Rating: Summary: Adequate. At least it's not Smith and Rusch... Review: Dave Stern, a former (maybe present?) Pocket Books editor churned this one out. Once you get past the weird use of time and the fact that there's a big typo in one of the first four chapter headings that will really mess you up, it's easy to appreciate the story itself. Instead of focusing on the captain, which is too easy, or the Vulcan, which I'm sure would disentigrate canon even further, Stern gives us a good long look at Lt. Malcolm Reed, the armory officer (read: security chief).As a whole, I dislike what Enterprise is doing to canon trek, and if Roddenberry were alive, I'm pretty certain he would've vetoed the series as a whole, or at least gone with something more established. But as a standalone novel, if you know the characters, this isn't a bad read. Get it from the library, though; it's not worth ($$$). The ending is way too quick and convoluted, and the plot device Stern uses is a tried-and-true-Trek-type ending. Still, I enjoyed it for the two and a half hours it took to read.
Rating: Summary: Adequate. At least it's not Smith and Rusch... Review: Dave Stern, a former (maybe present?) Pocket Books editor churned this one out. Once you get past the weird use of time and the fact that there's a big typo in one of the first four chapter headings that will really mess you up, it's easy to appreciate the story itself. Instead of focusing on the captain, which is too easy, or the Vulcan, which I'm sure would disentigrate canon even further, Stern gives us a good long look at Lt. Malcolm Reed, the armory officer (read: security chief). As a whole, I dislike what Enterprise is doing to canon trek, and if Roddenberry were alive, I'm pretty certain he would've vetoed the series as a whole, or at least gone with something more established. But as a standalone novel, if you know the characters, this isn't a bad read. Get it from the library, though; it's not worth ($$$). The ending is way too quick and convoluted, and the plot device Stern uses is a tried-and-true-Trek-type ending. Still, I enjoyed it for the two and a half hours it took to read.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Science Fiction! Review: I have to admit, I was surprised at how good this book is. The character and plot development are first rate, second to none. This was a rare page-turning novel for me, kept my interest almost all the way through, a great accomplishment indeed. The story concerns itself with a distress call in uncharted space which the Enterprise answers, and from there things get out of hand for a time. Lieutenant Malcolm Reed is the primary character in this story, author Dave Stern does an admirable job with him here. There are twists in the plot that will surprise you, and it is all believable and coherent, which a lot of science fiction lacks today. Well deserving of five stars, and well worth reading.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic!!! Review: I love Star Trek, Im a fan of the shows and have read several of the books, and this by FAR is the best Ive read yet. When I pick up a ST book, Im usually looking for a quick, fun, enjoyable read, but I dont really expect grand and glorious things. You see, once youve seen the shows and read the books you begin to see that it is usually the same plot line, just using different people or places. It gets hard after a while to find originality, not because the authors dont know what theyre doing, but because there are more books out there than new plot lines. And that is just fine, they are still great reads and I love it when I get a new ST book. What Price Honor? was completely different. I was hooked from the first page and it kept me guessing until the very, very end. That is refreshing, most of the time you figure out what is going to happen long before the characters do. But in this book there are so many twists and turns that you have no idea which way is up, let alone what is going to happen in the end. The book is focused around Lt. Malcolm Reed, and has all the elements of a great story, adventure (how does creeping through very ancient, very powerful technology, trying to prevent a war sound?), mystery (what would make a loyal member of the crew suddenly sabotage Enterprise, with the intent of starting a catastrophic galactic war?) and just enough romance to spice things up. The story is told through present action, what is happing in the now, and flashbacks that Reed must struggle with through out the entire book. The balance is wonderful; especially at the end as the line between memory and reality becomes increasing blurred. The characters are very believable, and the challenges they face are intense. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I highly recommend this book, it is a great read, one of the finer works out there, I hope to see more Enterprise work from this author.
Rating: Summary: Great Story Review: I think this the best of the Enterprise books so far and one of the best Star Trek books I have read. It has a good pace,plenty of action and enough explantions so that you always understand what is happening. This book is especially good for anyone who is a fan of the Malcolm Reed character. I do have one complaint and that is there are many errors in the book that anyone who is a regular viewer of the series will pickup on, I found the errors just slightly annoying but they didn't really detract from the story which is why I gave a five star rating.
Rating: Summary: Honor is Worth the Price! Review: I'd like to start off by saying I loved this book. Malcolm Reed is my favorite character and it was nice to see an entire adventure through his eyes and see a little more about his life and the way he thinks. The book did start off a little hard to read because it alternates between the Enterprise's current situation and flashbacks of Reed's that lead up to the present. Once I was able to sort that out it was enjoyable and easy to read and understand. The book focuses on Malcolm's relationship with one of the crewmen (or women in this case), how he deals with her, and how he approaches the war Enterprise walked in on between the Sarkassians and the Ta'alaat. I liked that more than seeing things from Archer's point of view because, while Archer is a great character, we always see things from his point of view and in this case at least, we needed an armory officer to uncover the secrets of the war, the strange behavior of his crewman and an ambassador, and make the necessary connections with a former tactical officer for the crew to discover what has been happening. It was also nice to see Malcolm make a connection with an alien who had a job similar to his in years gone by. The way the relationship between Malcolm and Roan was written was very believable and enjoyable. It was also nice that in the battle between the Sarkassians and Ta'alaat, there is no clear right or wrong and a few of the chracter's involved, including Roan, admit this. There is no easy solution to the war they've been fighting for generations and no quick solution by the end of the novel. That would be impossible. It is a good reminder of some of the situations we find ourselves in today where there won't be an easy solution no matter how hard we want there to be one, although Stern doesn't push any connection between the war Enterprise deals with and things in our own day. Nobody sounds preachy about anything, and while a few of the characters, like Archer and Trip, seem ready to back out of the situation because of its grey tones, Malcolm want to find out exactly how grey the sides are, tie up the ends Enterprise is involved in and then leave. He is realistic enough after talking to Roan a number of times to know not only is it not Enterprise's job to fix things, but that things are not going to be fixed with a simple intervention on their part. I also loved the surprise twist at the end that explained what had been going on! To me at least, it was believable and very cool. Of course I'm not going to give away the ending, to find out that you'll have to read the book yourself. I highly recommend this book to all Enterprise fans, especially fans of the so far under used Malcolm Reed.
Rating: Summary: Better than the first one Review: Now the the series has been on the air longer the author has done a better job of catching how the crew of the Enterprise act. Well written and good story plot.
Rating: Summary: Better than the first one Review: Now the the series has been on the air longer the author has done a better job of catching how the crew of the Enterprise act. Well written and good story plot.
Rating: Summary: Not bad, not bad at all... Review: So many Star Trek books really...well, they really aren't very good. It was a pleasure to read one where there was actually a bit of character development. As per other ST books, there are lots of typos, misspellings, and obvious spell-check grammar mistakes - can someone PLEASE actually read these books before they are published! But this writer is head and shoulders above other ST writers who are often barely readable. This novel was well written, had flow, and an interesting story. Worth $ for a paperback.
Rating: Summary: ST-Enterprise: What Price Honor? Review: Star Trek-Enterprise: What Price Honor? written by Dave Stern is another lack-luster book in the launch of the "Enterprise" series to coinside with the television episodes. This latest book called "What Price Honor? starts out with Captain Jonathan Archer mulling over writting the loved ones of a crew memeber Ensign Alana Hart who was killed in the line of duty aboard the Enterprise NX-01. Now than the Enterprise has been in space for around a year now, thing should be becoming routine. Ah, but this adventure is just getting started. You see, Lieutenant Malcomb Reed is Ensign Alana Reed's immediate superior and is the one who found Reed trying to sabotage the Enterprise. Now, why would a crew member be willing to sabatoge the Enterprise? This is where we get the major plot involving Reed and the war between two civilizations, the Sakassians and the Ta'alaat... but nothing seems as it is, but the crew of the Starship Enterprise don't realize this right away and there in lies the rub. I don't know if it is just me, but this story is missing something and I can't quite put my finger on it. The characters seem a tad flat and subdued. There isn't a dynamic quality a deep zeal to go where no man has gone before. The series Enterprise seem to be like a rat in a maze who hasn't found its way quite yet. This book follows the trend this year of writing book from the point of view of the crew and not the main character or Captain. While some authors seem to grasp this idea, Dave Stern has fallen a bit short with this effort. This book just doesn't show enough of the disciplined and cohesive crew unit. I gave it a 3 star rating just for this reason... the story just doesn't seem to gel and make a good book. This is a book if you want it fine, but I'd wait and pick it up at the library or a second hand book store. This is not one of TREK's best... and the authors writing for this series just haven't found the key to open the characters to a dynamic ACTION-ADVENTURE. This is average at best.
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