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Summary: Best Selling Star Trek novel introducing Lt. Piper.
Review: The Star Trek universe gets a new character in Dreadnought! This novel addresses the publics outcry for bigger, better ships in the Star Trek universe. But of course, something has to go wrong and Kirk and Company get to save the galaxy again.
A new twist on an old Star Trek theme: radicals take control of the superweapon to save the universe. A little too co-incidental filled.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, even if it is Mary-Sue
Review: Thi is a great book, although it focuses not on Kirk & friends but on a small group of ensigns stationed on the Enterprise, among them a captaincy candiadate, an ostricized Vulcan, and a Midwesterner with aspirations to be in the ships sensor dept. It's fun to read, and a good prequel to its (duh!) sequel, Battlestations! about the same group.
Rating:
Summary: Well done.
Review: This book has a good many surprises. Instead of the Kirk and Spock team, we are introduced to Piper, who shows as much drive and initiative as Captain Kirk. The new characters are believeable and likeable. She does manage to get herself into quite a lot of trouble. as well as impress Captain Kirk with her ability. Carey's style is easy to follow and her wit adds to the experience.
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Summary: Star Trek at its Best
Review: This book is so bad, I wish I spent the time watching Ricki Lake instead. Lt Piper is characterized as some lost little kid who gets overwhelmed by emotions when she should just be doing her damn job. This is a classic example of an author who either does not care or does not have the talent to write a good story, and instead tries to insert some 1990's "human drama" in the pages. Please leave this crap somewhere else. I realize that most trekkies have been no nearer to a real military mindset than their local airshow, but please do not insult the rest of us by insinuating that cowards (Piper) turn into heros in the end. Sell it to Spielberg, not me. All that this shows is that the author has not taken the time to develop a compelling story that can be driven by plot instead of emotion. Listen to this line of pure garbage from page 15 "I cleared my throat and packed back my hair in a gesture that was too feminine, suddenly aware that my nonregulation backcombs had failed to keep the layered, honey-brown strands out of my face." You expect this from a first project in creative writing class - I dont want to read (and pay for) this crap in a supposedly developed novel. I only kept reading this drivel in the hope that Piper would be killed in the end. No such luck, they make her a hero. I love Star Trek, but after reading this book, I will never read anything by Diane Carey again, and am reluctant to pick up another Trek novel. These novels cheapen what is otherwise a franchise that excites the imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible. Was this a 1st year creative writing project?
Review: This book is so bad, I wish I spent the time watching Ricki Lake instead. Lt Piper is characterized as some lost little kid who gets overwhelmed by emotions when she should just be doing her damn job. This is a classic example of an author who either does not care or does not have the talent to write a good story, and instead tries to insert some 1990's "human drama" in the pages. Please leave this crap somewhere else. I realize that most trekkies have been no nearer to a real military mindset than their local airshow, but please do not insult the rest of us by insinuating that cowards (Piper) turn into heros in the end. Sell it to Spielberg, not me. All that this shows is that the author has not taken the time to develop a compelling story that can be driven by plot instead of emotion. Listen to this line of pure garbage from page 15 "I cleared my throat and packed back my hair in a gesture that was too feminine, suddenly aware that my nonregulation backcombs had failed to keep the layered, honey-brown strands out of my face." You expect this from a first project in creative writing class - I dont want to read (and pay for) this crap in a supposedly developed novel. I only kept reading this drivel in the hope that Piper would be killed in the end. No such luck, they make her a hero. I love Star Trek, but after reading this book, I will never read anything by Diane Carey again, and am reluctant to pick up another Trek novel. These novels cheapen what is otherwise a franchise that excites the imagination.
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Summary: Fantastic story of Star Fleet's worst internal cue attempt
Review: This is a remarkably different book taken from the perspective of a newly minted starship crewman thrust into the middle of a tangled web of intrigue and treason. The Federation, under direction of Vice Admiral Rittenhouse, has undertaken the building of the most powerful battleship the galaxy has ever seen. This ship is stolen by a supposed group of terrorists who, instead of threating mass destruction, claim they have stolen the ship as a last desperate bid for peace. Kirk, with the wet-behind-the-ears Piper in tow, chases off after the dreadnought. One by one, little anomalies in the conduct of Vice Admiral Rittenhouse and the passionate pleas of the dreadnought's crew bring to light a terrible plot to forcefully unify the galaxy at any cost. Piper, pushed through situation after situation, discovers the truth, escapes from Rittenhouse, and reaches the dreadnought. There, she, her Vulcan friend Sandra, and a crew of students and desk officals must meet the threat head on, as Rittenhouse takes a desperate gamble to annilate the dreadnought, destroying those aboard and their knowledge of his plan. Kirk, seeing through Rittenhouse (aided by a rather impromptu arrest of Kirk himself and several of his officers by Rittenhouse) comes to the aid of the dreadnought in defiance of all orders, and he and Piper togeather face a fleet of the Federation's best starships in desperate combat for the fate of the galaxy. The edge of the seat excitement and clever story line make this book a hit in itself, but Piper herself is the real star. I felt like chearing when she overcame her doubts, took command of the dreadnought, and faced death to defend what she believed in. She embodies the spirit of Star Trek, and at the same time reminds us that all heros are at bottom ordinary people.
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Summary: What happens when admirals get too ambitious?
Review: This novel describes what happens when "terrorists" steal a new ship, the Star Empire, on the eve of her maiden voyage. A new character, Lt.Piper, is introduced, along with a group of her friends from the Academy, and is required by Kirk to find out why the "terrorists" stole the new ship. Along the way, we learn about an ambitious admiral who wants to use the ship to get rid of the Klingons, Romulans, etc., a new friendship between a human and a Vulcan, and how an untested officer can "think outside the box" and defeat the admiral and his cohorts. One intriguing item was the presence of the Gorn officer aboard a Federation starship: When did the Gorn become Federation allies--was that event after the TOS episode "Arena"?
Rating:
Summary: What happens when admirals get too ambitious?
Review: This novel describes what happens when "terrorists" steal a new ship, the Star Empire, on the eve of her maiden voyage. A new character, Lt.Piper, is introduced, along with a group of her friends from the Academy, and is required by Kirk to find out why the "terrorists" stole the new ship. Along the way, we learn about an ambitious admiral who wants to use the ship to get rid of the Klingons, Romulans, etc., a new friendship between a human and a Vulcan, and how an untested officer can "think outside the box" and defeat the admiral and his cohorts. One intriguing item was the presence of the Gorn officer aboard a Federation starship: When did the Gorn become Federation allies--was that event after the TOS episode "Arena"?
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating alternate viewpoint into the Star Trek World
Review: This novel remains among my all time favorites. A very human Lt. Piper is assigned in a whirlwind manner to the Starship Enterprise and before she can even see her post is caught up in a plot to take over the galaxy. Involving a superweapon capable of destroying a fleet of Starships, the stakes are incredibly high. Piper must thread her way through a maze of deception and intrigue to learn the truth about who is who and what is intended for the galaxy. She then must become a true commander to hault the forces of a military takeover and preserve the Federation in its most desperate hour. A gripping story, grand in its implications and still very human, this book should not be missed.
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