Rating: 
Summary: Great Story
Review: A very good story. Very intradition to TOS. (Strange beings with bizzare powers.) But the character development that is presented is even better than the action.Soleta's encounter with the Old Wise guy in the mountin was a nice touch. (A neat way to explain how the guy knew all he knew: He saw the future.) The baby Phenix was great too. The series is just going to get better and better. (As of now, I am half way through "Once Burned" and it is the most stunning plot that a Star Trek book has had in a long time.)
Rating:
Summary: Book 5 leads into book 6 from book 4, fantastic!
Review: After reading each book in the series, decided I really liked the story and character development in this book. The characters have feeling, depth, and comedy tastefully entwined. When are the next books coming out? For a 51 year old grandmother this is an excellent series. If they don't take away from the characters, this would also make a fantastic tv series or a few good movies. The handling of the romance issues are wonderful; after all, let's get real, what mixed group of people would go gallivanting out in space for up to five years with no romance? None! This is really must read Star Trek for the fans. Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine got so boring I couldn't stay with those series, but will stay with this series if it stays as hip as the first 6 books in the series. Publish more! The Plots and action are excellent, too!
Rating:
Summary: He shall be saved by neither man nor woman...
Review: EXCELLENT BOOK! This is how I like to see Shelby. When the "barely contained dynamo" comes out of her shell to save her man! She did some fancy fighting, some fancy flying... and saved the day even though she was badly injured. What a gal! I enjoyed seeing Burgoyne in hir natural form. Hunting down Calhoun in a way only a Hermat could. S/he was awesome in this book and the growing attraction between hir and Selar has me completely intrigued! Great book, great crew... Peter David... you have done it again! :)
Rating:
Summary: He shall be saved by neither man nor woman...
Review: EXCELLENT BOOK! This is how I like to see Shelby. When the "barely contained dynamo" comes out of her shell to save her man! She did some fancy fighting, some fancy flying... and saved the day even though she was badly injured. What a gal! I enjoyed seeing Burgoyne in hir natural form. Hunting down Calhoun in a way only a Hermat could. S/he was awesome in this book and the growing attraction between hir and Selar has me completely intrigued! Great book, great crew... Peter David... you have done it again! :)
Rating: 
Summary: Captain Calhoun is a very popular guy in more ways than one
Review: Having survived their encounter with the Great Bird of the Galaxy, which destroyed the Tholian throne world, the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur discovers that Captain Mackenzie Calhoun is being proclaimed on the planet Zondar to be their long awaited savior. "Martyr," Book Five in the Star Trek: New Frontier series shows that writer Peter David considers in to be exactly that: a series. Unlike the other Star Trek series this is not a collection of writers with various visions, writing isolated tales, but a series more like its television cousins. What this means is that if you did not read the first four books you are not going to be able to enjoy the ride here. The other news is that the story does not end here, but is, in the best of all storytelling traditions, to be continued. "Martyr" provocatively sets the stage with a pair of flashbacks. The first goes back 500 years to the time when the great prophet Zondar predicted the arrival of the savior who would end the planet's bloodbath. We know these are more than mere prophecies because they are inspired by a strange alien device. The chapter also starts a debate on what you say and do when you know the future that is continued throughout the story. The other flashback only takes us back 19 years earlier when Captain Calhoun was still a warlord on his home planet, and a widow makes a formal request that he father a child. When we come up to speed we find that word of Excalibur's exploits is sweeping through the neighboring planetary systems. The planet Zondar has made a formal request for Calhoun to visit their planet, where they await the arrival of their savior. Meanwhile, Dr. Selar, in the throes of Pon Farr, has come to the logical decision that the person who should father her child is Calhoun. Needless to say, Elizabeth Shelby, First Officer and former lover of the ever-popular Calhoun, is not crazy about either situation. Although this book starts off being about the power of prophecy and biological sex drives, the man topic on the table is religious fervor. While some proclaim Calhoun to be their savior, the Redeemers have decided he needs to die as a blasphemer. The subtext in terms of our contemporary society is patently obvious although David is not on any time of specific soapbox in this novel. Captain Calhoun is a fascinating character (who owes his ancestry to Quintin Stone from David's Next Generation novel "A Rock and a Hard Place"), but he takes pretty much of a back seat in this particular story, which makes sense since David is interested in developing a complete roster of characters. Unfettered by the inherent restrictions of the Star Trek television series, David is able to make much better use of non-terran species in the composition of the New Frontier crew. Chief Engineer Burgoyne one-seventy-two is a Hermat, which means s/he is both man and woman, and David never has to worry about how the make-up department is supposed to carry that off any more than he worries about an actor having to endure the suffocating costume needed to play Ensign Janos the Murgato. Of course, M'k'n'zy of Calhoun is only a humanoid and not an earthling, so it all works out just fine. In "Martyr" we start to get a better feel for the supporting cast. Starting from Ground Zero in the Star Trek universe is difficult, but Peter David is off to a solid start.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible misconception
Review: I do not think this novel is too much about sex and Trek characters. I think Mr.David has done an excellent job in narrating a very character driven novel. As far as I know - and somebody correct me if I'm wrong - no one has treated Pon Farr like he has on the novel. And what about Calhoun and the woman in the beggining? Forget not that on the 20th.Century, people do worst things. Parents violate their children, and all these on National TV with no taste. I think he gives Trek the human breath that it deserves. And the characters all are well thought and prepared. About the mugato sec.officer, let me remind the gentle reader a couple of lines below that colored people were considered less than apes during the slavery period, and now you have prominent people like M.Luther King Jr, Colin Powell, Will Smith, Mike Jordan et al...Let's be tolerant people. Next time, If you don't like, don't read.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT STORY!
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. It took about a week to read but when I got to the end I couldn't put it down. Wow what a great story! I hope that there are more to come.
Rating:
Summary: Does better with character development than with plot.
Review: I felt the first four books were better than this, but this one wasn't so bad I won't read the next when it comes out. The character development in this bok is great, but it seems to take a front seat to the plot, which started out quite interesting, but I felt the ending was contrived, as though David were trying to dig himself out of the hole he'd created. Not David's best work, but even his mediocre work is pretty darn good.
Rating:
Summary: The best New Frontier title
Review: I finished reading "Martyr" a few day ago and I think it was fantastic. It was not only a good story, it is something very special. What I enjoyed very much were all the sex stories in it. I think it is very brave to put all that in a Star Trek novel since this is nothing that used to be part of Star Trek during the last 30 years. Of course this is not the only reason why I love this book. There were also lots of really good dialogues. Especially those with Calhoun and Shelby. In my opinion "Martyr" is the best one out of the first six "New Frontier" books.
Rating: 
Summary: A Major Step Down From Previous Novels
Review: I have to say, I did not enjoy Martyr as much as the previous books in this series. First, there is the whole high school romance issues involving Dr. Selar, Burgoyne 172, Captain Calhoun, and Commander Shelby. The major disappointment here is the way Peter David chose to write Commander Shelby. In the two-part episode, Best of Both Worlds, in which Shelby appeared she was a strong, confident woman who was not afraid stand up for what she felt was the correct decision, and in the first four books, David really captured that quality. In this book, however, she comes off as a jealous, jilted lover and that diminishes her in my eyes. Second, the whole religion sub-plot, while original, just was not very interesting. Overall, this was an unnecessary addition to the New Frontier series.
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