Do Comets Dream? (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Rating:
Summary: A great SF novel that happens to invade some of ST's turf
Review: The reviews here seem about even between loving it and hating it. But even those who hate it seem to agree that this isn't a typical Star Trek novel. It certainly seems to require a greater awareness of literature and allusion on the reader's part as well as a greater amount of reader participation. I would have to say bravo to the writer for imbuing some tired concepts with new color and new levels of metaphor. Of course, this book isn't up to the standard of the author's many award-winning literary fantasy and science fiction books, and the actual poltline appears to be "borrowed" from an episode in his long out of print "Inquestor Tetralogy". But it still has most of the author's trademark qualities. Enjoy the book for what it is!

Rating:
Summary: Misfire
Review: There is some potential in this novel, particularly with the discussion of Thanet's religious beliefs. That potential is lost amid a sea of ambiguity that detracts from the overall story. The writer could have done a better job with it but missed the opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: IDIC- old and new classic
Review: This book belongs in the children's' section - it reads like it was written for (and perhaps by) a 6th grader. It is clear that the author has no knowledge of the TNG characters beyond that of watching a few episodes. Their rich backgrounds and varied mannerisms in other books are reduced to caricatures of the characters - forget expansion of their stories, this is character contraction. This book started out bad, but just got worse. The destructive climax of the novel was resolved using a tired cliché, and the resolution evoked a deus-ex-machina solution that felt as bad as a reset-button trick. Forget saving your money - save the hours of your life that you are contemplating wasting with this load of garbage.

Rating:
Summary: I want the last 4 hours of my life back!
Review: This book belongs in the children's' section - it reads like it was written for (and perhaps by) a 6th grader. It is clear that the author has no knowledge of the TNG characters beyond that of watching a few episodes. Their rich backgrounds and varied mannerisms in other books are reduced to caricatures of the characters - forget expansion of their stories, this is character contraction. This book started out bad, but just got worse. The destructive climax of the novel was resolved using a tired cliché, and the resolution evoked a deus-ex-machina solution that felt as bad as a reset-button trick. Forget saving your money - save the hours of your life that you are contemplating wasting with this load of garbage.

Rating:
Summary: Not THAT bad
Review: This book was a slight disappointment to me because, based on the title and the back-of-the-book synopsis I expected a far more philosophical view at the problem of the day. It turned out however to be quite clear as to what was going to happen as well as what needed to happen. There were no dire consequences to the success of the story. What I mean by this is I was expecting this book to be a "if we don't find a solution there'll be HUGE trouble, if we find a solution there'll still be some trouble." There was also a part near the end where they went trough the holosuite history of a planet that I think lasted entirely too long. I still gave this 3 stars however, because once I was over the fact that it wasn't a philosophical story, I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

Rating:
Summary: Not THAT bad
Review: This book was a slight disappointment to me because, based on the title and the back-of-the-book synopsis I expected a far more philosophical view at the problem of the day. It turned out however to be quite clear as to what was going to happen as well as what needed to happen. There were no dire consequences to the success of the story. What I mean by this is I was expecting this book to be a "if we don't find a solution there'll be HUGE trouble, if we find a solution there'll still be some trouble." There was also a part near the end where they went trough the holosuite history of a planet that I think lasted entirely too long. I still gave this 3 stars however, because once I was over the fact that it wasn't a philosophical story, I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

Rating:
Summary: IDIC- old and new classic
Review: This is not a review. I wished to write just a small comment. I noticed the similarities with the classic old SF novel "The Stars like Dust". I do like to see old themes treated again in a different way and hopefully so do most people. This is after all how one defines "classic".

Rating:
Summary: Different but entertaining
Review: This is not your typical Star Trek: The Next Generation novel. The prose is more flowery, and the plot is straightforward and simple. Unfortunately some of the characterizations are out of place (i.e. "Picard would never say that!"). But the concept is an interesting one and overall I found myself enjoying this novel. It's an extremely quick read (2-3 hours) and has a satisfying conclusion. Pick this one up if you're looking for something new and different from the standard Trek line.

Rating:
Summary: One of the worst
Review: This is one of the worst Star Trek books I have ever read. The story was flat. It just seemed to go on and on. The characters were so poorly written that you just could not get into the story.

Rating:
Summary: stunning--full of color--real philosophy and poetry
Review: this is what star trek is really all about: serious issues discussed with meaningful, rich characterization. of course fans of somtow's work already know that he's a stunning writer who just won the world fantasy award. it's amazing to see these talents brought into the star trek novel-writing universe where even when the concepts are great the writing is sometimes shallow. people expecting the same old thing won't find it here. this is right up there with the old james blish star trek books