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Rating: 
Summary: STNG #8 - The Captain's Honor - An interesting concept!
Review: As homage to Star Trek The Original Series episode "Bread and Circuses," "The Captain's Honor" authors bring characters from that fateful planet forward into the twenty fourth century. In concept, the premise to this story is an ideal concept, in practice though; it's not carried forward very well. Given the conclusion of that TOS episode, one would find it difficult to believe that the culture of that planet would've advanced enough that in the twenty fourth century they'd be given a starship to command and crew for even in Science Fiction and especially in Gene Roddenberry's universe, the suspension of disbelief must be plausible, but that is hardly accomplished in this early Star Trek The Next Generation novel. That is not to say that this novel is not worth reading because I believe all of the Star Trek novels are worth reading, this one just doesn't stack up too well with the rest.The premise: The planet Tenara is being has been attacked several times by M'Dok Empire causing Starfleet to call in the Enterprise and another Federation starship, the Centurion. As a point of conflict, Captain Picard feels that negotiation must be the first strategy they use but Captain Sejanus of the Centurion feels that they must take a harder stance against the M'Dok. All the while, the people of Tenara who are suffering these attacks must choose the path that must be taken to attempt to end these attacks... While not too heavy on the action, this novel does present a thought provoking, if not plausible, set of circumstances within the Federation and should be taken for what it is, an early STNG novel that was written when the show was very young and the overall feel of the characters and the series hadn't quite gelled yet. {ssintrepid}
Rating:
Summary: STNG #8 - The Captain's Honor - An interesting concept!
Review: As homage to Star Trek The Original Series episode "Bread and Circuses," "The Captain's Honor" authors bring characters from that fateful planet forward into the twenty fourth century. In concept, the premise to this story is an ideal concept, in practice though; it's not carried forward very well. Given the conclusion of that TOS episode, one would find it difficult to believe that the culture of that planet would've advanced enough that in the twenty fourth century they'd be given a starship to command and crew for even in Science Fiction and especially in Gene Roddenberry's universe, the suspension of disbelief must be plausible, but that is hardly accomplished in this early Star Trek The Next Generation novel. That is not to say that this novel is not worth reading because I believe all of the Star Trek novels are worth reading, this one just doesn't stack up too well with the rest. The premise: The planet Tenara is being has been attacked several times by M'Dok Empire causing Starfleet to call in the Enterprise and another Federation starship, the Centurion. As a point of conflict, Captain Picard feels that negotiation must be the first strategy they use but Captain Sejanus of the Centurion feels that they must take a harder stance against the M'Dok. All the while, the people of Tenara who are suffering these attacks must choose the path that must be taken to attempt to end these attacks... While not too heavy on the action, this novel does present a thought provoking, if not plausible, set of circumstances within the Federation and should be taken for what it is, an early STNG novel that was written when the show was very young and the overall feel of the characters and the series hadn't quite gelled yet. {ssintrepid}
Rating: 
Summary: Honorable effort
Review: The return of the Romans from "Bread and Circuses" is unexpected and appreciated, though the use of a Constitution-class vessel is anachronistic, in my opinion. The plot with the cat-like aliens is secondary to the real thrust of the novel: that cultural differences spawn different ways of doing things. The dress of the ship, the holodeck sequences, what foods the Neo-Romans eat, and, most of all, their attempts to assimilate a culture into their own, are NOT Federation standard... but they do make sense in the Roman ethos. An excellent contrast with everything Star Trek has shown us before. Hail Ceasar!
Rating:
Summary: Honorable effort
Review: The return of the Romans from "Bread and Circuses" is unexpected and appreciated, though the use of a Constitution-class vessel is anachronistic, in my opinion. The plot with the cat-like aliens is secondary to the real thrust of the novel: that cultural differences spawn different ways of doing things. The dress of the ship, the holodeck sequences, what foods the Neo-Romans eat, and, most of all, their attempts to assimilate a culture into their own, are NOT Federation standard... but they do make sense in the Roman ethos. An excellent contrast with everything Star Trek has shown us before. Hail Ceasar!
Rating: 
Summary: Reasonably well-written, but overall mediocre.
Review: There isn't really much action in this book; it's mostly hinted at rather than actually described. This is understandable, as the book is intended to be more of a look at the philosophy of the Federation and Starfleet, rather than an action-adventure story. I found the characterizations intriguing, particularly that of the characters original to this book; mostly (with the exception of Worf and to a lesser extent, Picard) the established characters are background filler. But I found the basic concept of the Magna Romans (from Original series "Bread and Circuses") having advanced far enough in 80 years to have joined the Federation and been entrusted with a Starship of their own more than a bit dubious; I doubt that either the Federation or Starfleet would be that foolish. Further, I found it disappointing that the people who were too pacifistic to defend themselves (but not too pacifistic to ask for help so that somebody ELSE could defend them) were never actually forced to face the consequences of their actions; further, those who were unwilling to allow them the luxury of that hypocrisy were portrayed as villains. Granted, changing their culture without permission was villainous, but it would not have been out of line for Picard (or Sejanus) to refuse to help those who would not attempt to help themselves. Clearly, the authors intend to bring Sejanus back in some future story. For all I know, they may have already done so; if they have, I've not read it yet.
Rating:
Summary: A follow-on novel involving those Romans in Bread & Circuses
Review: This novel told about how 2 StarFleet captains, Picard and an officer from the Magna Romans (from the TOS episode "Bread and Circuses") squared off against each other in helping a planet deal with 6 ft tall cat-like critters who invade the planet and eat the people. Picard wants to negotiate and help the cats feed themselves (the cats invade the planet because their race is starving). The Romans want to get rid of them (they don't like cats). There's a subplot involving a Roman officer romancing one of Picard's crew, but who gets killed by the Roman captain. The only good thing about this book is that it follows up on the Bread and Circuses episode into STTNG's 24th century.
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