Rating: 
Summary: An Epic Story, trapped in a short book.
Review: In Ship of the Line, Diane Carrey creates an epic saga, in true Star Trek style. She chooses prevocative characters, ideas and settings, and helps to fill in between the gap in the readers knowledge, before the events of Star Trek - First Contact. The problem is that she embraces too many concepts for her, relatively, short book. Her love for detail in her writing secomes to a need to shorten the text to her publishing requirements. What she actualy needed to do was to flesh out her ideas more, and add at least an extra two hundred pages to her novel. This woulds have helped stop the battles seeming rushed, the internal time-frame being evasive (just how long were the Klingons in Dishounor?), and her characterisations from being flimsy and conveniant. Perhaps she has become a little too used to writing four volume serials, or perhaps she should have done that here?
Rating: 
Summary: Simply awful
Review: It's been about a year since I read a Star Trek novel. It was Peter David's deplorable "I, Q." After reading the equally regeattable "Ship of the Line" I think I'll wait another year. My love of the original cast is as deep as anyone's but KIRK IS DEAD! Let him rest. No holodeck recreations, no reincarnations, no nothing. I was also put off by the hurried nature of the ending.
"Hey, did you catch the saboteur that's been mentioned every other chapter?"
"Oh yeah, it was just some dude."
And that's it.
I've only read two other Star Trek/Diane Carey books ("Final Frontier" and "Dreadnought") and they were infinitely superior to this slop of a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Simply awful
Review: It's been about a year since I read a Star Trek novel. It was Peter David's deplorable "I, Q." After reading the equally regeattable "Ship of the Line" I think I'll wait another year. My love of the original cast is as deep as anyone's but KIRK IS DEAD! Let him rest. No holodeck recreations, no reincarnations, no nothing. I was also put off by the hurried nature of the ending.
"Hey, did you catch the saboteur that's been mentioned every other chapter?"
"Oh yeah, it was just some dude."
And that's it.
I've only read two other Star Trek/Diane Carey books ("Final Frontier" and "Dreadnought") and they were infinitely superior to this slop of a novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Got my hopes up too much........
Review: It's true, don't ever judge a book by its cover. Judging from the cover of this book, it looks great, but once you get inside, it's a whole different story. My major beef with the book is the discussion between Bateson and Riker on the Enterprise - E bridge. This applies to all professions; whenever two people in authority have a disagreement, you NEVER, NEVER argue in front of subordinates! That is just plain BAD leadership! Bateson and Riker carry on a full blown argument right in front of the bridge crew! There is a scene in the movie Crimson Tide when Gene Hackman takes Denzel Washington below to his quarters to discuss their disagreement PRIVATELY. Hackman advises Washington to keep his opinions under wraps until they can be discussed privately, and if privacy doesn't present itself, then to keep his mouth shut. The principle invloved is called unity of command, and it's obvious that Diane Carey doesn't have a clue as to what that is.
One thing I did like was bringing the character of Morgan Bateson back. Making him a starfleet legend next to Captain Kirk was a bit much, but the backstory behind Bateson and his crew was entertaining. I especially liked Bateson's preoccupation with etymology and naval history. That gave real depth to the character.
Another problem I have is Carey's use of Scotty. Scotty is just a stock character in this book and is hardly used at all. It's stated early on that Scotty and Bateson go way back, but that's never followed up on and the reader is left drifting. Scotty winds up being essentially a Yes man throughout the book, agreeing with all the statements made by the other characters.
Picard's use of holodeck programs of Kirk's missions was interesting, and it tied in with William Shatner's "Ashes of Eden" quite nicely.
However, this book doesn't quite get the job done. It's alright to read through once, but once is quite enough.
Rating:
Summary: Bottom Line: A good read
Review: Most Star Trek novels are not known for their literary prowess or exceptionally profound storylines. This book is no exception. However, I did find it a quite enjoyable read, with an interesting premise and exciting action sequences. I do take issue with some of Ms. Carey's characterizations and use of dialogue (for example Morgan Bateson's fascination with Gabe Bush's accent -- what was that all about?), but overall she does write a good story. This first part of the novel plods along, but once you get to the second half, the story does improve significantly. If you're looking for a good read over a lazy weekend or a day on the beach, this book comes highly recommended. Three stars out of five because it isn't great, but it is entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Bottom Line: A good read
Review: Most Star Trek novels are not known for their literary prowess or exceptionally profound storylines. This book is no exception. However, I did find it a quite enjoyable read, with an interesting premise and exciting action sequences. I do take issue with some of Ms. Carey's characterizations and use of dialogue (for example Morgan Bateson's fascination with Gabe Bush's accent -- what was that all about?), but overall she does write a good story. This first part of the novel plods along, but once you get to the second half, the story does improve significantly. If you're looking for a good read over a lazy weekend or a day on the beach, this book comes highly recommended. Three stars out of five because it isn't great, but it is entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Ship of the Line is first rate
Review: Normally I do not like books by Diane Carey. She has done novelizations in the past which I have read, and I have thought them too short with not enough detail. However, this one book would turn me into a Diane Carey fan.I loved this book. I know, from reading a lot of the reviews before mine, that there are a lot of people who hated it because there wasn't enough TNG crew involved, they didn't like the ending, etc. Well, "Cause and Effect" is one of my favorite STTNG episodes (I have it on tape) and I always wanted to know what had happened to Captain Batesman (played by Kelsey Grammer) and his crew. One gets a glimpse of him in the Peter David book "The Captain's Daughter," but we see none of him in any other book. He is an engaging character that I would love to see in more books. Simply put, I began reading this book a few minutes after I bought it, and I didn't put it down until I was finished with it (two hours later). I love it, I love the ending, I love his crew, and the biggest thing I love about this book is that it didn't have a bunch of characters that we already know in it. We got to meet a lot of new people with new stories. If you have a hankering for a ST book that doesn't have a lot of ST characters we already know in it, pick up this book. If you like quirky, smart characters, pick up this book. If you are looking for more Picard & Co. action, best leave it alone. But at least read it once.
Rating:
Summary: An ambitious novel: much more than Frazier on Star Trek
Review: One look at the cover of Diane Carey's "Ship of the Line" with the faces of Patrick Stewart and Kelsey Grammer tells us this STNG novel is a sequel to "Cause and Effect" (Episode 118), where a temporal loop brought the U.S.S. Bozeman and Captain Morgan Bateson ninety years into the future. But Carey's novel is much more ambitious than that, because not only do we learn what the Bozeman was up to when it was catapulted into the future, we find out what Picard and his crew did after the destruction of the Enterprise-D in the "Star Trek: Generations" movie. In fact, this books ends with the beginning scenes of the "Star Trek: First Contact." But our intrepid author is just getting started for she also works in the characters from the original Star Trek. With Scotty already in the future because of the "Relics" episode of STNG, Carey works in Jim Kirk and the rest by having Captain Picard deal with interactive holographic programs of "Balance of Terror" and "The Enemy Within" episodes of the classic Trek. These provide some of the best scenes in the novel, as Picard questions Kirk about his tactical decisions and the responsibilities of being a Starfleet Captain. However, when Carey also works in Gul Madred, who tortured Picard in "Chain of Command, Part 2," it does become a bit much. I appreciate Star Trek novels that seek to fill in the gaps from the various television series, but Carey does enter kitchen sink territory here. After the giving us the back story on how the Bozeman's encounter with a Klingon warship led to their being flung into the future, there are two main plot lines to "Ship of the Line." First, Captain Bateson has taken advantage of his seniority in Starfleet to not only oversee the construction of the Enterprise-E but also be in command of its shakedown cruise. Riker and the rest of the bridge crew join Scotty and the Bozeman's original crew, unaware that Bateson's old Klingon adversary Kozara is once again gunning for him. Meanwhile, Picard is heading off to the Cardassian Empire to negotiate with Gul Madred for the release of Federation prisoners. Eventually, of course, these two plotlines will converge. Carey, an avid sailor, works in numerous lines from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, and much of the starship action seems more fitting for the high seas than deep space. What will not surprise you is that although Captain Bateson had only a line or two in "Cause and Effect," the character is clearly patterned on Kelsey Grammer. How could you proceed otherwise? In the end we are back to the cover of "Ship of the Line," for it is how Picard deals with Gul Madred and Bateson deals with Kozara that provides the twin climaxes to the novel. There is so much going on here that ultimately the story is simply carrying too much weight, but this is definitely a worthwhile story and an above average effort from Carey. Clearly this is a labor of love for her on many levels.
Rating:
Summary: An ambitious novel: much more than Frazier on Star Trek
Review: One look at the cover of Diane Carey's "Ship of the Line" with the faces of Patrick Stewart and Kelsey Grammer tells us this STNG novel is a sequel to "Cause and Effect" (Episode 118), where a temporal loop brought the U.S.S. Bozeman and Captain Morgan Bateson ninety years into the future. But Carey's novel is much more ambitious than that, because not only do we learn what the Bozeman was up to when it was catapulted into the future, we find out what Picard and his crew did after the destruction of the Enterprise-D in the "Star Trek: Generations" movie. In fact, this books ends with the beginning scenes of the "Star Trek: First Contact." But our intrepid author is just getting started for she also works in the characters from the original Star Trek. With Scotty already in the future because of the "Relics" episode of STNG, Carey works in Jim Kirk and the rest by having Captain Picard deal with interactive holographic programs of "Balance of Terror" and "The Enemy Within" episodes of the classic Trek. These provide some of the best scenes in the novel, as Picard questions Kirk about his tactical decisions and the responsibilities of being a Starfleet Captain. However, when Carey also works in Gul Madred, who tortured Picard in "Chain of Command, Part 2," it does become a bit much. I appreciate Star Trek novels that seek to fill in the gaps from the various television series, but Carey does enter kitchen sink territory here. After the giving us the back story on how the Bozeman's encounter with a Klingon warship led to their being flung into the future, there are two main plot lines to "Ship of the Line." First, Captain Bateson has taken advantage of his seniority in Starfleet to not only oversee the construction of the Enterprise-E but also be in command of its shakedown cruise. Riker and the rest of the bridge crew join Scotty and the Bozeman's original crew, unaware that Bateson's old Klingon adversary Kozara is once again gunning for him. Meanwhile, Picard is heading off to the Cardassian Empire to negotiate with Gul Madred for the release of Federation prisoners. Eventually, of course, these two plotlines will converge. Carey, an avid sailor, works in numerous lines from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, and much of the starship action seems more fitting for the high seas than deep space. What will not surprise you is that although Captain Bateson had only a line or two in "Cause and Effect," the character is clearly patterned on Kelsey Grammer. How could you proceed otherwise? In the end we are back to the cover of "Ship of the Line," for it is how Picard deals with Gul Madred and Bateson deals with Kozara that provides the twin climaxes to the novel. There is so much going on here that ultimately the story is simply carrying too much weight, but this is definitely a worthwhile story and an above average effort from Carey. Clearly this is a labor of love for her on many levels.
Rating:
Summary: An okay Star Trek novel that could have been brilliant.
Review: Ship Of The Line is an okay Star Trek Novel but could have been brilliant if not for some silly continuity and character errors It seemed a little rushed towards the end too. Ms Carey's error concerning Gul Madred's torture of Captain Picard being before the Borg's capture of the captain was one glaring faux pas that was irksome but didn't mar my over-all enjoyment of the book. I especially enjoyed Picard's interaction with a holo-deck Captain Kirk. One of the better novelised depictions of Kirk outside of Shatner's Trek Novels. They concerned a retrospective of some Kirk's classic adventures with Picard querying James T. as to his command decisions and motives. The result of Kirk's inspiration is more gung ho Picard. This ties in nicely with his behaviour in 'First Contact'. Picard's conference with the holographic Kirk maybe considered un-necessary padding by some but for me it actually made up for the rest of the book's short comings. I also loved what Carey did with the Captain Morgan Bateman character. It was definitely written with Kelsey Grammer in mind as portrayed briefly in the ST.NG episode Cause and Effect. Laforge was okay but Data, Troi, Riker, and Crusher acted slightly out of character but it could be argued that people do change, especially after their recent ordeal. I'm glad Scotty was included but he seemed a little subdued. clichéd it might be but it would have been nice to have him remonstrate with someone over the treatment of his engines or rather his 'poor wee bairns'. Klingons from the 23rd Century out to reclaim their honour by destroying Bateson. Hmm I'm starting to get fed up of Klingons. I prefer the Romulans, and where are the Federation allies: the Andorians, the Deltans, the Tellarites. All in all a fine effort but I implore Diane Carey to dot the 'i's and cross the ' t's next time.
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