The War of the Prophets (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Millennium Book 2 of 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, so far, the Reeves-Stevens clan is definitely making me re-think my aversion to Star Trek books, mentioned in my review of "The Fall of Terok Nor". This second chapter of the "Millenium" trilogy is also a winner.
One of the most interesting things about the DS9 TV show was its ability to include the topics of faith, religion, spirituality and mysticism in the Star Trek universe, topics that were rarely touched upon in the original series and Next Generation. This book's primary focus is on those topics, which puts a fascinating spin on the events that unfold.
The second book brings on the titular "War of the Prophets", as the crew of the crippled Defiant, after witnessing the destruction of Deep Space Nine by a *second* wormhole at the end of the first book, finds itself in a distopian future (25 years ahead of the "real" Star Trek universe), with a Bajoran/Romulan-led Jihad consuming the entire galaxy. Starfleet is in tatters, humans, Klingons, Cardassians, and Founders are all but extinct. The leader of the Bajoran Ascendancy, Kai Weyoun (! ), is claiming he is the Emissary to the True Prophets (the Pah-Wraiths), and that Sisko's appearance heralds nothing less than the end of the universe itself. In the meantime, Captain Nog and Admiral Jean Luc Picard race against time and apocalypse, embarking on an extremely dangerous plan to change the past without destroying the present ... or the future.
Whew! This book had a LOT to keep track of, with no less than four major plotlines interweaving with each other, as well as numerous side plots or character asides to keep things interesting. Yet the story never gets unwieldy, even though I felt I was being propelled at warp speeds through the action.
Once again, certain characterizations are spot-on. Jake and Garak shine again, and Gul Dukat was pretty horrifying, but the authors really have got the obsequious (and now galactic messiah/warlord) Weyoun down cold. I miss seeing that smarmy little Vorta every week! :) However, again, Kira serves little more purpose than to provide strident counter-point to the less-than-spiritual Bajoran Commander Rees, which is a shame, given the fact that in this future, her people have become every bit as despotic as the Cardassians she fought to drive from her homeworld in the series. A couple of characters, most notably Picard and some of the Voyager crew, feel like they were little more than pointless cameos, though I reserve final comment on their use until the third volume.
The book ends with an even more jaw-dropping cliffhanger than the first volume. With the two wormholes in the Bajor system now joined, it seems the true "war of the Prophets" will be fought on a battlefield where time literally has no meaning. The final volume of this so far outstanding series has a lot to live up to, and if it does, this trilogy should go down as one of the best.

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The crew of Deep Space Nine must carry out their separate missions to ensure the survival of the Federation. But scattered across the Quadrant, they cannot know that Gul Dukat, Emissary of the Pah-wraiths, has raised an army of mindless warriors, the Grigari.

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The Battle of Betazed (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Battle of Betazed by Susan Kearny and Charlotte Douglas is set approximately two months after the Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode "Tears of the Prophets," and a few months prior to the events of Star Trek: Insurrection.
This book is about the how Betazed fights the Dominion complete with Vorta and the Jem'Hadar. Deanna Troi has to choose between the survival of her homeworld and her ethics. A struggle that is ongoing and she trys to sort out the consequences of what is asked of her.
This is a good book revealing more of Deanna Troi as a breathing person and what she goes through, as she comes to grip with the reality that the people on Betazed want her to do something she is repulsed by, (releasing a tellepathic killer). The Dominion War has fallen to one of it most ominous points. The Federation is battling the Dominion on several fronts. The Cardassians allied with the Dominion make things extremely difficult on Betazed... can you imagine Lwaxana not having a bath in months and she has another child.
This book keeps your interest, it builds and builds upto a climax that is fascinating. We see the kindling of the gone cold relationship between Riker and Deanna. As the stresses build the relationship begins to heat up. I hope this will continue.
The evil Dr. Crell Moset, one of Cardassia's foremost exobiologists is here making things worse for the Betazeds by running horrifing experiments...but in the end his research is used with a justified twist. The pace of the book is excellent and the clever intrigue made the book readable...obviously this is a book for all those who are Deanna Troi fans as it works deeply into her soul.
A very fast read...captivating...fascinating.
I recommend reading this book and the book has a good picture of Deanna in her SOB suit on the cover.

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A breathtaking novel of suspense and action in which Deanna Troi risks all to save her home planet from the forces of the Dominion. As the war between the Dominion and the Federation rages across the Alpha Quadrant, Counselor Deanna Troi finds she is faced with more than she expected when she kidnaps a telepathic killer to bring to the aid of the resistance movement on the occupied planet of Betazed. At the same time, the Enterprise-E is leading a Starfleet attack against a Cardassian space station is orbit above the skies of Betazed. Dominion scientists are using the Betazed people as raw material in their experiments to create a more highly evolved Jem'Hadar -- the genetically engineered warrior species which forms the core of the Dominion forces. What transpires is an awesome battle -- including hostages and narrow escapes -- with unexpected twists which lead to a truly explosive ending.

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The Two Front War (Star Trek New Frontier, No 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Two-Front War" is the third in a series of three short, interlinked novels designed to introduce the reading world to the "New Frontier" novels.
The refugees Excalibur has protected have come to what they hope will be a happy home on a planet home to a species known as the Nelkar. However, these Nelkar seem to have nefarious plans, and Excalibur's commander, Mackenzie Calhoun, suspects something ill is at play. Meanwhile, security chief Kebron and guest-ambassador Si Cwan are on a mission to find Cwan's younger sister -- which also reeks of subterfuge.
A direct continuation from the previous two books, "Two-Front" continues the bold new tradition of New Frontier. These books, exceptionally well-crafted, are in this reviewer's opinion, some of the best Trek to be found on or off-screen.
7.5/10

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Captain Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur are on Thallon when their sensors detect strange vibrations coming from beneath the surface of the planet. Original."

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Sacrifice of Angels (Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Dominion War, Book 4) Review

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(More customer reviews)In this, the conclusion to the "Dominion War" series, we have the novelization of the final seven episodes of the sequence leading up to the re-taking of Deep Space Nine by the Federation, as seen in the television series. It's a very moving, very powerful, very action-packed series of episodes, and makes for an equally impressive novelization. What's surprising is that Diane Carey actually does it justice; all too frequently, she gets carried away with attempts to be a clever wordsmith and use the language creatively; usually, these attempts fall flat as she manages only to use the language incorrectly. In this book, not only does she do very little of this (I can only think of one example; she refers to Sisko's "magistrating events" when clearly she means "orchestrating"; it is true that a magistrate CAN be an "administrator", and thus, by a large stretch, one could say that Sisko was "administering" events by managing them, but the more commonly understood meaning of "magistrate" is "judge", and she was definitely not trying to tell us that Sisko was "judging" events. He was arranging them, and the proper term for that would be "orchestrating", even if that word HAS been used in that sense before and she therefore finds it boring) but in most cases, when she used words in an attempt to be creative, it actually worked. And, as usual, her characterizations, her pacing, her plotting (in those cases in which she filled in missing gaps in the plot) were all excellent. This story is a must for any fan of the series "Deep Space Nine", for any fan of Star Trek in general, and indeed for anyone who enjoys a well-written Space Opera. If, of course, you hate science fiction in general or the action-based "Space Opera" subgenre, this story won't do anything for you, but if that's the case, why are you bothering to read this review? You already know you don't want to read the book.

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Deep Space Nine and the crew of the "Defiant" face off against the Dominion, in a valiant effort to recover control of the station.

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Tunnel Through the Stars (Star Trek: The Next Generation / The Dominion War Book 3) (Vol 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Federation is locked in a brutal war against the Dominion and things are not going well. Deep Space Nine has been lost and the Dominion is building a giant artificial wormhole. If it is completed, the Dominion will be able to send enormous numbers of Jem Hadar soldiers and ships through it to join the battle against the Federation. If that were to happen, the Federation would certainly be defeated.
Captain Picard is on a ship with a motley crew of various species. The crew includes a Trill who was the genius behind the development of the artificial wormhole, a Bajoran who once deserted to the Maquis, a Starfleet officer who was once a Dominion slave, a captured Romulan with one arm, Geordi LaForge and a Vulcan. Their mission is to somehow infiltrate Dominion space and destroy the wormhole. To complicate matters, there is a traitor on board who is sabotaging the mission. Despite the odds, Picard manages to get the ship into Dominion space, reaching the wormhole. He also manages to identify and destroy the traitor just before they launch their mission of sabotage.
The action in this story is kept rather low-key until the end. Most of the plot revolves around Picard's attempts to simultaneously carry out the mission and expose the saboteur. This point is a little weak, as the first act of sabotage should have been a strong indication as to the nature of the threat. Data and the rest of the Enterprise crew play essential but bit parts in the story, the focus is on Picard and his command abilities. While the story did keep my attention, there were points where the pace of the story was too slow for my tastes. I started to grow weary of the same features repeated with slight modifications over and over again. I also didn't understand why the story about the graveyard of ships and the winking in and out of the various dimensions had to be included. It came across as filler.


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As an Enterprise away team races to destroy a Cardassian wormhole that can deliver Dominion forces to Federation territory, they receive help from an unlikely source, but it soon becomes clear that there is a traitor lurking amid the away team.In the STAR TREK:THE NEXT GENERATION series.

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Cold Wars (Star Trek New Frontier: Gateways, Book 6) Review

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(More customer reviews)Peter Davids latest New Frontier Cold Wars is his best effort to date. This book finds our heros Calhoun and Shelby going to thallonian space to investigate Iconian gateway activity. On the way they get sidetracked to two planets whom have been at war with each other forever and are now using gateway technology to once again start the war back up. Shelby's new ship the Trident is a galaxy class ship. We meet two of her new crew members right off. Arex and M'Ress from TOS anamated have joined the crew after separate temporal incidents. Another new crew member is Lt Cmdr Gleau a Selelvian who is the science officer on Shelby's ship. Calhoun's new 1st officer is someone you will never suspect. The story is fast paced and the book impossible to put down. Character development is great. Selar has some good moments such as when Moke ask her to be his mother. Burgy and Selar have some good moments also. And there is something for the fans of Calhoun and Shelby. Shelby and Mueller have several good scenes one which is very amusing when they discuss Calhoun. This book has a nice polished feel to it that was sadly lacking in the last outing Restoration. I highly recommend this book for all Star Trek fans and especailly for New Frontier fans

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Scattered throughout the galaxy are Gateways which link star systems across unfathomable distances. The technology that built them has been lost for tens of millennia...but that doesn't mean that it can't be found again. Missing for two hundred millennia, the legendary Iconians have returned, bringing with them the secret of interdimensional teleportatin across vast interstellar distances. Awakened once more, their ancient Gateways are rewriting the map of the galaxy, and nowhere more than in the New Frontier...A century ago, the imperial Thallonians separated two feuding alien races, depositing each of them on a new world safely distant from that of their ancestral enemies. Now, however, the Gateways have made it possible for the long dormant blood feud to begin anew. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the U.S.S. Excalibur and his partner, Captain Elizabeth Shelby of the U.S.S. Trident, find themselves fighting a losing battle to keep the horrific violence from escalating, even as they gradually realise the catastrophic danger posed by the Gateways themselves!

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