Rating: 
Summary: A fair book for her first
Review: By now you know that Carey writes very well and she is not exclusive to sci-fi. This was her first Trek story and the critics will always be there. What really needs critics is the books that are pumped out that are just scripts of the TV series. And for you collectors out there, the cover on this book features the BattlestaR GALACTICA upside down.
Rating: 
Summary: A mysterious creature wants to devour the Enterprise
Review: Diane Carey's "Ghost Ship" was certainly an interesting choice for the first Star Trek: Next Generation novel. Written in 1988 it starts in 1995, when a mysterious creature destroys a Russian aircraft carrier and disappears, leaving its planes to land on an American carrier. We then leap ahead 300 years where Counselor Troi wakes up from a nightmare in which the souls lost in that disaster are speaking to her. The creature that destroyed their ship absorbed their life-essences. Of course, the creature has become aware of the Enterprise and the two crews need to work together to stave off a repeat of the earlier disaster. So, on the one hand you have the sense of comradeship for those who sail in ships, rather on sea or through space, but on the other you have a rather rudimentary understanding of the characters. Certainly this is to be expected at that point in the game and Carey works well with the singular dimensions that exist for each STNG character. However, she does do a nice job of developing (anticipating?) the friendship of Data and Geordi and does some nice things with space psychology. Consequently, "Ghost Ship" is an above average novel in this series.
Rating:
Summary: A mysterious creature wants to devour the Enterprise
Review: Diane Carey's "Ghost Ship" was certainly an interesting choice for the first Star Trek: Next Generation novel. Written in 1988 it starts in 1995, when a mysterious creature destroys a Russian aircraft carrier and disappears, leaving its planes to land on an American carrier. We then leap ahead 300 years where Counselor Troi wakes up from a nightmare in which the souls lost in that disaster are speaking to her. The creature that destroyed their ship absorbed their life-essences. Of course, the creature has become aware of the Enterprise and the two crews need to work together to stave off a repeat of the earlier disaster. So, on the one hand you have the sense of comradeship for those who sail in ships, rather on sea or through space, but on the other you have a rather rudimentary understanding of the characters. Certainly this is to be expected at that point in the game and Carey works well with the singular dimensions that exist for each STNG character. However, she does do a nice job of developing (anticipating?) the friendship of Data and Geordi and does some nice things with space psychology. Consequently, "Ghost Ship" is an above average novel in this series.
Rating:
Summary: First numbered Next Generation Novel.
Review: Ghost Ship brings us the first of the Star Trek The Next Generation novels written for Pocket Books. This is a fairly original story involving Picard and crew in a multi-century mystery.
A good read for any Star Trek fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Weaker Trek
Review: Ghost Ship suffers from a problem that too many of the Pocket Trek books share - too much effort devoted to character interaction and too little effort to plot. Authors of media tie-ins - like Star Trek and Buffy - run great risks when they focus too much on the characters. Because the readers are already intimately familiar with the "real" characters, the interactions may seem fake or untrue. Conflicts or backgrounds created by the writers may be superceded by later television or movie episodes. And, ultimately, all the effort spent by the writer to make us care about the characters is wasted. We *already* care about the characters, or else we wouldn't be reading the book! So very much of Ghost Ship is wasted space. Riker insults Data. Geordi throws a tantrum about it. Riker and Deanna wonder if they can maintain a friendship. Geordi whines about his VISOR. Riker wonders if Tasha likes to wear comfortable shoes (yes, that's right). None of it is particularly moving or interesting. True, Carey was tasked with writing a Next Generation novel very early on in the series - perhaps before she was able to see any of the episodes? But that should have been all the more reason to *avoid* character introspection, and focus instead on what could have been an interesting plotline. The occasionally grossly overdone prose ("[Deanna's] eyes, extra large with their touch of alienness, obisidan as eyes that looked out of a Greco-Roman fresco . . . .") further keeps Ghost Ship from reaching the three-star plateau that most Trek books earn.
Rating:
Summary: Weaker Trek
Review: Ghost Ship suffers from a problem that too many of the Pocket Trek books share - too much effort devoted to character interaction and too little effort to plot. Authors of media tie-ins - like Star Trek and Buffy - run great risks when they focus too much on the characters. Because the readers are already intimately familiar with the "real" characters, the interactions may seem fake or untrue. Conflicts or backgrounds created by the writers may be superceded by later television or movie episodes. And, ultimately, all the effort spent by the writer to make us care about the characters is wasted. We *already* care about the characters, or else we wouldn't be reading the book! So very much of Ghost Ship is wasted space. Riker insults Data. Geordi throws a tantrum about it. Riker and Deanna wonder if they can maintain a friendship. Geordi whines about his VISOR. Riker wonders if Tasha likes to wear comfortable shoes (yes, that's right). None of it is particularly moving or interesting. True, Carey was tasked with writing a Next Generation novel very early on in the series - perhaps before she was able to see any of the episodes? But that should have been all the more reason to *avoid* character introspection, and focus instead on what could have been an interesting plotline. The occasionally grossly overdone prose ("[Deanna's] eyes, extra large with their touch of alienness, obisidan as eyes that looked out of a Greco-Roman fresco . . . .") further keeps Ghost Ship from reaching the three-star plateau that most Trek books earn.
Rating:
Summary: STNG #1 Ghost Ship - It's a beginning...
Review: Given that this was the very first of the original Star Trek The Next Generation novels and that the author didn't even have the benefit of a full season of the show to work with, she did a worthwhile job in her characterizations based on her limited knowledge of them. Despite the television episodes having later disproved her suppositions about the characters, except for the strong bond between Data and Geordi LaForge, the author came up with a fairly decent concept for the plot. Given the outstanding newer Star Trek stories she has published since this one, I'm certain had she had more time to watch the episodes and learn these outstanding characters, her plot and the characterizations within the pages of this story would've been much better. The premise: Conceptually, the premise for this story is a sound one, well based in science fiction as we're introduced to a Russian aircraft carrier in the year 1995. We soon learn that there is an entity that will destroy the crew of this ship. We're then brought to the twenty fourth century and the Captain and crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D must deal with this same threat or be left a "Ghost Ship" as well. Would I recommend this first STNG novel, yes! Why you say, from a fans and a collector's point of view, it was the first TNG novel that will lead the reader along the line of all of the STNG novels published to date and it is quite interesting to read through them, seeing how they've improved, along with the series. If you've never read a Star Trek novel written by this fine Star Trek author before, whatever you do, do not dismiss her as a bad Trek author, for this was but the first of her STNG efforts and she has so many others that are well worth the time to read them! {ssintrepid}
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best
Review: I am much more a fan of star wars and babylon 5, but i don't mind star trek and will watch or read most things to do with it. But as a first book i must say that this is a bit of a let down. The story is somewhat warped [no pun intended] and did not seem to be really all that gripping. if you want to collect them all then get the book otherwise steer clear.
Rating:
Summary: Weak but good to see
Review: I bought this book when it first came out years ago. I read it, but honestly was not impressed. The characters seem wrong somehow. The story is lame. The overall plot wasn't something I cared about. However, it was a fine first attempt of a novel. I am glad it happened, so we can have more and better novels to enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Weak but good to see
Review: I bought this book when it first came out years ago. I read it, but honestly was not impressed. The characters seem wrong somehow. The story is lame. The overall plot wasn't something I cared about. However, it was a fine first attempt of a novel. I am glad it happened, so we can have more and better novels to enjoy.
|
