Rating: 
Summary: Truly excellent
Review: This is an excellently written, thoroughly enjoyable book. The descriptions are great. The pacing is well judged. There is a lot of character reflection, but almost entirely mixed with the action. The characterisations are incredible. Personally I thought Uhura rather than Zetha was the strongest and most vivid, but all of them were excellent. Uhura and Zetha were on the level of the depiction of Data in Jeffrey Lang's Immortal Coil. This book is also epic in scope: elements from Uhura's century of service in Starfleet, potential war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and the key event in the Romulans' past responsible for shaping their entire cultural development. I have two minor faults. One is that Cretak's story is set chronologically before the events in the prologue, but is written so that it seems concurrent with the main story, which confused me a little. The other is that this is about the investigation of a lethal virus, yet there seemed no atmosphere of urgency or tension in the writing. Finally, the book is absolutely full of Star Trek references, from every series and an amazing number of books, but they are all seamlessly woven into the story. There is no feeling that scenes were written just to make such references. In summary, this is a fantastic book, and it is already my provisional favourite for 2004.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: This novel proved to be a very complex read. There were various twist and turns I did not expect and the interaction of multiple characters from various show/books helped reduce some of the complexity.There are many jumps from one point of view to another and at times, this is very distracting. There are often times where two characters are talk and the audience needs to know about a specific event. Well it just happens that we had a few other characters involved in that event and it happened a few minutes ago. Therefore, we jump back to that event and only that one event, then right back to the other current scene. All the point of view changes, moving forward and backwards through the timeline of the story, provide the most complexity. Only a single major character was created for this story, a young innocent Romulan. The remainder of the cast is from familiar shows and books and not a lot of development was put into them. The epilogue, the last twelve pages, drove this book up a full rating in my opinion. Favorite characters are shoved forward into the lives we know they will lead and we get to see one of my favorite minor characters.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: This novel proved to be a very complex read. There were various twist and turns I did not expect and the interaction of multiple characters from various show/books helped reduce some of the complexity. There are many jumps from one point of view to another and at times, this is very distracting. There are often times where two characters are talk and the audience needs to know about a specific event. Well it just happens that we had a few other characters involved in that event and it happened a few minutes ago. Therefore, we jump back to that event and only that one event, then right back to the other current scene. All the point of view changes, moving forward and backwards through the timeline of the story, provide the most complexity. Only a single major character was created for this story, a young innocent Romulan. The remainder of the cast is from familiar shows and books and not a lot of development was put into them. The epilogue, the last twelve pages, drove this book up a full rating in my opinion. Favorite characters are shoved forward into the lives we know they will lead and we get to see one of my favorite minor characters.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion to Lost Era books
Review: What an excellent way for Margaret Wander Bonanno to return to Star Trek than to write a 5 star novel. This book features Uhura as the 100+ year old head of Starfleet Intellegence who receives word from an old contact in the Romulan Empire that there is a deadly virus spreading across the quadrant that threatens all civilization. Uhura enlist the services of Benjamin Sisko, Tuvok, Dr Selar, Beverly Crusher and Dr. McCoy to track down the source of and cure for the disease. Another featured character is Zetha who is a Romulan and delivered the message to Uhura. The book is well paced and almost impossible to put down. Characterizations are right on the money. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion to Lost Era books
Review: What an excellent way for Margaret Wander Bonanno to return to Star Trek than to write a 5 star novel. This book features Uhura as the 100+ year old head of Starfleet Intellegence who receives word from an old contact in the Romulan Empire that there is a deadly virus spreading across the quadrant that threatens all civilization. Uhura enlist the services of Benjamin Sisko, Tuvok, Dr Selar, Beverly Crusher and Dr. McCoy to track down the source of and cure for the disease. Another featured character is Zetha who is a Romulan and delivered the message to Uhura. The book is well paced and almost impossible to put down. Characterizations are right on the money. I highly recommend this book.
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