Rating: 
Summary: Dull Filler Story
Review: After reading this book, I found myself so bored, that I wondered why I even bothered. This story does nothing to enhance the ST:NG characters or storylines. Whoever thought of this storyline must think we will accept and enjoy anything with the Star Trek name. If I could, I would have rated this a negative star. Let's get back to good writing and exciting stories - see Captain's Blood, for an example. No more 'filler' (trying to fill in the gaps in our ST universe) stories. Maybe we should look to the Star Wars: NJO writers, as they seem to have no problem writing a book with multiple, exciting storylines and in depth characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly average
Review: DENY THY FATHER had the potential to really explore the conflict between Kyle and Will Riker, but it unfortunately winds up as empty as the chasm between father and son. Jeff Marriotte has a capable reign of the characters, but this book comes off reading like two separate novels fused together into one, in which neither character interacts with each other, alternating back and forth between father and son chapters. The end result is less than what it could have been. Of the five books in the six-book LOST ERA series I've read to date, this is the weakest entry of them all.
Rating: 
Summary: Halfway interesting read marred by poor ending
Review: Deny Thy Father jumps right into the action from the very beginning, and seems to promise an action filled book that will keep readers interested. It doesn't fail altogether, but the book does have issues with pacing and plotlines.
The A story involves a conspiracy against Kyle Riker, father of the famous Wil Riker, and how Kyle handles the threats against his life. It's a relatively interesting but sometimes rather slow story that has issues with keeping on topic.
The B Story is about Wil Riker's journey through Starfleet Academy. It is the weaker of the two stories, but ironically the more interesting of the two.
The major problem with the book is the pacing and plot point chosen to follow in both storylines. Kyle's progress with solving the conspiracy puzzle takes an abrupt halt early in the book into a tangent that proves frustrating and distracting in its resolution. The tangent in the A story could have been more interesting if given more space (due to a decision Kyle has to make, which I won't reveal), but as it stands in the book, I felt very frustrated with Riker's choices. I could tell they weren't rational, but rather the choice of the author to not only avoid keeping any strings attached, but to also get out of the tangent without working hard on the logistics of the story.
It wasn't until three quarters through the book that the purpose for the A story unfolds, in a terribly unsatisfying climax that not only didn't have a buildup (due to the tangent explained above), but also didn't explain itself very well. I was certainly a little nervous of the quality of the resolution when I saw there were only ten pages left, and Kyle had yet to begin solving the conspiracy puzzle. The final confrontation feels like a bad episode of Star Trek, where it's at 58 minutes in the hour, and everyone knows the resolution will only take two minutes. There's that sinking feeling that the buildup won't reach the maximum payoff because of space issues: it definitely came true in this book. The final pages are very disappointing, and laughable in the villain choice. I felt cheated.
The B story was, as I said, the more interesting of the two, but it read like what it was - a B story. Wil's time at the academy wasn't worth the space devoted to it, because it generally wasn't all that exciting. It's a story of a cadet going through school: nothing big happens, nothing huge occurs. It's just a student in school.
I wanted to scream at the writer with each "possible" threat from the A story against Wil Riker that didn't come true, because once again I could see it wasn't logic but the author's poor plot choices that were making those decisions. Why wouldn't Wil become involved with the A story? It's explained away much too quickly, and sounds too fake for my tastes. The author didn't seem to want to take any risks in the story, but instead kept bringing in new characters or events that he just as quickly removed via an unsatisfactory explanation.
By far, this is the worst of the series of The Lost Era books. Purchase it to complete the set, but don't expect much in the read. I'm not saying it's totally worthless - I stayed interested through most of the book, only losing interest within the last quarter when I could see my hopes for a good ending would be dashed. Keeping that in mind, there's a good chance a first read through will be more interesting for the reader who has heeded my warning.
Rating:
Summary: An Unnecessary Read
Review: I hate to be critical of an author who writes well, but there are a lot of things about this novel that I have problems with. First, it's always nice to learn about a popular character's history. This book is essentially 2 stories, one about Will Riker and the other about Kyle Riker. Concerning Will, it was nice to learn about his Academy days. However, I didnt really get much from it. If Starfleet Academy were real, I would imagine most cadets would have similar stories to tell (if not better). As to Kyle's story, it was interesting to learn about his past with the Tholians. And the setup concerning the conspiracy kept you turning the pages. But then it goes downhill real fast. Kyle disappears to let things settle, and hence begins a story-line I cant imagine anyone would care about. I didnt care about what happened, and I didnt care about the characters. All that kept me going were the interludes about Will. Second, the ending couldnt have tied up any faster if it tried. It was 300+ pages of build-up, with 1/2 page for resolution. (It was like a cartoon ending.) And at the end, I didnt care about that either. I guess what Im saying is that this book was a waste of time. It's OK if you have nothing else to do, but I dont think I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed with this novel. It was not a terrible novel and I recommend that Star Trek fans-Riker fans in particular-take the time to get through this book. Why I was disappointed was that I knew the end. Most of the novel is split between Will Riker and his struggle from the Academy and his father running from his problems with Starfleet and his past. I waited the whole novel to see if they would come together and see them clash. They never did. One of the other problems was that Jeff Mariotte seemed to work too hard to get cameos from other characters. It seemed contrived that all these people seem to constantly cross paths even in these minimal ways. I do not object to reading and seeing how great characters like Sisko and Janeway grew to who they were but adding them in just to say you used them is a little tactless. This was a terribly tough review to write. I did not want to sound too critical but still be accurate and honest.
Rating:
Summary: Good but disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed with this novel. It was not a terrible novel and I recommend that Star Trek fans-Riker fans in particular-take the time to get through this book. Why I was disappointed was that I knew the end. Most of the novel is split between Will Riker and his struggle from the Academy and his father running from his problems with Starfleet and his past. I waited the whole novel to see if they would come together and see them clash. They never did. One of the other problems was that Jeff Mariotte seemed to work too hard to get cameos from other characters. It seemed contrived that all these people seem to constantly cross paths even in these minimal ways. I do not object to reading and seeing how great characters like Sisko and Janeway grew to who they were but adding them in just to say you used them is a little tactless. This was a terribly tough review to write. I did not want to sound too critical but still be accurate and honest.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!!
Review: I was very impressed with this novel that gave us not one, but two very good stories. I enjoyed seeing Will's days at the Academy, although I wasn't too impressed with his classmates. I also really enjoyed reading about Kyle; he was a fascinating character.While this book doesn't have the epic scope of the other Lost Era novels, that's not really a bad thing. Sometimes it's nice to read a nice simple story where the fate of the Federation doesn't hang in the balance. With the exception of Will's Academy teammates, all the charactes were likeable. This was a nice, easy, quick read. I wholeheartedly recommnd this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: I'm amused by these reviewers who complain that there's no interaction between the two Rikers in this book. If they knew their Trek they would know that in the one episode Kye Riker appeared in, it was established that there had been no interaction since Kyle abandoned Will. Given that, I think this author did a good job of showing the effect these two had on each other without having specific interaction--it's a more subtle way to tell the story, but ultimately very effective. The author shows the ties that bind generations of Rikers in a unique and interesting way.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptionally well-written book.
Review: In this book, we see Will Riker as a Cadet and then an Ensign; we see his father; we see Katherine Janeway as an Ensign, and we see Owen Paris, father of Tom Paris, already an Admiral. The story centers around Will and his father, although the twain never do meet; already, they're estranged. The plot, both the main one and various subplots, are all handled well, competently and with flair. We get more insight into both Will and his father; not surprisingly, Deanna Troi is not the first potential love that Will has broken up with in the name of furthering his career, nor is it surprising that his father has trouble with relationships too.
Not, perhaps, of interest to the reader who isn't already familiar with the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" background world and characters unless they would find a study of a disfunctional father-son relationship in which both men are reasonable, worthwhile individuals of interest, but definitely a must for fans.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly entertaining.
Review: My expectations for this book, after reading the reviews here and with the Lost Era series being 2 for 4, were not high. I found this to be good reading, though not spectacular. Obviously the book follows two stories, Kyle's and Will's. Will's story is a personal drama, without the dramatic Academy tests or conspiracies that Original Series books set there have. Still, I found it to be a well written, interesting, and entertaining depiction of Will Riker at that time. I don't really like Will Riker all that much as a TNG character, so making him interesting for me was a good achievement on the author's part. The cadets are rather clichéd, but apart from the eternally patient girlfriend I've known people just like them, and they work well as part of Will's story. Kyle's story has much more action in its beginning and end. The descriptions there and overall are very well done. This author understands how to make long descriptive passages interesting. The middle of Kyle's story was essentially filler, as Kyle himself puts it, to prepare him for the end of the story. It was entertaining and well done, but it had almost nothing to do with the central plot of Kyle's story. I would have preferred more time on the conspiracy. I did quite enjoy the resolution of that. It's refreshing, after "Serpents Among the Ruins", to see a murderous conspiracy be viewed by Starfleet Command as something to stop. All in all, I found this to be an enjoyable read. Nothing was spectacularly good, but lately just enjoyable has been too much for some Trek authors.
|
