Rating: 
Summary: New Frontier meets the old west.
Review: 'Restoration', the 10th installment of Peter David's new vision of the Star Trek Universe is a pretty fun read, but nothing overall surprising stands out, and a return to a type of sci-fi genre not to uncommon in books of old, especially for Trek fans. That is the survival of Calhoun (What good captain of Trek lore ever dies when the ship goes down?) and his adventures on a technological primitive planet patterned after any old western movie. Of course, Calhoun is the stranger in town and through some good ole fashion fights becomes the town sheriff. As his story unfolds he befriends a single mother and her child, who come to look to him as their knight in shining armor and father figure respectfully. But this is Trek, and not everything is so predictable....see, the woman can control the weather and the townsfolk of this simple western town both need and fear her, and the story is her struggle for acceptance, while Calhoun is looking for a way off the planet. There is the obligatory showdown in town, the strong moralistic town leader, the bumbling town folk, and of course the moronic criminal brothers who live just outside of town just looking for a fight. What is the strong point here is the relationship forged between the boy, Moke, and Calhoun (who recently lost his son), and the mother, Rheela and her mysterious past and feelings fro Calhoun. The other part of the novel takes Captain Shelby (who was just promoted) and gave her command of her own ship, the Exeter. On her first shakedown mission, she finds that many of the rules that she was so adamant about adhering to serving under Calhoun, are not that easy when she herself is now in the Captain's chair. While trying to negotiate a peace treaty between two planets, she reminisces about her time with the presumed dead Calhoun, her old shipmates, and trying to fit in with her new crew. She is torn between Starfleet doctrine and the decision that made Kirk and Calhoun legends. Towards the end of the novel, Robin Leffler is back to tie up events from book 9, and unfortunately was kind of boring. This was longer than it needed to be and took away from Calhoun and Shelby's story. In the end, things come full circle as a new Excalibur is being commissioned, and other New Frontier characters return. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it was a bit too predictable. Looks like this book will be the re-launch point for new New Frontier stories.
Rating:
Summary: Truly where no one, or at least no series, has gone before..
Review: At the end of book eight in the New Frontier series by Peter David, we learn that the Excalibur was destroyed. In books nine and ten, the reason it blew up is never mentioned, and we followed the path of the surviving crewmembers. The only casualty, we were told, was Captain Mackenzie Calhoun. Leaving a distraught Commander Shelby behind in book nine, we finally pick up on her tale here, in "Restoration." As was obvious to all of us reading the series, Calhoun is not dead, and while he lives through a very Clint Eastwood-esque adventure on the planet where he crashed, we parallel Shelby's promotion to Captain, and her first command: the USS Exeter. Something I found rather interesting to note was that Shelby decided upon forming a very straight-laced, by-the-book command crew, and - drumroll please - they were all human. I sometimes get a little frustrated at Peter David's over-use of aliens, but this was a nice parallel, and drew the point home that the USS Excalibur was definately made up of the more "oddballish" officers of Starfleet. As Shelby learns that the rules are indeed meant to be bent (or broken), much to the chagrin of her new staff, and she puts Mackenzie Calhoun to rest in her heart, we follow Calhoun as he strives to find a way off a low-tech planet where he has been given a rather difficult role: a lawman. All in all, this was a great enty in the New Frontier books, and I can't wait for the next in the series (I'm rather hoping there's a Section 31 book coming out for the New Frontier books, as they did in all the other series). It was also interesting to read the conclusion of Lt. JG Robin Lefler's (mis)adventure from book ten. Once again, Peter David has proven that his characters in the Star Trek world have more than enough power on their own, despite having never been seen on screen, and definately deserve their place on the Star Trek shelf. The conclusion of this book will have you doing a jig in your seat, and the only thing I can really say is: More!
Rating:
Summary: Truly where no one, or at least no series, has gone before..
Review: At the end of book eight in the New Frontier series by Peter David, we learn that the Excalibur was destroyed. In books nine and ten, the reason it blew up is never mentioned, and we followed the path of the surviving crewmembers. The only casualty, we were told, was Captain Mackenzie Calhoun. Leaving a distraught Commander Shelby behind in book nine, we finally pick up on her tale here, in "Restoration." As was obvious to all of us reading the series, Calhoun is not dead, and while he lives through a very Clint Eastwood-esque adventure on the planet where he crashed, we parallel Shelby's promotion to Captain, and her first command: the USS Exeter. Something I found rather interesting to note was that Shelby decided upon forming a very straight-laced, by-the-book command crew, and - drumroll please - they were all human. I sometimes get a little frustrated at Peter David's over-use of aliens, but this was a nice parallel, and drew the point home that the USS Excalibur was definately made up of the more "oddballish" officers of Starfleet. As Shelby learns that the rules are indeed meant to be bent (or broken), much to the chagrin of her new staff, and she puts Mackenzie Calhoun to rest in her heart, we follow Calhoun as he strives to find a way off a low-tech planet where he has been given a rather difficult role: a lawman. All in all, this was a great enty in the New Frontier books, and I can't wait for the next in the series (I'm rather hoping there's a Section 31 book coming out for the New Frontier books, as they did in all the other series). It was also interesting to read the conclusion of Lt. JG Robin Lefler's (mis)adventure from book ten. Once again, Peter David has proven that his characters in the Star Trek world have more than enough power on their own, despite having never been seen on screen, and definately deserve their place on the Star Trek shelf. The conclusion of this book will have you doing a jig in your seat, and the only thing I can really say is: More!
Rating:
Summary: Full Circle
Review: Despite his many critics Peter David continues to astound and delight true Star Trek fans everywhere. Anyone who has not read any Star Trek: The New Frontier is missing out on the best continuing Star Trek series. In my knowledge, Peter David is the only author that has ever addressed the issue of homosexuality within the confines of the Trek Universe, as he did within book 10 of this series. Restoration is the conclusion of the Excalibur trilogy which examines the lives of the crew of the USS Excalibur after the apparent death of Calhoun and the destruction of the mighty starship Excalibur. My only complaint about the book is the question of what really happened to Calhoun is quickly answered by the artwork depicted on jacketcover and the description of the book found inside the jacket. What I really loved about Restoration, is that it was more of a Western than a straight up science fiction story. And while that fact may put some Star Trek fans off, it shows Mr. David's diversity as a writer. From a cameo appearance of Marvel Comics the Mighty Thor,a magical woman, a child descended from a God,a story of unrequited love, to an old fashoined show down at noon in the Old West Restoration is a book that literally tries to encompass it all! Written for the fans, by a true Star Trek fan!
Rating: 
Summary: I waited a year for this?
Review: Ever since last year and the destruction of the Excalibur, I have been waiting to see the fate of Captain Calhoun, and it has finally arrived.
Sorry Mr. David, but if this is the best you could come up with, perhaps we should have left him lost in space. The Calhoun storyline is an unabashed western and kept jarring me out from the very enjoyable parts of the book with Captain Shelby and her crew of the U.S.S. Exeter.
I am glad that Calhoun and the Excalibur have returned, but I wish it had been with a better story line. Peter David is an excellent author, I have enjoyed his previous Star Trek and Babylon 5 novels, but I guess everyone comes up with a bad apple once in awhile.
I am looking forward to the next set of adventures with Peter David, Calhoun and his crew. Just one note though, a year is too long between sets! How about a New Frontier novel once every three months instead of all at once?
Rating: 
Summary: Excalibur: Restoration - ST New Frontier
Review: Excalibur: Restoration is an excellant book. Why do I say that? Quite obviously, as the title says, a Restoration. We see the struggle of Captain Shelby to command the Exeter thinking of Calhoun and how he would do things, to her own convictions. Shelby is growing into the poistion of Captain of a Starship and all of the trappings that go with the job. Crew and Captain getting to know each other. This is good readng and character development which helps the reader to get to know the inner workings of the crew to the Captain... a new Captain. Mackenzie Calhoun is stranded on an arid planet called Yakaba were he gets involved with the locals, at first not in a good way, but later redeems himself and is appointed the Majister. We see a lot of interacting and good character development in the book... good material for later use down the road in future books. We see Moke enter the picture and you'll see him again in "Being Human" as the author is working past book characters in future books... a good sign here. I like development and growth in Peter David's work... I wasn't disappointed. Reading this book will tell of the demise of the Excalibur and how the crew escaped who went where... but we will find out later how things really got resolved (only McHenry knows). There are bad guys and Calhoun's resolve to let Starfleet know where he is, in play here. Loves and loves lost all making interesting reading. I would recommend reading this book... good for background information, also for the interplay of emotions within each character. A very good read... enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Excalibur: Restoration - ST New Frontier
Review: Excalibur: Restoration is an excellant book. Why do I say that? Quite obviously, as the title says, a Restoration. We see the struggle of Captain Shelby to command the Exeter thinking of Calhoun and how he would do things, to her own convictions. Shelby is growing into the poistion of Captain of a Starship and all of the trappings that go with the job. Crew and Captain getting to know each other. This is good readng and character development which helps the reader to get to know the inner workings of the crew to the Captain... a new Captain. Mackenzie Calhoun is stranded on an arid planet called Yakaba were he gets involved with the locals, at first not in a good way, but later redeems himself and is appointed the Majister. We see a lot of interacting and good character development in the book... good material for later use down the road in future books. We see Moke enter the picture and you'll see him again in "Being Human" as the author is working past book characters in future books... a good sign here. I like development and growth in Peter David's work... I wasn't disappointed. Reading this book will tell of the demise of the Excalibur and how the crew escaped who went where... but we will find out later how things really got resolved (only McHenry knows). There are bad guys and Calhoun's resolve to let Starfleet know where he is, in play here. Loves and loves lost all making interesting reading. I would recommend reading this book... good for background information, also for the interplay of emotions within each character. A very good read... enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: An appropriately-titled adventure.
Review: Feels like I've been all over the map with my reading of the New Frontier novels. I went through the first ten paperbacks like gangbusters a number of years ago, and then lost interest when this particular installation came out in hardback (another evil marketing ploy). I read Calhoun's "Captain's Table" and "Gateways" stories, plus six or seven (or eight or nine) other Trek novels till I came across this in the library and decided "what the heck?" "What the heck," indeed! Do I need to tell you who is "restored?" I don't think so. But I *can* tell you the way he goes about it is certainly in keeping with the purple-eyed Mackenzie Calhoun we've all come to know and love. Instead of *dying* in the explosion of the Excalibur, Calhoun instead miraculously survives his shuttle's nasty crash-landing and *lives* on an arid back-alley planet called Yakaba, taking up with a rainmaker and her young son in his effort to find a way *off* said planet. He accomplishes this in a big way, and in the end finds himself with another boy to call his son. And there are plenty of hints for the future that this boy, Moke, ain't no one to trifle with any more than is Calhoun himself. Meanwhile, Calhoun's former first officer, Elizabeth Paula Shelby, is busy with problems of her own as captain of the Exeter. These problems include, but are not limited to, dealing with a first officer with an all-too-familiar attitude about the rules and regs of Starfleet, grieving for Mac and what could have been, and trying to come up with a way to "Calhoun" a potential Federation member into doing the right thing. At times, she barely recognizes herself. Add to this a 27-page "Star Trek: New Frontier Minipedia" in the back, and I'm ready to forgive 'em for publishing in hardback first. If you're reading them all, you've got to have this one.
Rating:
Summary: An appropriately-titled adventure.
Review: Feels like I've been all over the map with my reading of the New Frontier novels. I went through the first ten paperbacks like gangbusters a number of years ago, and then lost interest when this particular installation came out in hardback (another evil marketing ploy). I read Calhoun's "Captain's Table" and "Gateways" stories, plus six or seven (or eight or nine) other Trek novels till I came across this in the library and decided "what the heck?" "What the heck," indeed! Do I need to tell you who is "restored?" I don't think so. But I *can* tell you the way he goes about it is certainly in keeping with the purple-eyed Mackenzie Calhoun we've all come to know and love. Instead of *dying* in the explosion of the Excalibur, Calhoun instead miraculously survives his shuttle's nasty crash-landing and *lives* on an arid back-alley planet called Yakaba, taking up with a rainmaker and her young son in his effort to find a way *off* said planet. He accomplishes this in a big way, and in the end finds himself with another boy to call his son. And there are plenty of hints for the future that this boy, Moke, ain't no one to trifle with any more than is Calhoun himself. Meanwhile, Calhoun's former first officer, Elizabeth Paula Shelby, is busy with problems of her own as captain of the Exeter. These problems include, but are not limited to, dealing with a first officer with an all-too-familiar attitude about the rules and regs of Starfleet, grieving for Mac and what could have been, and trying to come up with a way to "Calhoun" a potential Federation member into doing the right thing. At times, she barely recognizes herself. Add to this a 27-page "Star Trek: New Frontier Minipedia" in the back, and I'm ready to forgive 'em for publishing in hardback first. If you're reading them all, you've got to have this one.
Rating:
Summary: One reason why I did not give this five stars...
Review: I absolutely thought this book was excellently written, with only one exception (Can I post spoilers here? If not, sorry...if so, then read on, but those who haven't read the book, you have been warned...): We read a "story" from Robin Lefler about what happened during their stay on Risa and the Si Cwan / Olivan face off, and not a "real-time" account of it. It is the only reason why I did not give this book five stars. Otherwise, it is a great book, and the ending is perfect.
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