James Review -- Star Trek: Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos by Bernd Perplies and Christian Hamburg. 

The story begins shortly after the last book ends. The Klingons have put a short time limit on the mission to find and stop the source of the recent hostility and terrorist attacks by the usually isolationist Renao before they launch a full-scale invasion of the Lembatta cluster that the Renao call home.

The Federation starship USS Prometheus and the Klingon battlecruiser IKS Bortas have determined that the Order of Purifying Flame, the Renao terrorist group, is under the influence of the Son of the Ancient Red, an energy being that feeds off of hate and anger. The Son had been imprisoned on the long lost Renao Homeworld, Iad, thousands of years earlier. But a century before a Federation starship had stumbled across Iad before falling under the Son’s sway and crashing into the planet which weakened the prison.

However, the Son is rapidly increasing tensions among the Federation and Klingon crews. Also, the Order of the Purifying Flame is beginning to lash out at Renao who aren’t part of the order. The Klingon and Federation crews determine that the White Guardian, who had imprisoned the Son, might be native to a region with conditions similar to those around Iad, conditions that are extremely unusual.

After an agreement that delays the Klingon invasion, and an extensive search of Federation databases, another such region is found that would be more merciful, then Prometheus sets off while the Bortas continues the search for the Order’s primary base and shipyard. Upon arriving, the Prometheus begins talks with the White Guardians by allowing them to possess the ship’s Emergency Medical Hologram. They explain that the Son is actually one of their own, a child who got lost while exploring and, while on the brink of starvation, discovered the Lembatta cluster which looked like home, and a new stronger source of nourishment within, the emotions of the Renao. But feeding on the emotions drove the Son insane and an elder of his people was dispatched to deal with the problem. The elder managed to imprison the Son and move the Renao safely out of the imprisoned Son’s reach, but the elder also starved to death during the journey home and with their population so few, the White Guardians are unwilling to send another to their death to again lock away the Son.

Lieutenant Jassat ak Namur, the only Renao to join Starfleet so far, convinces the White Guardians that killing the Son would be more merciful then leaving him to live out his life in madness. The White Guardians reply that they can transfer some of their energy to a host who can carry it to Iad where it will destroy the Son, but they also warn that the host is unlikely to survive. Namur convinces Captain Richard Adams to let him be the host and the race is on to deliver Namur to Iad even as the Bortas locates and begins its assault on the headquarters of the Order of the Purifying Flame…

There are also a number of interludes concerning negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire as the Federation tries to convince their ally to delay its invasion, actions on the perimeter of the cluster, and the reactions of non-Order Renao as the Purifying Flame turns on them.

I give this book 9.5 out of 10. I like many of the characters, and also enjoy the final battle against the Purifying Flame base and its defenders. Also, I find the explanation of the origin of the Son of the Ancient Reds, and presumably the Beta XII-A entity which appears to be another mad Guardian from a different universe, to be a well-written twist in the story. I wish some of the interludes had been expanded further, though. While I know the trilogy is over and many of the characters won’t be returning, I hope that the Prometheus subseries is continued in the future.

James Review -- Star Trek: Prometheus: The Root of All Rage

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prometheus: The Root of All Rage by Bernd Perpiles and Christian Humberg. 

The story begins immediately after the previous book. Soon after discovering that the members of the Purifying Flame, the Renao extremist movement responsible for devastating attacks on both the Federation and Klingon Empire, are being mentally controlled by an unknown force, the escape of an extremist carrier is found to be due to it possessing a newly developed type of faster-than-light engine which is supposed to still be in testing.  

As the USS Prometheus and the IKS Bortas push deeper into the Lembatta Cluster, which the Renao call home, hostility towards them increases along with internal tensions among the ship crews and between the two vessels These tensions almost lead to the two craft engaging in battle after the destruction of another Klingon colony leads to the Bortas receiving orders to attack the Renao world the ships are visiting. The order is rescinded, but a strict time limit is put on the investigation before the Klingons launch a full invasion of the cluster. 

A trail leads to a log buoy from the USS Valiant, a Starfleet vessel that vanished while exploring the cluster during the 23rd century. This buoy reveals new clues and, with time running out, the crews of the Bortas and the Prometheus race to tie together the fate of the Valiant, the legendary lost Renao homeworld Iad, and the events that led to the ancient Renao being transported from their homeworld, to discover the true power behind the Purifying Flame.

I give this book 8 out of 10. I like the story overall and the characters. The investigation plot and the buildup of tensions on the ship was interesting. And I like it when stories tie into episodes from one of the TV series and the older books, but if authors are going to do so, they need to make sure the details are correct, either by re-reading the books or having someone else double check the parts referred to in their work, and that clearly wasn’t done here which knocks my score down hard.

James Review -- Star Trek: Voyager: Architects of Infinity

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Voyager: Architects of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer. 

The story begins with a team from Voyager, including Seven of Nine, discovering a new element while investigating a mysterious world deep in what was Borg territory. The world is mostly toxic but contain several habitable zones maintained by forcefields. Captain Chakotay is convinced that after recent events the crews of the Full Circle fleet need some rest badly so he convinces Admiral Kathryn Janeway to assign the entire fleet to the world as a combination of a peaceful scientific mission and shore leave.

At first both causes seem to be served well, but Voyager’s science officer, Lieutenant Devi Patel, has felt increasingly supplemented by Seven of Nine since Seven rejoined Voyager’s crew. She has located a region she is convinced is key to discovering the world’s secrets. Her team discovers a hidden complex underwater but soon discover the world is a lab complex built to study something known as the Edrehmaia. 

Unfortunately, the complex reveals that the presence of the Full Circle fleet has somehow compromised the systems maintaining the world, leaving only hours until the systems, including the forcefields which keep the world’s toxic natural conditions out, collapse. And Pavi accidentally orders the outpost they are in to seal itself, leading to a race to find a way to warn their comrades and reach safety.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Nancy Conlon has fallen into a coma. After having to transfer her unborn child to an incubator it is discovered that the baby’s stem cells can no longer be used to treat her mother’s condition. One of the doctors embarks on a desperate new plan. But this plan requires a donation from another crew member. And when the treatments to prepare the donor interact with emergency anti-radiation treatments the donor requires after an accident, an all new problem is unleashed…

I give this book 7 out of 10. I found the overall story and characters interesting and it was nice to have a purely exploration and investigation-focused Star Trek story again. But there were some sections I felt need better explanation and the author has a massive problem with prologues and epilogues in my opinion. This book’s prologue felt more like an end to the previous story then a beginning of a new one. Honestly, I don’t see any connection between it and the events of the rest of the book. And the epilogue seems more like the opening of a new book then an ending to this story.

James Review -- Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward. 

The book is focused on Tarsus IV during a crisis, first mentioned in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Conscience of the King" and set twenty years after the bulk of the book, where a fungal infection has devastated the planet’s food supplies and crops as well as contaminating the equipment used to transform raw materials into food. 

The story opens with Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Lorca, commander of a Starfleet observation post on the planet, having to repel a raid by members of the colonial security force. Interrogating the prisoners reveals that planetary governor Gisela Ribero has been removed from power and replaced by Adrian Kodos, who ordered the attack.

Lorca leads the survivors of his team to New Anchorage, the planet’s capital city, hoping to blend in with the civilian population. After receiving a message from Balayna Ferasini, his lover, that she has been invited to a large gathering at the city’s amphitheater by Kodos Lorca, he takes his team to her apartment seeking sanctuary. But the gathering at the amphitheater is a mass execution of the thousands of colonists Kodos believes must die to prevent the starvation of the rest of the colony, including Ferasini.

Shortly thereafter, the colonial support ship USS Narbonne arrives weeks earlier then anticipated, with a hastily assembled team led by Commander Philippa Georgiou to aid the colony. Kodos and many of his followers vanish, using terrain that hinders sensors to hide, and Governor Ribero is restored to power. Lorca volunteers to hunt for Kodos but soon finds himself struggling to control his rage when dealing with prisoners allied to Kodos. 

Meanwhile, a search for an image of Kodos, who had erased all the pictures of him he could, is finished when a young James Kirk and his friend Thomas Leighton, who lost his parents and was badly injured during the massacre, manage to recover a picture from a computer belonging to an ally of Kodos and identify him.

As the Starfleet forces try to both help the colony and find Kodos they find themselves facing raids by Kodos’s followers to obtain supplies and free their imprisoned allies. After Lorca captures Alexander Simmons, a former agent of Kodos who refused to take part in the massacre at the last moment, Simmons leads Lorca’s team to the area where Kodos’s encampment lays. But as Lorca closes in Kodos’s followers launch an attack intended to cripple the Narbonne and seize a transport to escape the planet…

There are also a few framing chapters following a woman who survived the crisis as a child as she interviews participants in the events to gather material to write a book about the crisis.

I give this book 8.5 out of 10. I liked the overall story and the characterizations a lot. While the final outcome was known, it does a good job filling in the blanks, including the big one--namely, how did Kodos mange to both escape and fake his death so successfully. However, there was another book released a couple of years ago this discuses these events which clashes with this one on some details and I feel Mr. Ward should have checked all reasonably available material discussing these events to make sure that no such clashes occurred.

James Review -- Star Trek: Titan: Fortune of War

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Titan: Fortune of War by David Mack. The story opens with a short chapter showing the extermination of the Husnock species, which was mentioned in the Next Generation episode "The Survivors". It then jumps forward twenty years. The Federation has been secretly trying to find the worlds of the Husnock to study their technology ever since the attack on Delta Rana IV which led to their extinction. A Husnock colony has been found, but as the linguistics team is preparing to announce that they have discovered how to program the written Husnock language into the universal translator. 

But a group of Nausicaans, dedicated to restoring their civilization after their homeworld was destroyed by the Borg, raids the camp, kidnapping the linguistics team and killing many other scientists.  A task force led by Admiral William Riker is dispatched to pursue them but soon find themselves facing a more powerful Breen fleet that is seeking to obtain Husnock technology.

Meanwhile, a group of Pakleds have discovered an automated Husnock weapons factory capable of producing weapons that can destroy planets and even star systems. But they are driven from the factory by a team loyal to the fugitive Ferengi arms dealer Gaila, who is being pursued by his former business partner turned bounty hunter Brunt.

The Titan’s task force finds itself outmatched in a desperate battle against a Husnock fleet that is being remotely operated by the Breen. Gaila works to negotiate a deal with the Breen even as the Pakleds move to claim vengeance and Brunt moves to claim his prize. And soon the fate of the Federation and its allies depends on a desperate mission to the Husnock homeworld as the Breen-controlled armada moves ever closer to its destination.

I give this book 9 out of 10. I thought the author did a great job weaving the various plots together, and there was a nice variety of problems for the various characters to deal with and I found the characters well-written. However, I wish we had gotten to see more of the scientists studying the Husnock, and there were a few points where I found things occurring that were suspiciously convenient, like how easily the various groups that gained access to Husnock technology were able to bypass any security measures on it. Also, there were a few points where it seemed like previous technological developments elsewhere in the setting were being ignored, with one very strong example of this occurring near the end of the story.

James Review -- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Gamma: Original Sin

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Gamma: Original Sin by David R. George III. 

The novel has two primary stories. One of these is set in the novel’s present of 2386 and the other is set in 2380 being told as a series of flashbacks.

The present story begins with the USS Robinson, commanded by Captain Benjamin Sisko, making its first contact with a new civilization since its long-term exploration of non-Dominion controlled portions of the Gamma Quadrant began. However, the ships that they encounter attack them first with weapons that disrupt space and create zones of non-space, then with sonic weapons that knock out the crew. 

While the crew is unconscious the attackers kidnap dozens of children including Captain Sisko’s daughter Rebecca. With the Robinsion’s engines useless due to being in non-space, the crew first must discover a way to free themselves. 

After the starship escapes from the area of the attack, she sets out to find the base of their attackers, discovering the remains of other ships that had suffered similar attacks along the way. When the home world of their attackers is discovered they try to negotiate the release of the children but the Glant, their attackers, refuse. The Glant eventually reveal that their culture creates each new generation by having organics create mechanical bodies then harvesting the brains of children to install in those bodies. With very little time before the harvesting begins the Robinson’s crew struggles to find a way to rescue the children before it’s too late…

The flashback story starts with Rebecca being kidnapped by an extremist from a Bajoran religious sect that believes she is the Avatar of their prophecies. But as the length of her captivity grows her captor becomes more unstable eventually deciding that the prophecy calls for him to kill Rebecca so she doesn’t become a tyrant. When he takes her to a large forest planning to kill both her and himself a desperate race to stop him begins…

I give this book 7 out of 10. While nothing is particularly bad I feel it has some key flaws. First, I feel the flashback story could have used more development, perhaps even its own book. Also, while I don’t dislike the story, I feel it is a poor choice for the first book of the Gamma sub-series. I think it would have been better for the first book of the sub-series to have a story that didn’t have such a large portion dedicated to flashbacks. Instead, I feel the space would have been better used getting to know the Robinson’s crew. Finally, while I see some interesting possibilities from what the ending revealed, I’m worried they will be shoved aside for a long time before anything is developed from them.

James Review -- Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of The Federation: Patterns of Interference

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of The Federation: Patterns of Interference by Christopher L. Bennett. 

The story begins shortly after the prior book. After the chain of events that led to the collapse of the Partnership of Civilizations was started by the Federation trying to help them without understanding their situation, Admiral Jonathan Archer is trying to set up a non-interference directive in the hopes of preventing any future such disasters. But he faces strong opposition from his friend Thy'lek Shran, who views such a directive as an indictment of one of his proteges killed at the forefront of the crisis, and others who fear such a directive will lead to Starfleet officers doing nothing while less advanced civilizations are destroyed by forces beyond their control--such as natural disasters.  

While Archer doesn’t consider the latter scenario likely, he must also struggle with his dedication to his cause after realizing that both the Orion Syndicate and Section 31 hope for the directive to become reality as well as the news that his beloved dog Porthos is dying.

Meanwhile, Sauria has been conquered by Emperor Maltuvis, who received economic aid from the Federation in exchange for valuable resources found in his nation before launching his plot to seize control of his world, and is now receiving covert aid from the Orion Syndicate. Starfleet sends a team to assist resistance forces opposing him but the Orions plan to arrange a disaster involving the aid team to encourage isolationism within the Federation. Charles Tucker III hopes to use the Saurian situation in his quest to destroy Section 31 by planting evidence showing that the organization’s apparent leader is working with the Orion Syndicate. But he must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice to end Section 31 and face the possibility that he is becoming too much like his enemy.

There is also a plot involving the planet Birnam where the Earth Cargo Ship Verne has discovered that some of the planet’s mobile plant life contain compounds that would be of great pharmaceutical value. But there is some evidence that the plants in question might be sentient and the only way to harvest the compounds is to kill the plants. After the USS Endeavour arrives to investigate the possibility that the plants are intelligent, tensions quickly heat between the Starfleet crew and the members of Verne’s crew who believe the plants aren’t intelligent and that the tests are taking too long, thus delaying pharmaceutical deals.

I give this book 9 out of 10. It has a nice variety of scenes but there is very little action in it. Even the Sauria plot only has a couple of short action scenes. Also I feel it suffers from the fact that the ultimate resolution of most of the plots has been established elsewhere. Finally, the Birnam plot feels completely disconnected from the Non-Interference Directive and Sauria plots.

James Review -- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hearts and Minds

This week I decided to review Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hearts and Minds by Dayton Ward.

The novel has two main plotlines. One is set in 2386 and focuses on the Enterprise as she explores the Odyssean Pass. As the Enterprise approaches a newly discovered world, Taurik, one of her engineers begins receiving orders and information directly from Admiral Akaar, Starfleet's commanding admiral. The information concerns an incident from Earth's distant pass and the orders are to relay information on the planet and its people to the admiral. As the Enterprise approaches, they are intercepted by craft of the Eizand, natives of the planet Sralanya. The Enterprise detects signs of a nuclear war fought on the planet in the twenty-first century. When Captain Picard is invited to bring a team to the planet Taurik tries to convince Picard to let him join the mission, but Picard, angered by Akaar withholding information and issuing orders directly to one of his subordinates, has Taurik relieved of duty and confined to quarters. 

At first the mission goes well, but then Picard and the away team are arrested, except for one member killed while trying to protect Picard. The Presider of the nation they were in explains that centuries ago her people had known that Sralanya would someday have to be abandoned and sent a number of long-range low warp stasis ships to search for a new world. Earth was considered a likely candidate but soon after arrival contact was lost with the ship sent there which eventually returned with a human crew. The Presider charges that the humans launched a nuclear strike on Sralanya, triggering automated systems which caused the planets three superpowers to unleash their nuclear arsenals on each other and that Picard must now stand trial for humanity's crimes against the Eizand.

Commander Worf and the Enterprise attempt a rescue but the ship is forced to withdraw because the focused EMP weapons used by the Eizand are overwhelming the ship's defenses and degrading a number of systems, including destabilizing the warp core. Taurik covertly approaches Chief Engineer Laforge offering to help in efforts to find a way to counter the weapons. Laforge must decide if he is willing to defy Picard's orders while the captain is unable to countermand them.

Meanwhile, a group of Eizand dissidents, who believe that humanity actually had no role in triggering the war and that the captured human crew of the formerly Eizand vessel were executed as scapegoats, liberate Picard and the survivors of the away team. They take them to a hidden base where they hope the Starfleet personnel can access a computer recovered from the scout craft which can reveal the truth of what happened long ago one way or another...

The other plotline is set on Earth in the 2030s with aspects continuing into the 2060s. The United States detects an alien ship, the Eizand scout craft, and sends a pair of fighters to investigate. The scout ship brings down one of the fighters with its focused EMP weapon but then is shot down by the remaining jet, with two of the crew dying. Majestic-12, the branch of the United States government which deals with extraterrestrial affairs is called in. Aegis, an alien group with human agents on Earth that has been trying to steer humanity away from self-destruction since the dawn of human nuclear weapons, also responds. This soon leads to an Aegis agent who is also a high ranking officer in Majestic-12 being compromised and Majestic-12 increasing efforts to locate Aegis' agents and bases on Earth even as it struggles to learn as much as it can from the Eizand craft while struggling to decide how to respond to concerns that the Eizand might decide to seize Earth by force in order to turn it into a new home, and a number of other incidents that might also be signs of hostile extraterrestrial life...

I give this book 8.5 out of 10. While the twenty-first century portions of the story introduced some interesting new characters and situations, I found the twenty-fourth century parts fairly bland. Also I feel that Picard's extreme reaction to Taurik's effort to convince him to allow the engineer to join the away mission didn't really fit Picard's character and happened just to give an excuse for the minor plot thread where Laforge (and later Worf) have to decide whether or not to override Picard's standing order regarding Taurik. Finally, I see potential for the very end, which had nothing to do with the novel's main plots, leading the stories of future Next Generation novels in very bad directions.

James Review -- Star Trek: The Original Series: The Face of the Unknown

This week I decided to review Star Trek: The Original Series: The Face of the Unknown by Christopher L. Bennett.

The story starts in the middle of a battle between the Enterprise and a frigate belonging to the Betelgeusians, a predatory species that travels in packs of ships. When the frigate is disabled, its commander contacts Kirk and congratulates him on being both more sporting and more clever then the commander of the Federation ships that recently attacked his pack. After asking for and receiving information concerning the attack, the Enterprise crew discovers that the attacking vessels don't belong to the United Federation of Planets but appear to be much like the ships used by the First Federation, an alliance of species which the Enterprise had made contact with but about which little is known despite an Enterprise crew member being left as an acting ambassador. 

Also, the corpses of the attackers appear identical to the puppet used by Balok, the commander of the First Federation vessel that Enterprise contacted, in his early communications to hide his true form. The Enterprise soon receives orders to travel to the First Federation in an attempt to discover the cause of the attack on the Betelgeusians and similar attacks, as well as learning more about the First Federation. The Enterprise sets out to rendezvous with Balok's ship, the Fesarius, but find it locked in battle with the Dassik, the force behind the recent attacks. 

Enterprise assists the Fesarius but discovers that Balok had fled, leaving behind a set of encoded coordinates. After decoding the message the Enterprise sets out for the destination in the message and finds a solar system containing a once habitable world which had been bombed until it was uninhabitable thousands of years ago. Soon after arrival, a Dassik fleet enters the system and a battle begins. Seeking cover to make repairs, the Enterprise enters the atmosphere of a gas giant and picks up odd readings that lead the ship to the Web of Worlds, a network of massive modules that serves as the capital of the First Federation as well as home to the vast majority of its population. 

After making contact with the First Federation's government, they learn its origins. However, soon after the Enterprise arrives, one of the world modules is severely damaged by the storm and the Enterprise's attempt to stave off the module's pending destruction fails, leading to Kirk being arrested for his ship's role in the disaster. With elements in the First Federation's government fanning the flames against them, and many believing that Enterprise led the Dassik to their home, the Enterprise crew struggles to find a way to convince the First Federation's leadership that dissident First Federation members' belief that the storms damaging the Web of Worlds are stirred by the systems used to conceal the Web is correct, while Kirk finds himself imprisoned with a Dassik prisoner of war, and guarded by a warden who wishes to manipulate the two into killing themselves. The Enterprise also discovers the secret behind the ancient defeat of the Dassik, and the true cause behind the Dassiks' hunt for their old enemies.

I give this book 9 out of 10. It does a great job of providing a followup to the Corbomite Maneuver episode of the TV series and created an interesting culture from what little was shown of the First Federation. I also liked the little tie-in elements to Star Trek: The Animated series. However, I felt some of the plot twists were a little too predictable and there were a few parts that were inconsistent with what was stated elsewhere in the story especially during battle sequences.

James Review -- Star Trek: Prey: The Jackal's Trick

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prey: The Jackal's Trick by John Jackson Miller. 

Korgh, protege of the long dead Klingon Commander Kruge, has seized control of the House of Kruge while working to unravel the Klingon Empire's long alliance with the Federation or at least move the Empire to leading the alliance of the Khitomer Accords signatories. He has unleashed the Unsung, a colony of disgraced Klingons whose core are the families of Kruge's discommendated military allies armed with the Birds of Prey of the Phantom Wing, a secret squadron created by Kruge and equipped with the most advanced technology Korgh's agents can discover. Led by Buxtus Cross, a member of the interstellar group of con artists known as the Circle of Jilaan, encountered by the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation episode Devil's Due, who has disguised himself as a gravely wounded Kruge, the Unsung are prepared to seek vengeance against the Klingon Empire.

The book opens by showing how Cross was recruited by the Circle. After this it shows the commissioning of a new Bird of Prey commanded by Korgh's grandson with Admiral Riker and General Kersh. But the ceremony turns into a battle when a pair of discommendated workers, inspired by the action of the Unsung, strike. A rash of attacks by other discommendated Klingons and attacks on them ensues while Riker continues to arrange talks between the Khitomer Accords signatories to negotiate a free flight path through the territories of the various powers. 

But doing so will require the support of the House of Kruge, which controls much of the Klingon territory in the proposed free flight path. Korgh insists on choosing the Klingon Empire's lead representative to the conference, deliberately choosing someone who will hinder the talks, and holding them at the Spirit's Forge, a legendary Klingon Fortress guarded by an equally legendary order of warriors replenished after being wiped out during the final Borg invasion. Korgh also orders the Unsung to destroy the conference. 

Meanwhile, Cross has been directing the Unsung against a series of Orion pirate hideouts seeking treasure and his Orion apprentice Shift's vengeance against her own people. Cross had been ordered by Korgh to execute the clone of Kahless the Unforgivable but instead keeps the clone alive for study, planning to someday impersonate the reincarnation of Kathless himself. He uses his Kahless impersonation to lure the defenders of the Spirit's Forge to their deaths and allowing the Unsung to take their place. But the ambush is discovered and the Unsung are driven to retreat in the ensuing battle. 

I give this book 8 out of 10. The story is interesting and I enjoyed the few battle sequences a great deal. The ending also did a great job of leaving me wondering what will happen in the final book of the trilogy. However, there is a major plot twist that I feel had no real foreshadowing at all and another part where a character's actions make no sense to me given what is known of that character's culture.

James Review -- Star Trek: Prey: Hell's Heart

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prey: Hell's Heart by John Jackson Miller. 

The story takes place in two periods of time, shifting between them throughout the story. The first is in the aftermath of the movie The Search for Spock. The death of Klingon commander Kruge has left his house, known for the skill of its engineers and shipwrights, in chaos as potential heirs fight over the position of house leader. Kruge's allies among the Klingon military have moved to secure the house's strategic assets against other houses and outsiders seeking to take advantage of the chaos. 

But this has led to the feuding nobles uniting their forces against Kruge's allies while claiming they seek to usurp the leadership of the house. Korgh, Kruge's protege, was entrusted with command of a hidden base on the planet Gamaral which was constructing the Phantom Wing, a secret squadron of highly advanced Birds of Prey. He leads Kruge's allies there with the nobles in hot pursuit, but when he arrives the base is empty and Kruge's allies are defeated by mercenaries hired by the nobles. Most of Kruge's surviving allies are discommendated en masse but Korgh, who was left on Gamaral, manages to make contact with the Phantom Wing and sets out to rescue Kruge's allies from exile to crew his fleet and seek revenge on James T. Kirk and the Enterprise. But after the leader of the exiles refuses to violate their banishment, Korgh is left to find a new path.

In the late twenty-fourth century Gamaral is a Federation colony and the Enterprise-E is sent to carry the nobles of the House of Kruge and the clone of Kahless to a ceremony celebrating the heroism of the nobles during the Battle of Gamaral, aided by Galdor, the house's Gin'tak, or trustee. After investigating, Worf and Kahless come to the conclusion that none of the nobles they are supposed to honor took part in the battle but as Kahless begins his speech the event is struck by a team of assassins while the Enterprise finds itself under attack from multiple warships that can fire while cloaked. 

Almost all of the nobles of the House of Kruge are killed in the attack while Kahless and Worf are captured by the assassins. In the aftermath of the attack, Galdor reveals that he is actually Korgh and offers proof that he was adopted by Kruge. Meanwhile, Worf and Kahless are taken to the assassins' base, a colony in the Briar Patch, where they discover that their captors are the Unsung, the survivors and descendants of Kruge's exiled allies. With the Enterprise and Klingon warships searching for them, Worf takes advantage of an Unsung ceremony being broadcast to the galaxy to send a hidden message to the Enterprise, but the ceremony swiftly take a terrible turn...

I give this book 7 out of 10. The battle sequences are well-written but too few and short for my taste. The investigation of Worf and Kahless into the Battle of Gamaral was interesting but rendered moot by the timing of the assassin's strike. And the political portion of the book dragged on too long. Also, the back cover reveals a key spoiler that I feel shouldn't have been revealed until the reader reached the appropriate point in the story.

Hidden Gem -- Star Wreck

Recently James gave me a book to read, and I thought I'd share it with you. It's the 1993 unauthorized parody Star Wreck V: The Undiscovered Nursing Home by Leah Rewolinski. It's the fifth book in the series, but you don't have to have read the previous capers.

The story begins with Starfreak Command ordering Captain Smirk and his crew of geezers to report to the Under the Attic Nursing Home following a debacle with the Fountain of Youth. Smirk and his fellow senior citizen officers aren't about to take this lying down, however. They hijack their ship, the USS Endocrine, and warp to the planet where the Fountain resides.

The angry Admiral Les decides to dispatch another aging crew, this one led by Jean-Lucy Ricardo. They hightail it to Smirk's location, only to discover the renegade crew has built a theme park utilizing the mystical water. Christened Juven Isle Park, it's marketed as a fun place for youngsters. Ricardo and co. want to apprehend Smirk and his compadres, but they have trouble identifying them since the Fountain has restored their youth. After a few days of trial and error, the clueless pursuers come up empty.

Exasperated with Ricardo's failure, Les sends a third officer to finish the job: Commander Crisco. If he succeeds, he'll get command of Geek Space Nine. But will he even nap the right crew? Meanwhile, there are more hijinks involving the Kringle Wart, his son Smartalecsander, the omnipotent Q-tip and an android who thinks he's Elvis.

Star Wreck isn't shy about its low-brow humor or lack of subtlety. Each scene is like a pie in the face, and you know exactly who's getting lampooned if you're a fan of Star Trek. Rewolinski expertly nails the wacky humor she was aiming for and left me wanting more. The book is also the right length; at 149 pages, it doesn't wear out its welcome. If this were a full-length novel, the humor might have worn thin, but thankfully this isn't the case. It's also dirt-cheap BTW.

If you're a Trekkie, you've got to read Star Wreck V: The Undiscovered Nursing Home.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wreck-Undiscovered-Nursing-Home-ebook/dp/B01GCA2F0E/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XYPVPRDV0AYYWR7AMD0F

James Review -- Star Trek: Legacies: Purgatory's Key

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Legacies: Purgatory's Key by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. 

The story opens with a short scene focusing on Visla, member of a disgraced Klingon family and captain of the IKS Qo'daqh, an antique battle cruiser kept in service as a dumping ground for such personnel. The ship her son served on was recently destroyed while fighting alongside the USS Enterprise to repel a Romulan attempt to disrupt negotiations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. Visla's son was among the Klingon survivors rescued by the Enterprise but Visla feels this has further disgraced her son and vows revenge. 

Meanwhile, the Enterprise is preparing to return to Uslide to rescue Captain Una, any survivors from the Enterprise crew transported to the Jatohr universe eighteen years earlier and the various people sent there by the Romulans including Ambassador Sarek, Councilor Gorkon of the Klingon High Council, and Joanna McCoy. Kirk orders the Enterprise to begin the journey despite not having time to fully repair the ship and having no authorization to enter disputed territory and a system occupied by Klingons while Spock, Chekov, and Uhura work on modifying a probe to enter the Jatohr universe and locate those they seek to rescue. 

On Uslide,  Klingon scientists continue efforts to master the technology of the Jatohr but are eventually forced to retreat after triggering the citadel's security systems. When the Enterprise arrives it meets the IKS Vron'joQ commanded by J'Teglyr who agrees to corporate with the Enterprise rather then risk provoking Organian intervention. However, when the Qo'daqh arrives it attacks the Enterprise despite orders to the contrary, leading to the vessel being crippled and the survivors are rescued by J'Teglyr who then order the crippled warship destroyed in an effort to punish Visla. 

Meanwhile, in the Jatohr universe, Una eventually regroups with the remaining Enterprise crew members, the surviving Uslide who were banished there during the Jatohr occupation of their homeworld, and the members of the diplomatic party, but the group suffers heavy causalities fighting the Jatohr. Captain Una discovers that she seems to be able to influence reality around her and she and Sarek soon realize that everything they are perceiving is a form of shared hallucination. 

They then struggle to pierce the illusion and reactivate the probe sent by Enterprise, disabled by the natives because it caused them great pain, to use as a targeting beacon for a rescue attempt. Enterprise sends a landing party to the citadel to carry out part of the rescue plan but the citadel launches into space, beginning the next phase of the Jatohr plan to transform Uslide into a Jatohr colony. While Enterprise attacks the citadel trying to prevent permanent damage to Uslide. Visla seizes control of the Qo'daqh, leaving the Federation vessel in a desperate three way battle with little time to retrieve its landing party, complete the rescue, and disable or destroy the citadel.

I give this book 7 out of 10. While I enjoyed the story overall and thought the characters created for it were well written, I felt it had some significant flaws. First, by having Councilor Gorkon appear to die in combat against the Jatohr, it decreased the tension of that universe's events greatly for me. After all, knowing that Gorkon had to survive, why would I worry about the others who had apparently died there? Also, it suffers from being a prequel to a much older story in that I find it very odd that the events of this book are apparently forgotten by all the participants that appear in The Undiscovered Country which creates a jarring disconnect for me. Finally, I feel there were some important questions left unanswered at the end of the story.

James Review -- Star Trek: Legacies: Best Defense

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Legacies: Best Defense by David Mack.

The story begins weeks after the previous book ended with a Romulan spy who was serving as Captain Kirk's yeoman stole the Transfer Key, a device created by the extra-universal Jatohr which can be used to shift targets to the Jatohr's native universe. The Enterprise is ordered to launch a covert mission to the planet Usilde in order to determine how much the Klingons have learned from the abandoned Jatohr citadel on that world.

But while the party assigned to the mission manages to gain some information, it is clear that the Klingon defenses will make the planned return to rescue Captain Una, who traveled to the Jatohr universe in search of comrades banished there during the Enterprise's first encounter with the Jatohr, difficult.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Sarek is on the planet Centarus to meet with a Klingon delegation led by Councilor Gorkon in hopes of turning the ceasefire recently imposed by the Organians into a lasting treaty. But not all of the attendees wish for the conference to succeed, and events swiftly come to a head when Gorkon vanishes during the night. The Klingons call for a battle cruiser and Starfleet dispatches the Enterprise to maintain parity. Soon after the Enterprise arrives, another diplomat vanishes but Spock and Kirk recognize a distinct sound caused by the Transfer Key and realize that the Romulans are using the device to hinder the peace talks in hope of reigniting the war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

But tensions on the Romulan ship are running high with the Tal Shiar Major who controls the Transfer Key, with matters growing more heated as the Transfer Key severely damages the ship each time it is activated. Also, Doctor McCoy's daughter Joanna, whom he hasn't seen in years, is attending school on Centarus and he takes time to meet with her. However, Joanna soon finds herself caught in the storm of the peace conference as she is first assaulted then later taken hostage by agents of the Orion Syndicate seeking to sabotage the peace talks.

The Enterprise crew devises a plan to locate the cloaked bird of prey equipped with the Transfer Key, but the plan requires assistance from the Klingon battle cruiser orbiting Centarus. When their location is compromised, the Romulans launch a full assault on the peace conference leading to a desperate battle in the skies of Centarus. And in the Jatohr universe, Captain Una discovers her comrades despite time apparently flowing at a different pace in this universe, but also discovers a Jatohr war fleet preparing to invade her home universe...

I give this book 9 out of 10. It does a great job of balancing the diplomatic and action sequences and I particularly enjoyed the sequences on the Romulan bird of prey as the crew tries to accomplish their mission while being overseen by a political officer who has gone insane. Also, the twist at the end was a surprise, but unlike the last book, it didn't come completely out of nowhere. However, I feel that the Jatohr universe sequences were much more bland then the rest of the book and needed to be expanded to allow more detail badly.

Movie Review -- Star Trek Beyond

Today we have the third entry in the rebooted Star Trek series. Is it as good (or bad) as Star Trek Into Darkness? Let's find out.

The movie begins as a soul-searching Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is applying to become a vice-admiral and Spock (Zachary Quinto) is dealing with the death of his future self. The Enterprise goes to resupply at Jonestown, a massive space station near uncharted space. A mysterious woman soon arrives and requests help to retrieve her crew which has been stranded on a planet inside the nearby nebula. Kirk wastes no time taking the ship into the nebula to help her out.

But upon reaching the planet, the Enterprise is attacked by an insect-like swarm of smaller vessels which shred the ship like paper. Most of the crew is taken prisoner when the forces of the mysterious Krall (Idris Elba) board the ship looking for an equally mysterious artifact. Those that aren't captured head down to the planet, along with the Enterprise's saucer section, but are still separated.

Down on the surface, Scotty (Simon Pegg) meets mysterious warrior woman Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) who takes him to a crashed ship which may be their only hope of rescuing the rest of the crew. Meanwhile, Krall is seeking to activate an ancient weapon with which he'll wage war on the Federation for his own personal reasons.

Can the Enterprise crew reunite, get off the planet and stop Krall from killing countless millions?

I feel Star Trek Beyond is better than Into Darkness because of its more interesting characters and more creative ships. It also has a better climax than the previous film, delivering just the right amount of explosions and the Beastie Boys (yes, you read that right). I haven't decided yet whether it's as good as Star Trek, the first movie in this reboot series; it is too bad Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) and Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) aren't in this one since their characters died (as well as Nimoy himself). Those two made the first entry very enjoyable. But oh well. That's a minor complaint.

Enjoy Star Trek Beyond. You won't be disappointed.

James Review -- Star Trek: Legacies: Captain to Captain

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Legacies: Captain to Captain by Greg Cox.

The story opens with Una, former first officer during Captain Christopher Pike's time in command, arriving on the Enterprise, seemingly just for a visit, but soon after arriving she steals the Transfer Key, an alien device whose existence and presence on the Enterprise is only known to the ship’s captain, first officer, and those who have held one of these positions in the past.

After evading the Enterprise in her courier craft, Una sets course for the planet Usilde where the Transfer Key was first encountered. Eighteen years earlier the Enterprise had approached Usilde after detecting technology far in advance of that found by an earlier survey mission. The ship detects a fortress inhabited by an unidentified species that appears to be altering the world to suit their need, but the ship can’t find any means of interstellar transport for the newcomers.

Una leads a landing party and, after meeting the native Usildar, confirms that the builders of the fortress have conquered the planet rather than being invited. Eventually, the landing party reaches the fortress only to be captured by the Jatohr who built it and are working to convert Usilde into a paradise for their people. Eventually, Captain Robert April beams himself down as part of negotiations and it is revealed that the Jatohr are refuges from another universe fleeing some cataclysm in their home dimension, with the Transfer Key being the core of the device that transported them.

The Jatohr never encountered any other sentient species in their native universe and this has led most of them to view the non-Jatohr they encounter in their new universe as nothing but threats to be conquered or destroyed. However, the creator of the transfer device doesn’t share this view and, with help from April and Una, he manages to return his people to their native universe, entrusting the safety of the key to the Enterprise’s captain. When used as a weapon, the Key shifts its victims to another universe rather than killing them and, in the present, Una believes she has discovered a way to bring the Enterprise crew members shifted by the key home, but Usilde is now in disputed territory claimed by both the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Fearing what might happen if the Jatohr technology and the Transfer Key fall into Klingon hands, the Enterprise pursues Una with Kirk and Spock travelling to the planet and arriving just in time to rescue Una from the Usildar who have made tampering with the Jatohr ruins a capital offense. Una manages to convince Kirk and Spock to aid her quest, but when a Klingon fleet arrives sooner then expected, the Enterprise is forced to retreat, leading to Una venturing into the universe her crewmates had been banished to long ago while Kirk and Spock struggle to reach her courier ship and reunite with the Enterprise Transfer Key in tow.

I give this book 8.5 out of 10. It does a great job as an adventure story but I feel that it could have used some more action sequences. Also, I think it might have been better for the overall Legacies plot if the flashback had been its own book rather than part of this one, and there is a major plot twist at the end and, while I feel it does a good job of setting up a new plotline for the next book, I also feel it has no foreshadowing.

James Review -- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Force and Motion

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Force and Motion by Jeffery Lang. 

Benjamin Maxwell, a former Starfleet officer and starship captain who led his ship, the USS Phoenix, on a renegade offensive against the Cardassians whom he believed were secretly planning to resume war against the Federation, has been released from prison and after serving as a helmsman on a freighter, He resigned after a battle against pirates because he felt guilty about the deaths of the pirates, and has since become a janitor on the Robert Hooke, a civilian space station used for fringe research projects, some of which are on the edge of legality.  

Miles O’Brien, who formerly served under Maxwell, and Nog, who is trying to forge a closer friendship with O’Brien, travel from nearby Deep Space Nine to visit him. After meeting Finch, the leader of the station, who is working on creating genetically engineered organisms to cure the poison left behind on worlds devastated by the Borg in their final invasion. 

Unfortunately, soon Mother, the being at the core of Finch’s project, breaks loose, devastating the station. While most of the population--including Nog and O’Brien--evacuate, Maxwell and Finch are left behind, and soon the one of the evacuation craft begins suffering severe damage, leaving Nog and O’Brien no choice but to tow it back to the station with space suits and cables. 

Meanwhile, Maxwell meets Finch, who is rapidly losing his mind in the latter’s laboratory. And with the situation nearly a disaster, the secret customer for Finch’s work arrives ready to take what he has paid for by force. 

The novel also has a few flashbacks to Maxwell’s time in prison, and the period when he had just lost his wife and children along with some flashbacks to scenes from Nog’s life leading up to the novel and O’Brien’s Cardassian War service.

I give this book 5 out of 10. The main story is OK but nothing special in my opinion. The part where Maxwell resigns as helmsman of a freighter out of guilt for killing a crew of pirates who had killed the captain of the ship he was serving on makes no sense to me, unless he underwent an unmentioned lobotomy or something in prison. Some of the flashbacks seem pointless to me and these often come at points where the main story had good momentum going, only to be interrupted by an unneeded jump to the past. Also, descriptions of how Maxwell’s family died given in the novel don’t fit with what was stated in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Wounded" which introduced Maxwell, and I find the idea of an author writing a follow-up to an episode but not confirming that he or she got the details of a key event from that story correct to be unforgivable. 

James Review -- Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: Live by the Code

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: Live by the Code by Christopher L. Bennett.

 

The story primarily focuses on Starfleet’s anti-Ware task force, and Klingon politics and how the two become intertwined. Enterprise is armed with new weapons to disable the Ware, a highly advanced technology which uses sentient brings as processors. But when they encounter the Partnership, an alliance of races dependent on the Ware, who have developed a method to switch out the beings who serve as processors to minimize the harm they suffer, Starfleet attempts to liberate them by disabling the Ware, with devastating long-term effects on the targeted world.

 

And Lokog, who is a Klingon privateer who has lost his standing due to being one of the QuchHa', victims of a mutagenic virus that altered his appearance removing the ridges on his forehead, has his own plans for the Ware technology. He offers to defend the next world targeted by Starfleet in exchange for Ware attack drones he can use to seize power in the Klingon Empire, and his successful defense forces a Starfleet ship to surrender, leaving its crew facing trial for the damage its Ware- disabling strikes have caused.

 

Meanwhile, Doctor Phlox has been summoned to perform an autopsy on the dead Klingon Chancellor M'Rek. While Phlox swiftly identifies M’Rek’s murderer, the void left by the death of the Chancellor leaves the Empire in chaos, and soon, anti-QuchHa' move to exterminate the QuchHa' who are left with little choice but to ally with Lokog.

 

Meanwhile, the Anti-Ware task force shifts its efforts to discovering the source of the Ware and finding a way for Ware technology to work without people being plugged in as it originally functioned. But when the Klingon High Council discovers the source of the Ware, they begin planning attacks on both the Partnership and the Federation. And after Section 21 givs the Klingons a peace offering of Starfleet’s Ware-disabling protocols. the ships of the task force becomes the Partnership’s only defense aganst a Klingon invasion…

 

There is also a subplot dealing with Phlox’s daughter Vaneel’s wedding to the son of an Antaran politician. But the wedding party is ambushed by anti-Antaran extremists, and the father of the groom is killed by Phlox’s estranged son Mettus. Then, after being arrested, Mettus is kidnapped by anti-Denobulan Antaran extremists Phlox must find a way to save his son without reigniting a centuries- old conflict.

 

I give the book 9 out of 10. It was interesting that the author chose to cast the Federation as the villians of the conflict between Starfleet and the Partnership, even if Starfleet is acting out of misunderstanding rather than malice and tries to repair the damage they’ve inflicted. And it is also fascinating to see the movement towards the Prime Directive gain strength as a result of this. However, some of the ongoing plot threads in the series receive little or no attention in this book and the ending is rather dark for a Star Trek story.

 

James Review -- Star Trek: The Original Series: The Latter Fire

This week I decided to review Star Trek: The Original Series: The Latter Fire by James Swallow.

 

The story begins with Chekov departing the Enterprise to attend Security training while the ship is preparing to depart for a diplomatic mission to the home world of the Syhaari. The Enterprise had assisted The Explorer Beyond, one of the first Syhaari warp exploration vessels, which had suffered a major drive and power system malfunction, and the Syhaari specifically requested that Enterprise be part of the diplomatic mission. The Federation Diplomatic Corps isn’t happy about that request due to some of Enterprise’s past adventures and when they encounter The Friendship Discovered, a new Syhaari ship that is much more advanced than The Explorer Beyond, the ambassador assigned to the mission begins to suspect that Enterprise’s crew had accidently allowed the Syhaari to gain access to information on Federation technology.

 

Kaleo, the captain of The Friendship Discovered, and former captain of the ship rescued by Enterprise, guides the Enterprise through the hazardous space surrounding the Syhaari homeworld. Early in the diplomatic mission, the Federation representatives meet Tormid, former captain of The Explorer Beyond’s sister ship. That ship had suffered an incident similar to that which had crippled The Explorer and after guiding his vessel home, Tormid had developed a number of new innovations that had revolutionized Syhaari warp technology.

 

But soon, a planet-sized space-faring creature enters the system and begins attacking the Syhaari, destroying many of the native’s ships and a planet they had established an outpost on. A vessel helping to guide the creature transmits a message declaring war on the Syhaari, but the wording of the message makes the Enterprise crew believe that the attackers feel the Syhaari have provoked them. Kirk and Kaleo lead a mission in an attempt to talk with the attackers, but are captured by the Breg’Hel. The Breg’Hel also hold Rumen, a Syhaari who had served on Tormid’s exploration vessel.

 

Rumen reveals that after the ship had been crippled, a Breg’Hel scout craft, crewed by some of youngest adults among the Breg’Hel, attempted to help them, but Tormid panicked and wiped out the rescue mission. His innovations are, in fact, technology stolen from the Breg’Hel craft and now the families of the deceased would-be rescuers have come for revenge, blaming the entire Syhaari species for Tormid’s actions, After Kaleo offers to sacrifice herself and her unborn child as payment for Tormid’s crimes, the Breg’Hel begin to realize that not all of the Syhaari are monsters. But then the Breg’Hel lose control of the creature they have leashed to become their ultimate weapon, a being with the power to destroy entire solar systems…

 

I give the book 8 out of 10. The story is very well-written and provides a great example of the dangers of revenge turning the victim of an attack into something just as bad as the attacker, with the Breg’Hel definitely being wronged horribly but also being willing to blame the entire Syhaari species for the action of one ship, though this is helped by the fact that Breg’Hel culture is based around massive families traveling together and they view the Syhaari as something like their own culture at first. But, in addition to this, they torture a creature to the brink of madness to turn it into a weapon which I feel takes them well past the boundary of any justified response. Still, I feel this story was a great example of the kind of tale that would have fit the original TV series perfectly.