Rating: 
Summary: Please Don't Make us Wait for No.9
Review: I've read this series from the beginning and this book has been the most enjoyable. This eklectic cast of characters are both serious, talented and humerous at the same time. Too bad they haven't made "New Frontier" series into a new Star Trek television series. It's the closest yet to the original series, yet different enough to hold your attention. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long for #9 & #10.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so, but still a good addition to the series
Review: It was a good book, full of twists and funniness. But . . . (you knew it was coming) some of the scenes were unnecessary and didn't contribute to the series at all. Like Morgan and Robin suffering a cold, I really thought there was a cure for the common cold, or at least there would be some ways to stop the disease in the first place (such as transporter biofilter) so it was ridiculous. Also, the scenes between Xyon, Reilla, and Si Cwan were humorous, though very predictable and a very overused cliche of brother protecting sister while sister want to be with another boy.
Rating:
Summary: should've been a lot better
Review: Like THE QUIET PLACE, this read like an unedited first draft. Someone (like the book's editor) should've told the author that a) Robin Lefler having the flu was neither funny, interesting, nor relevant, b) Robin Lefler is a lieutenant, not an ensign, c) a lengthy, boring fight scene between Burgoyne and a monster in the middle of the book's climax ground that climax to a halt for no good reason, d) the Si Cwan/Kally/Xyon plot really needed =something= (anything!) to make it stand out from the standard father-figure-doesn't-approve-of-relationship plot, and e) he really needs to come up with another way of describing Zak Kebron besides "walking landmass."The book did some nice work with the Redeemers, the recurring villains of NEW FRONTIER, the Shelby/Calhoun relationship takes a major (and interesting) left turn here, and we get another great use of the delightful Ensign Janos. Plus, of course, there's that nasty ending. Gotta give David points for that one. (Tee hee.) Still, it would've been nice if this book had been edited.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the time for reading
Review: Lyla "With Great Power comes Great Responibility" "I don't know, but it sure looks strange to me." I think Peter David should be nominated for best on-liners and hidden humor in a book. Hurry up with # 9 Mr. David. (does anyone know if he has a web page?)
Rating:
Summary: One of the better New Frontier novels...
Review: New Frontier fans are in for something better this time around on the New Frontier novels. "Quiet Place" was a bit weak in places, but the follow-up, "Dark Allies," is much more on par with Peter David's earlier works. The Redeemers, the greatest enemy that the Excalibur crew have faced so far, come to Calhoun with a request to save their people. Caught in the impossible decision, "Dark Allies" plays quite a bit on the notion of a moral decision, and brings us a space-born entity that reminds us of the Amoeba and the Crystalline Entity. The real joy of this book, however, is a return to the characters of the Excalibur. Everyone gets a little time - it's more of a troupe novel than one that focuses on any one character, and it is quite a good read on that front. There is something a bit overdone in the romantic entangles of this book, and one hopes that they'll start to unravel soon, before the good ship Excalibur starts to come off like a soap opera. Exploring Si Cwan's sister and Captain Calhoun's son was also some well-written prose and character. What does frustrate is yet another cliffhanger ending, likely the biggest one yet, which will drive you nuts. Those few minor quibbles aside, this book itself was definately worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better New Frontier novels...
Review: New Frontier fans are in for something better this time around on the New Frontier novels. "Quiet Place" was a bit weak in places, but the follow-up, "Dark Allies," is much more on par with Peter David's earlier works. The Redeemers, the greatest enemy that the Excalibur crew have faced so far, come to Calhoun with a request to save their people. Caught in the impossible decision, "Dark Allies" plays quite a bit on the notion of a moral decision, and brings us a space-born entity that reminds us of the Amoeba and the Crystalline Entity. The real joy of this book, however, is a return to the characters of the Excalibur. Everyone gets a little time - it's more of a troupe novel than one that focuses on any one character, and it is quite a good read on that front. There is something a bit overdone in the romantic entangles of this book, and one hopes that they'll start to unravel soon, before the good ship Excalibur starts to come off like a soap opera. Exploring Si Cwan's sister and Captain Calhoun's son was also some well-written prose and character. What does frustrate is yet another cliffhanger ending, likely the biggest one yet, which will drive you nuts. Those few minor quibbles aside, this book itself was definately worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable entry in a great series
Review: Now this more along the lines of what the New Frontiers books should be about--an interesting dilemma and some great character interaction. After the step in the difference direction with the Quiet Place, David makes Dark Allies one of the fastest paced but most densely plotted New Frontier books yet. The Redeemers have their backs to the wall and are forced to ask Calhoune and company to help them fend off a force of creatures that are going to destroy their homeworld. However, as in the NF universe, nothing is ever what it seems. The Redeemers are going to make darn sure that Calhoune will help. Double crosses and triple crosses abound in a book that unfolds at great pace and has a nicely done resolution. But what unfolds onboard the Excaliber is even more interesting. The characters we've come to know and love are gloriously alive and jump off the page. Everything in the first seven (well, nine actually) books is a set-up for a great payoff here..and you get the feeling it will only get better with each passing book. The only bad part...David ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. It makes me want the next book NOW and not next year when it does come out. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps I'm missing something.
Review: Or more to the point, seeing something that isn't there. It seemed to me that there were some references in this book to events that happened on the Excalibur that I haven't seen, in spite of having read all seven of the previous entries in the series; Shelby refers back to "when Riker was in command" in a way that I thought meant "in command of the Excalibur", rather than referring back to "Best of Both Worlds", the "Next Generation" episode that introduced us to Shelby, but I could have been mistaken on that one; unfortunately, it also seemed to me that the relationship between Xyon and Kalinda was more advanced than it had been when last I'd seen them. (But again, it's been a couple of months since I read book seven, so maybe I'm misremembering.) In any case, I find that there IS a book that came out in the same year that this one did (1999) that involves Calhoun, and presumably the Excalibur: "TNG#55, Double Helix #5". So maybe that's where the intermediate events take place, if in fact there ARE any intermediate events, and I'm not just imagining things. If so, I'm annoyed, because I hadn't planned to read that book any time soon; I'm only up to #18 in the "Next Generation" series. But since none of the other reviewers seem to have noticed this discontinuity, it may well be that I'm imagining things. On its own merits, this is quite a good book; as usual, Peter David manages a fine balance between drama, action, and humor. And if some of the drama has something of a silly tone to it (the "villain" is, essentially, a swarm of interstellar locusts) this isn't really out of character for a Star Trek story; it has been justly compared (by David himself, in the text of the story, among others) to the original series episode "The Immunity Syndrome", which features a giant, spacegoing, world-devouring amoeba. Not his best, but about par for Peter David.
Rating:
Summary: Dark Allies- Not so new or dark
Review: Several major plot lines finally come together in "Dark Allies," which features a giant chess game between Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the Overlord, leader of the Redeemers. An entity known as the Black Mass, which periodically leaves its home to eat entire planets and suns, is on a direct course for Tulaan IV, the Redeemers Home World. Decades earlier the armed might of the Tholian Empire had gone up against the Black Mass without even getting its attention. The Overlord wants to coerce the Federation starship into saving his planet, but Calhoun is inclined to obey the Prime Directive and let the Black Mass do what comes naturally. As far as the captain of the Excalibur is concerned, anything that wants to take on the fanatical Redeemers cannot be all bad. The only problem is that the Overlord does not even come close to playing far. Meanwhile on the soap opera front Si Cwan is to busy trying to break up his sister Kalinda and Calhoun's son Xyon to pay much attention to Robin's affections, Selar's pregnancy approaches term and she wants nothing to do with Burgoyne 172 which is somewhat problematic since they now share something of an emotional link, and Calhoun almost makes up his mind about Shelby except for the fact there's that relationship he had with Mueller on the night shift. David's stories are more about human beings than about science, but this time around he does deal with one of the most glaring errors in science fiction films as part of solving the Black Mass problem (just remember the poster line from "Alien": "In space no one can hear you scream"). "Dark Allies" is an above average entry in the series, although Calhoun is still not as front and center as you would like him to be because of the attempt to juggle all of the supporting characters. The author might have been a little leery of finally wrapping up a couple of plot lines, because the last line of the novel provides a lot of incentive to pick up book #9 and find out what happens next.
Rating:
Summary: Calhoun protects the Redeemer from the Black Mass
Review: Several major plot lines finally come together in "Dark Allies," which features a giant chess game between Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the Overlord, leader of the Redeemers. An entity known as the Black Mass, which periodically leaves its home to eat entire planets and suns, is on a direct course for Tulaan IV, the Redeemers Home World. Decades earlier the armed might of the Tholian Empire had gone up against the Black Mass without even getting its attention. The Overlord wants to coerce the Federation starship into saving his planet, but Calhoun is inclined to obey the Prime Directive and let the Black Mass do what comes naturally. As far as the captain of the Excalibur is concerned, anything that wants to take on the fanatical Redeemers cannot be all bad. The only problem is that the Overlord does not even come close to playing far. Meanwhile on the soap opera front Si Cwan is to busy trying to break up his sister Kalinda and Calhoun's son Xyon to pay much attention to Robin's affections, Selar's pregnancy approaches term and she wants nothing to do with Burgoyne 172 which is somewhat problematic since they now share something of an emotional link, and Calhoun almost makes up his mind about Shelby except for the fact there's that relationship he had with Mueller on the night shift. David's stories are more about human beings than about science, but this time around he does deal with one of the most glaring errors in science fiction films as part of solving the Black Mass problem (just remember the poster line from "Alien": "In space no one can hear you scream"). "Dark Allies" is an above average entry in the series, although Calhoun is still not as front and center as you would like him to be because of the attempt to juggle all of the supporting characters. The author might have been a little leery of finally wrapping up a couple of plot lines, because the last line of the novel provides a lot of incentive to pick up book #9 and find out what happens next.
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