Rating: 
Summary: Great start to a new series
Review: Paramount is always looking to expand the Star Trek universe. Normally this is do to increase the amount of dollars generated by the franchise. Sometimes the result is not worth the effort -- the Gateways crossover, for example. The multi-part novels which in the past would be compressed into one novel (Gemworld) is also another recent idea to capitalize on the Star Trek phenomenon. On the other hand, some of their ideas are worth the effort. The new Stargazer series written by Michael Jan Friedman, at least early on, seems to be worthwhile."Gauntlet" is the first book in the new series that continues from the story told in "The Valiant". This series tells of the early days of Jean Luc Picard as a captain. Being the youngest ever at 28, even younger than James T. Kirk, is part of the intrigue surrounding the character. Basically Picard is thrown into the captain's role before he, and most others, feel he is ready. Picard is asked to capture a rogue pirate named the White Wolf. The pirate has eluded Starfleet's efforts at capture in the past, so Picard is instructed to succeed where others failed. However, the Admiral has other plans. He wants Picard to fail as a captain, so he sends him on an impossible quest, complete with seven new crew members. Eventually the crew begins to act as a unit and the chase to apprehend the White Wolf begins. Friedman does a good job of introducing the mulitude of new characters. Some of them are intriguing, whereas others should have been omitted. One of those eventually doesn't make the cut which is fortunate. The story, while half is character development, is effective in helping to create a new area in the Star Trek universe. The ending, as noted before, is a bit quirky in that Picard's decision is not typical Picard. Then again, these are Picard's early days and the Prime Directive, the "rules" that must be followed by Starfleet, is again shown to have its fallacies. Overall, this is one of the better recent Star Trek novels and a great start to the beginning of a new era in the Star Trek universe.
Rating:
Summary: Great start to a new series
Review: Paramount is always looking to expand the Star Trek universe. Normally this is do to increase the amount of dollars generated by the franchise. Sometimes the result is not worth the effort -- the Gateways crossover, for example. The multi-part novels which in the past would be compressed into one novel (Gemworld) is also another recent idea to capitalize on the Star Trek phenomenon. On the other hand, some of their ideas are worth the effort. The new Stargazer series written by Michael Jan Friedman, at least early on, seems to be worthwhile. "Gauntlet" is the first book in the new series that continues from the story told in "The Valiant". This series tells of the early days of Jean Luc Picard as a captain. Being the youngest ever at 28, even younger than James T. Kirk, is part of the intrigue surrounding the character. Basically Picard is thrown into the captain's role before he, and most others, feel he is ready. Picard is asked to capture a rogue pirate named the White Wolf. The pirate has eluded Starfleet's efforts at capture in the past, so Picard is instructed to succeed where others failed. However, the Admiral has other plans. He wants Picard to fail as a captain, so he sends him on an impossible quest, complete with seven new crew members. Eventually the crew begins to act as a unit and the chase to apprehend the White Wolf begins. Friedman does a good job of introducing the mulitude of new characters. Some of them are intriguing, whereas others should have been omitted. One of those eventually doesn't make the cut which is fortunate. The story, while half is character development, is effective in helping to create a new area in the Star Trek universe. The ending, as noted before, is a bit quirky in that Picard's decision is not typical Picard. Then again, these are Picard's early days and the Prime Directive, the "rules" that must be followed by Starfleet, is again shown to have its fallacies. Overall, this is one of the better recent Star Trek novels and a great start to the beginning of a new era in the Star Trek universe.
Rating:
Summary: Gauntlet is a wonderful read
Review: Prolific Star Trek author Michael Jan Friedman has a definate hit on his hands with Gauntlet. We have a book that is somewhat different from Mike Friedman's usual fare. We have a book whose story is character driven. There are no galaxy saving adventures, just people learning to know each other and trying to do the best that they can. Some succeed whereas others fail just as in real life. The story revolves around Picard being assigned to track down and capture a pirate. In the course of doing this we are introduced to some engaging new characters. Some remain at the end of the book while others are sent packing. The book is quick paced and never gets boring and is almost impossible to put down once you begin reading it. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Characters and all new adventures
Review: Setting: USS Stargazer under the command of newly promoted, 28 year old Jean Luc Picard. These are the all new adventures of a crew created by author Michael Jan Friedman. The characters and their interactions make the story. Friedman writes a with a tight, descriptive style. An adventure you relish, with characters you can't help but get caught up with.
Rating:
Summary: ST: Stargazer - Gauntlet
Review: Star Trek-Stargazer: Gauntlet is written by Michael Jan Friedman about an all new adventure of Captain Picard's first command. As we read on in this book, we see that this series is a continuation of the ST: TNG book "The Valiant" where Jean-Luc Picard receives a field promotion to captain. Now, Picard is a twenty-eight year old, inexperienced, and has detractors in Starfleet command... namely Admiral McAteer who doesn't like the upstart and gives Picard a mission to find and capture the White Wolf. Picard has found that he is the youngest person to achieve the captancy... younger than the indomitable James T. Kirk. The White Wolf is an elusive character and has seemed to slip away from Starfleets best. Hiding in a Lazarus star system called Beta Barritus he has pirated and has been wreaking havoc in and around several sectors of space. I found this book to be character driven, therefore, no great battle scenes, not a lot of galactic heroism, just good old character developement. Admiral McAteer has foisted upon Picard some interesting characters with problems. These problems are resolved through the adventure and we find that, as with life itelf, some of these characters make the grade as others do not. The characters make this book along with their interactions with each other and make an enlightening read. If you have read "The Valiant" great, but if you haven't, that is where you need to start this all new series. Of course, it is not manditory that you do... as this is a stand alone story, but for back ground it will help. The author's descriptive narritive and easy writing style make this book a real page turner. Oh, ol' Boothby makes a cameo. It will be interesting to see how this new series will play out... it has some very interesting and fascinating possibilities.
Rating:
Summary: ST: Stargazer - Gauntlet
Review: Star Trek-Stargazer: Gauntlet is written by Michael Jan Friedman about an all new adventure of Captain Picard's first command. As we read on in this book, we see that this series is a continuation of the ST: TNG book "The Valiant" where Jean-Luc Picard receives a field promotion to captain. Now, Picard is a twenty-eight year old, inexperienced, and has detractors in Starfleet command... namely Admiral McAteer who doesn't like the upstart and gives Picard a mission to find and capture the White Wolf. Picard has found that he is the youngest person to achieve the captancy... younger than the indomitable James T. Kirk. The White Wolf is an elusive character and has seemed to slip away from Starfleets best. Hiding in a Lazarus star system called Beta Barritus he has pirated and has been wreaking havoc in and around several sectors of space. I found this book to be character driven, therefore, no great battle scenes, not a lot of galactic heroism, just good old character developement. Admiral McAteer has foisted upon Picard some interesting characters with problems. These problems are resolved through the adventure and we find that, as with life itelf, some of these characters make the grade as others do not. The characters make this book along with their interactions with each other and make an enlightening read. If you have read "The Valiant" great, but if you haven't, that is where you need to start this all new series. Of course, it is not manditory that you do... as this is a stand alone story, but for back ground it will help. The author's descriptive narritive and easy writing style make this book a real page turner. Oh, ol' Boothby makes a cameo. It will be interesting to see how this new series will play out... it has some very interesting and fascinating possibilities.
Rating:
Summary: Gauntlet
Review: The young Captain Jean Luc Picard accepts a dangerous assignment: to capture the terrorist called the White Wolf, who has been raiding Federation shipping. And even when the mission is revealed as a trap, Picard presses home his mission.
Rating:
Summary: A spledid beginning!
Review: There were many things I liked about this book. One of them is Jiterica, a crewmember who is very alien. I found this character to be very interesting. She wasn't foused on much, but there were many characters introduced. That's another thing I really liked. I expected the book to only expand on the known Stargazer characters, but several more were introduced. What a great setup for the series. So many directions to go. Who knows where Michael Jan Friedman will take us now? The scope of the mission was appropriate. Not a galaxy threatening crisis, but rather a nice little mission for the new captain, but with a twist. The focus on character was particularly enjoyable. From admirals to lower deck types, this book covered quite a range of views. I loved the differing perspectives that were presented. Overall, a great opening to a very promising series. I have no idea where Progenitor (the next book in the series) will go. Most Star Trek books can be fairly predictable, but Pocketbooks' original Trek forays solve this problem and no where is it done better than it was in Gauntlet .
Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down
Review: This is far and away one of the best "Star Trek" novels I've ever read. Character development is excellent, and the characters are all so interesting that I didn't find myself missing the crew of the Enterprise-D at all. I did, however, have to dock this book one star for an anti-climatic ending that I felt had Captain Picard behaving in an *extremely* out of character way.
Rating:
Summary: Great Trek Novel/Series
Review: This is the first book of the Stargazer series, but the series actually got a start by M. J. Friedman in ST:TNG Valiant. That was the first one I read. Afterwards I started on this series and found each one was just as good and on par with one another, my favorites being Valiant and Gauntlet. Gauntlet in particular does start off slow, but after the events of Valiant has some serious groundwork to lay. This crew is very young and still trying to find itself. They deal with many new crewman as well as newfound promotions in the best way that they can, and eventually reach a certain cohesivness by the end of Progenitor. I suggest this series to anyone looking to stray from the mainstream of trekdom and indulge in the enigmatic story of the unproven but able crew of the U.S.S Stargazer.
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