Rating: 
Summary: Revenge of the nerd? Well.....call it triumph.
Review: Engineer Reg Barclay has always reminded me of the character Theodore Honey in Nevil Shute's "No Highway" (Honey was played by Jimmy Stewart in the movie). He's always been tentative and socially inept, but he wouldn't be an engineer on a major starship if he wasn't competent there. So, as with Honey in the Shute novel, once Barclay has to face a situation where he's good at what's invoved, he's going to score a victory. The story involves a crystalline world protected by a force shield. The engineering involving the "shell" has over the centuries evolved into a religion, but the shell is in danger due to a stellar anomaly a bit like a black hole, and all the dogma surrounding the religion/ techology isn't helping matters one bit. So Barclay ends up on the away team, accompanied by a female crewmember who's from that world. Here's a hint--after Barclay's long-standing unrequited crush on Counselor Troi, he becomes a big hit with this lady. After all, he's the hero, and the hero gets the girl. The story continues in the other book in this pair, "Gemworld Book 2". If you're going to get this one, you have to get the other--it takes both to tell the story.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most imaginative Trek books ever
Review: GEMWORLD is an exceptional effort from John Vornholt. I consider him a solid, workmanlike writer whose books are always reasonably interesting and well-told; but he's never before shown the great creativity evident here. Conceptually, his books have generally stayed within the same limits as the TV episodes: Earthlike planets, humanoid aliens, shipboard mystery or action stories, and in recent years a steady focus on the Maquis. But in GEMWORLD, suddenly a wealth of terrific SF ideas have come pouring out of him. The title planet is the most exotic and alien world ever imagined in Trek, whether print or film. The five non-humanoid races inhabiting it are all intriguingly alien and quite distinct, mentally as well as physically. This two-parter is one of the very few Trek novels ever to fulfill the potential of prose to depict worlds and creatures impossible to render on film. The characters are well-handled too. Like all franchise novels, it doesn't mess with the status quo much, but it gets around that by focussing heavily on the "guest star" characters of Barclay and Melora, who are both given considerable development. Vornholt depicts the regulars well too, making us feel we've gained insights into them even though nothing really changes in their lives and relationships. And it's a nice surprise to see who gets to save the day at the end of part two. Vornholt's grasp of physics does leave a bit to be desired. He doesn't make much distinction between low gravity and no gravity, and his explanations of the planet's mass changes are somewhat iffy. He has characters saying they can sense the increase in the planet's gravity (part of the disaster threatening it), but still has them floating indefinitely in midair. My principal gripe, though, is with the packaging. What's the point of publishing one story in two parts released simultaneously? Why not just publish one 480-page novel instead of two 240-pagers? This is just Pocket's way of gouging the readers, forcing us to pay two books' worth instead of one. It's just another sleazy marketing gimmick, like the "Starfleet: Year One" serial novel published in the backs, requiring you to buy their books regularly for twelve months to get the complete story (tip: it's not worth it).
Rating:
Summary: One of the most imaginative Trek books ever
Review: GEMWORLD is an exceptional effort from John Vornholt. I consider him a solid, workmanlike writer whose books are always reasonably interesting and well-told; but he's never before shown the great creativity evident here. Conceptually, his books have generally stayed within the same limits as the TV episodes: Earthlike planets, humanoid aliens, shipboard mystery or action stories, and in recent years a steady focus on the Maquis. But in GEMWORLD, suddenly a wealth of terrific SF ideas have come pouring out of him. The title planet is the most exotic and alien world ever imagined in Trek, whether print or film. The five non-humanoid races inhabiting it are all intriguingly alien and quite distinct, mentally as well as physically. This two-parter is one of the very few Trek novels ever to fulfill the potential of prose to depict worlds and creatures impossible to render on film. The characters are well-handled too. Like all franchise novels, it doesn't mess with the status quo much, but it gets around that by focussing heavily on the "guest star" characters of Barclay and Melora, who are both given considerable development. Vornholt depicts the regulars well too, making us feel we've gained insights into them even though nothing really changes in their lives and relationships. And it's a nice surprise to see who gets to save the day at the end of part two. Vornholt's grasp of physics does leave a bit to be desired. He doesn't make much distinction between low gravity and no gravity, and his explanations of the planet's mass changes are somewhat iffy. He has characters saying they can sense the increase in the planet's gravity (part of the disaster threatening it), but still has them floating indefinitely in midair. My principal gripe, though, is with the packaging. What's the point of publishing one story in two parts released simultaneously? Why not just publish one 480-page novel instead of two 240-pagers? This is just Pocket's way of gouging the readers, forcing us to pay two books' worth instead of one. It's just another sleazy marketing gimmick, like the "Starfleet: Year One" serial novel published in the backs, requiring you to buy their books regularly for twelve months to get the complete story (tip: it's not worth it).
Rating: 
Summary: Barclay and Melora Save Gemworld
Review: Gemworld stars the Next Generation's Barclay. In this novel he must unravel the mystery behind a dying world of crystal. The dialogue is very much like the Barclay we have seen in the TV series. His romance with Melora was a highlight in both books. It was nice to see Barclay get the girl for once. I enjoyed his interaction with Melora Pazlar; who should have been a regular on DS9. He home; which turns out to be this crystal one, has close to no gravity. There was the usual Enterprise in danger story, however it was a good one because of the character interaction.
Rating:
Summary: Barclay and Melora save Gemworld
Review: Gemworld stars the Next Generation's Barclay. In this novel he must unravel the mystery behind a dying world of crystal. The dialogue is very much like the Barclay we have seen in the TV series. His romance with Melora was a highlight in both books. It was nice to see Barclay get the girl for once. I enjoyed his interaction with Melora Pazlar; who should have been a regular on DS9. Her home; which turns out to be this crystal one, has close to no gravity. There was the usual Enterprise in danger story, however it was a good one because of the character interaction.
Rating:
Summary: An unusual world with an unusual problem.
Review: Gemworld was an excellent series of 2 books by John Vornholt. Vornholt has a definite grasp of how the characters form Star Trek TNG would behave, making the story seem feasible. I enjoyed reading about the unusual world that Gemworld is (almost zero gravity, so the inhabitants float whenever in their planet's atmosphere). Naturally, this would cause the people from Gemworld to have very little muscle to fight gravity with, so when put in Earth normal gravity, they collapse. This fact was utilized greatly throughout the novel. Another thing that is enjoyable is Barclay. For anyone who watched Star Trek TNG on tv, Barclay is a familiar character. He was always inept socially, so his forming a relationship with Melora Pazlar, a Gemworld native, is very surprising. Definitely read this book and the second in the series if you are at all familiar with the Star Trek characters, or are simply looking for a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek Gemworld
Review: I enjoyed reading both books of this two book series. In fact, once I started I couldn't put them down. In this 2 part series, the crew of the enterprise become involved in a desparate attempt to save a federation planet. Countless setbacks and an unexpected enemy leave you turning the pages to see what will happen next. Well worth your time!
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Crasher
Review: I have read both, "Gemworld Book #1 and #2", so while I will keep specific comments on the two installments separate, the overall impression comes from having read the entire two part tale. Spelling of the names of a primary character that appears not just in virtually every book, but every movie and virtually all of the television programming is a good indicator of how carelessly these two books were reviewed prior to publishing. Dr. Beverly Crusher becomes Dr. Crasher and then back to Crusher, and then Crasher again in the space of a few pages. The person responsible for verifying the most basic of facts of these books were accurate skipped the spelling portion of their job.The planet of Gemworld is a unique place, the question of whether it is a naturally occurring organic planet or a construct is discussed throughout this first book, as are the variety of widely varying forms of life that have lived there for billions of years. You would expect that after all this time those that inhabit the planet would have evolved with some commonality yet they remain wildly different species while all being sentient and highly intelligent to varying degrees. The most interesting part of book one is not the usual planet in distress storyline, but the appearance of Reginald Barclay the famous, hyper-nervous, always a bit of a bumbler that was the focus of many great episodes of the later seasons of The Next Generation. Mr. Barclay this time out not only develops an intense crush on the book's main character and inhabitant of the distressed planet; he also becomes one of the keys to resolving the planet's destruction that even baffles Data. As he has in the past Mr. Barclay finds himself the center of attention, and in this case authority, by being in what he would consider the wrong place at the wrong time. This first book is the better of the two, and while not a 4 star read it exceeds a 3 star rating.
Rating:
Summary: Great Description
Review: I loved this book. The description of Gemworld is so vivid and colourful and I could almost imagine being there. John Vornholt is one of the better Star Trek authors and creates a realistic portrait of each character and how he or she would act, making the story believable. Another good thing about this book is Barclay, who I have always enjoyed watching and reading about. To me, he has always been a destinctive and well portrayed character, and despite only appearing a few times, he has always been a very memorable part of the show. His relationship with the Elaysian Melora Pazlar was done brilliantly, not over done, yet still playing an important part in the story. Vornholt manages all the relationships between the characters well, not just Pazlar and Barclay. This is a great book if you like to read about the characters interacting. The story is also good, with an original concept. Although another of those 'Save a planet' books, this one stands alone as a little different. The descriptions of the planet are beautiful, and the inhabitants are wonderfully varied and different. The Elaysian's and the other species are well portrayed and the diffent way they react to humans and the threat to their planet keep the book interesting. The book was a little slow to start with, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down, and the mystery of who was destroying Gemworld kept me reading, and also made my go out and buy the second book. The plot is good, even if it is a little complicated, and you may find yourself getting a little confused halfway through. I was very impressed with the descriptiveness and imagination put into this book and would recommend it, and also its sequel, Gemworld book 2, which continues the story. Overall, I think this is a great book, and while it's not my favourite Star Trek book, it's still one of the better ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Great idea done slowly and boring
Review: I really like the idea of having a story about Elaysian Melora Pazlar's homeworld, Gemworld. Being a big Barclay fan, I was glad see him again, especially a main character. I was very intrigued by the many sentient species on Gemworld, and how they all live with each other. However, the plot, even tough somewhat interesting, was very slow moving, which discourage me a bit. I've already move to the next book and I hope it is more fast moving than this one was.
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