at the company Trivia Night, nor will it impress your co-worker's mind at the water cooler the next morning, but it doesn't make you go into a fit of rage either. The script is loose at best, the acting fits well into the predestined can of cliché, but it is the special effects that really make you sit and watch this film from beginning to end without fits of rage. This may be surprising to my loyal readers, but I could not willingly sit here and bash a film that honestly engaged my inner boredom as much as this film did. "Clockstoppers" was a film dedicated to hitting the median, not going above or below, and wildly succeeded.

"Clockstoppers" is one of those simple PG plots which involves a boy, a watch, and no need to corrupt the system. A kid, unlike you or I, finds a watch from his super-genius father that can literally slow down time (actually, speed up his molecules so that time seems to be going slower). Instead of stay in that time forever, growing old and experiencing the powers of "invisibility", he uses it to win over the heart of an unknown girl and stop the world from catapulting into utter annihilation. Yep, something I would do if I could stop time. Like any other film of this nature, I am sure you know what ultimately happens in the end. Helmed by "Star Trek's" very own Jonathan Frakes, "Clockstoppers" boasts the talents of Jesse Bradford, Michael Biehn, and French Stewart - with a cast like this, who needs enemies. Using amazing CGI to bring this story from the page, where Frakes falls short are the characters and his inability to grapple with the technology he is filming. I am not going to cover my issues with the molecular speed-up, because I am sure they have been nauseatingly been said before, but they did force you to consider the unmentioned possibilities. Why wasn't this whole film done with slowed time? How could some inanimate objects fly through the air in slow time, while others fit into the pattern of going slow? Why didn't Bradford fall through the floor? Age issues - don't make me go there! Again, this could be a whole topic of conversation, but instead, lets talk about the other pivotal downfalls of this film, and how they related to me feeling decent after watching this.

I must admit, Frakes does a decent job behind the camera. He has learned from his acting lessons and can tell a complete story. Without the science fiction plot holes, the story itself for "Clockstoppers" was pretty cliché, yet straight forward. He didn't try to overdo it, while his actors might have attempted to gobble every line they could, Frakes kept the story simple and the CGI impressive. I have to applaud him for his work here, he could have made this a very dark story, but instead kept it suitable for a teen audience. This wasn't the original "Agent Cody Banks" in any way, but it did attempt to stand on its own, and I must applaud Frakes for his attempt. The acting, as mentioned before, was horrid. French Stewart was possibly at the lowest point of his career with this film. His attempt to be a honest scientist was goofy at best. He was never mad, just loony with his approach to this character. Jesse Bradford was middle of the road. Consistent with the standards of this film, he never went above where we wanted him to be. Oddly, his Ebay selling reminded me of another character from "Transformers", but I don't want to think the two films plagiarized. Julia Sweeny, well, just don't make me go down that tunnel. Paula Garces was middle of the road as well, she played off Bradford with ease because there was nothing they needed to attach themselves to. Could I be any more vague? When I finished watching this movie, I wasn't feeling upset or happy about the results - this was a mediocre film, and I can applaud it for staying within that genre.

Sometimes I listen to music half my age - this film is a prime example of music that is half my age. There was an attempt to take it even further up the tween channel by employing the music of Blink 182 to heavily dominate the scenes of joy, empowerment, or victory. There was the overuse of Smash Mouth, which seems to plague every tween movie today - but oddly, that was allowed this time. Typically, I find myself yelling about how one-sided these releases tend to be. Focusing their marking towards a singular audience instead of just pushing the boundaries, but with "Clockstoppers" I felt their average outing calmed me. It worked I shouldn't have worked, but it did. Frakes subdued me, and I cannot argue with him. The special features surrounding this film were pathetic as well, staged "behind the scenes" which only showed how "fun" a film like this could be - it was disgusting. The music videos didn't fit, and the Saturday Morning interruptions also included were vile as well. See this language, yet I am going to give this film at least three stars. See, Frakes did dupe me.

Overall, I gotta stop this review before I stick myself in a deeper hole. Agents with no names, bad villains bent on total domination using everything in their arsenal outside of the weapon of choice, a cool watch that may have sold well over the holidays, and plot holes the size of Miami. I hate these features on a film, but again, "Clockstoppers" filled a hour and a half of couch time well for me. I never laughed, but I never got bored with this story. Call me a quitter or a lacky to the cause, but "Clockstoppers" never came out of its shell, and I am happy for that. It was pathetic, but delightful in the same sense. I cannot suggest this movie to friends, but if it rained one afternoon and we needed something to kill the time - I think "Clockstoppers" would find its way back to the DVD player! Thank Frakes - you duped me again!

Grade: *** out of *****

My grandchildren love this movie. They want to watch it when they stay with us.

CLOCKSTOPPERS reminds me of an afterschool special, aimed at a teen audience but okay entertainment for we adults too.
Jesse Bradford plays a young man who stumbles upon a watch that can stop time, which he finds amusing at first but then when corrupt government agent Michael Biehn comes after him, he finds himself in danger.
The special effects are okay and Bradford and his fellow castmates appealing; it's all been done before and better, but this one's passable.

The concept is not original. You have seen this before many times from Twilight Zones to "The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything" (1980). Some do it well as in "Timestalkers" (1987) and then there is this movie.

Standard premise, misunderstood youth know better than parents. Yep and of course has to save sire from the evil bad guy that has gone amuck. Zack has Henry's (Michael Biehm) molecular watch and he wants it back. On the side father of Zack can be useful in completing project. So will Zack save his dad or will Francesca runoff to Tahiti with the bad guy?

One plus is the presents of French Stewart; I guess they needed one actor in the movie. And for distraction purposes Paula Garcés.

Timestalkers Starring: William Devane, Lauren Hutton

This DVD can be used as a benchmark for your plasma monitor (or large-screen LCD).

... and aside from the excellent photography and good sound, its actually a good movie....
if you happen to like teenage films (and I do).

Check the scene in the consulates mansion on the first date... particularly the honey bee in flight against the
pink flower petals.... the "frozen" water of the sprinkler... the close-ups of the faces
in the kitchen scene.... the rat scampering along the tiles.

From the point of view of lighting, focus and high quality imaging it
deserves 5 stars

I watch a LOT of movies... and I am also a professional photographer...

trust me, this disc is just the thing you need to restore your confidence
in your home theatre setup.... after watching all the "other" movies !!

It could be the handful of hours rest that I am currently working on or the pathetic excuses for film that I am currently enjoying, but "Clockstoppers" didn't anger me or make me smile. This was a near-perfect example of a film that played it safe, worked with the teen audience, and boasted special effects that honestly, were appealing to the eye. "Clockstoppers" won't win you awards at the company Trivia Night, nor will it impress your co-worker's mind at the water cooler the next morning, but it doesn't make you go into a fit of rage either. The script is loose at best, the acting fits well into the predestined can of cliché, but it is the special effects that really make you sit and watch this film from beginning to end without fits of rage. This may be surprising to my loyal readers, but I could not willingly sit here and bash a film that honestly engaged my inner boredom as much as this film did. "Clockstoppers" was a film dedicated to hitting the median, not going above or below, and wildly succeeded.

"Clockstoppers" is one of those simple PG plots which involves a boy, a watch, and no need to corrupt the system. A kid, unlike you or I, finds a watch from his super-genius father that can literally slow down time (actually, speed up his molecules so that time seems to be going slower). Instead of stay in that time forever, growing old and experiencing the powers of "invisibility", he uses it to win over the heart of an unknown girl and stop the world from catapulting into utter annihilation. Yep, something I would do if I could stop time. Like any other film of this nature, I am sure you know what ultimately happens in the end. Helmed by "Star Trek's" very own Jonathan Frakes, "Clockstoppers" boasts the talents of Jesse Bradford, Michael Biehn, and French Stewart - with a cast like this, who needs enemies. Using amazing CGI to bring this story from the page, where Frakes falls short are the characters and his inability to grapple with the technology he is filming. I am not going to cover my issues with the molecular speed-up, because I am sure they have been nauseatingly been said before, but they did force you to consider the unmentioned possibilities. Why wasn't this whole film done with slowed time? How could some inanimate objects fly through the air in slow time, while others fit into the pattern of going slow? Why didn't Bradford fall through the floor? Age issues - don't make me go there! Again, this could be a whole topic of conversation, but instead, lets talk about the other pivotal downfalls of this film, and how they related to me feeling decent after watching this.

I must admit, Frakes does a decent job behind the camera. He has learned from his acting lessons and can tell a complete story. Without the science fiction plot holes, the story itself for "Clockstoppers" was pretty cliché, yet straight forward. He didn't try to overdo it, while his actors might have attempted to gobble every line they could, Frakes kept the story simple and the CGI impressive. I have to applaud him for his work here, he could have made this a very dark story, but instead kept it suitable for a teen audience. This wasn't the original "Agent Cody Banks" in any way, but it did attempt to stand on its own, and I must applaud Frakes for his attempt. The acting, as mentioned before, was horrid. French Stewart was possibly at the lowest point of his career with this film. His attempt to be a honest scientist was goofy at best. He was never mad, just loony with his approach to this character. Jesse Bradford was middle of the road. Consistent with the standards of this film, he never went above where we wanted him to be. Oddly, his Ebay selling reminded me of another character from "Transformers", but I don't want to think the two films plagiarized. Julia Sweeny, well, just don't make me go down that tunnel. Paula Garces was middle of the road as well, she played off Bradford with ease because there was nothing they needed to attach themselves to. Could I be any more vague? When I finished watching this movie, I wasn't feeling upset or happy about the results - this was a mediocre film, and I can applaud it for staying within that genre.

Sometimes I listen to music half my age - this film is a prime example of music that is half my age. There was an attempt to take it even further up the tween channel by employing the music of Blink 182 to heavily dominate the scenes of joy, empowerment, or victory. There was the overuse of Smash Mouth, which seems to plague every tween movie today - but oddly, that was allowed this time. Typically, I find myself yelling about how one-sided these releases tend to be. Focusing their marking towards a singular audience instead of just pushing the boundaries, but with "Clockstoppers" I felt their average outing calmed me. It worked I shouldn't have worked, but it did. Frakes subdued me, and I cannot argue with him. The special features surrounding this film were pathetic as well, staged "behind the scenes" which only showed how "fun" a film like this could be - it was disgusting. The music videos didn't fit, and the Saturday Morning interruptions also included were vile as well. See this language, yet I am going to give this film at least three stars. See, Frakes did dupe me.

Overall, I gotta stop this review before I stick myself in a deeper hole. Agents with no names, bad villains bent on total domination using everything in their arsenal outside of the weapon of choice, a cool watch that may have sold well over the holidays, and plot holes the size of Miami. I hate these features on a film, but again, "Clockstoppers" filled a hour and a half of couch time well for me. I never laughed, but I never got bored with this story. Call me a quitter or a lacky to the cause, but "Clockstoppers" never came out of its shell, and I am happy for that. It was pathetic, but delightful in the same sense. I cannot suggest this movie to friends, but if it rained one afternoon and we needed something to kill the time - I think "Clockstoppers" would find its way back to the DVD player! Thank Frakes - you duped me again!

Grade: *** out of *****

My grandchildren love this movie. They want to watch it when they stay with us.

CLOCKSTOPPERS reminds me of an afterschool special, aimed at a teen audience but okay entertainment for we adults too.
Jesse Bradford plays a young man who stumbles upon a watch that can stop time, which he finds amusing at first but then when corrupt government agent Michael Biehn comes after him, he finds himself in danger.
The special effects are okay and Bradford and his fellow castmates appealing; it's all been done before and better, but this one's passable.

The concept is not original. You have seen this before many times from Twilight Zones to "The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything" (1980). Some do it well as in "Timestalkers" (1987) and then there is this movie.

Standard premise, misunderstood youth know better than parents. Yep and of course has to save sire from the evil bad guy that has gone amuck. Zack has Henry's (Michael Biehm) molecular watch and he wants it back. On the side father of Zack can be useful in completing project. So will Zack save his dad or will Francesca runoff to Tahiti with the bad guy?

One plus is the presents of French Stewart; I guess they needed one actor in the movie. And for distraction purposes Paula Garcés.

Timestalkers Starring: William Devane, Lauren Hutton

This is what a real trekky always love. A crossover between favorite characters of the different Star Trek series! Besides, the plot is easy to follow and very exciting. Michael Jan Friedman is very good at that. I definitely recommend this book and hope that more like it are currently being written.

You can bet that if Peter David had lifted a cliche as hoary as the "I am Spartacus" moment for one of his stories, he would have at least given a nod to his source! Spock as messiah became fairly tedious, as did the rehash of 'old codger from OST becoming a liability and then proving himself' plot line from RELICS. Dry, humorless, with action scenes that lead nowhere and a seemingly superficial grasp on what makes the characters tick. I just don't get why Mr. Friedman is so popular. I've been so pleased with the overall improvement in the ST fiction offerings in the last few years - Kevin Ryan, Peter David, Greg Cox and others have all been able to incorporate and expand the dimensions of the trek universe with wit, heart and intelligence. Like another reviewer here, I keep trying to like this author's books since he is so prolific, but damn it, Jim, Star Trek fiction should never be a chore!

I picked this novel up on a whim long ago during my Trekkie phase, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. Not only does it bring back the memorable characters of TOS cast in TNG universe, it incorporates them and their motivations in a way that the shows never really did.

The story deals with Spock finally coming under Romulan capture during his lengthy task of reunification. Held by an ambitious governor, he is scheduled to be executed along with his followers, and thus the stage is set for the political intrigue and philosophical side of the novel.

Starfleet's response is swift and sure. Spock had an amazing memory, and 150 years of top-level Federation secrets locked within his mind. The security threat is staggering. Thus, one of Spock's old friends -- a certain Doctor Leonard McCoy -- is brought aboard the flagship Enterprise to help negotiate the prisoner release before the romulans discover Spock among the unificationists.

At the same time, retired engineer and genius Montgomery Scott intercepts a message from Starfleet to the Enterprise, and decided to go after Spock himself. To do that, he needs a ship, and so in pure Scotty fashion, steals an ancient constitution class starship in hopes of getting Spock out of Romulan territory himself.

The novel is a joy to read, and so I won't say much more. I will say, though, that this book really captures the adventure feel of the original series with the amazing characters of the next generation. In dealing with these relics of the past, the clash of tactics comes to the fore, and in the end it is a mesh of those tactics and philosophies that finally is needed -- but are the stubborn people of both crews and times able to meet that middle ground?

It's an interesting though, and explored fairly well.

This review is for the abridged audio version (2 tapes, 3+ hours). Jonathan Frakes did a great job reading this, he has a good voice, and does a credible job in recreating all of the characters. The story itself was very engaging, but disconnected in a few places (not bad, but it was obvious that some things ended up on the cuttingroom floor). The sound affects were good, never drowning out the narrater. Overall a good purchase, and I recommend it.

This is the best story to combine characters from both the original Star Trek series and The Next Generation. Jonathon Frakes gives an outstanding performance as he reads for characters like the surly Admiral McCoy, the stoic Ambassador Spock, and the irrepressible Captain Scott. His Picard, Data, and, of course, Riker are top notch, too.

The story involves Picard and crew on a diplomatic mission to return a group of captured Unificationists from the Romulans, who don't know Spock is among them. McCoy, who is 145 years old, is brought in as a mission specialist since he knows more about Spock than anyone alive. He's old, cranky, and arrogant, and there is great tension between him and Picard. Scotty, learns of Spock's capture and launches his own rescue.

This story would make an outstanding screenplay for the next movie. Make it so!

Once the series had ended, (at least for the time being), and I'd purchased all the DVD's and seen every episode at least 3 times, (I even liked the Enterprise series), I finally started reading the books. This is by far the worst I've read so far. It has numerous plot holes and it makes the characters like Captian Picard and Data appear inept and foolish. Coucelor Troy is portrayed as a quasi-visionary. To top it all off, the story appears to be contrived and obnoxiously politically motivated, (unlike some of its more subtle predecessors).

It portrays an advanced civilization of humans that fled Earth and bases its beliefs on quote "the Christian Bible" to the exclusion of any other beliefs and that has banned all fiction. It's very 'un-Star Trek' to blatantly single out one religion and attack it so viciously.

Which is a shame, because the basic idea had potential: Star Trek meets Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". And the writing wasn't completely hopeless; as the story progressed, I did find myself caring what happened next, and moved by the fate of the characters. But there were too many flaws for a high rating; the entire subplot of Deanna Troi's visions/hallucinations was superfluous and pointless, and the concept that the planetary culture that the Enterprise was in conflict with could have provided as much of a challenge as they did required too much supension of disbelief for my taste.

Not the worst Star Trek book I've ever read by a long shot, but definitely on the weak end of the scale.

This book has the distinction of being the worst Sci-Fi related novel I have ever read. It combines mediocre writing with a staggering number of cliches, even for a Star Trek novel. It is also a prime example of the early attempts to justify Troi's existence as something other than eye candy, and like most falls into the trap of trying to "prove her mettle" as an adventure heroine. She's an empath, and a counselor. Think the psychologist (Dr. Friedman) from M*A*S*H, not Xena, space-warrior princess.

The entire society of Rampart is unstable, and as presented could not possibly have existed for 200 years. The level of technology given to the Rampartians is inconsistent, both internally and with their alleged backstory.

The one-eyes are supposedly built with "post-Atomic" era technology, but have abilities that surpass those of the modern Federation, except for when they don't. They are capable of deep-scanning an unconscious mind in order to mine O'Brian's transporter knowledge, but can only read surface thoughts when Sharee wants to impress us with Shibiko's "Zen archery" approach to security. Even then, they react to "visual input" to dodge a beam that travels at lightspeed, showing Mr. Sharee understands physics less well than he understands Zen.

It is established early on that the one-eyes communicate using radio frequencies, and all communication planetside uses these same frequencies. It has long been established that Starfleet communicators do *not* use "primitive" radio frequencies. Yet, the one-eyes can jam all communicator frequencies, and can even jam transporter frequencies, an ability which has previously been established to be a function of *shield* technology, not communications. Furthermore, they can jam with sufficient power, using only a small internal power source, that a Starship cannot overpower the jamming, even with a tight point-to-point beam. That would make the power source in a one-eye at least equal, actually somewhat superior, in output to the main anti-matter engines of the Enterprise.

Furthermore, allthis adaptability and creativity is possessed by a computer constructed by a civilization that has banned imagination and creativity. This, by itself, completely undercuts the supposed central message of the book - that creativity and imagination are a necessary part of human intelligence. Instead of being stagnant, the Rampartians are sufficiently adaptable to seriously challenge the Enterprise when, by all rights, they should have been instantly overwhelmed.

The behaviors of the crew as a whole are incredibly inconsistent with the Star Trek Universe background. As a lsot colony of Earth (actually, of the federation, since the colony is only 200 years old), the prime directive does not apply, and all the "we must be careful not to interfere" handwringing of the early chapters is so much foolishness. Of course, so is the ability of the one-eyes to get free in the first place.

All they have to do is lock them in and set up a containment field, something that can be done in all transporter rooms. Even if you choose to believe that the one-eyes can instantly learn everything O'Brian knows about the ship, they still don't have the necessary tools to override. in order for the weapon-systems of the one-eyes to not be detected during transport, and therefore be a surprise later, both O'brian and Worf have to have been on some kind of severely intoxicating drug when the devices were first transported. In order for the crew not to have noticed when monitoring communications that there was no fictional or speculative programming, the entire communications section would have to be criminally incompetent - this is a key part of the pattern any alleged contact team would be trained to look at.

I could go on, but I've already wasted far more energy than this book deserves. The idea of a world where all fiction is banned is interesting, and I'm sure a rebellion against such an oppressive regime would make a fascinating series of stories. This isn't one of them. It isn't even a good addition to the Star Trek canon, since it more inconsistent and more poorly executed than even a typical episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

Given the complexity and thought provoking nature of this particular novel it is hard to believe that this is not only the only Star Trek novel written by this author is it the only novel one can find written by Keith Sharee. I found this novel to be in very good keeping with Gene Roddenberry's principals and ethos of Star Trek as it tells a well told tale that is capable of the "suspension of disbelief" within the Star Trek universe as it is a real future possibility and reminds one of Hitler's attempts to do the same.

The premise:

The Enterprise finds itself on the mission to find the USS Huxley, a starship that has been missing for over ten years, what they did not expect to find is a forgotten human colony named Rampart. Here is where the story takes an unexpected twist as this colony of humans has sought fit to ban fiction of any sort and it is considered to be the ultimate crime. As history proves proper, whenever there is a government that bans something harmless, or proves itself a dictatorship in any way, there is an underground movement and ultimately a civil war. It is that civil war in which Captain Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise suddenly find themselves inextricably in the middle of and must find an acceptable way of extricating themselves and solving this planet's problems...

What follows is certainly one of the better early Star Trek The Next Generation numbered novels that is well worth the time to locate and read for you will certainly not be disappointed. I highly recommend this early STNG novel to any and all Star Trek fans, casual or die hard alike! {ssintrepid}

Think about your closest friends; are they real to you? If you didn't know them in the first place, would they still be real? Now think about your favorite fiction characters; are they real? Think of a world without them; would YOU be real?

After Troi makes an intriguing contact with an "alien" life form from another dimension, thinking that this may be related to the disappearance of USS Huxley a long time ago, Picard decides to investigate inside a nebulae cloud where all subspace communications are blocked by natural sources. They are more than surprised to find a planet named Rampart inhabited by humans inside the cloud. Although human, Rampartians do not like the Enterprise's intrusion because it represents everything they tried to keep away from their society. The fiction in Rampart is a crime and the punishment is death. Since they were departed from the earth, Rampartian science is only excelled in one area: To read and cleanse minds; thus, not only actively involving in creating or consuming fiction is crime, but even thinking of it is... However there is a group of rebels - Dissenters - fighting against the dictatorship with the single weapon they have: Fiction! And Enterprise crew find themselves in the middle of this fight.

While the basic promise of the book seems to tell a simple story of rebels fighting against a dictatorship, the author manages to create a compelling storyline by combining some action and nice characters into it, Trek style. Most importantly you are asked what happens if you're ripped off all fiction, and Troi's dreams and the presentation of Dissenters give you a memorable sensation of how actually valuable your fiction characters to you than you've thought. A nice touch is added with Wesley's revelation that "he" is a part of a bigger "It", and the books ends with a nice twist.

I am almost sorry that this is a Trek book, because otherwise this would lead to a very nice Saga; How and why the colonists left earth, why are they greedy about fiction, how did they developed the technology and so on.

By the way, if you read and like this book, I recommend Ray Bradburry's Fahrenheit 451 too.

A few of the characters had potential, but it was never developed. The story's concept was a good start, the writing explains why the first novel was the last so far (pray!)

The author, whether it was Frakes or D.W. Smith, started each chapter with an obscure little blurb from someone else's stories as if trying to impress upon the reader that they too, being the authors, were also literate. I wasn't conviced as the association with the chapters was greatly lacking.

Frakes acting rarely did much for me on ST:TNG, I always thought his character was a cheap knock-off of Captain Kirk, but it seems it was better than this book. I bought it for a buck and felt ripped off. Stay clear.

After the first 100 pages of this relatively short book, I was anxious to finish and jumped to the last 20 pages so I could move on to a better read.

I can't prove that the work was rushed into print but it certainly could have used more editing. The AK-47/M-16 switch was so obvious, I had to go back several times to insure I was reading correctly.

The Epilogue suggests more to come but as this was published in 1996 and no sequels have appeared to date, this idea may have been dropped. I enjoyed the characters and with a bit more care in the writing, a follow-up story may be very enjoyable.

the book, The Abductors Conspiracy is peity good from my point of voy it. i lick that is has a good plot and a great conflick in it to and at the end of it all they find a way to stop the problum with a little bit of man power. in the begining of the book a man named Richard McCallum, an ex-cop went detetive is trying to find some lost kids it has a good twist in the middle if the book.the riter,Jonathan Frakes has tacken this si-fiy to a now level with this book but it is a little to long that is why i give it 4 stars

This is a rather mediocre book. A story of an alien invasion, the protoganist is a retired police officer turned private investigator and is hired to find the daughter of a rich man, and later an elderly man, both kidnapped by aliens, though this fact is unknown to him at first.

The Aliens are kidnapping elderly people and having doubles go into all the major cities carting a hydrogen bomb with attached EMP blaster. The protoganist, along with a group dedicated to finding and eliminating the alien threat on earth find and dismantle thier plan, and rescue some people.

While the story is interresting, the writing quality is poor and this would have been much better if it had been better written. In a final battle(which was suposed to be the story climax, but wasn't that powerful) the protaginist loads up his AK-47 and recives last-minute instructions on it's use, only to find himself shooting an M-16..(did the aliens switch it on him?)..in the middle of a shoot-out with a couple of aliens.

Well Riker, try again, not terribly bad for a first book.

Cliche after cliche. Why in God's name would the US Army be using AK-47s? Oh, then two pages later they magically turn into an M-16, didn't this book have an editor? This is a good book if you are 10 years old, if you want a good alien invasion book, read Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.