Dyson Sphere (Star Trek: The Next Generation, No. 50)

Rating:
Summary: What falls away
Review: This review refers to the original version of the book, which was approved by Paramount for publication and which was mysteriously gutted by Pocket Books on the eve of publication - -without either author's knowledge or consent. I, like many readers, am familiar with the superior works of both authors and as I trudged through these seemingly misconnected chapters I could not escape the feeling that huge pieces were missing. Conversations would break off unexpectedly, then start off somewhere else - with different people! It was as if a good movie had been given over to Ed Wood for editing (or to the writers' worst enemy). One of the authors (Pellegrino) is a professional engineer and archaeologist and I could not imagine how a book in which the Captain of the Enterprise, an archaeologist at heart, is given charge of a most amazing archaeology expedition - - the Dyson Sphere, and the archaeology of the Borg - - could possibly go so wrong. I approached Pellegrino about this and he confirmed that approximately 25% of the book had been removed, that someone had renamed ships half-way through the story but not throughout (so that ships and even characters abruptly changed names), and that gross scientific inaccuracies had been introduced. All the more puzzling because Pellegrino claimed that he and Zebrowski had been hired on specifically to write a scientifically literate Star Trek novel. He was kind enough to let me read the original, approved version and I will never understand why some of the most fascinating creatures and chapters (including anything at all that dealt with character development or Piccard's personal suffering) were deleted. Pellegrino politely explained that there had been sincere apologies from Pocket Books, and that although no one at Pocket seemed to know how this had happened, the full version would be published shortly. That was nearly two years ago, and when I ran into him at a recent conference in Philadeplhia, he confirmed that the promise of a restored edition was apparently nothing more substantial than "lip service," and stated (this time, not so politely)that "Dyson Sphere" was the only one of his own books that you would never find on his shelves. This is too bad, because the version I read was every bit as good as Pellegrino's "Dust," Zebrowski's "Brute Orbits," or Pellegrino and Zebrowski's "The Killing Star." Pocket could easily have had another New York Times best seller on its hands. I've never before heard of a publisher destroying one of its own books. It makes no sense. It's like eating your children.

Rating:
Summary: Great science!
Review: Those who watched the TNG sixth season episode "Relics" with special guest star Scotty, will remember the Dyson Sphere which Scotty's ship crashed on. The crew of the Enterprise-E revisits the sphere to do an official research study on it. Along with them is a small ship of Horta (from the Original series episode, "The Devil in the Dark"). Once inside the sphere, they discover an infinite surprises, which only a small fraction do they get the chance to explore.

Rating:
Summary: good idea; good science; bad novel
Review: What intrigued me about this book was that it dealt with the Dyson Sphere as a follow up to the TV episode of TNG that dealt with it. I was disappointed in the lack of plot and character development and there were points where, amid all the science writing, things got rather confusing. The whole scene within the hollow moon and the sphere within a sphere -- all that stuff had great potential, but it seemed no sooner was the situation introduced (along with the new aliens) that everyone gets scared and runs for their lives -- chapter over. Again, the possible etherial connections with the Borg could have been great plot devices -- but they were not developed! Traditional characters were not well written; The Horta were somewhat interesting. But by and large, it seemed the two authors wrote two different stories and "smooshed" them together.

Rating:
Summary: Promises, Promises
Review: With all the potential this book had I really wasn't surprised. Most sequels leave so much to be desired and it doesn't help that the story line has an oddly familiar plot (Rendezvous with Rama). It's still a good read if you haven't read Clarke's bestseller.