Rating: 
Summary: And we were doing so well!
Review: This is the first book of a new series of Star Trek books, focusing on the "Starfleet Corps of Engineers", basically a group of troubleshooters who go in whenever there's a mechanical or alien technology problem that either can't be handled by a regular starship, or (more rarely) that COULD possibly have been handled by the regular starship, but there's actually enough time to call for specialists (usually, these things are sufficient crises that if the regular ship CAN handle them, they have to.)This book was composed of four mid-length stories (longer than "short stories", but not novel-length) each written by a different author, which together follow a continuous time-line and thus more or less make up one book's worth of story. The writing is surprisingly even, given the different authors; the handoffs from each author to the next are seamless, and the writing itself is quite good. The characters are well-developed, a good mix of minor characters from various episodes on TV and new characters (although the first book begins with the Enterprise-E and crew for an introduction, and Geordi LaForge continues through the first three stories.) The plots, while not the MOST original I've ever seen, are good, workmanlike concepts, and the basic SCE concept is in many ways a marvellous return to early science fiction concepts, where there may be action and combat, but the ADVENTURE is in the discovery and the science. So why is the rating only four stars, given how much good I have to say about the book? (And in fact, I thought harder about whether to knock it down to three than I did about granting it five.) Because the "ending" ISN'T one; they cut the last story off in mid-action in order to make a "tune in next week" cliffhanger to attempt to manipulate the reader into continuing to buy the following books of the series. I will do so, because I enjoyed the book as a whole, NOT because they left me hanging. I consider that a sufficiently cheesy scam to be worth the loss of AT LEAST one star, and demonstrates that they had no confidence in the quality of the series themselves (or they wouldn't have needed to use such a cheap scam.)
Rating:
Summary: Rousing Good Star Trek
Review: This was a fun Star Trek book. I enjoyed reading it very much. Good character building, interesting plot. It was a very enjoyable read. After several book series that have left me cold (and yearning for new S.T. books), it's refreshing to read something decent. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. It wasn't deep, it wasn't revolutionary, but it was enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Rousing Good Star Trek
Review: This was a fun Star Trek book. I enjoyed reading it very much. Good character building, interesting plot. It was a very enjoyable read. After several book series that have left me cold (and yearning for new S.T. books), it's refreshing to read something decent. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. It wasn't deep, it wasn't revolutionary, but it was enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: The Tech People Finally Stand Out
Review: What would Kirk, Piccard, or any of the others do if they woke up and couldn't get their morning tea? Call SCE. This book is great. Stories that show how important the engineer is to Star Fleet. With out them you go no where and get nothing done. I like this series a lot and it is not just because I am a techie or a trekie, they are good stories.
Rating:
Summary: The Tech People Finally Stand Out
Review: What would Kirk, Piccard, or any of the others do if they woke up and couldn't get their morning tea? Call SCE. This book is great. Stories that show how important the engineer is to Star Fleet. With out them you go no where and get nothing done. I like this series a lot and it is not just because I am a techie or a trekie, they are good stories.
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