Rating: 
Summary: Way below par for the series.
Review: There was more hard science SF here than is typical of Star Trek novels, and the authors clearly know their science. BUT: They are not very good writers, the characters are cardboard cut-outs, the plot is thin, the philosophy is weak, and the ending is trite. Not recommended except for the collector who has to have every ST novel.
Rating:
Summary: This book doesn't live up to expectations!
Review: This book has three major faults that made it the worst Trek book I've ever read. First of all, there is no action, no weapons, no enemy. It is a race against time that resolves openly. Second of all there is too much scientific, scifi, and trekfi speculation about the Dyson's sphere. "Maybe the Borg made it before they became Borg?" None of this is ever answered! It was just put there to intrigue. One of the two authors is a scientist, the other is a scifi writer. This book didn't need the "real science" angle. The biggest problem is with the contexuality of the Horta. When Kirk and Spock met them in one episode, they were an animal about as intelligent as a smart dog. In the end of that classic episode, they were finally being trained to help miners dig for minerals. In this book they are space-faring, talking, personafied beings who can take an open plot of land and dig out the buried city perfectly with furniture and tools intact. The book also makes references to the Dyson's sphere episode where "Scotty" made a guest appearence. All this book does is name things in the sphere after him. Ther is no continuation to his existence in the next generation. This book was not satisfying and did not live up to expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: EVERY STAR TREK FAN SHOULD READ THIS!
Review: This book just continues the Traditions of Gene's ideas
Rating: 
Summary: One from the remainder bin . . .
Review: This book seems to prove the saying "A champion team is better than a team of champions". Given the authors' apparent credentials, you could be forgiven for expecting a lot more from "Dyson Sphere".
The question that came to my mind after finishing this book was "Why?" What was the point of a book that executes such mind-blowing concepts in such a shallow and unsatisfying way? A book that could have held so much and delivers so little? Any tale of the exploration of the Dyson Sphere - even one that employs the terrible cliche of taking the Sphere far beyond the reach of mere mortals before anything meaningful can be learnt - needed to be epic. "Dyson Sphere" wasn't. It was perfunctory at best, with nothing explained and everything skated over in a rushed manner. There was no sense of character, and the authors have little or no talent for visual description. The frequent attempts at deep and meaningful statements that punctuated the action sat very awkwardly. At times the writing was so bad I couldn't follow what was happening and what the characters were thinking/saying/doing. And the essays at the end did strike me as somewhat self-indulgent.
Okay, there's more science in "Dyson Sphere" than in any other Star Trek novel I've read, but as with any other science fiction novel, something more than good science and fantastic ideas is needed. A plot and characters would have been a good place to start. I would suggest to Messrs Zebrowski and Pellegrino that they try again, do another book unconnected to Star Trek so that they can have as many pages to fill as they please and remain unbound by the conventions of the Star Trek Universe as they explore their own fantastic ideas.
I really did find this book in a remainder bin. Now I know why. But I've given it two stars (which may be overly generous) because at least "Dyson Sphere" aimed high.
Rating:
Summary: Needed more paper.
Review: This book takes on concepts that are on par with the Rama books, but unfortunately doesn't go anywhere with it. The situations the crew encounters are mind-boggling and VERY nifty. The book does very well describing the immensity of an object like the Sphere, and coming up with unique things that might occur with such an object. Unfortunately, no sooner are you just getting interested in something than the crew runs away to do something else.You'll find yourself saying, "Uh...WHAT?" often as you read this book, as the crew makes wild speculation on everything and running with it as though it were proven fact. They frequently add zero and zero to get elephants, and it gets tiring after a while. Guinan shows up, for no apparent purpose than to wander around and periodically say something mysterious. The text of the book itself seems to imply authors with good talent, who were trying to meet a deadline. "Dyson Sphere" is a trilogy of thick books, boiled away and crammed into an inadequate 197-page novel. Quite sad, really.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book was a huge disappointment for anyone expecting interaction between the STNG crew, action, adventure, or anything vaguely resembling STNG. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless you found it at a garage sale for 25 cents, then I would bargain it down to 10 cents, which would still be overpriced.
Rating:
Summary: AWFUL!
Review: This may be the worst book I have ever read. I have always blindly bought the Star Trek series of books taking it for granted that the well-paid editors would sort out the trash. That won't happen again. I kept reading this book hoping it would get better, but it never did. From now on, I will read the Amazon reader reviews before purchasing - it's obvious Pocket Books has taken loyal readers for granted when they publish trash like this.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting and different Star Trek novel!
Review: This one is defintely different from the average Star Trek book! Picard and the Enterprise are dispatched to explore the Dyson Sphere they originally ran into during the television run. A federation starship run completely by Horta is sent with them to assist and speed up the exploration of the Dyson Sphere! This is a very interesting story to say the least. I would have to say I was expecting a little more or something different from this story. Not to mention the fact that it's at least forty pages short of an average trek book. That's not say this is a bad story though, it's a decent story overall. The author's captured Picard and crew pretty well and the Horta were done well. The villain, a neutron star hurled through a wormhole from the center of the galaxy at the sphere is explained in a somewhat vague way. This one is defintely for the hard core Star Trek collector/completist.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting and different Star Trek novel!
Review: This one is defintely different from the average Star Trek book! Picard and the Enterprise are dispatched to explore the Dyson Sphere they originally ran into during the television run. A federation starship run completely by Horta is sent with them to assist and speed up the exploration of the Dyson Sphere! This is a very interesting story to say the least. I would have to say I was expecting a little more or something different from this story. Not to mention the fact that it's at least forty pages short of an average trek book. That's not say this is a bad story though, it's a decent story overall. The author's captured Picard and crew pretty well and the Horta were done well. The villain, a neutron star hurled through a wormhole from the center of the galaxy at the sphere is explained in a somewhat vague way. This one is defintely for the hard core Star Trek collector/completist.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This really is the thinking man's Star Trek novel, written in the original tradition of Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry. The thing that most intrigues me about the reviews I have read here on Amazon is how often people who seem to be fans of Star Trek complain that there is too much (albeit by their own admission fascinating) science in this novel, that there are too many interesting things to think about, and - heaven forbid - a few unsolved mysteries. As in real-life science, and in real-life archaeological investigation, many qhestions are left unanswered. As in real-life scientific exploration, our fear is not that we will ever run out of answers. Our real fear is that we may one day find ourselves running out of questions. It is a sad fact, but a fact nonetheless, that the vast majority of the Trek novels have been evolving (or devolving) into mediocre, check your brains at the door bang-bang-shoot-da-aliens space opera. "Dyson Sphere" stands out because it requires the reader to stop and think (Hello! Has anyone noticed that some of the paragraphs are absolutely poetic?). How odd that a story which requires a little thought and allegedly doesn't have enough hardware blowing up (Hello! Has anyone noticed that a sun dropped through an ocean and emerged through the hull of a Dyson sphere?) should be regarded as next of kin to birdcage liner -- considering that this is the same reason the networks gave for almost keeping Gene Roddenberry's creation from ever airing in the first place. The executives told him Star Trek was "too cerebral." How far we've come, in all this time. Full circle, I believe.
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