Rating: 
Summary: Captain "Fraiser" returns!
Review: Excellent! I have always wanted to see Kelsey Grammer reprise his role in Star Trek as Captain Morgan Bateson. Diane Carey has given us the next best thing by bringing us back his character. He is the perfect captain, with his commanding voice. The book also brings back Scotty in the 24th century still going strong. Carey does a good job filling in the gaps between the films and series. And a good introduction to one of the greatest ships in Star Trek the USS Enterprise-E.
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Summary: This was great!
Review: Ship of the line was a really great book. I enjoyed it immensely. I didn't like it as much as Star Trek: The Return, but this provided information on what I had been curious about since First Contact came out. I really loved it when Riker, Bateson, and Scotty attempted to regain control of the ship. It was really funny when Scotty and co. flooded the room with ten Klingons in it with methane. I thought that was ingenious and a nice touch. I was wondering what class the Bozeman II was. If anyone knows the answer to this, please reply. My e-mail address is filled in above.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book
Review: I thought this was a very good book, but too short. Madred also added a good touch to this book. Carey's little mishap with reversing Madred and the Borg was too bad, but it didn't take away from the quality of this book. I also think that Kozara caved a little too early.
Rating: 
Summary: An Epic Story, trapped in a short book.
Review: In Ship of the Line, Diane Carrey creates an epic saga, in true Star Trek style. She chooses prevocative characters, ideas and settings, and helps to fill in between the gap in the readers knowledge, before the events of Star Trek - First Contact. The problem is that she embraces too many concepts for her, relatively, short book. Her love for detail in her writing secomes to a need to shorten the text to her publishing requirements. What she actualy needed to do was to flesh out her ideas more, and add at least an extra two hundred pages to her novel. This woulds have helped stop the battles seeming rushed, the internal time-frame being evasive (just how long were the Klingons in Dishounor?), and her characterisations from being flimsy and conveniant. Perhaps she has become a little too used to writing four volume serials, or perhaps she should have done that here?
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Summary: Interesting Trek novel, but by no means one of the best
Review: I enjoyed the bringing together of so many Trek characters, including Picard, Kirk, Scotty, Morgan Bateson, and the entire Next Generation crew. I also thought that the Madred subplot was interesting and one well worth revisiting. However, I was disappointed by both major conflicts of the novel being solved so abruptly at the end of the book. I was very interested in what was happening, but when I looked at the end of the book and saw that there were only about 20 pages left, I knew both storylines couldn't be ended adequately. I also was disappointed in the author's mistake of mentioning that Picard's Borg experience came after Madred's torture, when in fact it came before. Overall, it was a good book that could have been better.
Rating: 
Summary: Got my hopes up too much........
Review: It's true, don't ever judge a book by its cover. Judging from the cover of this book, it looks great, but once you get inside, it's a whole different story. My major beef with the book is the discussion between Bateson and Riker on the Enterprise - E bridge. This applies to all professions; whenever two people in authority have a disagreement, you NEVER, NEVER argue in front of subordinates! That is just plain BAD leadership! Bateson and Riker carry on a full blown argument right in front of the bridge crew! There is a scene in the movie Crimson Tide when Gene Hackman takes Denzel Washington below to his quarters to discuss their disagreement PRIVATELY. Hackman advises Washington to keep his opinions under wraps until they can be discussed privately, and if privacy doesn't present itself, then to keep his mouth shut. The principle invloved is called unity of command, and it's obvious that Diane Carey doesn't have a clue as to what that is.
One thing I did like was bringing the character of Morgan Bateson back. Making him a starfleet legend next to Captain Kirk was a bit much, but the backstory behind Bateson and his crew was entertaining. I especially liked Bateson's preoccupation with etymology and naval history. That gave real depth to the character.
Another problem I have is Carey's use of Scotty. Scotty is just a stock character in this book and is hardly used at all. It's stated early on that Scotty and Bateson go way back, but that's never followed up on and the reader is left drifting. Scotty winds up being essentially a Yes man throughout the book, agreeing with all the statements made by the other characters.
Picard's use of holodeck programs of Kirk's missions was interesting, and it tied in with William Shatner's "Ashes of Eden" quite nicely.
However, this book doesn't quite get the job done. It's alright to read through once, but once is quite enough.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment for Trek fans
Review: Diane Carey misses the mark on this one. While the idea of following up on the events of the Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect" is a good one, her factual errors and characterizations drag down what could be compelling reading. Fans who pay attention to continuity will notice mistakes like placing Picard's Borg experience after his torture by Madred and the almost cavalier disregard for the Dominion situation as developed on Deep Space Nine. Her portrayals of the Next Generation characters, such as making Troi and Crusher sound like whining schoolgirls, having Picard sound annoyed at having to come on the Enterprise-E at all and then turning him into some sort of interstellar Rambo after talking to a holographic Kirk, and her blessedly brief but bizarre portrayal of Data after hearing bluegrass music just feel wrong. The inclusion of Scotty really felt like she just wanted to throw in an Original Series character. She tries to build up sympathy for Captain Bateson as a man out of time, but with the exception of the last few pages, Bateson comes off as an annoying character and one that merits little sympathy. In the end, while this book may be a good read for some, I can't recommend it for hardcore Trek fans because of its many flaws.
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Summary: The First Epic Journey of the Enterprise-E!
Review: Diane Carey delivers again. This time she takes us on an epic journey through space and time, through the life of one man and his longtime enemy. Fans of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION should remember a fifth season episode called "Cause and Effect" (By Brannon Braga). SHIP OF THE LINE takes us back to the 23rd Century to show the readers how the USS Bozeman, under the command of Captain Morgan Bateson, came to be stuck in time for nearly eighty years. In SHIP OF THE LINE, we journey with Captain Bateson, newly in command of the USS Enterprise-E (yes, he did take the job from Picard!). On the maiden voyage of the 1701-E, Bateson runs into his old nemesis, a Klingon from the 23rd Century who is out to reclaim his honor by destroying Bateson. Meanwhile, Picard faces his own inner demons on Cardassia Prime. We have action-adventure with Bateson and the limits of the human spirit with Picard. Definately a worthwhile book to read, no matter what you look for in a novel. Diane Carey, we
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Summary: What's good about the newest Star Trek novel.
Review: The newest Trek book is one of best of the hardcovers available. There is something for every fan in this book which deals with the events between Generations and First Contact. Elements from the Original series to Deep Space Nine make their presence felt in the novel. There is no lengthy decription of the building process of the new Enterprise, or large sections of what it was possible of. It was intersting to see Starfleet did not want to give command to Picard after he lost the Enterprise-D. I am kind of disapointed that the story does have anything to do with Picard and company actually in command of the new ship, just how the crew managed to get the new ship. Still this was an enjoyable edition to the Star Trek library.
Rating: 
Summary: Mrs. Carey needs to do some research...
Review: I think if you're going to write a book based on an established series, then it should be common sense to do a little research on the subject... with HEAVY emphasis on the timeline. I'm only on page 122 out of 320, and already its so far off course, it might as well be in the Delta Quadrant with Voyager. I'll give you a breakdown: The Bozeman came through the temporal anomaly into the causality loop (TNG Season 5, Ep. 218 "Cause and Effect") where it encounters the Enterprise-D. Expanding that story seems like a good book... but the timeline for "Ship of the Line" is totally incorrect. Mrs. Carey says the Enterprise-E was built 3 years later. Wrong. The events of Generations didn't even occur until 3 years after the Bozeman came into the year 2368. Secondly, the Bozeman was recommissioned shortly after its arrival into the 24th century and was active during the events of Generations and First Contact... not stripped down and set up as a monument at Starbase 12. "In 2371," (during the events in Generations) " the Bozeman was forced to make a course correction due to gravitational changes caused by the destruction of the Amargosa star. This minor fact helped Picard realize that Dr. Soren's reason for destroying that star was to alter the trajectory of the nexus energy ribbon." (www.startrek.com) Also... "In 2373, the Bozeman returned to the Typhon sector to join the Starfleet armada mobilizing against the invading Borg cube heading toward Earth. At one point, the Bozeman and the U.S.S. Defiant were ordered to fall back to 'mobile position one.'" (www.startrek.com) That would be the same Borg cube the Enterprise-E engaged in First Contact. And some facts about the Enterprise-E: "New Sovereign-class starship, registry NCC-1701-E, commanded by Jean-Luc Picard since its launch (NOT by Morgan Bateson on some maiden voyage before Picard took command) on stardate 49827.5 (Sun. Oct 29, 2372 8:45:36PM UTC... NOT in "late 2371" as stated in the book) from the San Francisco Yards (NOT Starbase 12) over Earth. With 24 decks, it was equipped with the latest in equipment and defenses, including quantum torpedoes. It did not go into full service immediately, even for shakedowns. By stardate 50893.5 (Fri. Nov 23, 2373 3:03:36AM UTC) the ship had only been in space and fully crewed for nearly a year." (www.startrek.com) So, the story is ruined by incorrect time placement before you flip to page 1. And to make matters worse, NONE of the characters are portrayed correctly... Geordi acts like a giddy schoolgirl, Riker like a wimpy butler to Picard, Data as a brainless robot and is referred to as "Lieutenant Data" when he first appears in the book, which should be either "Commander Data" (which she used after the introduction of the android) or "Lieutenant Commander Data", because both are used frequently in the series and the TNG movies... just a few errors out of many that poison the 320 pages of this "book". There's no familiar feel to ANY of the TNG crew in this book, as is strongly present in other ST:TNG books, such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation #64: Immortal Coil" by Jeffery Lang, "Star Trek: The Next Generation #45: Intellivore" by Diane Duane, and "Star Trek: The Next Generation #39: Rogue Saucer" by John Vornholt. (All 3 highly recommended over this one by leaps and bounds.) Being an avid ST:TNG fan, I can't believe this book even made it to the printing press. Take my advice and skip this one... (NOTE: Stardate Converter provided by http://steve.pugh.net/fleet/stardate.html ... normally, UTC times are displayed by the 24-hour clock, but I prefer the 12-hour AM/PM. All background information on the USS Bozeman, USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E, and the TNG Episode "Cause and Effect", that should have been a priority for Mrs. Carey, was found on www.startrek.com .)
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