Rating: 
Summary: A cautionary tale,
Review: a parable if you will, on the dangers of placing to much importance on the historical literality of our mytho-historical cultural icons.Most people would understand and agree, for instance, that it neither lessens nor invalidates the importance of either George Washington or the quality of honesty if he did not, in fact, chop down a cherry tree and then unequivocally plead guilty to having done so as a child, nor does it lessen his importance in the winning of the American Revolution if he did not, in fact, throw a silver dollar across the Delaware (Potomac?) River. Yet unfortunately, just as this books finds many Klingons struggling with the validity of the qualities that they've been brought up to believe in -- honor and courage and valor -- when it is discovered that their mytho-historical proto-Klingon, Kahless, did not in literal fact climb an erupting volcano in order to singe a lock of his hair, nor spin the first bat'telh, a Klingon edged weapon deadlier than a sword, out of said lava-singed strands of hair, and worse, was not a paragon of honor himself, but just a (reasonably decent) fellow, struggling to get from day to day until fate caught him up in a revolution, so many people of our own culture feel that it would somehow invalidate the value of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" if the historical Jesus Christ did not, in fact, literally, physically, rise from the dead after three days. That it would render "Love thy neighbor as thyself" less meaningful if he did not, literally, feed a multitude with a few loaves and fishes. That if he was not literally born of a virgin, or did not literally raise Lazarus from the dead, it would make "The meek shall inherit the earth" or "blessed are the peacemakers" any less valid. Those portions of the Bible (and there are many of them) that contain beauty, truth, and wisdom, do so regardless of the literal inerrancy of the "history" recorded. And those parts that do not (such as "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") are vile and invalid, regardless. The message is neither improved nor damaged by the accuracy of the story it is set in. And this story is a marvellous vehicle for making that point. Well-told, well-written, it's truly a joy to have read.
Rating:
Summary: Great book! Read my review!
Review: Hi everyone, and especially the guys at Amazon who are going(hopefully) to read this. Any idiot can see by my rating that I'm aTrekkie (1) and I think this is a good book (2). So now you ask me what it's about, eh? Well, I'll start with this: The Klingons have their own version of Jesus Christ: Kahless the Unforgettable, who was the greatest warrior of all time. Half the book is about him and half is about the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise (fanfare). So, you ask, what to the Enterprise crewmembers do? Well, the Klingons uncover Kahless's autobiography which denounces him as a fraud. The Klingon population begins to riot and terrorists start killing people. Most uncool. Picard, Worf and the genetic clone of Kahless kill the instigators of the terror. Meanwhile, Kahless's real history is described. He was really a simple man who just didn't want to kill a bunch of peasants and became an outlaw: a Klingon Robin Hood. How noble. The point is that his supposed wisdom all came from his friend Morath. All Kahless was was just a leader. The legends were all lies. In the 24th century, the good ol' peaceful Klingons (ha, ha) calm down after the instigators get killed and live happily ever after, even though Kahless was a fraud. Worf and the clone come to terms with the scrolls and announce that Kahless was a great leader anyway. Thank you very much for taking your time to read this. You can now do something else (but please be a Good Samaritan and recommend this book to the authorities.)
Rating: 
Summary: Care Less
Review: I like science-fiction featuring creatively-developed alien species and cultures. I like battle action featuring descriptive hand-to-hand combat with edged weapons. I like well-wrought prose that makes even the most fanciful fiction seem real. And I enjoy posting carefully-crafted reviews for books which meet these criteria. Which is why I can sum up my opinion of "Kahless" in one sentence: This Book Rots Out Loud! There's a Klingon on the cover, but certainly none inside. The people in this book are not the least bit *alien*, but merely boring, recycled Humans from a stereotypical Heroic Age replete with the obligatory half-naked serving wenches. The character on the cover bears a bladed weapon, and he looks like a warrior. There are combat scenes in the book, but it is clear the author has zero knowledge of battle strategy or martial-arts technique. It's all a mindless melee of sword-swinging, no description anywhere of actual fighting moves to draw the reader into the action. And the prose is abominable: here stands Kahless... "a Klingon in all his earthly glory." As I said, no aliens here. There's a B-story about the interaction of 24th-century Klingons with the Starfleet personnel of Next Generation. It's only marginally less tedious than the bogus Heroic Age tripe. I forced myself to keep reading this book, hoping it would improve, all the way to the final loathesome paragraphs: "As he returned Alexander to his room, Worf basked in the glow of his progeny." If you like the Klingons, and want to read about their truly alien culture and values, read John M. Ford's "The Final Reflection".
Rating:
Summary: Care Less
Review: I like science-fiction featuring creatively-developed alien species and cultures. I like battle action featuring descriptive hand-to-hand combat with edged weapons. I like well-wrought prose that makes even the most fanciful fiction seem real. And I enjoy posting carefully-crafted reviews for books which meet these criteria. Which is why I can sum up my opinion of "Kahless" in one sentence: This Book Rots Out Loud! There's a Klingon on the cover, but certainly none inside. The people in this book are not the least bit *alien*, but merely boring, recycled Humans from a stereotypical Heroic Age replete with the obligatory half-naked serving wenches. The character on the cover bears a bladed weapon, and he looks like a warrior. There are combat scenes in the book, but it is clear the author has zero knowledge of battle strategy or martial-arts technique. It's all a mindless melee of sword-swinging, no description anywhere of actual fighting moves to draw the reader into the action. And the prose is abominable: here stands Kahless... "a Klingon in all his earthly glory." As I said, no aliens here. There's a B-story about the interaction of 24th-century Klingons with the Starfleet personnel of Next Generation. It's only marginally less tedious than the bogus Heroic Age tripe. I forced myself to keep reading this book, hoping it would improve, all the way to the final loathesome paragraphs: "As he returned Alexander to his room, Worf basked in the glow of his progeny." If you like the Klingons, and want to read about their truly alien culture and values, read John M. Ford's "The Final Reflection".
Rating: 
Summary: hmmmmm
Review: I liked the Modern age, but what made me mad was the Heroic age. Couldn't Michael Han Friedman make up his own story instead of copying Brave Heart.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Trek books I've read!
Review: I picked up this book at an airport to kill time and was glad I did! Don't have as much time to read as a used to, and a lot of the Trek books I had read were not terribly well written, and the plots kinda all the same. This one is most definitely not in either of those categories. The story is great, and the writing excellent. Way to go Michael!!
Rating: 
Summary: read to understand them
Review: If you are a Klingon fan, you'll want to read this. People read The Godfather to understand Italians, well read Kahless to understand Klingons
Rating:
Summary: read to understand them
Review: If you are a Klingon fan, you'll want to read this. People read The Godfather to understand Italians, well read Kahless to understand Klingons
Rating:
Summary: IF YOU LIKE KLINGONS!
Review: IF YOU LIKE KLINGONS YOU ARE GOING TO LOOOOOVE THIS BOOK! AFTER HEARING ABOUT KAHLESS IN MANY EPISODES I WANTED TO READ THIS BOOK AND LITERALLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I'VE READ 60 OR SO STAR TREK BOOKS AND THIS BY FAR IS THE BEST
Rating:
Summary: Now play Klin Zha
Review: If you're a fan of them Klingon critters, this book will only make you more so. It fills a need for a body of Klingon literature, and is well-done. It uses the technique of two parallel books interleaving chapters, and leading to a common intersection. Klingons play a chesslike game they call Klin Zha, first introduced in the John Ford novel Final Reflection. Are you ready to think like a Klingon? So now is the time to learn how to play, and become a Klingon yourself. Use your search engine to find Klin Zha and Klingon fan sites and go from there.
| 
