Rating: 
Summary: Gauntlet
Review: A Pirate called the White Wolf has been causing trouble and Picard; who is a green captain was expected to fail in his mission. With tornados in outer space and all types of unusual phenomena Picard tumbles and falls on his own mistakes in this one. What a great TV series this would make. It has a stucture similar to that of a two hour TV episode. It could easily fall in the yo ho ho pirate in space catergory but fun to read if you are a Star Trek fan.
Rating:
Summary: White Wolf 0 ......Picard 1 ....Picard's first command
Review: A Pirate called the White Wolf has been causing trouble and Picard; who is a green captain was expected to fail in his mission. With tornados in outer space and all types of unusual phenomena Picard tumbles and falls on his own mistakes in this one. What a great TV series this would make. It has a stucture similar to that of a two hour TV episode. It could easily fall in the yo ho ho pirate in space catergory but fun to read if you are a Star Trek fan.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst Star Trek Novel I've Ever Read
Review: According to the author the crew of the Stargazer are racist, liars, gullible, and plain stupid. The actual story doesn't begin until three-quarters of the way through the book. In the meantime we are exposed to the crew of the ship and their harrowing adventures, such as deciding whether to eat tuna salad or salmon. One character is a xeno-racist, but apparently so are many others since they laugh at the antics of the racist. The entire book is cardboard characters and mindless scenes. One of my favorite authors, Ben Bova, wrote a book about writing Science Fiction. In that book he states that an author needs to begin a story with some conflict to catch the readers attention. This book waits until chapter 16 to do anything. The only reason I kept reading is because I lost [money] on it. Summary: A blank journal provides a better story.
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Star Trek Novel I've Ever Read
Review: According to the author the crew of the Stargazer are racist, liars, gullible, and plain stupid. The actual story doesn't begin until three-quarters of the way through the book. In the meantime we are exposed to the crew of the ship and their harrowing adventures, such as deciding whether to eat tuna salad or salmon. One character is a xeno-racist, but apparently so are many others since they laugh at the antics of the racist. The entire book is cardboard characters and mindless scenes. One of my favorite authors, Ben Bova, wrote a book about writing Science Fiction. In that book he states that an author needs to begin a story with some conflict to catch the readers attention. This book waits until chapter 16 to do anything. The only reason I kept reading is because I lost [money] on it. Summary: A blank journal provides a better story.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Series
Review: I read The Valiant sometime ago and it was pretty good. Once I heard about a series on the Stargazer I knew it would be good. It turned out to be even better.
In this story we are at the beginning of Jean-Luc's career as a Captain. You can see how he is not being accepted since he is the youngest captain at 28. He has a good crew but some also feel a little out of place. To make matters worse he is frce to hunt a tough pirate that have eluded some of Starfleet's best.
The story has plenty of twist and turns but the best thing this book has is the character development from the Captain down to the lowest ensign. You will actually care how these guys will do. In the end, you see Jean-Luc grwoing up a little and you get to see the captain he will become.
Rating:
Summary: Even Younger Than Captain Kirk
Review: I recently read the book that described the first mission ever commanded by the Captain that will always come to mind first, Captain James T. Kirk, and his starship The Enterprise. Even though I have been a fan of the various television series and the movies that have followed, the book I mention was the first Star Trek novel I had ever read. The author was familiar to me as she had written for the Star Wars series, and the decision to try Star Trek in book form was a rewarding one. Several generations later an even younger Captain would take the helm of his first starship, a captain who would also one day command a newer Enterprise, but before he did, his first command would be The Stargazer. Captain Jean Luc Picard may be even more familiar to people who came to Star Trek during its renaissance as opposed to the original series in the 1960's, or the almost continuous availability of the original in syndication. Both captains were very young and both came to their commands through tragedy of varying degrees at very young ages, which made their ability to command all the more of a trial. Their first missions could not have been more different, the former involving one of the legendary, "First Contacts", and this one of Captain Picard's involving the theme of, "everything is not what it seems", a task riddled with deceptions, and a crew that is far from ideal, and intentionally structured that way. Familiar themes like The Prime Directive are here, as well as a very young captain who would go on to become a legend just like his predecessor in the first Enterprise. There are a variety of life-forms that are new, and one that requires a containment suit to function that is as interesting as any being to appear in the television series or the films. I should note I read this in an E-Book format, a method of accessing books that I have used previously when that was the only form that was offered. I now have a LCD screen that is much easier on the eyes for extended reading, so going through this 275 page book in the Microsoft E-Reader format was no more difficult than a traditional book. The one obvious constraint was that I remain in front of the screen. E-Books can be an excellent value, and with the new formats of hardware appearing it will no longer be required that you sit at your computer, simply taking the screen with you is all that will be needed. There is also a PDA version that can be downloaded for these books, and of course laptops go wherever cords or batteries allow. I have already ordered the next in this series, and again in E-Book form. I think they are a great way to economically enjoy books, and I will happily trade mobility of the written word for not having to venture outside in the frigid weather, or wait for UPS to bring the traditional format to my door. I am not prepared to make the switch without exception. It is not yet possible, and even if it were I still want the traditional book the vast majority of the time. But E-Books have a place, and if you have yet to try one, I suggest that you do.
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Summary: Continuing the adventures of the U.S.S. Stargazer
Review: If you are into learning more about the history of Captain Picard, this is a good book to read. Gauntlet picks up shortly after the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel "Valiant". In Gauntlet, Captain Picard has to deal with various issues, including other captains who doubt that he merits the command of a starship, new crewmembers, and a Starfleet Admiral who is determined to force him out of the captain's chair of the Stargazer. Gauntlet is a faced paced novel that will hold the interest of any Star Trek lover.
Rating:
Summary: Continuing the adventures of the U.S.S. Stargazer
Review: If you are into learning more about the history of Captain Picard, this is a good book to read. Gauntlet picks up shortly after the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel "Valiant". In Gauntlet, Captain Picard has to deal with various issues, including other captains who doubt that he merits the command of a starship, new crewmembers, and a Starfleet Admiral who is determined to force him out of the captain's chair of the Stargazer. Gauntlet is a faced paced novel that will hold the interest of any Star Trek lover.
Rating:
Summary: Adventures of a young Jean-Luc Picard in 2 Stargazer novels
Review: In May 2002, Pocket Books published Michael Jan Friedman's Gauntlet and Progenitor, two novels set in the first year of Jean-Luc Picard's command of the USS Stargazer. It is over 30 years before his adventures as captain of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation and thus we have a Picard who is still urbane and cultured, but still a relatively unseasoned starship commander. We meet again Picard's weapons officer, Lieutenant Vigo (introduced in the ST:TNG episode "The Battle"). As well, we are reintroduced to Picard's command staff who served with him for 20 years and more (shades of Kirk and his command staff): Gilaad Ben Zoma, his impulsive first officer; chief medical officer Carter Greyhorse, who is better at dealing with lab equipment than with people; earnest security chief Peter "Pug" Joseph; Idun and Gerda Asmund, twin sisters (humans raised by Klingons) who are the primary helm and navigation officers, respectively; and Phigus Simenon, the curmudgeonly chief engineer and member of the Gnalish species (think Jack Klugman crossed with a velociraptor). These characters were all first introduced 11 years ago in Friedman's novel Reunion and have also appeared in The First Virtue (Friedman's contribution to the "Double Helix" series, co-written with Christie Golden), Requiem and last year's The Valiant. In Gauntlet, Picard is tasked with stopping the pirate known as the White Wolf. An ambitious admiral has given Picard this choice assignment on the assumption that he will fail and his new captaincy made a lauging stock. The White Wolf turns out to be something totally other than what Picard has expected. In Progenitor, chief engineer Simenon returns to the Gnalish homeworld - accompanied by several Stargazer officers -- to undergo a time-honored ritual that will determine the continuation of his bloodline. A comparison between this plot and the TOS episode "Amok Time" is inevitable, but it's an intriguing take on an old plot. Among the new characters introduced in these novels are Juanita Valderrama, a middle-aged chief science officer whose complacency in her career leads her to an unwise choice; Joe Caber, scion of a Starfleet family, whose kindness towards some of his fellow officers doesn't offset some nasty personality traits; Martin Paxton, the Stargazer's chief of communications; Elizabeth Wu, a by-the-book second officer who is reminiscent of Commander Shelby from TNG "The Best of Both Worlds"; Jiterica, a young ensign of the low-density humanoid Nizhrak species who wears a containment suit while aboard Stargazer; Obal, a comical-looking Binderian engineer (he resembles a plucked bird and I visualized Daffy Duck on Prozac) who becomes the target of another officer's bigotry; and Dikembe Ulelo, a newly-transferred communications officer with a hidden agenda. Also appearing are relatives of Star Trek: Voyager characters (I won't spoil it for you by telling you who). I enjoyed both novels. The 70-year "interregnum" between the events of Star Trek: Generations' prologue (set in 2293) and ST:TNG is still largely unexplored territory. Absent a television or movie series set during those years, a book series that fills in some of the gaps is very welcome. Friedman's handling of the gaps in the tapestry of Star Trek history is deft and fun to read. Each novel contains portents of plotlines for future Star Trek: Stargazer novels, which I anticipate with enthusiasm.
Rating:
Summary: STARGAZER, Engage!
Review: Michael Jan Friedman's new Star Trek Stargazer series promises a lot of potential with this first book. Jean-Luc Picard has only recently received a battlefield promotion to captain. Admiral McAteer, newly assigned to the Star Fleet sector, is out to make a name for himself, and he's also dead-set against accepting Picard as a captain. As an effort to scuttle the young captain's career, McAteer assigns Picard to apprehend the elusive White Wolf, a pirate that seems to be more ghost that flesh and blood. In a further effort to sabotoge Picard's command, McAteer places new crewmembers aboard Stargazer: people that are young and untried, people that have obvious problems that will interfere with the command and performance of the starship and the mission. A Star Trek author of considerable talent, skill, and experience, Friedman's newest series came from two earlier entries in the adventures of the young Jean-Luc Picard: Star Trek Nex Generation: VALIANT and Double Helix: THE FIRST VIRTUE. The author has also contributed to Star Trek Starfleet Year One, Star Trek the Original Series, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, as well as several mini-series within the franchise. He also wrote the only Star Trek Next Generation/X-Men crossover. Other novels spawned from comic book properties include a Fantastic Four adventure: THE REDEMPTION OF THE SILVER SURFER, Superman novels, and X-Men novels. There are at least two Justice League novels for young readers coming up, based on the hit cartoon series. He's also a contributor to the Wishbone adventures, displaying a versatility and wide interest. In GAUNTLET, Friedman really hits his stride. The book reads like a television episode, fast-paced with quick scenes that make the pages seem to turn themselves. Besides the overall problem of dealing with what is admittedly the most wily and elusive pirate plaguing Starfleet at the time, Friedman presents a host of character-based problems. The characters deal with these problems both internally and externally, in true Star Trek tradition. The author is clearly at home dealing with character stretches as he is at detailing battle scenes. This was a exemplary exhibition of an introduction to a great new series, with lots of promise to come. Although the identity of the White Wolf had to be kept secret, there should have been a little more information on him. Otherwise, the White Wolf and his coterie should have been kept off the stage completely. The ultimate secret of why the White Wolf was in place there seemed to come out of left fied. Also, the resolution of some of the characters, although coming in Book Two from the looks of things, made the read feel like some things were left undone. Still, this is going to be an epic story, so they will probably still get tied up. However, at least a cursory confrontation between Picard and McAteer would have been nice to see. This book is definitely for the Star Trek fans. Readers will get a brand new ship, a new crew, and a younger version of one of the best Starfleet captains ever to helm a ship. If new readers have hesitated about trying to read one of the other series because so many volumes have been published about the crews of those ships, GAUNTLET is an excellent place to start, a new team in the licensed franchise to root for.
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