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Rating: Summary: A Solid Beginning to a Wonderful Idea Review: A note to this review's readers: This review is for all four books of the 'New Frontier' series, so as to avoid reviewing every book. You have been warned.
So, I have to admit that ever since Voyager exploded onto the Star Trek scene- and subsequently fizzled out like a candle in a rainstorm- I have been praying that someone would have both the courage and the imagination to create their own Star Trek series in book form (I even tried it myself once; the USS Explorer, with a crew of characters even stranger than the one Mr. David has put together). Needless to say I jumped for joy when I saw that not only was my dream coming true, but it was being realized by Peter David, whom I consider to be the hands down best Trek author out there.
I admit, after finishing the first four books, that there were some rough spots. For example, the hallmark of David's writing to this date has been an unerring ability to tie loose ends of the Trek Universe together. In this book however, he takes it just a touch too far; each and every crew member, with the sole exceptions of Captain Calhoun and Burgoyne 172 (to my knowledge) has appeared in one or another incarnation of Trek, be it the series or the movies or David's own novels. It was cute at first, but dragged a bit. Also, the last book is a stretch even for David, though I won't go into it any further for fear of a spoiler. On the other hand, what Trek pilot has been without its share of problems? Overall, David has created in 'New Frontier' a fascinating area of space and a wonderful new ship manned by possibly the most interesting cast of characters in Trek. Zak Kebron (the Brikar security chief) alone is worth the price of admission on this one. So, I highly reccomend these books. Here's to hoping they continue, and kudos to Peter David for a job well done.
Rating: Summary: fantastic series!!! Review: Fantastic series if you really like the Next Generation era of Star Trek!!!!!!!!!
Rating: Summary: I love it! Review: Finally we are getting back to basics. This storyline really says.. "the Adventure Continues". They should have used this crew, this storyline and the Starship Voyager(just because its a cool ship) for the Voyager series. This is more like the original series in that you have a young Captain, a vulcan science officer and a vulcan going through an identity crisis. I'm referring to Dr. Selar (a vulcan doctor, boy if Bones were dead he would be turning in his grave). Great introductions to new species, namely Hermats and Brickars. Kebron reminds me of Marvel Comics' ever-lovin blue eyed Thing. Though Paramount has to much on its slate to do a movie or series with this crew, I would hope a mini-series or CD-Rom would be possible. Cant wait for the next books to come out.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic! Back to Basics Star Trek Review: Finally we are getting back to basics. This storyline really says.. "the Adventure Continues". They should have used this crew, this storyline and the Starship Voyager(just because its a cool ship) for the Voyager series. This is more like the original series in that you have a young Captain, a vulcan science officer and a vulcan going through an identity crisis. I'm referring to Dr. Selar (a vulcan doctor, boy if Bones were dead he would be turning in his grave). Great introductions to new species, namely Hermats and Brickars. Kebron reminds me of Marvel Comics' ever-lovin blue eyed Thing. Though Paramount has to much on its slate to do a movie or series with this crew, I would hope a mini-series or CD-Rom would be possible. Cant wait for the next books to come out.
Rating: Summary: Better than 90% of ST fiction, but... Review: I just finished reading the omnibus which collected the four separate New Frontier novels into one volume (which was less expensive than buying each separately). The biggest attraction of the NF series for me was getting to know new characters whose behavior, ethics, background, etc. had not been previously established (or only vaguely established). Unfortunately, I didn't like most of the characters in the book. The Security Chief ("Kebron") was a big, strong, tough guy. Period. Lt. Soleta was a clone of Saavik, a character who appeared in the early ST movies, right down to her connection (very forced) with Spock. Calhoun was a space cowboy who can beat up all the other Trek captains. Lt. McHenry is a space cadet. Burgoyne 172 (what a name!) did nothing in 600 pages except serve as a focus of sexual tension. As for the characters who had appeared previously in Trek (Shelby, Lefler, and Selar), I felt that their portrayal was untrue to their original characterizations. Shelby was much too willing to toady to Calhoun's unorthodox tactics, and I don't believe for a second their history together based on what we saw of Shelby in the classic "Best of Both Worlds". Although Selar and Lefler were minor TNG characters who I really didn't have any preconceived notions on, the whole Selar subplot was interesting for about two pages. Several reviewers have criticized NF for its protrayal of sexuality. I don't have a problem with exploring the sex lives of ST characters. I think ST as a whole tends to be a little sterile when it comes to depicting relationships in general, and sometimes it goes to extremes when touching on characters' sex lives...they're depicted as either playing loose-and-easy (Kirk, Riker) or as living in celibacy (Geordi, Bashir, and practically the entire crew of Voyager). It's nice to know that people still have sex in the 24th century, but can't they act like mature adults? Plus, was it just me, or did the scene between Burgoyne 172 and Selar in sickbay just scream "sexual harassment"? Plot-wise, the pacing was good, but the political intrigue was a little convoluted at times. By the middle of the fourth novel, I had no idea what the relationship between the Thallonians, the Xenxians, and the Danteri was. It's a good thing that the omnibus edition includes a "who's who" at the end. By that point in the novel, however, you could read them all the same: BAD GUYS. There was nothing that made these people anything more than the Alien Villain of the Week. Something I look forward to in Star Trek is the evocation of well-defined alien cultures. What ST delivers more often, however, is varying nose and ear prosthetics. I can forgive the TV series for this, given their budget limitations, but in a novel (much less four!), there should be enough room to develop at least some uniqueness to individuals or species. In all, I walked away from the NF novels without a desire to pick up the next novel in the series. I just don't care what happens to any of the NF characters because I don't know anything about them and what I do know doesn't make me sympathize with them. While I'd agree that the NF novels are better than 90% of ST fiction, I have to say that 95% of ST fiction that I've read (or tried to!) is awful.
Rating: Summary: This series so far is the best they have to offer Review: So far i have read all 6 books and I am simply amazed.Here we have an old guard captain who does not want to be captain.A first officer who should be captain.A security officer who trust no one.Deposed royalty.A space-cadet.Puppy love.A three-way love triangle.I cannot wait for the rest of the series.Bring it on.
Rating: Summary: I love it! Review: The book was nonstop action. It would make a great show, Buy this book if you like the Next Generation
Rating: Summary: New Frontier, Book 4: End Game Review: This book nicely ties up the loose ends from the previous three; as I've said before, the first four books of this series should really have been made one large book; in fact, they've been collected into an omnibus edition, and that edition I would rate at five stars. The storyline for the first four books combined is a fine one, the characters are handled quite well, and the writing style maintains Peter David's usual high quality, especially his ability to tell a dramatic story without losing his sense of humor. Still, this book on its own is only a story fragment; it has an ending, with just a couple of ongoing subplots (which is perfectly fine) but no beginning. And no story fragment is worth five stars. This is unquestionably the best "book" of the four, however.
Rating: Summary: A star trek series better then the crap that's on tv now Review: This is a series of 4 books that should be made into a tv show to replace Voyager. The author lets his ship go into "new space" without suffering the "Gilligan's Island" syndrome of Voyager. However, he still retains enough links to the Federation so we are not completely starting off from scratch. The best feature of these stories are the dynamic characters, especially the new ones. While some of the crew are "ol' favourites", the new characters bring much to Star Trek, such as decisive action, as in the case of Captain Calhoun (no pathetic negotiating with terrorists), satircal wit (security officer Kebron) and most importantly sexual innunedo (Burgoyne 172). These are areas in which the "new Trek" (Voy and DS9) shows have been lacking as they wallow in their political correctness. Main beef is publisher's shady idea of breaking one book into 4. Overall, an excellent series for any Trekker who wants a change.
Rating: Summary: Star Trek: New Frontier Review: This is what Gene Roddenberry wanted to see. This is everything that Next Generation fans have wanted, have craved, since the end of the television series. By taking the lost-in-space premise Voyager lives on and reducing the severity of the situation to a simple deep space assignment, Peter David has given us a setting and a group of characters perfectly suited for this assignment. Each character is so slightly conflicted with each other yet work together in the most extreme of situations. This set of books set itself apart from the other components of the franchise yet keeps itslf so inside the Starfleet us fans know and love so well.
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