Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT idea--but not a great book...
Review: I have read plenty of Michael Jan Friedman stories to know that he LOVES Star Trek, but I can always count on him to give me a less than stellar story...I can't put my finger on it, but let's just say they never seem to end up being all they COULD have been...and 'Crossover' is another example of what I mean. The idea of Reunification isn't original, however the way Friedman presents it here IS...but it just didn't seem to have that Trek magic I look for. Peter David certainly has it in HIS books, and so does Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, in fact these authors are TRUE serious Trek writers...but Friedman fails in his attempt to reach that 'something' that makes the story truly magical. It WAS an entertaining read, as are ALL of Friedman's Trek stories, but if you know what I'm talking about, they just lack something that makes them a little more special. But if you are looking for a Next Gen story that includes Spock, Scotty and a very old Admiral McCoy, then this story does seem to fit the bill. All in all, a good story (hence the 4-star rating) but not quite the cream of the crop.
Rating:
Summary: Almost great, but not quite
Review: I loved this book except for one thing: McCoy's characterization. To me, it just didn't seem right. I don't recall McCoy ever acting this way, even if he is 140 and possibly senile! To me, Friedman tried too much to play up the differences between the two generations, and it detracts from the story. What I really loved was Scotty stealing the Yorktown. When Friedman writes Scotty, he's right on target! Scotty's actions are reminiscient of ST III, and Friedman writes this caper beautifully. Having the Enterprise Bridge on the Yorktown is a little over the top, but otherwise the passage is excellent. If Friedman hadn't mishandled McCoy, this novel would have been a perfect 10. But in spite of this, the book is still pretty good and definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Adventurous and fun but lacking when it comes to McCoy.
Review: I really loved all the adventure and especially enjoyed Scotty's performance and I've always known McCoy to be stubborn, but not like this. It was dissapointing to not see the Enterprise's crew up to full force because of him. I was hoping from the beginning that he was going to be able to use his wit, experience, and intelligence to help Picard, not harm him. But except for that one flaw the overall storyline is really exciting and I reccomend it to anyone in the mood for a fun-filled adventure tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: I thought it was really cool how Scott stole the Yorktown right out from under Starfleets nose. And at the end when Spock had an emotional act(the jail Break. All in all a Really good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Bah
Review: I'm curious why so many people gave this book 5 stars. I'm guess I'm equally curious why I'm giving it 2 stars. After all, I love the Romulans and I always wanted to see a follow up to the unification story from the Next Generation television series. But, this isn't how I would have wanted it to be at all.For one, this story has Spock, McCoy and Scott. Now, even though I didn't care for the Original series (I'm sorry, it's just too old and cheesy for the next generation star trek fan myself), this was a major turn off for me. I love Spock, because he's just interesting and Vulcans have always been integral to Star Trek, however, I think it's contrived that a 140 year old doctor would be an Admiral in Starfleet where he should probably be growing tomatoes in his back yard (and yes, I am aware that he's probably not entirely human anymore to make him live that old). The conflict that arises with him and Picard is just absurd and I didn't find it entertaining at all. McCoy ends up taking over the ship because he's too prideful of the old ways and is too old to make the right decisions. Picard actually has the right idea to handle the situation and it probably would have worked if stupid Scott and McCoy had not come along and interfered. It was Starfleet's fault for sending them in the first place and they should have been thrown out of Starfleet long ago. I'm also not one to favour cowboy diplomacy - that's just not how the Next Generation should be. I prefer more intelligent conflict and scenarios than some pointless holy crusade to perfect order and justice in the universe. Needless to say, I was somewhat insulted that they made Picard out to be a weak leader in these matters. So while the McCoy plot was just dumb in my opinion, Scott was just as bad. I just felt the only reason they brought him back was to save his friend Spock, but he could have easily been omitted too. The fact is, the story concentrated so much on Scott, McCoy and Spock that it wasn't even a Next Generation book - it was an original series story that takes place in the Next Generation era. It shouldn't have even been a Next Generation story to begin with. I find it hard to believe that the current Enterprise crew would be taken so much to save Scott and I also find it hard to believe Picard would "give in" to let them go on the mission - he's not one to change his mind, especially when he knows he is correct the first time. He is convinced (and I would still like to know how, since Friedman didn't reflect on this) to let Riker, Data and Geordie on a rescue mission to save Scott against his better judgment, but they get caught and it (silently) proves that it was a stupid move anyway. McCoy must be a genius for suggesting such a stupid thing. It's not something a competent leader like Picard would have authorized in the first place. This just shows the author had no concept or respect for the Next Generation characters. Every just served the plot. That's not all, though. Since the story focuses on the original series' characters, you can expect zero character development from the Next Generation crew. In fact, you can expect a lack of involvement in the story as a whole, as they are only there to fill the needs of the plot at all times, never using the characters themselves to their strengths - just their standard responsibilities. In my opinion, this sad excuse for an audio book is just a plain adventure story and it doesn't have any period of enlightenment or real big reward when you finished listening to it. I thought this was supposed to be Next Generation, not Indiana Jones or Star Wars or some other story that mimics the same formula. Michael Jan Friedman is to blame for all of this. The last big complaint is that you already know what's going to happen most of the way through without much thought. The only mystery that book contains is the outrageous crap that Scott or McCoy try to pull, which isn't very intelligent at all - it's needless conflict that we should be able to write beyond. There is no mystery to the story at all, and in most of the book, Michael Jan Friedman spends his time writing about the Romulans figuring out Starfleet's deception (as if the Pro-council were Sherlock Holmes I suppose). Well, no one really cares if the Romulans figure it out or not because they are the most minor characters in the story. Since the audience knows of Starfleet's deception and the very likely outcome that ensues, you have no pressing need to care about the Romulans at all in this story because you already know the answers. It was also contrived how Michael Jan Friedman introduced a new race called the Stug, which actually no had relevance throughout the entire story except to get McCoy a way out in the end. This just sounds so contrived. For one, it's not even a race we know, and secondly, that also suggests that they aren't much of a threat an empire as large as the Romulans. The fact that they were sending ships to the Stug border was preposterous - they have millions of ships. They wouldn't send that many to just a single system and no non-aligned race would be able to cope with it. The point? To make McCoy learn a valuable and so that he could save the day (and likewise, show that Picard didn't know the solution). This is just disgusting and contrived storytelling. I really tried to enjoy this story, but the integration of the original series characters, the lack of character development, contrived used of the Next Generation characters and a lack of mystery story make this a bad choice. Don't pay attention to all these 5-star ratings you see on the site. I really hate to say it, but they are probably 50 year olds who are clouded by their nostalgia and love for the original series that it has blinded them to see just how bad of a story this one really is.
Rating:
Summary: Bah
Review: I'm curious why so many people gave this book 5 stars. I'm guess I'm equally curious why I'm giving it 2 stars. After all, I love the Romulans and I always wanted to see a follow up to the unification story from the Next Generation television series. But, this isn't how I would have wanted it to be at all. For one, this story has Spock, McCoy and Scott. Now, even though I didn't care for the Original series (I'm sorry, it's just too old and cheesy for the next generation star trek fan myself), this was a major turn off for me. I love Spock, because he's just interesting and Vulcans have always been integral to Star Trek, however, I think it's contrived that a 140 year old doctor would be an Admiral in Starfleet where he should probably be growing tomatoes in his back yard (and yes, I am aware that he's probably not entirely human anymore to make him live that old). The conflict that arises with him and Picard is just absurd and I didn't find it entertaining at all. McCoy ends up taking over the ship because he's too prideful of the old ways and is too old to make the right decisions. Picard actually has the right idea to handle the situation and it probably would have worked if stupid Scott and McCoy had not come along and interfered. It was Starfleet's fault for sending them in the first place and they should have been thrown out of Starfleet long ago. I'm also not one to favour cowboy diplomacy - that's just not how the Next Generation should be. I prefer more intelligent conflict and scenarios than some pointless holy crusade to perfect order and justice in the universe. Needless to say, I was somewhat insulted that they made Picard out to be a weak leader in these matters. So while the McCoy plot was just dumb in my opinion, Scott was just as bad. I just felt the only reason they brought him back was to save his friend Spock, but he could have easily been omitted too. The fact is, the story concentrated so much on Scott, McCoy and Spock that it wasn't even a Next Generation book - it was an original series story that takes place in the Next Generation era. It shouldn't have even been a Next Generation story to begin with. I find it hard to believe that the current Enterprise crew would be taken so much to save Scott and I also find it hard to believe Picard would "give in" to let them go on the mission - he's not one to change his mind, especially when he knows he is correct the first time. He is convinced (and I would still like to know how, since Friedman didn't reflect on this) to let Riker, Data and Geordie on a rescue mission to save Scott against his better judgment, but they get caught and it (silently) proves that it was a stupid move anyway. McCoy must be a genius for suggesting such a stupid thing. It's not something a competent leader like Picard would have authorized in the first place. This just shows the author had no concept or respect for the Next Generation characters. Every just served the plot. That's not all, though. Since the story focuses on the original series' characters, you can expect zero character development from the Next Generation crew. In fact, you can expect a lack of involvement in the story as a whole, as they are only there to fill the needs of the plot at all times, never using the characters themselves to their strengths - just their standard responsibilities. In my opinion, this sad excuse for an audio book is just a plain adventure story and it doesn't have any period of enlightenment or real big reward when you finished listening to it. I thought this was supposed to be Next Generation, not Indiana Jones or Star Wars or some other story that mimics the same formula. Michael Jan Friedman is to blame for all of this. The last big complaint is that you already know what's going to happen most of the way through without much thought. The only mystery that book contains is the outrageous crap that Scott or McCoy try to pull, which isn't very intelligent at all - it's needless conflict that we should be able to write beyond. There is no mystery to the story at all, and in most of the book, Michael Jan Friedman spends his time writing about the Romulans figuring out Starfleet's deception (as if the Pro-council were Sherlock Holmes I suppose). Well, no one really cares if the Romulans figure it out or not because they are the most minor characters in the story. Since the audience knows of Starfleet's deception and the very likely outcome that ensues, you have no pressing need to care about the Romulans at all in this story because you already know the answers. It was also contrived how Michael Jan Friedman introduced a new race called the Stug, which actually no had relevance throughout the entire story except to get McCoy a way out in the end. This just sounds so contrived. For one, it's not even a race we know, and secondly, that also suggests that they aren't much of a threat an empire as large as the Romulans. The fact that they were sending ships to the Stug border was preposterous - they have millions of ships. They wouldn't send that many to just a single system and no non-aligned race would be able to cope with it. The point? To make McCoy learn a valuable and so that he could save the day (and likewise, show that Picard didn't know the solution). This is just disgusting and contrived storytelling. I really tried to enjoy this story, but the integration of the original series characters, the lack of character development, contrived used of the Next Generation characters and a lack of mystery story make this a bad choice. Don't pay attention to all these 5-star ratings you see on the site. I really hate to say it, but they are probably 50 year olds who are clouded by their nostalgia and love for the original series that it has blinded them to see just how bad of a story this one really is.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story, almost worth five stars.
Review: I'm very choosy about what gets a five-star rating rather than a four; if I wasn't, this book would have been rated five stars. (Admittedly, if I was rating the layout and copyediting job done on the mass-market paperback edition, it would have been lucky to get two stars; I've rarely seen such a sloppy job. NUMEROUS lines throughout the book are missing their first (or, occasionally, last) letters; page fifty alone is missing five first letters out of 30 lines, and while most of the book isn't THAT bad, it isn't the only page that has a problem, but cutting down a rating of a story for sloppy layout is unfair; still, I'm loath to give a high rating to such a sloppy book without a disclaimer. Hopefully, later editions corrected the problem, but I wouldn't count on it.) The characters were handled marvellously, especially Scotty, who is given his due in a way that he was NOT in the episode/book that brought him into the Next Generation world, "Relics"; the plot works well and makes sense, and the writing moves well and is enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Rules.
Review: Listen up, and I'll tell you a tale:
One day I felt kind of surfy, And visited Amazon.com online. I saw a book that was worthy That is why I took the time To write this review, for you.
And if you ever feel surfy, and stumble upon this review I'm telling you, this book is worthy,
to be viewed and bought by you.
Rating: 
Summary: An average Friedman novel
Review: Michael Jan Friedman never appealed to me. The only good story of his was "Reunion." This is no exception. The plot is great, but McCoy is horrible. Scotty is...well...not really Scotty. Spock is the only person who is halfway resembling himself. Plus, like all Friedman novels, the story is just...unbelieveable. I wouldn't buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: a good star trek book
Review: Michael Jan Friedman writes some of my favorite books including Kahless. He has done a good job providing insights on Romulan culture.
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