Rating: 
Summary: Calhoun Lives! (Of course...)
Review: The only thing I didn't like about this book, is the seeming *four years* it took for the book come out in paperback. I read entirely too many books to read them in hardback and this one shouldn't have come out in hardback, anyway. It's a good book, an amusing book, I like Calhoun, but it's not a $25.00 book. As a graduate student, I only spend that much on textbooks under extreme duress. So my complaint is with Paramount and Simon Shuster. Now that the book is out in paperback, what are you waiting for -- buy it already!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Peter David Delight's Once Again
Review: This book I could not put down. A wonderful conclusion to the New Frontier trilogy. Full of the usual humor, and adventure that I've come to expect from a Peter David trek novel. The New Frontier series that he has so wonderfully brought to life is a masterpiece! Don't want to give away the surprises in the book so I'll just conclude with FANTASTIC ENDING!!
Rating:
Summary: My God, David is amazing
Review: This is simply the greatest series of books ever. After waiting since 7 and 8 came out, when I learned that Calhoun was dead, I was crestfallen. I had thought Peter David was a fool, for without Calhoun, NF is nothing. How wrong I was. The Excalibur trilogy is artwork, with the crew's pictures beautifully laid out, with suspense along every step of the way. 9 and 10 were wonderful, although not quite up to the first four, but RESTORATION! WOW! I was dying waiting during the two months inbetween 9 and 10, and Restoration. Amazon had not posted the synopsis, but now I am glad they didn't. When I first glanced inside the dust jacket to find that Calhoun had survived, I let out a LONG exhale. Restoration is remarkably suspenseful, and you have no idea how it will end up, but when you get there, you will be delighted. I read this in one sitting, and never looked back. (P.S.: An added bonus is the updated NF Minipedia, which is in much better shape than the first one. Kudos!)
Rating:
Summary: The mystery is almost solved
Review: This novel is clearly the finale of the Excalibur trilogy, so I started it with the hope of finally learning what happened to Calhoun. Did he really survive the explosion as one could surmise after Peter David's subtle hints and his refusal to go into details about the events shortly before the disaster? Well, if you want to know the same thing you won't be disappointed. The veil of mystery is lifted in "Restoration" as we do indeed learn that Calhoun is one of those Star Trek captains that manage to survive against impossible odds (and be honest: How could New Frontier continue without this extraordinary man who is so much more than just a captain?). The book is (as the previous two have also been) split into a couple of parallel stories. There's Calhoun, marooned on an unknown planet, quickly getting involved in the almost medieval actions of the indigenous populace against a woman with a curious gift... The second story focuses on Captain (!) Shelby, newly assigned to the starhip Exeter who struggles to feel comfortable in the role fate has cast her and to come to terms with the loss of Calhoun...
I won't say more about the contents here, you have to read for yourselves. I still don't feel at ease with his splitting of stories, though. Possibly designed to keep the suspense I still find it faintly annoying to be always yanked out of one story to be thrust into the next one - and back again. It just disrupts the flow one can get so quickly into - anyway, the language itself is fluent as usual, the events lead so smoothly into one another, that each chapter is a pure pleasure to read.
To put it in a nutshell: I loved the book. I hated the ending (that's why there are only four stars). Let me just say that I do enjoy happy endings - they simply have to be plausible. This one, sadly, is not. Too swift, too nice - in my opinion, not the way that Calhoun would act, even considering all that happened on that planet, and especially his resolutions concerning Shelby. It just didn't feel right.
Nevertheless, this one is worth a read!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Love It!
Review: This series has, from the beginning, stood head and shoulders above Voyager, and stood firmly beside all of the other series. It is well written, well told, and a great read from beginning to end. Questions are answered re the destruction of the Excalibur, but even more questions are raised about Mark McHenry. How did Calhoun and Shelby launch all of those pods in time? How did Calhoun get to the shuttlebay in time? McHenry's influence, perhaps? Could he be M? Can't wait for the next one to find out more! A great read and a great time!
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