Rating: 
Summary: Author: Peter David. 'Nuff said. Wahoo!
Review: I've read the eight reviews here already, and there's just isn't much more I can add. I gave this book a 4-star rating instead of a 5, simply because I wanted more right away! Thankfully, I'm getting it as I read book #10 ("Renaissance"), but I fear I'll be left hanging until "Restoration" comes out in paperback. This is not necessarily a complaint.I love everything about the New Frontier universe. The characters (and their complex develoment), the lack of worry about TV canon, and the fiendishly delightful plots. Peter's got me on this series, but good.
Rating: 
Summary: 1/2 the characters & no ship makes for 1/2 a book.
Review: It's pretty hard to argue that 'The New Frontier' series by Peter David is one of the most innovative inductions into the Star Trek Franchise. His characters and situations are very energetic and fun and is a great change of pace from those characters we are all too familiar with in movies and syndicated shows. Requiem, the 9th book in this stand alone series had high expectations for me but fell flat. Mr. David is a very talented writer and I truly enjoyed the 1st 8 adventures of the Excalibur team. There was a great cliffhanger at the end of 8 which left us fans salivating for the newest installment. How did the Excalibur end? What would become of the crew? You anticipated that perhaps a new ship was in order, or that the characters would all return and band together for a new adventure....maybe even look for McKenzie. But this doesn't happen. Instead we move forward a period of time and spend the first few chapters watching our characters reflect on their last mission and previous captain in a bar. While the lamenting may be good, it was a bit overdone, and we all know the Excalibur will probably be back in a future book. This novel is complete filler material. There is no overall story here or goal. Instead Peter David takes half of the characters we know and assigns them shorts stories that changes with every chapter. Perhaps will enjoy some extra character development, but this is a much different approach from what most Trek fans expect. First up is Si Cwan and his sister Kalinda, who are off to find the murderer of their beloved teacher. The end is never resolved but will continue in #10 I presume. Secondly, Kebron and McHenry form an unusual pair of undercover Starfleet operatives who 1st assignment is to bust some unruly cadets in a throwback to a humorous X-Files episode. I missed the chemistry between Si Cwan and Kebron. The only good part of this story was that there are some more mysteries that surround McHenry, and they run into the prankster 'Q' who as always adds fun dialogue to whomever he addresses. Finally, the most riveting story with a good twist near the end is that of Soleta. We learn a great deal about her origin, and I personally think that this could be an expanded stand alone novel all by itself. I think this was the saving grace for this book. So you can expect more solo stories in the next installment with the following: Robin, Morgan, Burgoyne, Selar, etc. As I have already began reading 10 as I write this review, I can say that I am finding it much better than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Peter David delivers
Review: Peter David's "New Frontier" series is easily the best thing to happen to the Star Trek franchise in years. In a time in which Voyager is mired down in dull plots and a lack of character development, David is following the Trek credo and exploring "strange new worlds" with his series of novel. The New Frontier books have always been about finding the perfect blend of gripping plots, humorous moments and superlative character development. And just when you think you've got it all figured out and are getting comfortable, David pulls the rug out from under you. Such is the case with the latest novel. At the end of the last book, David ended with the destruction of the starship Excaliber. The novel picks up several weeks after the destruction of the ship and finds the crew in a mandatory "cooling down" period before they are given new assignemts--all except Shelby who uses the Excaliber's destruction to force Starfleet to give her what she's always wanted--command of her own. After a lengthy scene in which the surviving regulars (everyone but Calhoun) commiserate on the ship and say farewell, the book takes off in several directions--all of them intriguing. One is a lightweight one featuring McHenry and Kebron going to a backwater planet to stop a series of practical jokes pulled by Starfleet ensigns (they convince the natives that aliens are attacking by doing such typical things as using flashing lights and tipping cows). Along the way, the stumble across something far more insidious--an old foe from TNG is back...but to tell who would be to ruin it all. Next up, Si Cwan's sister Kalenda is haunted by dreams of the death of their teacher and Si Cwan swears vengeance. Add to it the book's best plotline--Soleta finding out the Romulan who raped her mother and is her biological father has been set free and how she confronts him and the news that he's dying. The scene in which Soleta confronts him for the first time is chilling and complusively readable. You can almost feel the book getting heavier in your hands as you read it and the temperature in the room get colder. It's that good. All in all, David gives each of the plots balance and a great deal of depth and interest. The pages fly by as everything spirals out of control into the final pages in which you find out that not everything can or will be resolve in one book. As with all the best books of a series, this one leaves you with more questions than answers and leaves you utterly begging for more. For my fellow reader who complained that you don't find out why the Excaliber is destroyed, keep reading. The explanation will come to you soon enough and it's certainly shocking. A must-read for any Star Trek fan out there. This is Trek at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Adventures of the Excalibur Crew, Part 1
Review: Requiem is the first of three books about the crew of the Excalibur following its explosion and the death of the charismatic maverick captain MacKenzie Calhoun. After a brief get-together, the crew members go their separate ways. Soleta goes home to Vulcan to see her father on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of her mother's death and learns some shocking news, leading her to the moon Titan. Zak Kebron and McHenry become detectives, investigating strange happenings on a world not yet ready to join the Federation. There is a surprise guest appearance which I refuse to spoil and a fascinating revelation or two about some of the characters. I read this in a couple of hours, so it's a good fast read you won't want to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Auuuuugh!!!
Review: Spoiler Alert! This book is an excellent continuation of the New Frontier series, with one exception: Peter David doesn't explain WHY the Excaliber blew up! And I wanna know! UGH! Anyway, other than that one flaw, the book is an excellent further study into the lives of the characters after the destruciton of the Excaliber. The book primarily explores Soleta, McHenry & Zac Kebron's post-Excaliber adventures. But the beginning does give some interesting new insight into Commander Shelby as well. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: New frontier on the New Frontier
Review: The "New Frontier" series of Star Trek books is generally a step above the other Star Trek books, mainly because it focuses on mostly original characters (and the characters that aren't original were only seen in an episode or two of the Next Generation series). Thus, Peter David can do anything he wants to do with them, as long as the universe itself doesn't change (thus, he can't destroy the Federation or anything). This is a definite plus in a line of books where the stories can start to sound the same. The fact that Peter David created and is writing all of the books in the series is even more of a plus. I have always loved his writing, whether it's his comics or his books. Number 9 in the series, "Requiem," is a good example of this quality. It's the first book of a 3-book miniseries within the New Frontier line. The Excalibur has been destroyed, and its crew is back on Earth learning to deal with it. They have lost their captain in that explosion, the captain that held these disparate personalities together as a unit, sometimes by sheer force of personality. The crew is going through the "cooling-off" period that crews must go through when their ships are destroyed. The beginning of the book consists of a meeting between the entire crew at a bar, where they drown their sorrows a little bit. Then, the book branches off to follow three of the crew members: Soleta, the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan science officer; Si Cwan, the Thallonian ambassador that had been traveling aboard the Excalibur assisting it in its mission; and Kebron & McHenry, the security officer and helm officer respectively. Soleta's story consists of her going to find the man who raped her mother, thus resulting in Soleta's birth. This quest brings her new realizations about herself, especially her half-breed legacy. Si Cwan and his sister have to find the killer of Si Cwan's former instructor, after his sister dreams of his death. The dream turns out to be a perfect image of the truth. Finally, Kebron and McHenry go to a backward planet (where nobody has ever heard of space travel) to discover why some people are apparently being abducted by aliens. David switches between these plots effortlessly, usually ending the chapter on a cliffhanger, unless the next chapter is also about the same character. Soleta's plot is the most interesting, as her voyage is almost one of self-discovery. She tracks down her biological father, ready to hate him, but she finds herself coming to respect him. He's apparently reformed, and he's dying. The relationship grows and lives with David's writing of it. There are plenty of surprises in store, though, so don't think you'll be able to predict how it ends. The other two plots aren't quite as interesting. I've never really cared for the Si Cwan character, so his subplot, at least for me, was just marking time until we could get back to Soleta. There were a couple of funny moments in there, but overall, it just dragged the rest of the story down. I don't really remember his sister (it's been awhile since I've read the previous book), but she didn't really do much for me in this book. She has some sort of prescient dream ability that she has no control over, but otherwise she's a bit of a cipher. Overall, when David came to this plot, I wished he'd go back to one of the others. Unfortunately, this story is the only one that doesn't come to completion, which means we're going to get more of it soon. The alien abduction storyline wasn't much better, and had a resolution that just made me groan (and not in pleasure). It has to be seen to be believed. However, it was saved by the humor. Kebron is a very droll character, and he's very set in his ways. He's also very direct. He won't pull any punches in what he says. The reactions of other characters to this is just priceless. McHenry's character is not quite as interesting, but his interaction with Kebron is very good. It's too bad that the plot ended this way, because otherwise it would have been the standout of the book. As it is, though, Soleta's story is the only one that holds together until the end. Overall, the book is very good, though. David's writing and humor save the book where it starts to drag. Only a couple of "now wait just a minute" moments detract from it. Otherwise, it'd be a 5 star book.
Rating: 
Summary: Life after Excalibur for Soleta, McHenry, Kebron, etc.
Review: The USS Excalibur has blown up in between books 8 and 9 in the Star Trek New Frontier series by Peter David, and in "Requiem" the crew try to get on with their lives after the apparent death of their captain. "Requiem" is the first book in a trilogy that looks at individual crewmembers as they deal with their own adventures and personal crises. In this volume the focus is on Soleta, who tracks down the Romulan whose rape of her mother resulted in her birth, McHenry and Kebron, who go undercover to investigate alien abductions on a strange world, and Si Cwan and Kalinda, who are dealing with the death of one of their teachers. David juggles the plot lines, which are successfully resolved to varying degrees and which raise some new questions about our merry little band. However, what ultimately stands out in "Requiem" is not so much the stories or the exploration of the characters as the author's fabled dry humor. By the time one of the minor characters was echoing Newt's words from "Aliens," I found all the humor was starting to wear a bit thin. Peter David has been one of my favorite Star Trek authors since "A Rock and a Hard Place," and I certainly would agree that his humor is one of his strengths. But it works best when it is focused on one key character and not on absolutely everybody in the story. As for the decision to blow up the Excalibur this early in the New Frontier series, the jury is still out on that one as I await the next installment of this particular Star Trek soap opera.
Rating:
Summary: Life for the Excalibur crew after Excalibur blows up
Review: The USS Excalibur has blown up in between books 8 and 9 in the Star Trek New Frontier series by Peter David, and in "Requiem" the crew try to get on with their lives after the apparent death of their captain. "Requiem" is the first book in a trilogy that looks at individual crewmembers as they deal with their own adventures and personal crises. In this volume the focus is on Soleta, who tracks down the Romulan whose rape of her mother resulted in her birth, McHenry and Kebron, who go undercover to investigate alien abductions on a strange world, and Si Cwan and Kalinda, who are dealing with the death of one of their teachers. David juggles the plot lines, which are successfully resolved to varying degrees and which raise some new questions about our merry little band. However, what ultimately stands out in "Requiem" is not so much the stories or the exploration of the characters as the author's fabled dry humor. By the time one of the minor characters was echoing Newt's words from "Aliens," I found all the humor was starting to wear a bit thin. Peter David has been one of my favorite Star Trek authors since "A Rock and a Hard Place," and I certainly would agree that his sense of humor in the context of specific characters is one of his strengths. But it works best when it is focused on one key character and not on absolutely everybody in the story. As for the decision to blow up the Excalibur this early in the New Frontier series, the jury is still out on that one. We will just have to reserve judgment until we download the next episode of this particular Star Trek soap opera.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this series!
Review: There's not much more I can add to the previous reviews, but I wanted to echo the fact that New Frontier is indeed one of the best things to happen to the Star Trek Universe in years. The characters are, far and above, the most interesting and eclectic group ever presented in a Trek series. I doubt it will happen, but I would love to see the new TV series based on this crew and ship. As for this book: Very good and full of surprises. Peter David pulled out all the stops on this one! I also admit to being slightly annoyed by the lack of information on how the Excalibur was destroyed, and exactly how Captain Calhoun was supposed to have died (I say "supposed" because it seems fairly certain that Calhoun will have at least as many spare lives as Kirk has had). A great read! I highly recommend this book and all the others in the series. And I want to emphasize that this IS a series; if you don't read them all from the beginning, you'll be at a significant disadvantage in understanding the story line and character interactions.
Rating:
Summary: Three sub-plots in search of a plot.
Review: This is easily the worst novel by Peter David I've ever read. He is generally a fine author, particularly of Star Trek novels (which is where I am familiar with his work, for the most part.) In this "New Frontier" series, generally, the only complaint that I've had has been the "to be continued" non-endings. This book continues that tradition, but I can't really complain, considering that there isn't really any plot to be continued; I've never objected to sub-plots being continued from one book to the next, and sub-plots are all this book has. Further, it seems a bit much when things as major as the destruction of the Excalibur and the apparent death of Captain Calhoun happen "offscreen"; book #8 ended with the teaser the the ship was going to blow up in five minutes; this book begins with the command crew, minus Captain Calhoun, gathering for a "Requiem" weeks later. I thought at first that perhaps the book was being told in flashback mode, and we'd eventually be clued in on what happened, but that never happened. I'm left to assume that there was another story, not part of the numbered sequence, which details the destruction of the ship, but nowhere in the book that I can find (certainly not on the back cover blurb, or anywhere in the text of the story) are we told what book that might be, what book this is a sequel to. It's not the "New Frontier" entry in the "Gateways" series; that book was written the year after this one was, and clearly happens after this one does. Sloppy. What's worse, the sub-plots themselves aren't really up to David's usual standards; both Soleta and McHenry seem oddly out of character. Granted, the actual writing itself is still managed with a fairly deft touch; David is still capable of crafting a compelling story. But this book just seemed sloppy on a number a levels. I got the impression that David had gotten bored with the direction he'd been taking his characters, and decided to play games with them for amusement, much the way "Q" (who puts in a cameo here, by the way) would play games with lesser beings just because he could.
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