Star Trek Movies Books

This collection isn't meant to replace other novels that have dealt with the Mirror Universe over the years. It takes its stories from two episodes of Trek and builds from there. If you've read the other reviews, you know the three eras and plots - I like to classify them as a Fun Romp (Age of the Empress), Epic (Sorrows of Empire), and Supplemental (The Worst of Both Worlds) type stories.

Age of the Empress is action from beginning to end and very fast paced but sets the stage nicely for future installments. It borders on fan fiction but doesn't quite fall over the edge thankfully. Nice little surprise at the end...hope to see this era again in future books.

Sorrows of Empire is a great story, best of the bunch by far. Told in epic fashion with widespread consequences as a result of Mirror Spock's rise to power. Very original tale and not what I expected to happen along the way. Fills in a major gap without seeming contrived. Excellent.

The Worst of Both Worlds could have been left off but it serves as a nice peek into what is happening years later as a result of Mirror Spock's changes. We get to see some of our TNG characters in very different places in their lives. Of course a familiar enemy shows up and Luc Picard is forced into action. A nice supplemental tale but not as grand as the Spock story.

A nice anthology overall though, with each story sharing some common threads with the one following. Recommeded, especially if you like the Mirror Universe!

This book integrated wonderfully with the origional shows except for the last "book" which was new but great material. Mirror universe gives this series new life and lots of opportunities for diversity. A wonderful read and I couldn't put it down. Looking forward to more "Mirror Universe" ST books.

I sent an e-mail through Amazon and got a message that the sender would contact me. I never heard from the sender and have not received my product.

I really enjoyed how all three authors were able to weave together stories from both "universes" to make a completely new tale. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me.

I didn't try the first story frankly I don't get Enterprise don't think I ever will.

The other two stories are something else entirely one dealing with Spock and his series of reforms that he knows will eventually lead to the downfall of the Terran Empire.

The second story deals with an archeologist name Luc his old girlfriend named Vash an old man named Song and a boy named Wesley Crusher. There is even an appearance by a healer named "mama" Palaski. The story revolves around an encounter with the Borg who in this case have a king instead of a queen.

Overall-Very good stories but I was kind of dismayed to learn that neither was dependent on the other. I look forward to more in this anthology collection.

Thought this book was an adult, paperback adaptation of this Star Trek Nemesis movie. If you aren't an adult, avoid this copy of the book!

There was never a happier time for the officers of Jean-Luc Picard's Enterprise, as Will Riker and Deanna Troi marry with their friends and colleagues surrounding them. Meanwhile, on far-off Romulus, the senate chamber lights with death planted by a saboteur - death that clears the way for a Human reared on Remus to take power there. Shinzon, the "Reman but not Reman" whom the long-enslaved inhabitants of that world claim as their prophesied savior, need Jean-Luc Picard in order to survive. Even though Picard, toasting Riker and Troi at their Alaskan wedding reception, doesn't yet know the much younger man exists.

J.M. Dillard's novelizations of the Star Trek films are always well done, and this book is no exception. It fills in much that the movie skimmed or skipped over entirely, and by so doing holds the reader's interest even if that reader recalls the film in detail. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I WOULD RECOMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO LIKES STAR TREK.
IT FALLOWES THE MOVIE, BUT GETS OFF THE SUBJECT SOMETIMES.
THE AUTHOR MAKES IT SOUND LIKE YOUR INSIDE THE CHARACTER, AS SOON
AS I STARTED READING THIS BOOK I DID NOT WANT TO PUT IT DOWN!
*********************READ!!************************

Hi, my name is Daniel Swain at Australia Winnipeg Nimmitabel first of all I am a big Star Trek fan and if you haven't seen Star Trek before I recomend it to evrey body! Any way I will have to give this book 5 stars! It is a excelent book it is based on a Starfleet Captian called Jean-luc Picard and his crew and his ship called Enterprise! Any way Picard encounters his counter part Shinzon who looks excactly like him. It is a big adventure/action story! I recomend this book to evrey body!

This auudio casette rules! Sound effects make you feel like you are on the Enterprise. The Narrator is really vibrant, and has some nice imitations! GREAT AUDIO!

For those who enjoy Star Trek and wish to role-play it, this is a good book to start with. This book details info that other, (non role-playing) books don not have. You learn about Andorians, and other species that have been lost in the tv shows, and you learn Starfleet procedures. This is a recommendable source to read even if you don't role-play. Unfortunately it leaves information out, like all the basic starships of all races. This leaves the reader to go by many other books for complete information.
The system is hard to get used to as well. If it doesn't work, it can be an informative book for someone who wishes to simplify the managing and character system. But it is informative and allows a better understanding of Star Trek themes, storeis and concepts.

I've been waiting to review this book until I've had the opportunity to run a few sessions. Now that I have run a few sessions, I feel I can give an objective review. There is no doubt that this is a comprehensive and handsome book. I enjoyed the chapters pertaining to the UFP, its history and organization. Character creation is lengthy, but well worth it. On the average, it took my players about 45 minutes to an hour each to make characters. All of them have ended up with richly detailed characters. The Icon rules system is at its core simple. Roll the appropriate number of dice (based on the governing attribute for the skill, modified by edges) take the highest die and add it to the skill level. Rolling the target number or higher equals a success. A number of optional rules can be added. There are two reasons I didn't give this book more than three stars. The first is the lack of organization. The first few times I played, I found myself constantly flipping pages. Purchasing the Narrator's Tool Kit is helpfull for the GM screen. But that brings me to another problem with LUG's games. The Cost. The initial cost of the Core book is high, and I found it too disorganized to play without the screen. That puts the initial cost of this game at over $50; however, if the Narrator is willing to make "cheat sheets" vs buying the Tool Kit, then the cost can be cut by a third. In my humble opinion, for ( ) this should have been a three book box set with the GM screen included.

While the presentation is great, the game itself suffers from a lack of definition in the Skills section, which is the core of the game. Too many skills are left vague and unquantified, which really leaves the GM to make their own list of skills from the suggestions in the book.

This book is a great way to get started, but it just didn't go into enough detail on how to generate characters, how to use certain skills and how work the game itself. It's a definately a 5 star game, but don't buy this book alone. Get a companion to go with it, otherwise you'll be asking your fellow RPGers what's going on.

I'm very pleased with this. For a long time, I had to make do with the old Star Trek Roleplaying Game from FASA Corporation, scrounging what source material I could to kluge together a campaign. Fortunately, Last Unicorn Games has produced a beautiful product which does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the Next Generation. The book uses primarily color photo stills from the television series, though there are some illustrations which are generally very good. I've been running a Next Generation campaign with a group of six players for the past few months, and generally the system has worked smoothly. The game uses a number of six-sided dice, one of which serves as a "Drama Die", a generator for Dramatic Successes or Failures. There was some confusion as to how attributes and skills worked (roll the attribute number of dice, add the level of the skill to the high roll), and the book is a little scattered in relating some of this information. The skills themselves tend to be very open fields, in order to reflect the ST:TNG tendency of characters who seem to know at least a little about a whole lot of things. The system is simple, but even more importantly, the writers seem to really understand what makes ST:TNG different from the other Star Trek settings (in terms of themes, mood, and so on). Last Unicorn has been producing a large line of products for this game which are generally of high quality, and they have been working with Paramount to make sure everything is accurate (or as accurate as you can get with a weekly television show). The main drawback that comes to mind is that LUGTrek takes the position that players should play lower-ranking characters instead of the command crew of a starship. This is reflected in the rulebook's included adventure, "Shakedown Cruise", but I found it simple enough to adapt to an all-PC command crew. LUG's other published adventures for this game allow for the possibility of PC captains and such, and thus far, there are no printed adventures which force your players to play the characters from the show (thus putting LUG one step ahead of FASA). In summary, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in running a Next Generation campaign. Last Unicorn is doing some excellent work here!

My favorite books. Star Trek at its best. Read in one settting and enjoyed it. Calhoun is a good character and I have read all this authors books.

My hat goes off to Peter David. Being Human turned out to be, in my opinion, one of the best Star Trek: New Frontier novels he's written up to this point. One thing I've always loved about the various post-original-series novels is the way in which they incorporate events and episodes from the Original Series. Being Human does that in spades; in fact, it incorporates one of the more interesting of the early epsisodes. Another great thing about this novel was the humor. More often than not I found myself reading with a smirk on my face, and there were many times I was laughing out loud. Peter David also does a great job of expanding the relationships between crew members while at the same time creating realtionships with a whole new set of crew members from Shelby's Starship Trident. Excellent work and a fun read.

This is the perfect tie-in to an original Star Trek show. The results are incredible! I liked the way Peter David understands his characters, and I'm growing more fond of all the other characters. Especially Mark McHenry. His true identity is revealed, and the reactions from the crew are less than appreciative. Write the sequel soon! PLEASE! I'm dyin' here!

Peter David is not a novelist; he's a writer of comic books. He's a very GOOD writer of comic books, but at least in this series, his comic book writing background really shows through; there is never a tidy story, with a beginning and ending in the same book. There is always a continuation from issue to issue, but he doesn't just write 300 or so pages and then stop; like a good comic book writer, he always manages to end at a point of high drama to make the cliffhanger ending more compelling. Some people like this sort of thing; myself, I find it annoying.

But where the comic-book background REALLY comes into play is his inclination to keep the continuing storyline going when he writes a New Frontier story that's out of the general numbered sequence. Therefore, as a public service, I'll let you in on a (not very) closely kept secret, but one which I was baffled by until I saw the list of New Frontier books in the back of this book: do not read book seven of this series after reading book six; after book six, read "The Captain's Table #5"; then read "Double Helix #5: Double or Nothing", which is actually a Next Generation book (#55). THEN read #s 7-11 of this series; THEN read "Gateways" #s 6 & 7; THEN read this book and then "Gods Above".

Peter David writes quite well; he has fine characters, fine plots, and a nice grasp of the language. But none of the books in this series stands by itself. Don't start the series unless you're interested in continuing to read the series, and tracking it down even when the story line crosses over into other series. Reading any one book in this series will leave the reader unsatisfied.

Intriguing and compelling. Of course, these adjectives could be used to describe almost any of Peter David's books, but this one happens to be one of my favourites. Although the main focus of the novel is McHenry, and the revelation that he is not quite human - which explains his almost supernatural abilities and Q's deference towards him - we also dip into the lives of the other characters. David's skill is his ability to intertwine science fiction with drama, and his characters are among the most complex out there. The story switches between the Excalbiur and the Trident, Calhoun and Shelby's ships respectively, and the various officers on each. High points of the novel (well, higher) included the M'Ress/Arex/Gleau interaction and the mysterious "changes" occuring in Zak Kebron. It had its funny, tongue-in-cheek moments, too, again typical of David. And, again typical of the most infuriating and brilliant writer in the field of Star Trek novels, it ends with multiple cliffhangers.

I remember when I first laid eyes on Grace Lee Whitney. It was an airing of the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap". At the time the only woman I know who's on the show was Uhura, so I thought she was one of those girls-of-the-week guest stars. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was a recurring character in the show's early episodes..in fact, one of the main characters. I never understood why her character disappeared and it was a shame, as Yeoman Rand character certainly added a lot to the show, especially in episodes like Miri, Charlie X and The Enemy Within.

Grace Lee Whitney's autobiography is easily one of the more overlooked of the Trek bios as even though she was a major character in the show, and it is also one of the more disturbing and eye-opening.

Grace Lee Whitney was adopted by the Whitney family while still an infant. I have to said that her adoptive mother was a real "B", as she revealed to Grace while she was in her early teens that she was not her "real" mother. This seem to marked a turning point for Grace as she embarked what became a life-long quest to fill that sense of emptiness and belonging. Being born with an addictive personality, booze, drugs and sex naturally and coveniently filled that emptiness.

Grace had a career that any actor would kill for. While not famous, she was a prolific actress and worked constantly. When she was casted as Yeoman Rand in Star Trek, it seems she has finally find a surrogate home she can called her own. That came to a crashing end when Yeoman Rand was written out of the show. Sure, actors loses jobs and get written out of shows all the time, for the most part, they moved on. But not for Grace Lee Whitney. Star Trek became her lifeline and for years afterward, Whitney tried to numb her anger and sorrow with more booze, drugs and sex. The rest of the book chronicled her continual descent and eventual recovery and her road to sobriety.

After reading the bio, I have to say that Grace Lee Whitney doesn't give herself enough credit for her recovery. Her story could have easily been a "poor me a victim of 400 years of oppression" story, but instead, she blamed no one but herself for what she went through (yes, even when she was sexually assualted by an un-named TV exec, she realizes that she should have known better than to place herself in such a vulnerable situation). Her story could also easily have ended like that of Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Judy Garland, James Dean and even Elvis Presley. We easily could have been reading her obituary, but instead luckily, we are reading that she is alive and well and probably more happy than she has ever been.

In any case, her bio reminds us that in the end, where we eventually ended up is the result of the choices we make. Life is not fair and some people are dealt with a better hand of cards than others..in the end, we still have the freedom to choose where we're going.

It would be easy to ignore "The Longest Trek" as perhaps being the least significant of Trek biographies, but that would be a mistake. Yes, it's a biography of a minor original Trek actress who lasted only one season and in a rather "fifth wheel" role at that, but fortunately for readers the stories of Grace's pre-Trek Hollywood days are damningly interesting, while her post-Trek days are interestingly damning.

As has been noted elsewhere while the book is an autobiography, its main purpose is to serve as a mea culpa for all the disservices done to her friends, lovers, self and career due to alcoholism. But not just alcoholism - in a broader sense Grace suffers from an addictive personality, which when combined with a rather naïve outlook serves only to reinforce her problem. These issues alone could have resulted in an extremely ponderous book on recovery and religious conversion (is Grace simply trading one addiction for another?) but fortunately it's an interesting trip that probably would not have been written if not for the fact that Grace has little to lose by doing so.

Grace is not a deep thinker - she tends to stop analyzing things once she comes up with a rationale that fits the way she'd like them to be, and when it comes to her understanding of other people's motivations, of religion, of cause-and-effect... the simplest explanation is often the chosen one. One can only consider that "The Executive" was already aware that she was to be written out of the series before making his detestable (re-)casting couch pass, that the writers were never quite sure what to do with the character of Janice Rand, and that her lengthy grudge against Roddenberry for not sticking up for her is the main motivation for the rather hypocritical character-assassination chapter where Grace the Sexually Unfaithful Alcoholic Converted Jewish Atheist Turned Dry Born Again Christian lambastes Gene for being a secular humanist in an open marriage. Oh, the irony.

It's best to stop here - much more could be said, but my main thrust in writing all this is to hope that readers will not be scared off by the religious or recovery overtones and enjoy the book. I would have liked to have read more about working with the rest of the Trek cast (only Spock & Kirk receive much mention) but it's fascinating reading nonetheless.

Grace Lee Whitney was a large part of Star Trek in the beginning and I always wondered why she just disappeared from the series..Well, this very insightful autobiography tells you, along with other very interesting anecdotes about her involvement with the series. Yeoman Rand was an interesting character and it would have been neat to see where Grace would have taken this character if she had been allowed to continue in the role.

It's quite revealing how Grace plunged into the depths of alcoholism and other addictions and how she literally "ruined" her career in Hollywood with a bad reputation. However, it's quite inspiring to read how she pulled herself out of this hole and gradually came in touch with her religion and the realization that she needed to change her aberrant behavior and start respecting herself again..For anyone who has experienced great lows in their life, they should read this book and be inspired!

Of all the autobiographies written by former castmembers this is the one that is most heartbreaking..however it does have a happy ending! For all you Trekkies out there this is a must read!!

Grace Lee Whitney writes this book for "Star Trek" fans, certainly, but what she says to addicts -- and those whose lives are affected by them -- is far more powerful. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Whitney and reviewing this autobiography for The Detroit News when the book was first released. I was struck by her graciousness and kindness, but I was also struck by the gritty strength she conveys in this book. Frankly describing incidents like her hit-and-run on Grand River Avenue in Detroit, and her guarding the bathroom door of a Chicago club while the heroin-addicted Billie Holiday was getting shot-up inside, she just puts it out there, none too concerned what her cult-TV fans will think of her. You've got to appreciate that. And it's pretty clear, throughout the book, that her motives are not to make herself look good, or bad, but to shine a light on the effects of a gruesome and very common illness.

Grace Lee Whitney sounds like a warm, charming, witty, delightful person, and I enjoyed her cautionary tale of substance abuse in the life of a working film actress (not a "star"). In addition, it was great to read a female account of the Star Trek phenomenon NOT written by a woman hell- (or heaven!) bent on proving she is a better man than any or all the men in the known universe.

I think Ms. Whitney was mis-served by her publisher or, perhaps, her collaborator, however. Her book is choppy, repetitive, and contains some misstatements. (Was the character's name "Uhura" or "Uhuru"? How many kids does Shatner have?) A good editor or ghost writer could have limited the meandering, tightened the focus, fact-checked, and improved some of the diction without losing the author's own voice. This is not a criticism of the author (who is a professional actress, not a professional writer) but of the people who printed the book. It is insulting to literate readers to find the equivalent of the following sentence on virtually every page of this book: "I was a green kid wearing bobby sox with my high-heeled shoes, taking it all in with my youthful fascination." (p. 29) (No, I did not red-pencil the book as I read--I opened to a random page to cull that example.)

I'm writing this because Ms. Whitney has points to make about religion and the human spirit that risk getting lost beneath the bad prose. Many educated (perhaps over-educated) people who might benefit from her points will, sadly, refuse even to consider them as they are written; these are the people who know they know everything and turn down their noses on the literary efforts even of C. S. Lewis and Thomas Merton. There is definitely a sharp mind and an excellent psychologist within Grace Lee Whitney, as are shown in her analysis of Gene Rodenberry and some of her throw-away points (such as the religious nature of Star Trek to some of its fans). By her own account she is a person with a lot of energy and perseverence. She deserved the help of someone who could have produced a book that might have transcended both the "Star Trek" and the "Twelve Step" genres.

if you are a fan of jeri ryan's youll love this calendar (there's a poster of her in it) but if you are not a fan-- you'll find it as yucky as i did- a waste of money.

This calendar features wonderful pictures. However, since this was Voyager's last year I would have liked a page of semi-regs or at least a page with Jennifier Lien ("Kes" Seasons 1-3) in it. Overall, a great calendar!

There is no better way to fondly say goodbye to this excellent series than to own this calendar. I have had it all year, and enjoyed it every month. While the series is over, the pictures in this calendar will remind you of the excitement everytime you check the date.

With Voyager leaving the airwaves this year; what a good way to remember them! The calender features photos of each crew member with a futuristic background. My only complaint is that there are no vertical lines to divide the days on the calender. Other than that, this one was worth the price.

The 2002 Voyager calendar features images of all the regular cast members. Most are taken from actual episodes, not publicity stills. I always feel a bit cheated when they use publicity stills -- I want to see new and interesting images. I wish they would make a calendar of just various effects shots from Voyager instead of cast members (and hopefully in the style of the 2001 Ships of the Line calendar). It is getting a little boring having the same sort of thing year after year.

Once again, Diane Carey makes a hash of an exceptionally good episode in her novelization by attempting to prove herself a "wordsmith"; she can't be bothered to use words in the way that they're intended to be used in the language; that's too "boring". Instead, she presses words into use in ways that they were never intended to be used, and makes up some of her own, sort of like Humpty Dumpty in "Alice In Wonderland", who insists that he is the master of his words, and they mean just what he intends, no more, no less. So we have her using the word "sniggering" when what she means is "niggling" ("Sniggering guilt"). We have phases like "a sob choked her back" when what she means is "she choked a sob back". We hear ""We don't know", he garbled." We hear "He...hardened with pain", when what she means is "He tensed with pain." Then there are the just plain errors, such as "something he hadn't trained for nor ever betted upon" instead of "bet on". All of these examples came within the first 46 pages. It doesn't get any better; we have some sloppy error or ludicrous use of language about every five pages. Which is a shame, because the story is actually a good one, even if the ending is a bit too convenient. If Diane Carey had been willing to make telling the story the primary goal, rather than showing off how distractingly she can torment the language, it would have been an excellent book. Only read this if you are completely unconcerned with the quality of the writing and simply want an exciting story.

A great book. It showed some conflict between Janeway And Chakotay(you don't see that everyday). you see some betrayal and lots of drama. A must read book for any Voyager fan.

I always enjoy the novelization of any show or movie and Equinox is no different. I like the idea that we got to see more conflict between Janeway and Chakotay. Also the confict between Janeway and Ranson was also really good. My only regret is that never got to see the survivors of the Equinox again.

I first saw this episode on UPN and then I ordered the book. Both the episode and the book were suspenseful and exciting. The characters in the book were convincing and believable. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Equinox is an excellent novelization of the series season ending and season openers, Equinox Parts I & II. Diane Carey once again, shows why she is one of the primary authors that John Ordover and Pocket Books goes to for these novels.

The premise: The starship USS Voyager is cruising along on its merry way back to the Alpha Quadrant when they receive, to their great surprise, a Federation distress call. This, in and of itself, plays out a huge portion of the emotional intrigue for the crew of Voyager. When Captain Janeway and crew arrive on the scene, they find the USS Equinox, a Nova class science vessel under attack. What the starship is being attacked by is not immediately clear though. They rush in and extend their shields around the smaller vessel and begin to make their introductions. As one would expect, there is a lot of excitement between the two small crews, considering that both thought they were the only Federation personnel in the quadrant. What Captain Janeway and the crew of Voyager are soon to find out though is the Captain Ransom and his crew have had a lot rougher go of trying to get home than they have. I don't wish to spoil this for those that haven't read it or by chance not scene the two part episode.

Diane Carey's work on this novelization does deserve a lot of extra credit though. In many ways, this novel, in my opinion, is more intriguing and exciting than the two aired episodes. She perfectly captured the inner struggles that the primary characters, Captain Janeway, Captain Ransom and Commander Chakotay are going through. She truly captures Captain Janeways almost crazed, desire to stop Captain Ransom. This, by itself, almost costs her the relationship between her and her first officer. I've read a lot of the Star Trek novelizations and some, unlike this one, are mostly regurgitations of what was seen on the screen. There's no flair or added scenes to them. That is not the case with this wonderfully well written book. I would definitely recommend this one to any Star Trek fan or somebody just getting started with reading Star Trek.

"Forged In Fire" is noted as being a novel featuring Captain Sulu and the Excelsior but it really is more of a prequel to the Deep Space Nine episode 'Blood Oath'. Story wise, a majority of the plot takes place before the events of 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' and some after the opening scenes of 'Star Trek: Generations'. Without spoiling the plot, this is a book that explains more than a few unanswered questions and plots brought up by various Trek episodes and movies. First, it's the story of how Sulu comes to be Excelsior's captain. That plot was handled okay, but if you've read the novel 'The Valiant' about Picard's rise to command on the Stargazer, this plot isn't too different. Second, this is about how Curzon Dax came to be so highly regarded among the Klingons and the origins of the 'blood oath' Jadzia Dax and some of the original series Klingons carried out in the early season of 'Deep Space Nine' against a figure known as the Albino.

The Good: What I enjoyed the most was the dynamics explored between the characters. Reading of how Curzon Dax had to prove himself to the Klingons and his mentor (another big Trek figure) in the Diplomatic Corps was interesting. We get to see a young, less experienced Dax whose figuring things out and finding his niche and style and how that both helps him make great progress and backfires. Another interesting set of characters in the novel were Christine Chapel and Janice Rand who, for once, are given their due time in the spotlight and actually are in the thick of the action. Reading of how Sulu's quest to become Excelsior's captain wasn't as simple and expected as implied in 'Star Trek VI' was a surprise, and a plot worth reading.

The Bad: The main action and plot is centered on The Albino wreaking havoc on the Klingons, and Dax helping them to seek vengeance. I just didn't find this all that compelling or executed well. The book is one of Trek's longest novels at 480 some pages. Were all the scenes and cat-and-mouse action worthy of such a long novel? In my opinion, no. It makes for a long, drawn-out, rather dull read of scenes where not much seems to happen and the pacing is very see-saw like, going from being very interesting to landing in a slow lull. A lot of the dialogue and action seemed unnecessary, as if to fill space, and in this case could have been better summarized or implied rather than occupying pages in the book.

In all, I found the book to be just average for me. With all the hype surrounding the release, I expected this novel to be a lot more than it amounted to (in my view). I hope if there is another Excelsior novel that it can focus on something new and original rather than having to be based on explaining plots and episodes of Trek (which in the end spoils and takes away from the excitement and impact when you pretty much know what's going to happen in the end). Buy this novel used.

Good to know a bit more about curzon dax and sulu in this book, get to learn more about klingons too

If you all recall the STVOY episode where Tuvok and Capt Janeway were on the Excelsior, this was supposed to be the spin off for Excelsior's own TV series, but didn't happen. This book is great on filling in the Back story of a Deep Space Nine, season 2 show where Dax teams up with 3 Klingons to fulfill a blood oath. A must read!

Finished reading Forged in Fire and I have to say that it is one of the best Trek books I have ever read. Even better then Sword of Damocles which was just a boring read... Just a few qualms about the book..

1) I don't buy the fact that Qagh had easy access to obtain the means to create his weapon.

2) Wouldn't Starfleet have been happy that Sulu, even though he defied orders, help resolve the situation and bring the Klingons and Humans closer together? Why didn't they make a big deal when Curzon went against orders?

3) Is the Ensign Paris shown towards the end the same one who becomes the father of Tom Paris?

4) What became of the Albino? Did Kang ever find him after meeting that woman?

All in all, a great book if a bit to long but the team of M and M have done it again.

Can't wait for Kobyashi Maru.

On the surface, the new Captain Sulu novel, Forged in Fire, is full of a number of good ideas. How did Sulu gain command of the Excelsior? What precisely led to Curzon Dax's blood oath with Kang, Kor, and Koloth to feast on the still beating heart of the Albino'? And how did the smooth headed Klingons get their ridges back?

However, these ideas are presented in an ultimately unsatisfying way. While the ridges subplot was handled well, it didn't really fit with the overall narrative of the story. But the story is ultimately going to be unsatisfying when you start from such a flawed premise. The events of the DS9 episode `Blood Oath' are the basis for pretty much the entire novel, and it establishes that not only did the Albino escape from the Klingons and Dax, he also managed to kill their firstborn sons. Therefore, we know when starting the novel that the Albino won't be brought to justice within the novel, no matter what happens. 480 pages that lead up to an unsatisfying conclusion that we already knew was coming. Of course, this is assuming that a reader is familiar with the episode; if one isn't, the book probably seems to just abruptly end without any real resolution at all.

If Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels couldn't bring something new and compelling to the story to give the reader a sense of closure, then maybe the conception of this novel should have been rethought. That said, their prose was capable, as always, and their characterizations were well done: from people we know well, like Sulu and Sarek, to original characters like Cutler, all seemed like realistic, believable people.

Limited scope is also an issue. While the plot appears at first to be complicated and spanning a range of times, the flashbacks merely serve to set up small plot elements in the story and aren't returned to afterwards. The narrative essentially boils down to a terrorist attack, followed by our heroes chasing the terrorist for the next 300+ pages. It's not any more complicated than that.

I sat down to watch `Blood Oath' this afternoon after finishing the novel last night. I'd forgotten how uneven and undramatic it was. (Not to mention how bad an actor I find Terry Farrell to be.) But it did help me put a point on something that I find monotonous and unrealistic.

I understand that vengeance is not accepted behavior by the Federation of the 24th century, but why does every damn Klingon story have to drive this point home? Both Sulu in the novel and Sisko in the episode take great strides to make their abhorrence for the Klingon's oath known. But are condemnation and understanding really irreconcilable things? Have we not all had feeling of vengeance that we haven't acted upon? Could we not look at a man whose son has been killed and understand why he would seek the death of the killer even if we felt it would be the wrong thing to do.

For all the permissiveness and acceptance the Federation supposedly has for other peoples and culture, we don't really seem to actually see it all that much. Perhaps it is the writer's fault; they use humanity (the Federation) as the inflexible moral line, the white in what is actually a grey situation. But it would be nice to see some of the novel authors try and combat this practice, given that they tout their freedom to go places that the television shows couldn't.

Fans of Star Trek know that James Doohan (Scotty) began his career doing voices. He was the voice of some of the alien creatures that appeared in the original series. In this case, he is reading an abridged version of the book and movie of the same name. The reading is enhanced by sound effects and an original score.
Since this is an abbreviated version of a movie I have seen several times, my review will deal only with the quality of the reading and the additional sound. While his ability has no doubt been reduced by age, Doohan is still capable of a wide range of voices. His approximations of the voices of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy are pretty good; there is a good deal of similarity. He adds emphasis when it is needed, which enhances the dramatic effect. The additional sounds are excellent. I listened to the tape in my car and the "explosions" startled me. One time, I thought the humming of a phaser was a problem with the heating fan in my car.
While there is some loss of quality due to the abridgement, this is still a tape well worth listening to. It is well done; the dramatic qualities are preserved by Doohan and the extra sounds add a great deal to the excitement.

Star Trek VI is one of my favorites of the movie series, so I was curious to see whether the novelization was as good. I was not disappointed. This is a quick and enjoyable read, with quite a bit of dialogue taken directly from the movie. Dillard has an excellent feel for the familiar characters and for the Star Trek world in general.

I had only two complaints. There are some backstories, such as Carol Marcus's injury, which add nothing to the narrative and in fact bog it down somewhat. And for some of the movie's best and funniest lines, Dillard includes the characters' thoughts leading up to the lines, apparently trying to justify them, but unfortunately depriving them of much of their comic impact.

A Novel by J.M. Dillard

Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn

Story by Leonard Nimoy and Nicholas Meyere & Denny Martin Flinn

Synopsis

The Klingons are proposing Peace. Does this mean the end of the war or the end of history?

Stardate 8679.25: Internal pressures, enormous military expenditures, and the destruction of their primary energy source have brought the Klingon Empire to the verge of catastrophic collapse.

To avert disaster, Gorkon, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, proposes negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire, negotiations that will put an end to the years of hostility between the two powers, and herald a new era of peace and cooperation. Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM are dispatched to escort the Chancellor safely into Federation space.

But a treacherous assassination brings negotiations to a sudden halt and places Kirk and Dr. McCoy in the hands of the Federation's greatest enemy. With time running out, Spock and the Enterprise crew work to uncover the deadly secret that threatens to propel the galaxy into the most destructive conflict it has ever known.


Review by Roger D. Noriega

The novel is always better than book, right? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Clear and Present Danger, The Hunt for the Red October, right? I would normally say that this is the case and one should not expect to find the novelization to Star Trek VI to be better than the movie - this is just not the case. A novelization is always based on the most recent script and as we know, movies are changed daily while in production and even in post-production.

The novelization by J.M. Dillard is one that adds a few layers to the story as seen on the big screen. The story stands on its own, unlike Star Trek V which does have a few holes filled in by the novelization. A few. That review is for another day - maybe.

Hostilities are breaking out between the two superpowers: The Klingons and the Federation. There have been attacks on outposts inside of Federation space by phaserfire from undetected ships. Witnesses, describe clear phaser strikes, not originating from the atmosphere, but from the sky, underneath clouds - "you just can't see any ships."

Cloaked ships. It must be. First Kudao and then Themis. Carol Marcus is on the survivors from the latter attack and Jim Kirk rushes to her side. Kirk is burning with rage because Carol was hurt by a Klingon attack. How does one know for certain? Who else could it be? Kirk is saddened for he is called back to Starfleet Headquarters and must leave Carol who remains in a coma. First his son David and now Carol. These [...] will pay if Kirk ever gets a chance.

That chance never comes. At the briefing, we learn that Praxis has exploded, the Klingon economy is in tatters and a olive branch is on the table. Kirk is chosen to Command the Enterprise to Escort Chancellor Gorkon to Earth.

Kirk realizes immediately that much more is happening upon witnessing the apparent photon torpedo strikes to Kronos One. He remembers the words that Kwan-mei Suarez (Carol's friend on the outpost): "Out of nowhere. The ships fired out of nowhere." Kirk, the great warrior knows that much more is happening and he refrains from raising shields while Kronos One bears down on the Enterprise on a revenge run.

****

Frantically McCoy tore open Gorkon's collar.

"Bones . . . ?" Jim asked, feeling as if he were watching humanity's last chance for peace die before his eyes.

"He's gone into some kind of arrest. Come on, dammit!" McCoy swore at Gorkon, then pounded the Klingon's chest.

The chancellor opened his eyes and looked up into Jim's face.

"Are you all right?" Gorkon asked feebly.

Jim heard his own voice telling Spock: They're animals. Let them die . . .

No, Jim tried to whisper. Don't let it end this way.

****

Significantly different from the movie events, but no less telling of the power of the moment. The movie was more powerful in the scene where Gorkon dies, especially when he implores Kirk: "Don't let it end this way."

In the moment where Uhura is able to convince the controllers at Mortagh Station that the Enterprise is actually a smuggler ship, we realize that the two sentinels have no doubt that they are smugglers and that they are rather thankful for the liquor they are drinking. Based on the dialect that Uhura is using, they peg her to be Rigellian or Catullan. In any event, they wish her well and give her the code signal that all is clear with them and for good fortune the rest of the way: "Don't catch any bugs."

If you read the book, you know what they mean, if you don't, you are left with the same dumbfounded look that the crew have upon hearing the parting phrase from Mortagh Station.

Sulu confronts doubts from his crew about assisting the Enterprise and in a scene reminiscent of Star Trek III that touches upon loyalty, brotherhood, and friendship, Sulu responds to his first officer's declaration of having just committed treason: "To be candid, I always hoped that if the choice ever came down to betraying my country or betraying my friend, I'd have the guts to betray my country." he paused an studied his crew, "I realize that I can't ask any of you to follow my orders. If you do so, you may face charges along with me. Those who wish may retire to their quarters."

No one left the bridge.

Uhura's declaration of the Klingon ship having a tail pipe is not in the book, but he comment about informing Starfleet command via letter about their predicament in battle is rather amusing. Scotty's follow-up of making sure that it is "Postdated" is a rather telling sign of who these people are, professionals in the face of duty and damn, grim funny people under pressure all the while their lives are at stack. That with McCoy's attempted humor of "This is fun" may have added levity to the whole situation, but clearly would be unwarranted in the "Battle for Peace".

The book follows the movie almost to the T, but as I said, it adds layers to the story we have now seen on the big-screen. It answers some questions that we may have had and it adds beauty to wonderful, rich story that will remain, to this day, one of the better stories told by the people from Star Trek.

The novelization rates a 3.5 of 5.

The movie version of this story was not bad, certainly not as bad as the movie version of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". Still, just as Dillard managed to turn that abysmal movie into a more than passable book by managing to plug a great many of the holes in the plot with better explanations of what was happening, so here, too, the same author manages, while MOSTLY remaining true to the plot of the movie, to turn a fairly good movie into an excellent book by explaining a couple of things that the movie failed to make clear. (Now if we could just turn this author loose on a few of the original-series episodes that made no sense, we'd be in business...)

From her first Star Trek novelization, "Star Trek V The Final Frontier," J.M. Dillard has been the "go to" author for Pocket Books when it comes to the novelizations for the movies and the novelization of Star Trek Deep Space Nines pilot episode, "Emissary." This is deservedly so, her work in the novelizations of such important events in the Star Trek genre have been exceptional, and this novel is no exception to that rule.

"Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country" as a film was an extremely well told story written by Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, with the screenplay being written by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn. J.M. Dillard's work in this extraordinary novel not only serves to novelize that original story, it enhances it beyond measure. She does a beautiful job of adding the characters personal thoughts of the events surrounding them and of adding to the story with "between the scenes" sequences that makes this one of her best efforts.

The premise:

The Klingons, having been long time rivals of the Federation whether through open war or unbridled skirmishes have suffered a great catastrophe when Praxis, A Klingon moon suddenly explodes, removing a key energy resource center for the Klingon Empire. Suddenly finding themselves facing too many problems, more or less of their own creation, in which they've spent too much on their military budget and not enough on environmental and other concerns, the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon must make a decision to sue for peace between the Empire and the Federation.

The main catalyst for that peace turns out to be Captain Spock, who has been working in secret negotiations with Chancellor Gorkon and is now ready to begin those talks in earnest. Spock has managed to secure the use of the Enterprise and Captain Kirk in order to rendezvous with Chancellor Gorkon and escort his ship back to Earth to begin those negotiations.

Here is where the writing of the screenplay and J.M. Dillard's writing kicks into the high gear of intrigue when a conspiracy uncovers itself long enough to fire several torpedoes from the Enterprise and hit Chancellor Gorkon's ship, knocking out their gravity and then two conspirators beam over and murder Chancellor Gorkon and several other Klingons. Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy both beam over, hoping to be able to help Chancellor Gorkon, but he dies and they're charged with his murder.

What follows from there is nothing less than one of the best stories written in the Star Trek genre and filmed, to date. From political intrigue and an extraordinary space battle to some very humorous moments, "Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country" hits on all points.

I highly recommend this novelization as it is an excellent addition to your Star Trek library whether you're into the novelizations or not. {ssintrepid}

Easy to read Sci-Fi book, great suspense. I really enjoyed reading this wonderful Sci-Fi creating. Roxann Dawson in Combination with Graham have made a great trilogy.I will definitely like to see more books from these authors. Just when there was no hope Andrea pulls Through and gives Hope to the next Book, Tenebrea's Rising.

Tenebrea's Hope was awesome! Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham have proved themselves extremely talented novelists, once again. I highly reccomend this book.

P.S. It's essential that you read Entering Tenebrea before you read this one.

Tenebrea's Hope is a reward for readers who made it through Entering Tenebrea without giving up on the series. Book Two of the Tenebrea Trilogy is definitely better than its predecessor, despite an ending that's a wee bit trite and anticlimactic, and fails to deliver any major plot payoff.

The story picks up with Andrea Flores and renegade clone Tara in mid-flight away from the wreckage they generated on Cor. Blowing up the clone institute seemed the only way to buy time for mounting a full offensive against the Ordinate's NewGen clones, but it also blew Andrea's cover and K'Rin's plans for mobilizing the Jod Council in secrecy. Under ambitious Admiral Brulk, the Ordinate traces the saboteurs back to Jod and seizes the initiative. Accusing Jod of incitement to war, Cor gains a political weapon in lieu of the NewGen forces it lost.

Still too closed-minded to understand the real threat, Jod Council leader Pl'Don sees the Ordinate mess as an excellent opportunity to destroy his long-standing opponent K'Rin, along with the Tenebrea and the entire Rin clan. Expecting to take a Council seat as leader of any potential fight against Cor, K'Rin instead finds himself and most of his men taken by surprise and packed off to a prison planet. Worse, a traitor in K'Rin's ranks has told Pl'Don about the Tenebrea's use of the illegal Quazel protein; with no access to the necessary counteracting enzyme, the prisoners are doomed to a gruesome and lingering death.

Cooling her heels in a hidden outpost with fellow Tenebrea H'Roo and escaped clones Tara and Eric, Andrea is spared from Pl'Don's trap. She and her companions are now the Tenebrea's best hope. There's hope for her, too, as-almost against her will-she finds herself beginning to care again about the fates of those around her. Suddenly her life's mission of killing as many Ordinate as she can is sidelined by her need to spring K'Rin and the Tenebrea. She does return to Cor as she promised outlaw clone Brigon in Entering Tenebrea, but it's to recruit his assistance in the great escape rather than to fight the Ordinate. Meanwhile, Cor is preparing to sandbag Jod in pretty much the same way that Pl'Don took out K'Rin and most of his men-a nicely ironic touch.

The story lines in Tenebrea's Hope are much more scattered than in Entering Tenebrea. Where most of the action in the previous book was focused on either Andrea or K'Rin, those perspectives are joined here by alternating sections centering on Pl'Don, Brigon, Brulk, and a number of other minor characters as well. The increased plot complexity helps to conceal the believability issues that still crop up from time to time, but the transitions are choppy and continuity sometimes suffers. As in the first book, the characters and situations are absorbing enough to ensure that most readers will be back to see how all those cliffhangers are resolved in the final installment of the trilogy.

This second book of the Tenebrea trilogy was even more engaging than the first. I was drawn in from the very first paragraph, and the story held my interest all the way to the last line. And, as only a good book can, it left me wanting more. I cannot wait to get my hands on the third book, Tenebrea Rising.

This story is so incredible that I was so caught up in it, I actually forgot where I was a couple of times. I was sad I reached the end of the book, and desperately wanted to climb back into Andrea Flores' world.

It's beautifully written. The characters are multi-dimensional and endearing, the imagery evokes pictures in the mind that are fascinating, and the story has so many twists and turns it keeps the reader on his/her toes. Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham make a superb team. I thought Ms. Dawson was one of the most gifted Star Trek actors ever, and her talents continue to deliver.

Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham make a powerful and exciting writing team. They each bring to this trilogy their own unique blend of talent and creativity.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading both "Entering Tenebrea" and "Tenebrea's Hope".
Captivating, edge of your seat suspense and a spectrum of emotions was felt, as I became a sideline character cheering on Andrea Flores in her quest.

I wait with bated breath to read the third book in this tantalizing trilogy, "Tenebrea Rising". I look forward to seeing Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham at the NYC Convention where I will wait in line yet again to be the first to obtain a signed copy of the final book in this intoxicating trilogy.

KUDOS TO THE AUTHORS..............

Bonnie K. FitzPatrick