Rating: 
Summary: A major falloff from the series start
Review: After a rollicking start to the New Earth series, this latest entry is a major disappointment, taking a deep dive from the story and plot quality of the first version. In this novel, the aliens that caused so much of the havoc and intrique in the first novel have essentially disappeared. meanwhile, we get lots of colonial sniping. Spock's role is to call out probabilities to the umpteeth decimal point, a hackneyed cliche that is used over and over here. In every chapter, it seems, there is a new doomsday scenario, with Spock calculating the odds of success in the single-digits percent, yet Kirk & Co. pull off one predictable miracle after another. There is one poignant moment when the small crew of one ship, send out on a scouting mission, dies in the dark, powerless vacuum of space, their ship made black by a mysterious phenomenon that is neither explained nor used again. Coming on the eels of the gripping first novel, this one turns out to be a dud.
Rating: 
Summary: ST #90 Belle Terre - The story gets a lot better!
Review: After trudging my way through the first book in this series, Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," I found "Belle Terre" to be somewhat of a welcome relief. As stated in my review for the first book in the New Earth series, the whole concept of the New Earth series is a very interesting and intriguing one but "Wagon Train to the Stars" just didn't execute on this extremely interesting premise very well. "Belle Terre" does pick up on the pace of the story quite nicely though. There are points in which the pace still seems to drag, thus causing the novel one star.The cover art for this novel is much better than previous novels and it lends to the story quite well. The premise: At the conclusion of Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," Captain Kirk has successfully guided the colony and its sixty two thousand members and ships through treachery and attack from outsiders to Belle Terre. As "Belle Terre" begins we learn that the Quake Moon, which had been focused on during the first novel of this series, is a moon that contains a large quantity of Quantum olivium which is an extremely rare and valuable substance to the Federation and other civilizations. Captain Kirk is elated to find this out as this rare substance will greatly help the new colony but those hopes are quickly dashed as Spock reveals that the moon is under so much internal pressure that it is going to explode and destroy Belle Terre in the process. Captain Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise and the colonists must now find a way to stop this massive explosion or be prepared to evacuate the colony and hope to make it back to Federation space before they run out of supplies. What I found even more interesting about this novel was the subplot in which Captain Kirk asked one of the pathfinder ships and its captain to find a suitable planet that the colonists can be taken to in the event that they cannot prevent the destruction of Belle Terre. Captain Sunn and hid small crew take their pathfinder ship, the Rattlesnake and an extremely intriguing jaunt and find a very interesting world that was once populated but is now approximately one hundred years barren. What follows from there is a Star Trek numbered novel that far outweighs the leadoff book in this series. The one unfortunate thing about it is that the subplot is much more interesting than the main plot. I would recommend this novel and New Earth series more as a collectors/completists type read. While they are by far not the best in Trek fiction, they're not the worst either. {ssintrepid}
Rating:
Summary: ST #90 Belle Terre - The story gets a lot better!
Review: After trudging my way through the first book in this series, Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," I found "Belle Terre" to be somewhat of a welcome relief. As stated in my review for the first book in the New Earth series, the whole concept of the New Earth series is a very interesting and intriguing one but "Wagon Train to the Stars" just didn't execute on this extremely interesting premise very well. "Belle Terre" does pick up on the pace of the story quite nicely though. There are points in which the pace still seems to drag, thus causing the novel one star. The cover art for this novel is much better than previous novels and it lends to the story quite well. The premise: At the conclusion of Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," Captain Kirk has successfully guided the colony and its sixty two thousand members and ships through treachery and attack from outsiders to Belle Terre. As "Belle Terre" begins we learn that the Quake Moon, which had been focused on during the first novel of this series, is a moon that contains a large quantity of Quantum olivium which is an extremely rare and valuable substance to the Federation and other civilizations. Captain Kirk is elated to find this out as this rare substance will greatly help the new colony but those hopes are quickly dashed as Spock reveals that the moon is under so much internal pressure that it is going to explode and destroy Belle Terre in the process. Captain Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise and the colonists must now find a way to stop this massive explosion or be prepared to evacuate the colony and hope to make it back to Federation space before they run out of supplies. What I found even more interesting about this novel was the subplot in which Captain Kirk asked one of the pathfinder ships and its captain to find a suitable planet that the colonists can be taken to in the event that they cannot prevent the destruction of Belle Terre. Captain Sunn and hid small crew take their pathfinder ship, the Rattlesnake and an extremely intriguing jaunt and find a very interesting world that was once populated but is now approximately one hundred years barren. What follows from there is a Star Trek numbered novel that far outweighs the leadoff book in this series. The one unfortunate thing about it is that the subplot is much more interesting than the main plot. I would recommend this novel and New Earth series more as a collectors/completists type read. While they are by far not the best in Trek fiction, they're not the worst either. {ssintrepid}
Rating:
Summary: ST #90 Belle Terre - The story gets a lot better!
Review: After trudging my way through the first book in this series, Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," I found "Belle Terre" to be somewhat of a welcome relief. As stated in my review for the first book in the New Earth series, the whole concept of the New Earth series is a very interesting and intriguing one but "Wagon Train to the Stars" just didn't execute on this extremely interesting premise very well. "Belle Terre" does pick up on the pace of the story quite nicely though. There are points in which the pace still seems to drag, thus causing the novel one star. The cover art for this novel is much better than previous novels and it lends to the story quite well. The premise: At the conclusion of Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars," Captain Kirk has successfully guided the colony and its sixty two thousand members and ships through treachery and attack from outsiders to Belle Terre. As "Belle Terre" begins we learn that the Quake Moon, which had been focused on during the first novel of this series, is a moon that contains a large quantity of Quantum olivium which is an extremely rare and valuable substance to the Federation and other civilizations. Captain Kirk is elated to find this out as this rare substance will greatly help the new colony but those hopes are quickly dashed as Spock reveals that the moon is under so much internal pressure that it is going to explode and destroy Belle Terre in the process. Captain Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise and the colonists must now find a way to stop this massive explosion or be prepared to evacuate the colony and hope to make it back to Federation space before they run out of supplies. What I found even more interesting about this novel was the subplot in which Captain Kirk asked one of the pathfinder ships and its captain to find a suitable planet that the colonists can be taken to in the event that they cannot prevent the destruction of Belle Terre. Captain Sunn and hid small crew take their pathfinder ship, the Rattlesnake and an extremely intriguing jaunt and find a very interesting world that was once populated but is now approximately one hundred years barren. What follows from there is a Star Trek numbered novel that far outweighs the leadoff book in this series. The one unfortunate thing about it is that the subplot is much more interesting than the main plot. I would recommend this novel and New Earth series more as a collectors/completists type read. While they are by far not the best in Trek fiction, they're not the worst either. {ssintrepid}
Rating: 
Summary: The Wagon Has Arrived
Review: Finally, the wagon train to the stars got there. They're established in their new planet and out of nowhere comes a new menace to the colonists, which the Enterprise must try to avert. Taking into account that this is a TOS book, I'd say they do OK. It's true that many clichés pop up, but I guess that's the way some of us fans like it. I found this book entertaining and the story line kept me hooked. Taking into account that this is the second book of the series and that further developments will come to pass, my recommendation is "keep on reading"
Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek hackwork
Review: Here's a question: Why, unlike the first book in the New Earth series, is BELLE TERRE written as if the target reader is a 9-year-old? The vocabulary and sentence structure are barely up to the standards of a YA (young adult) novel, and the story itself is a simple-minded meet-the-deadline crisis that ends exactly the way one thinks it will. The book is needlessly divided into four arbitrary "parts"; the natural assumption here is that it was done for padding, a fair conclusion when one sees a countdown ("Four. Three. Two....") divided into separate paragraphs. The dialogue is straight from the cliche encyclopedia, with enough "one-quarter impulse, Mr. Sulu"s and "course plotted and laid in sir"s to fill three or four bad novels. And the author's idea of a scare? "Skeletons." That's right: skeletons. My advice: skip directly to Part Three and a different author, where there should be enough background to discern the essentials of this piece of hackwork.
Rating:
Summary: A Miserable Start
Review: I was afraid the push would be toward these multi-book stories. The last time I saw this I bought the entire VECTORS series of Star Trek books all at once -- a decision I regret to this day. At least this time all I am out is the price of one new book (selling cheap). This book just drags. Too much detail, too many characters. I am a stalwart fan of the series and I was just bored to tears with this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Miserable Start
Review: I was afraid the push would be toward these multi-book stories. The last time I saw this I bought the entire VECTORS series of Star Trek books all at once -- a decision I regret to this day. At least this time all I am out is the price of one new book (selling cheap). This book just drags. Too much detail, too many characters. I am a stalwart fan of the series and I was just bored to tears with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek hackwork
Review: I'm only part way through the book but had to stop and share my frustration. In "Belle Terre", Kirk orders the Starfleet cutter Impeller of Captain Merkling to aid in the search for some lost children. Apparently, Kirk is senile because in "Wagon Train to the Stars," the Impeller, severly damaged by the Orions, was sent limping back to Federation space with a blinded Captain Merkling on board. The only possible explanations are that 1) Q made an early appearance and helped out, 2) transwarp was developed, used ot get the Impeller back to Belle Terre quickly, or 3) the author and the editor screwed up royally. Sorry, but I have to go with option 3 as my final answer. This bodes ill for the rest of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Why sequel writers should read the series
Review: I'm only part way through the book but had to stop and share my frustration. In "Belle Terre", Kirk orders the Starfleet cutter Impeller of Captain Merkling to aid in the search for some lost children. Apparently, Kirk is senile because in "Wagon Train to the Stars," the Impeller, severly damaged by the Orions, was sent limping back to Federation space with a blinded Captain Merkling on board. The only possible explanations are that 1) Q made an early appearance and helped out, 2) transwarp was developed, used ot get the Impeller back to Belle Terre quickly, or 3) the author and the editor screwed up royally. Sorry, but I have to go with option 3 as my final answer. This bodes ill for the rest of the book.
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