Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Fun but not much more Review: I read all three in this series. I have also read several other books by L.A. Graf. I have never found Mr. Graf's original series characters to have much insight or depth. The same holds true for this trilogy. The plot is okay but nothing new - unintentional time travel. These books are a brief diviersion, but not much else.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Fun but not much more Review: I read all three in this series. I have also read several other books by L.A. Graf. I have never found Mr. Graf's original series characters to have much insight or depth. The same holds true for this trilogy. The plot is okay but nothing new - unintentional time travel. These books are a brief diviersion, but not much else.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Good book Review: I thought this was a very good book, but I did not think it concentrated much at all on the lower deck people. Chekov, Sulu and Uhura are prime upper deck officers and have been well covered in many books; but there were about 3 others on the rescue team that had fairly good parts other than being the sacraficial guy in the red suit going down to the planet's surface. The story is setup well - not only is this probably the Enterprises first of many trips back in time and the crews' experience of something sending them back in time travel but both happen. Kirk, Sulu, McCoy, and all are their usual great team with help from other crew. But, there is no end because it is a book leading into another series. Lately, all books seem to be coming out series - although some stories need the extra wordage; it is discouraging to buy a book and get a third or sometimes a sixth of a story - particularly when there is no way the book can stand alone requiring waiting and buying the rest of the series. I also agree with another's comment. The blurp on the back of the book describing it seems to be about some other story and apparently whoever wrote the editor's review...only read the blurb on the back of the book also and did not even read the book; but that is OK as hte story described on the back sounded less interesting.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Great Star Trek Review: In the last decade or so I haven't taken much time to read Star Trek in the written form. In the past, I've always enjoyed the Star Trek novels because the publishers seem much more willing to take chances. Chances in the form of relationsips, choices, and actions the television producers seems too scared to attempt. In addition, the novels always gave the secondary charcters an opporuntiy to shine. Again, in their focus on two or three main characters (Kirk/Spock/McCoy, Picard/Riker/Data) the supporting cast rarely had the chances to shine except in a few episodes written specifically for them. Present Tense is an example of the latter. Here Graf allows the secondary characters to shine and show their stuff, especially Uhura, Chekov and Sulu. Sulu especially is given more to do than he ever had in the series or movies (except possibly Undiscovered Country and his appearances on Voyager). The hallmark of the Original Series was the interaction between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. I have to say the author really captures that by-play better than any I've read so far. As to the plot, there are times when I found myself skimming but the ideas are intriguing and the action is good enough that I definately wanted to keep on reading. I'm actually reading an omnibus edition published by the Science Fiction Book Club so I won't have to wait long for the end. If you enjoyed classic Original Series shows, then the Janus Gate series is a must read. Even if your a Star Trek fan in general, this book series is a great and fun romp.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Save Your Money Review: Let me began by saying I do not like time travel stories and that is what this story ends up being. I like the work of the writing team L.A. Graf and this is the start of a solid story. First the only lower decks characters really developed were the ones introduced by the authors and not the ones we have seen in the TV series like D'Amato,Tomlinson,Martine,Palamas,and others. Why was this allowed? I did like seeing Uhura, Chekov and Sulu. This book sets up the remainder of the story so stick with it as it gets better as it goes along
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain... Review: Or in this case, the man writing the blurb for the back cover, which apparently was based on a VERY early rough draft/plot synopsis, which bore VERY little resemblance to the eventual story. The actual story is intriguing, one of the best I've seen. There are a couple of caveats: I HATE cliffhanger endings, so that's why I docked the book one star; if you don't share my dislike of stories that end "to be continued" without resolving any plot points, then consider this a five-star rating. Other than that, my major caveat is that the claim in this book is that at this point in time, Uhura ranked Sulu, and was fourth in the Enterprise chain-of-command after Kirk, Spock, and Scotty. This is clearly not canonical; Uhura was not in command-track at all, and while it's possible that Sulu wasn't yet fourth in the food chain, Uhura was certainly not ahead of him. But this is a minor quibble, and one I'm willing to overlook, given how good the story is. I must admit, I'll be interested to see how the author gets them out of the corner s/he's painted them into; this really is a proper cliffhanger, as it certainly seems like there's no likely way out, but we KNOW that they get out of it, as the story is set early in the first five-year mission, just after the episode "The Naked Time". Or just before it, depending on how you look at it, given that at the end of that episode (and the beginning of this book) the Enterprise has just been accidentally timeslipped three days into the past.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: ST: TOS - The Janus Gate - Present Tense Review: Star Trek: The Original Series, The Janus Gate - Present Tense by L.A. Graf is interesting. This book is about the early crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 and the focus is on Pavel Chekov as he is just new to the Enterprise and her crew. This is book number one of a three part trilogy, so don't get in a hurry to finish this series, as book three won't be out till the end of June 2002. This book is interesting in that we see Chekov as an eager ensign on the fast trak to the bridge crew, but along the way we see that his character is full of self-doubts and eagerness to please and to the right things. A lot of thought goes through Chekov's mind in this book. I've noticed that the theme of this years crop of Star Trek books has a lot to do with character developement and fill-in and fleshing out of the characters. This book is along those same lines and is told through the crew members of the Enterprise. Yes, book one has action and adventure, along with Kirk and Spock, but the main focal point of the storytelling is through the crew members eyes. Kirk and crew are sent to Psi-2000 to get there before it blew up. They had to cold start the engines, which threw the Enterprise and crew back 3 days in times. We read about Sulu and his sword fighting and Kevin Riley's singing all from the TOS televison series where the crew caught a virus and was affecting the judgement of the crew and they were doing strange things. Now, the Enterprise is on its way to Tlaoli 4 to recover a survey team and run into the main adventure of this book. Spelunking, gravity wells, alien transport, sink holes, limestone out cropings are all part and parcel in this adventure. Also, we find that part of the crew being caught in this adventure are found in older and younger versions of their original selves. You have to pay attention when you read this book to follow what is happening, otherwise you'll become confused. I hate to give away too much of this book, but there are alternate time lines and makes for an interestingly intriguing read. Now on to the second book in the series, as see through all-new eyes, an interesting concept.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Boring--Star Trek stuck in a cave Review: The back cover of the book, and Amazon description of this book are different than the actual story inside the book. I just finished Book One of this series (which I got from the library) and this book is pretty dull. 90% of the book is about being trapped in a frozen cave.There are sub-plots of course but this book was a real disappointment.I have book 2 and 3 of this series still to read.The only one of the series that I paid for was book 3 and I will probably regret having done that.Unless you can get this book for free at the library, or used for a [money amount], then I wouldn't waste my time or money on it.The Errand of Vengeance series by Kevin Ryan is a bit childish but much better than this series has been so far.If you want to buy a series, then buy that one instead.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A bit slow, but then it's only the set-up. Review: The premise of this first book of the Janus Gate trilogy fascinated me: the old five-year mission of Kirk & Crew from the perspectives of the "lower decks" personnel (ie, anyone except the Big Three (Kirk, Spock, McCoy)). Present Tense does a pretty good job of introducing the reader to the characters we only see in a couple episodes of TOS. Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I saw any TOS reruns, and I can't remember the little people (I was only 4 when TNG started airing). Anyway, it's nice to have the expendable personnel (redshirts) developed. As for the plot, it's a bit slow. I could have lived with seeing fewer pages of Chekov, Uhura, and Survey Team Three stuck in that abominable cave. The opening couple of chapters were fantastic, though, leading the reader straight from the Enterprise's escape from Psi 2000 to the action of Present Tense. Towards the end, we get into some really cool time travel stuff, which gets better in Future Imperfect (book 2), which I have just started reading.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Excellent book - better than back cover Review: This book was one of the best original series books that I have read. The back cover problem may be explained because of the fact that L.A. Graf is the pen name of two authors writing together. One author may have written the book and back cover, then the book was rewritten by the other author, who didn't redo the back cover. Maybe.
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