Rating: 
Summary: Predictable and Boring
Review: Confusing, not up to the standards set in The Return. One hopes Mr. Shatner's next effort will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: More to come, Mr. Shatner?
Review: The conclussion of William Shatner's "Mirror-Universe" trilogy of his "Star Trek" series offers much action, drama, and an ending that does leave the door open for Captain James T. Kirk's next adventure! With more ties to some of the original episodes of "Star Trek," including the one episode "The Paradise Syndrome" which first introduced an alien race know as the preservers, William Shatner reveals more insight to that race with this book, and how it becomes clear that Captain Kirk & Tiberius will both be the catalysts that may cause universal destruction! However, the end of this book is a bit too much to take in with regards to Kirk's personal life, and where it is going! It will make you cry extremely, and if you've read Shatner's other 5 novels, then you'll know what I mean! Still a must for die-hard fans!
Rating:
Summary: Shatner gives us Kirks finest adventure with Preserver...
Review: I firmly believe that Star Trek V The Final Frontier to be the worst of the Trek movies, and guess what? It was written BY William Shatner. Based upon that fact, I very nearly missed out on reading his Trek books simply because if that was the best he could pull off on screen, than I had little hope of what he could accomplish in book-form. Well I am happy to say that Shatners Trek books are some of the better books you can find available. I very much enjoyed 'The Ashes of Eden' and 'The Return'... 'Avenger' started him on a pathway of 'going nowhere fast'. He improved with 'Spectre' but I felt that 'Dark Victory' was almost poor by comparison...but I figured I'd finish the 'Mirror Universe Saga' no matter what, and I am happy to say that I am most pleased with my decision.'Preserver' is easily Shatner's most complex storyline almost making it several novels in one. It switches from plotlines originally started on Kirk's first 5-year mission, to Voyager, Deep Space-9 and of course Next Generation all in the blink of an eye...if you are not paying close attention, TRUST me, it is very easy to get lost. Shatner even uses a bit of Isaac Asimov in this story with the introduction of a couple of ingenious Psychohistorians who have predicted that the end of the Universe is only days away...and most likely caused by one man, who is also TWO men--otherwise known as Kirk and his Mirror Universe counterpart, Tiberius. I DO agree with one other reviewer that the change of heart that the natural-born-butcher Tiberius goes through seems totally out of character with the way he has been portrayed over the course of the Mirror Universe Saga...but other than that, this book is the capstone to a series that starts off good, starts to become stale, but ends with a bang--no, make that a low-yield nuclear blast. Simply put a tremendously entertaining Trek novel (you can definitely see the hands of Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens' in this story) that moves with the speed of Trans Warp Drive. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Kirk?Tiberius? Cool!
Review: This book shows alot of things alike between two entirely different men. The relationship between Jim and Teilani is romantic. The rivalry between Kirk and Tiberius is realistic. And the argueing between Spock and Bones is awesome! All together a great book!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Losing Faith in Shatner
Review: SPOILER ALERT -- If you care, some crucial details will be revealed in this review: Written in the typically fractured, emotional Shatner style - but well-done nonetheless - Kirk faces the Preservers, as powerful as any gods we humans have made up. But several key flaws make the entire 6-book series not worth reading, all because of how these flaws affect the ending. 1) No need to bring Shatner's personal tragedy over to a major character. This action was totally arbitrary and ruled out innumerably interesting plot lines for future books. 2) Tiberius' change of heart was completely unsubstantiated and simply done to get him out of the way. 3) The last 2 chapters were meaningless in terms of the overall story. In fact, the basic premise - that the Preservers must teach the Federation that the Prime Directive is arrogant - was taken up by "Q" in ST:TNG Episode 1 !! The idea that the universe revolves around one man was used in the final episode of ST:TNG. It barely worked then & barely works now. But to use Kirk, Teilani, and the child for a useless lesson that could have been taught without tragedy is absurd and rings false. The plot turns simply to pull our heartstrings, and we don't appreciate the lack of storytelling skill in doing so. So the reader loses his faith in Shatner. What did we read 6 books for? To find Kirk evolve into a loving character - only to see the object of that love destroyed in order to "teach a lesson" about the Prime Directive and to make sure Kirk goes back out to the stars? Give us a break! Bill - earn our faith back by having Kirk go to the Guardian of Forever and change the events leading up to tragedy. Now, that's a violation of the PD we'd like to see and it continues the evolution of the Kirk character.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent continuity with all Star Trek series
Review: By far, my favorite episode of the original Star Trek series was "Mirror Mirror" where Kirk, McCoy, Scottie and Uhura are swapped with their counterparts in a parallel universe. However, the Federation in the parallel universe is an empire help together by brutality. The closing scene is when Kirk tries to persuade the parallel Spock that the empire is illogical and that in any revolution, there is one man with a vision. Right before the beam out, Spock replies, "Captain Kirk, I shall consider it." For years, I have amused myself by thinking through ways in which Spock could carry out a revolutionary plan.
This book is an extension of previous books where Kirk battles his evil counterpart Tiberias for control of both universes. Many of the events that occurred when Spock launched his insurrection are explained, including some that were worse than what would have happened had the empire remained intact. This part of the story moves along very well. Although you may be appalled at the incredible brutality of Emperor Tiberias, it is consistent with the original show and there is additional continuity with other episodes.
Kirk has survived to much later in time, which allows the Next Generation and Voyager crews to be included. Captain Picard proves to be a formidable person in both universes, yet he still is somewhat secondary to Kirk in power. In the end, Kirk converts his evil counterpart, sending him back to the universe as a changed man. Spock and McCoy also appear in roles that are consistent with their use as foils.
The basic plot is that there is an ancient species of preservers who have created duplicates of Earth and other homeworlds of powerful races. However, this group has no equivalent of the Prime Directive, in fact their goal is to destroy a universe. Kirk ends up in a fight to prevent that, one that he of course wins. However, the victory is a costly one.
I found the story to be one that moved along well, maintaining continuity with the previous stories of the Star Trek generations. One point that I found tedious was the levels of intelligence agencies in Starfleet who serve more to confuse things than anything else. Given his accomplishments, it is most unlikely that any secret could be kept from Kirk if he wanted to know, and yet at times he appears clueless regarding who and what these agencies are. Given that such a powerful threat to the Federation was present, even the most paranoid of intelligence operatives would consult with the man who knew more about it than anything else.
Additional characters that I found entertaining were the psychohistorians who predict the coming catastrophe. Psychohistory was created by Isaac Asimov in his classic Foundation tales, and is a science that uses mathematics to predict broad historical forces. The scientists who practice it come across exactly as you would expect such practitioners to be, although one is not what he appears to be.
While there are some stretches of the point, as a basic character Kirk is an overbearing, yet lonely hero. In this tale, he succeeds once again, and yet his battles with Tiberias cause a few cracks in the armor. We see him as a lonely man torn between a desire for quiet retirement and the thrill of command when things are at their worst. In ways, that is one of the best aspects of the book, and I look forward to more of the same.
Rating:
Summary: Good Science fiction despite lapses of hokiness
Review: Preserver is the third installment of a story arc that William Shatner started back with Specter and continued in Dark Victory. Where the 1st two novels were closely tied, this 3rd venture placed a whole new spin and direction from its predecessors. Overall I think it can be said Preserver was the overall story here where Specter and Dark Victory were only novels to introduce characters and political climate of the time. The main gist is the reader discovers that the mirror universe was more or less an accident, and that an ancient race known as the Preservers have been manipulating key people in our universe (mainly James T. Kirk of course among a few others) to lead them to administer events that will result in the eventual destruction of the mirror universe. However, Kirk's nemesis Tiberius has other plans. Soon our main characters are in doubt on just who are the decision makers and who can be trusted in the Federation. The best aspects of the book is a new approach in thinking about science fiction. William Shatner and co-writers introduce us to psychohistory...a very interesting concept. The mystery of the Preservers and the shadow government within the Federation (Project Sign) unfold masterfully and at a good pace. The settings are described very well and the characters are handles in a believable way....all except Tiberius. The cons are the hokiness. The beginning of the book pits Kirk against Tiberius in a somewhat silly confrontation that only William Shatner could think up. After this conflict resolves, Tiberius is almost sedate through the remainder of the book and even has a change of heart if you will at the novel's climax. The Tiberius that appeared in the Original Series and the following novels would not have acted this way at the end. Also there is a tragedy that involves Kirk's new wife Telaini. It was pretty cliché and you could see the outcome a mile away. This 'situation' has been done to death in many sci-fi novels...nothing new here. The last 2 chapters were both fun and confusing. In one chapter we see Z. Cochrane and Lily (from the movie: 1st Contact) go over the events of 1st Contact and Warp technology with reference to the Borg. Why this was in the novel is beyond me other that to sew the seeds for an upcoming novel involving time travel. The last chapter (an epilogue) involves a now grown Melmon (see Specter) reflecting on the house that Jim Kirk built on Chal and looking to the stars. This reference takes place in the future, beyond the resolution in this book. So in two chapters, you witness both a past event and a future event that has no connection to overall story in Preserver, but fun to read anyway.
Rating:
Summary: William Shatner: James T. Kirk's Life "Preserver"...
Review: Death in the seventh "Star Trek" motion picture was only the beginning for James T. Kirk it seems as William Shatner continues the saga of his beloved character in this, his fifth novel revolving around the character and his adventures in the current "Trek" era (This is Shanter's sixth "Trek" novel; Shatner's first involved Kirk's life six months prior to his mysterious disappearance feature at the prologue of the seventh film). Like all the others, "Preserver" is a strong novel that in a way that few can takes an outlandish premise (Kirk joins forces with his mirror universe self to solve one of the great mysteries of the universe and boldly discovers things about the origins of the universe that no one else could have before) and makews it completely plausible and seem as if the explanations he provides for things were ineightly the design of the "Trek" mythology. However, this book remains status quo for Shatner in the tradition of "Avenger" which also concluded a sub-series trilogy (the first trilogy is "Ashes of Eden", "The Return", and "Avenger"; the second is "Spectre", "Dark Victory", and "Preserver"). But the status quo for Shatner, understand, is light-years superior to any other writing for the entire "Trek" saga. My disappointment is really minimal and only comes having read particularly "The Return" which is one of the top "Trek" novels of all-time; and it is rooted in the practical inability to top such a story since. "Preserver" picks up where the last left off. It quickly manuevers out of the cliffhanger that was left behind without even returning to Kirk and his counterpart and their alliance. Kirk just suddenly materializes back in his own universe to provide the means to cure his dying wife. His wife saved from death and his new son delivered prematurely, Kirk is forced to return to Tiberius to fulfill his end of the bargain. A few plot twists and turns later, Kirk and his counterpart have returned to a planet first encountered during the original series and discover a plan by the Preservers to destroy the mirror universe and thus restore a less random element to the flow of events in the standard one. Meanwhile, Picard negotiates with a young captain (first featured in "Avenger") to stop an experiment from happening that will unknowingly cause the destruction of the mirror universe. Having gained so much in his life, Kirk must dramatically lose something to balance poetic justices. Predictably, yet still sadly, Kirk's wife is lost in the fight to save the mirror universe and ultimately Kirk must return to his home on Chal with their new hybrid child alone. But with this in mind, Kirk tends to seem a bit reinvested in his life. One day, it seems he will be back to again be the hero he was destined to be.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, kiddies, Shatner did not "write" this book !
Review: A great book. Lots of action. I am a Shatner fan, even if he did (and still does) wear a wig, even if he is a jerk in real-life and even if he dislikes "Trekkies". Shatner did not write this book. Give credit to his "Co-authors" instead. They wrote it. Long live Star Trek! Long live Kirk! Shatner, Bah!
Rating:
Summary: Preserver
Review: I will keep this short, I loved Mr. Shatner as Kirk when I was a kid. As an adult I laughed at the campy acting (secretly I still love his character). As a writer...I am impressed. He brings all of the characters to life. He even keeps up the famous Kirk ego. Buy the series.
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