Rating: Summary: STV 10 Bless the Beasts - Fraught with unrealized potential! Review: Star Trek Voyager #10 "Bless the Beasts" is author Karen Haber's one and only Star Trek novel. The end result of this novel may be the primary reason that she only visited this genre this one time. Just as with many of the other early novels, this novel is plagued with some of the same tired plot device; Voyager's on her own and in need of supplies and repairs. While the basic premise of Star Trek Voyager itself demands such plot devices, which were used in the episodes quite frequently and too frequently in many Voyager novels, there were many different avenues that could've been taken without consistently focusing on this one.While the basic premise of "Bless the Beasts" was a very good one, the execution of the story was not. The characterizations are off and the pacing of the novel unfortunately leaves much to be desired, all resulting in a novel that is fraught with unrealized potential and an unsatisfying read. The one minor saving grace is that at far too late in the novel, it does come together for a respectable ending. Just as with many of the other Star Trek Voyager novels from the time when this one was published, the cover art is fairly decent. The premise: Captain Janeway and crew find themselves once again in the position of being in desperate need of repairs and they come across a planet they find to be named Sardalia. The inhabitants at first seem to be friendly and are living on a planet blessed with natural beauty. It's not long before Captain Janeway finds that the hospitality being extended by the Sardalians is a bit too generous and then Lieutenant Tom Paris and Ensign Harry Kim disappear. Captain Janeway soon finds that the situation is untenable as they discover the planet is in the midst of a planetary war and that she must face a moral dilemma... What follows from there is, as stated above, a story that is fraught with potential that quickly becomes unrealized as the author takes the novel in directions that just do not capture the reader. Overall, I would recommend the novel to only those, like myself, that are collector's/completists, not those looking for a Star Trek "starter" novel as this is most certainly not a novel that represents the quality possessed by a majority of the Star Trek novels. {ssintrepid}
Rating: Summary: STV 10 Bless the Beasts - Fraught with unrealized potential! Review: Star Trek Voyager #10 "Bless the Beasts" is author Karen Haber's one and only Star Trek novel. The end result of this novel may be the primary reason that she only visited this genre this one time. Just as with many of the other early novels, this novel is plagued with some of the same tired plot device; Voyager's on her own and in need of supplies and repairs. While the basic premise of Star Trek Voyager itself demands such plot devices, which were used in the episodes quite frequently and too frequently in many Voyager novels, there were many different avenues that could've been taken without consistently focusing on this one. While the basic premise of "Bless the Beasts" was a very good one, the execution of the story was not. The characterizations are off and the pacing of the novel unfortunately leaves much to be desired, all resulting in a novel that is fraught with unrealized potential and an unsatisfying read. The one minor saving grace is that at far too late in the novel, it does come together for a respectable ending. Just as with many of the other Star Trek Voyager novels from the time when this one was published, the cover art is fairly decent. The premise: Captain Janeway and crew find themselves once again in the position of being in desperate need of repairs and they come across a planet they find to be named Sardalia. The inhabitants at first seem to be friendly and are living on a planet blessed with natural beauty. It's not long before Captain Janeway finds that the hospitality being extended by the Sardalians is a bit too generous and then Lieutenant Tom Paris and Ensign Harry Kim disappear. Captain Janeway soon finds that the situation is untenable as they discover the planet is in the midst of a planetary war and that she must face a moral dilemma... What follows from there is, as stated above, a story that is fraught with potential that quickly becomes unrealized as the author takes the novel in directions that just do not capture the reader. Overall, I would recommend the novel to only those, like myself, that are collector's/completists, not those looking for a Star Trek "starter" novel as this is most certainly not a novel that represents the quality possessed by a majority of the Star Trek novels. {ssintrepid}
Rating: Summary: Not bad, but could be better Review: The book, is not so bad, but some characters are no so good. Tom and Kim are too childish, they don't even think before to act. A new world, and they eat native food, they don't try it, they eat it right away. They go everywhere, even alone. Well, the plot is ok, it is fast, but their character are naives.
Rating: Summary: Great job! Review: This was a very interesting book. There wasn't much suspense. The moral dilema was pretty well explored and it added some more perspective on Harry and Tom's friendship. Captain Janeway broke the prime directive a little but, it was for a good cause. People who are enviromentalists will like it
Rating: Summary: One of the Best Review: When I finished this book I found it very exciting and enjoyable. I recomend it highly.
Rating: Summary: Is this book a Blessing...or a Curse? Review: When I picked up Bless the Beasts, I have to say I expected a bit more than the book delivered. The plot was all right; rather predictable, but interesting. However, there was little else that was "all right" about this book. The writing was flat and to me, seemed as though the author was trying far too hard to write well, and in the end just managed to write badly. If you like a book that you don't have to think about, then this is for you. However, if you actually like a little content in your books, don't read this.
|