Star Trek the Next Generation: The Gorn Crisis

Rating:
Summary: Introducing the Gorn makeover
Review: Having been a fan of Kevin Anderson's 'Star Wars' comics and novels, I picked up 'The Gorn Crisis' HC to see if he could work the same magic with the second incarnation of that other sci-fi/space opera legend that starts with 'Star'. With a little help from co-author Rebecca Moesta , AKA Mrs. Anderson, he did a fairly good job, even though the finished product fell somewhat below my expectations. Don't get me wrong, I found it to be a pretty good yarn, but it wasn't quite as epic in scope as I'd hoped it would be.

The story is basically an explanation of why the Enterprise didn't seem to see any frontline action or even get much of a mention during the Dominion war that was showcased in the last two seasons of 'Deep Space Nine'. Aside from the real-life problem of Paramount not wanting to face the impossibility of having the NextGen principals occasionally guest-star on DS9 during the Dominion War story arc and keep the show within budget, that is. Her mission is to look for allies to recruit in the fight against the Dominion, the Gorn being one of the top prospects. I'll go no further with the details of the story... you'll have to check it out on your own. But I will tell you that, aside from the Gorn, it features Klingons (none of whom are Worf), a few pitched ship-to-ship and hand-to-hand battles, a beheading or two, and a couple dismemberings here and there to keep it interesting. You know, the good stuff.

Artist Igor Kordey's painted renderings of the ships are dead-on, and his efforts to get the likenesses of our Starfleet stalwarts were fairly on the mark. Especially Picard, who looks even more like a man of authority and leadership than he usually does in the NextGen series and films. Data and LaForge, however, look a bit more chubby-cheeked than usual. And I've got to give Mr. Kordey's vivid imagination high marks for depicting Riker all buffed and muscular. You'll see this blatantly flattering embellishment when our beloved- and shirtless- first officer is bat'leth training with a Klingon ship captain.

Kordey's designs and redesigns of the Gorn makes up the appendix of this adventure. He shows how he made significant changes to the Gorns so they'd look more reptilian and realistic. Of course, when the only resource you have to go on is the original series episode 'Arena', featuring a seven-foot tall guy in a somewhat cheesy Godzilla-like getup, making them look more realistic in painted form should be a snap. But not only did Kordey tweak the look of the Gorn themselves, he also helped design (with Paramount's final approval of course) their architecture, governing body, cultural symbols, and a bit of their written language, all seen in his illustrations of the Gorn homeworld. These elements are explained in the appendix as well.

As I've stated earlier, even though I found this enjoyable to read, it's not quite the epic I was hoping it would be, and I don't think I would've paid what I did for it were I given a chance to take a sneak-peak at it before purchase. So if you plan on snagging a copy of this NextGen adventure, I recommend waiting until it comes out in the more affordable trade paperback format.

'Late

Rating:
Summary: Introducing the Gorn makeover
Review: Having been a fan of Kevin Anderson's `Star Wars' comics and novels, I picked up `The Gorn Crisis' HC to see if he could work the same magic with the second incarnation of that other sci-fi/space opera legend that starts with `Star'. With a little help from co-author Rebecca Moesta , AKA Mrs. Anderson, he did a fairly good job, even though the finished product fell somewhat below my expectations. Don't get me wrong, I found it to be a pretty good yarn, but it wasn't quite as epic in scope as I'd hoped it would be.

The story is basically an explanation of why the Enterprise didn't seem to see any frontline action or even get much of a mention during the Dominion war that was showcased in the last two seasons of `Deep Space Nine'. Aside from the real-life problem of Paramount not wanting to face the impossibility of having the NextGen principals occasionally guest-star on DS9 during the Dominion War story arc and keep the show within budget, that is. Her mission is to look for allies to recruit in the fight against the Dominion, the Gorn being one of the top prospects. I'll go no further with the details of the story... you'll have to check it out on your own. But I will tell you that, aside from the Gorn, it features Klingons (none of whom are Worf), a few pitched ship-to-ship and hand-to-hand battles, a beheading or two, and a couple dismemberings here and there to keep it interesting. You know, the good stuff.

Artist Igor Kordey's painted renderings of the ships are dead-on, and his efforts to get the likenesses of our Starfleet stalwarts were fairly on the mark. Especially Picard, who looks even more like a man of authority and leadership than he usually does in the NextGen series and films. Data and LaForge, however, look a bit more chubby-cheeked than usual. And I've got to give Mr. Kordey's vivid imagination high marks for depicting Riker all buffed and muscular. You'll see this blatantly flattering embellishment when our beloved- and shirtless- first officer is bat'leth training with a Klingon ship captain.

Kordey's designs and redesigns of the Gorn makes up the appendix of this adventure. He shows how he made significant changes to the Gorns so they'd look more reptilian and realistic. Of course, when the only resource you have to go on is the original series episode `Arena', featuring a seven-foot tall guy in a somewhat cheesy Godzilla-like getup, making them look more realistic in painted form should be a snap. But not only did Kordey tweak the look of the Gorn themselves, he also helped design (with Paramount's final approval of course) their architecture, governing body, cultural symbols, and a bit of their written language, all seen in his illustrations of the Gorn homeworld. These elements are explained in the appendix as well.

As I've stated earlier, even though I found this enjoyable to read, it's not quite the epic I was hoping it would be, and I don't think I would've paid what I did for it were I given a chance to take a sneak-peak at it before purchase. So if you plan on snagging a copy of this NextGen adventure, I recommend waiting until it comes out in the more affordable trade paperback format.

`Late

Rating:
Summary: Good for explanation, not the best story
Review: Thsi book is basically to fill in the holes in the whole Gorn mythos. The huge reptiles that never quite played well enough on TV to be spotlighted before. Its a reasonably good story but nto anything to write home about.

Rating:
Summary: Good for explanation, not the best story
Review: Thsi book is basically to fill in the holes in the whole Gorn mythos. The huge reptiles that never quite played well enough on TV to be spotlighted before. Its a reasonably good story but nto anything to write home about.