Rating: 
Summary: THE GRAVEYARD OF SPACE
Review: In Chainmail the starship challenger has met a mysterious ship with dead inhabitants from the Living race. This book was too slow paceed for a five star.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't know anyone in this book!
Review: Ok, having now finished the book, I am still giving it two stars. I still didn't know any of the characters in this book, but it leaves off with a major cliffhanger. The descriptions in this book are many and varied, the technical stuff is very technical and the descriptions about the people and their culture is very skimpy, especially about the Blood. I would've like to known more about this culture and what makes it tick, and why the Federation is out there in this area.Thanks for reading! ~Pandora
Rating: 
Summary: Review of "Chainmail" Gateways book 2 of 7
Review: There are a great many things to be said on the subject of this book, both positive and negative. On the one hand, I am no fan of the writing of Diane Carey; in this book, as she frequently does, she tries very hard to make creative use of the language, and generally fails miserably, succeeding only in using words incorrectly. Her idea of creative description is much like that of Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carrol; she insists that words mean whatever she intends them to mean, rather than what their actual definitions are, or even what a reasonable person would consider a plausible connotation. (She continues to insist that "sniggering" can be used when one means "niggling", for example, the third book of hers in which I've seen this usage.) On the plus side, her strength has always been in her plot ideas and her characters, and both of those trends, too, continued in this book. Her characters are fascinating, her plot classic Trek, and the philosophical debate that made for a large part of the creative tension of the book was actually handled well and evenhandedly, and did nothing to detract from the action of the book. On the down side again, there is the drawback that all books in this "Gateways" series will have, presumably until the last installment: they will all end on a cliffhanger, rather than being self-contained stories. So it's a difficult call: If you don't mind a book with no familiar Star Trek characters (that is, characters from any of the TV series), don't mind a cliffhanger ending, and can tolerate the author's misuse of the language, this book has a good plot and fascinating characters. But if any of those caveats would put you off, by all means, avoid this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek Challenger Gateways #2 Chainmail
Review: This book is the continuation of the Belle Terre book series. We get to see what's happened since the last time we were there. When Kirk handed over the responsiblilities to the Challenger. I wasn't too impressed with this book. It was slow to read and I thought that it needed to be later in the series. We needed the continuation of the first book next to conclude and wrap up the loose ends of book one. Now we have more loose ends and this can be very confusing to the reader of a series. I guess marketing now is taking over the Star Trek book series with no reguard to the reader. What a shame... I usually like Diane Carey's work, but this one is a real eye lid closer. I drags and is a very slow read. I am not a fan of these mini-series books with multiple authors, but someone at the book publishers is... another way to get your money. Diane, you can do better than this. You rushed this story and you needed to get it "right"... I wasn't impressed. I've read all of the paperbacks, and this one is not a good one. Save your money folks, pass this one by.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL. DIANE CAREY REALLY DID A GREAT JOB HERE. (BUT WITH HER, CAN WE EXPECT ANYTHING LESS?) THE CHARACTERS ARE FLESHED OUT WONDERFULLY, THE WRITING IS QUICK AND SHARP, AND THE NEW ALIENS FEATURED HERE (THE LIVING) ARE PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ALIEN OF ALIEN SPECIES EVER TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE VAST STAR TREK HISTORY. THIS BOOK IS A REAL GEM THAT WILL LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE! HURRY UP, DIANE! I WANT MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE CREW OF THE 'CHALLENGER'!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL. DIANE CAREY REALLY DID A GREAT JOB HERE. (BUT WITH HER, CAN WE EXPECT ANYTHING LESS?) THE CHARACTERS ARE FLESHED OUT WONDERFULLY, THE WRITING IS QUICK AND SHARP, AND THE NEW ALIENS FEATURED HERE (THE LIVING) ARE PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ALIEN OF ALIEN SPECIES EVER TO BE INTRODUCED INTO THE VAST STAR TREK HISTORY. THIS BOOK IS A REAL GEM THAT WILL LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE! HURRY UP, DIANE! I WANT MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE CREW OF THE 'CHALLENGER'!
Rating:
Summary: A top-notch writer gets her own crew and delivers the goods!
Review: This is the second novel featuring Diane Carey's crew of the ship "Challenger" first introduced in the novel by the same name that capped off the Belle Terre series. Carey has long been one of the best Trek authors of the lot, and when given her own canvas to work off of, she is simply excellent. Her ship and characters--a motley band of Starfleet officers and indigenous aliens serving aboard a patched-together starship--realize all the complexity and storytelling potential that the Trek series Voyager promised but never delivered. The characters are sharply-drawn, the dialogue crackles, and the action leaves you breathless. Best of all, the story is genuinely creative and original. Unlike many Trek novels, which simply recycle plots from old episodes, and other novels, Carey's story is truly imaginative. It's easier to understand if you've read "Challenger" (though not necessary), but still a great book. Here's hoping for a quick return of Nick Keller and the crew of the "Challenger."
Rating:
Summary: A top-notch writer gets her own crew and delivers the goods!
Review: This is the second novel featuring Diane Carey's crew of the ship "Challenger" first introduced in the novel by the same name that capped off the Belle Terre series. Carey has long been one of the best Trek authors of the lot, and when given her own canvas to work off of, she is simply excellent. Her ship and characters--a motley band of Starfleet officers and indigenous aliens serving aboard a patched-together starship--realize all the complexity and storytelling potential that the Trek series Voyager promised but never delivered. The characters are sharply-drawn, the dialogue crackles, and the action leaves you breathless. Best of all, the story is genuinely creative and original. Unlike many Trek novels, which simply recycle plots from old episodes, and other novels, Carey's story is truly imaginative. It's easier to understand if you've read "Challenger" (though not necessary), but still a great book. Here's hoping for a quick return of Nick Keller and the crew of the "Challenger."
Rating:
Summary: the crew of the "Challenger" is refreshingly new
Review: This novel doesn't have much to do with the first one in the Gateways series (at least, nothing that is apparent now). If you haven't read the New Earth series, especially "Challenger", you'll be lost. And if you like to read about Kirk and the rest of TOS crew, you'll be disappointed -- they're nowhere to be found. But I think this is a good thing. One problem with Star Trek books is that the authors have to use characters, locations, and situations that are already familiar to us from hours of TV and movies. You miss the creativity of sci-fi epics where the writer shapes the whole universe (Dune, Heinlein, etc) Which is why I enjoy the Challenger novels (and Peter David's Excalibur series) -- the authors are free to create totally new crews, and getting to know new characters is exciting. For instance, in "Challenger", we saw a lot of self-doubt and second-guessing from Nick Keller. There's less of that in "Chainmail" -- he's more confident and more assertive. We see him growing as a Starfleet officer. This book starts off fairly slowly, and early on there are some chapters written from the aliens' perspective where you have no idea what's going on -- a device I'm not fond of. However, by about halfway through the book all the threads of the story come together, and I couldn't put it down. It's got all the elements that make TOS my favorite Star Trek franchise: a clash of cultures, a mysterious, ancient and powerful civilization, eccentric characters, and a minimum of techno-babble. The characters rely on their brains and diplomacy rather than on technology. Unfortunately, the novel is just a first part, with a "to be continued" at the end. But at least the book was good enough that I'm anxiously awaiting the continuation.
Rating:
Summary: the crew of the "Challenger" is refreshingly new
Review: This novel doesn't have much to do with the first one in the Gateways series (at least, nothing that is apparent now). If you haven't read the New Earth series, especially "Challenger", you'll be lost. And if you like to read about Kirk and the rest of TOS crew, you'll be disappointed -- they're nowhere to be found. But I think this is a good thing. One problem with Star Trek books is that the authors have to use characters, locations, and situations that are already familiar to us from hours of TV and movies. You miss the creativity of sci-fi epics where the writer shapes the whole universe (Dune, Heinlein, etc) Which is why I enjoy the Challenger novels (and Peter David's Excalibur series) -- the authors are free to create totally new crews, and getting to know new characters is exciting. For instance, in "Challenger", we saw a lot of self-doubt and second-guessing from Nick Keller. There's less of that in "Chainmail" -- he's more confident and more assertive. We see him growing as a Starfleet officer. This book starts off fairly slowly, and early on there are some chapters written from the aliens' perspective where you have no idea what's going on -- a device I'm not fond of. However, by about halfway through the book all the threads of the story come together, and I couldn't put it down. It's got all the elements that make TOS my favorite Star Trek franchise: a clash of cultures, a mysterious, ancient and powerful civilization, eccentric characters, and a minimum of techno-babble. The characters rely on their brains and diplomacy rather than on technology. Unfortunately, the novel is just a first part, with a "to be continued" at the end. But at least the book was good enough that I'm anxiously awaiting the continuation.
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