Battlestations!

Rating:
Summary: my favorite star trek book ever!
Review: I first read this book in junior high and it is still my favorite.Both it and Dreadnaught are hilarious and exciting. For those you want more of Spock and Kirk, it may not be your favorite, but for those of us who fanticize about being in a star trek book, this is as close as you can get. I love Piper and all her friends.

Rating:
Summary: Piper Does It Again
Review: I liked this book better than Dreadnought, probably because Carey delved into Piper's complicated relationship with the fascinating Sarda. Her Vulcan friend is interesting as he is not a "typical" Vulcan; he's a country-bumpkin with a serious flaw, a genius for the wrong type of technical development which is almost always misused by the military-types trying to rule the Federation. I loved the camraderie of the characters, and the discussions of the dilemnas of Command. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Like its predecessor, a nice light Trek novel.
Review: In my reviews of Classic Star Trek novels, it must be understood that I adhere to the original canon as invisioned by Gene Roddenberry, and not the "Star Trek" universe accepted by Rick Berman and company.

I generally rate a classic novel thus:

Adherence to Canon -- does this novel adhere to the vision of the original Star Trek?

Again, seems to.

Believability (within the confines of 23rd century Star Trek viability) -- is this novel well-plotted and well written? Can I picture this novel or imagine myself in it?

Yes, it's a pretty vivid story.

Coherence and Consistency -- does this novel internally consistent? Is it consistent with other Star Trek novels by the same author? Is it consistent with what is known of the CLASSIC Star Trek universe?

Yes, especially with the author's previous novel.

Mitigating Factors -- pluses or minuses which dramatically affect the enjoyment of this book

Again, like "Dreadnaught", this book is not a brilliant work of literature, but it's a fun read and certainly a welcome contribution to the Classic Star Trek canon.

Rating:
Summary: Like its predecessor, a nice light Trek novel.
Review: In my reviews of Classic Star Trek novels, it must be understood that I adhere to the original canon as invisioned by Gene Roddenberry, and not the "Star Trek" universe accepted by Rick Berman and company.

I generally rate a classic novel thus:

Adherence to Canon -- does this novel adhere to the vision of the original Star Trek?

Again, seems to.

Believability (within the confines of 23rd century Star Trek viability) -- is this novel well-plotted and well written? Can I picture this novel or imagine myself in it?

Yes, it's a pretty vivid story.

Coherence and Consistency -- does this novel internally consistent? Is it consistent with other Star Trek novels by the same author? Is it consistent with what is known of the CLASSIC Star Trek universe?

Yes, especially with the author's previous novel.

Mitigating Factors -- pluses or minuses which dramatically affect the enjoyment of this book

Again, like "Dreadnaught", this book is not a brilliant work of literature, but it's a fun read and certainly a welcome contribution to the Classic Star Trek canon.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly good!!
Review: Piper is a wonderful character, and has
very good chemistry with both the traditional
and new characters. She shows ingenuity and
versatility. The story line is engaging, and
the book is a masterpiece. I recommend that
you read the first novel in the Piper series,
Dreadnaught, also.

Rating:
Summary: Piper stars in another excellent novel
Review: The sequel to Dreadnought!, this book is just as good. It carries on the story of Lt. Cmdr. Piper, and does so wonderfully. Piper must save her Vulcan friend Sarda from dangerous scientists, and gets her own ship to do so. However, "Rex" isn't quite what she was hoping for as her first command. As in Dreadnought!, Piper falls in and out of trouble, but manages to still be brave and find solutions to the problems. Funny and totally excellent!

Rating:
Summary: Piper stars in another excellent novel
Review: The sequel to Dreadnought!, this book is just as good. It carries on the story of Lt. Cmdr. Piper, and does so wonderfully. Piper must save her Vulcan friend Sarda from dangerous scientists, and gets her own ship to do so. However, "Rex" isn't quite what she was hoping for as her first command. As in Dreadnought!, Piper falls in and out of trouble, but manages to still be brave and find solutions to the problems. Funny and totally excellent!

Rating:
Summary: An interesting quick read, if a bit juvenile.
Review: This book is a sequel to the novel "Dreadnought"; it is somewhat better than that novel, in that the plot is a bit more original, if still an offshoot of the same old worn-out concept. Like Dreadnought, it is rather untraditional as a Star Trek novel, in that the main character is a young officer just out of Starfleet academy, and we only see Kirk, Spock, etc, through her eyes. It is an interesting and worthwhile variation, almost making up for the unoriginality of the basic storylines; Piper is transparently a female equivalent of the young Kirk, with just as much talent and potential as Kirk had as a youth, and just as much inexperience. So in a way, watching her adventures has the advantage of giving us some insight into the early development of the Kirk character, without the disadvantage that "flashback" stories have of being restricted to events that fit into what we know of Kirk's history, and without the guarantee that he will come through successfully (after all, we KNOW Kirk got through those early trials, but there's no guarantee that the next young hotshot officer will).

There's something of the feel of juvenile fiction to these stories, with the young main character saving the day repeatedly, but to her credit, Ms. Carey doesn't limit the usual main characters to the sidelines; they take their full place in the plot, and are as amazingly competent as they should be. There's simply the addition of another main character, taking her turn at saving the day. Also to Ms. Carey's credit, she resists the temptation to include a romantic entaglement between Kirk and her heroine, a concept which would clearly be out of place, but which many authors would fail to resist (there's a talented, attractive female character; quick, have Kirk seduce her, or at least try.)

(Oh, and Ms. Carey still hasn't learned the difference between a "niggling" doubt and a "sniggering" one, the difference being that there IS such a thing as a niggling doubt, but if there's such a thing as a "sniggering" one, I've never heard of it.)

There's no lack of action in this story, nor any lack of fascinating character insight. It does seem that the attempt to make Piper a parallel for Kirk goes a bit overboard, though, in that her best friend and most trusted colleague is a Vulcan, and her next best friend and most trusted colleague has a southern drawl. It gets a bit forced, but the book is still worth reading for fans of Kirk and Star Trek.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting quick read, if a bit juvenile.
Review: This book is a sequel to the novel "Dreadnought"; it is somewhat better than that novel, in that the plot is a bit more original, if still an offshoot of the same old worn-out concept. Like Dreadnought, it is rather untraditional as a Star Trek novel, in that the main character is a young officer just out of Starfleet academy, and we only see Kirk, Spock, etc, through her eyes. It is an interesting and worthwhile variation, almost making up for the unoriginality of the basic storylines; Piper is transparently a female equivalent of the young Kirk, with just as much talent and potential as Kirk had as a youth, and just as much inexperience. So in a way, watching her adventures has the advantage of giving us some insight into the early development of the Kirk character, without the disadvantage that "flashback" stories have of being restricted to events that fit into what we know of Kirk's history, and without the guarantee that he will come through successfully (after all, we KNOW Kirk got through those early trials, but there's no guarantee that the next young hotshot officer will).

There's something of the feel of juvenile fiction to these stories, with the young main character saving the day repeatedly, but to her credit, Ms. Carey doesn't limit the usual main characters to the sidelines; they take their full place in the plot, and are as amazingly competent as they should be. There's simply the addition of another main character, taking her turn at saving the day. Also to Ms. Carey's credit, she resists the temptation to include a romantic entaglement between Kirk and her heroine, a concept which would clearly be out of place, but which many authors would fail to resist (there's a talented, attractive female character; quick, have Kirk seduce her, or at least try.)

(Oh, and Ms. Carey still hasn't learned the difference between a "niggling" doubt and a "sniggering" one, the difference being that there IS such a thing as a niggling doubt, but if there's such a thing as a "sniggering" one, I've never heard of it.)

There's no lack of action in this story, nor any lack of fascinating character insight. It does seem that the attempt to make Piper a parallel for Kirk goes a bit overboard, though, in that her best friend and most trusted colleague is a Vulcan, and her next best friend and most trusted colleague has a southern drawl. It gets a bit forced, but the book is still worth reading for fans of Kirk and Star Trek.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as "Dreadnought!" but still a good read
Review: This isn't as good as "Dreadnought!," as most of it takes place not on Enterprise but on a small tug, the T-Rex (renamed Banana Republic). It's a good read though, with lots of fun and action. A must for any Star Trek fan. Also check my review of "Dreadnought!" for more details.