Valiant, The

Rating:
Summary: Friedman wasn't even trying (minor spoilers)
Review: ...

This tale has its moments, and maybe a certain Horatio Hornblower quality of which Roddenberry would approve -- the story of a young officer thrust into a command situation and having to prove his mettle. But the execution is poor. The writing is flat and totally passionless. The scene where Picard's captain and mentor is killed before his eyes contains no trace of emotion.

The story also lacks imagination -- particularly the early part, recounting the Valiant's doomed mission. This ship was supposedly launched just four years after Cochrane's warp prototype. But Friedman depicts it exactly like a 23rd- or 24th-century Starfleet vessel, with a crew of eighty, at least seven decks, lifts, deflectors, ops officers, an electroplasma system, the works. The only concessions to the earlier era are the weapons. There's no way such an early ship could be that big, elaborate and modern. Friedman didn't even try to imagine a credible early-warp expedition or a more primitive level of technology; he just parroted the familiar tropes without considering whether they made sense in this context. As for the plot of this section, it's virtually a beat-by-beat replay of "Where No Man," except less interesting because none of the characters has any emotional connection to the Mitchell stand-in.

The Stargazer portion isn't very creative either. The characters and their interactions are quite crudely drawn. Picard is almost indistinguishable from the TNG-era Picard. In an earlier Stargazer story for DC Comics, Friedman portrayed the young Picard as more brash and daring, somewhere between "Tapestry"'s cadet Picard and the captain we know. But here, Friedman forgets his own past characterization and gives us a routine, uninteresting Picard.

The other characters are mere caricatures, their conflicts as simplistic and exaggerated as any soap opera. The antagonists among the crew are fanatical, incompetent and insubordinate. Friedman has them mutiny at their first disagreement with the new captain, a ludicrously overplayed plot point that makes a mockery of Starfleet training. Anyone with such knee-jerk mutinous tendencies would've washed out of the Academy in the first week. Had this been credibly written at all, these officers would've resisted Picard's authority in subtler ways, respecting their oaths and discipline but still clashing with an unwelcome commander. We've seen such conflicts before, in "Chain of Command," for instance, and they can be quite tense and engaging. But here Friedman takes the most melodramatic and broad approach possible, creating more farce than tension.

Bringing back the Kelvans was a nice idea, but it was handled poorly. No effort was made to develop them, beyond a half-hearted effort to describe their real appearance. The telepath culture wasn't developed either -- just a few random elements that don't fit coherently together. At first they say they value privacy; then, later, they say they all prefer to live close together. Friedman acknowledges the paradox in passing, but never bothers to resolve it. I also agree that the Nuyyad were a total waste, nothing but shooting-gallery targets, another complete creative failure.

More laziness is demonstrated by Friedman's claim that the Andromeda Galaxy is "a hundred thousand light-years away." That's like saying Los Angeles is a hundred-mile drive from Manhattan. It's a minor point, but come on, Mr. Friedman, would it have hurt you to do just a little basic research? Open an encyclopedia? Type "Andromeda Galaxy" into a search engine? Five minutes of your time? (By the way, there's nothing wrong with having planets on the other side of the Barrier. The galaxy has no sharp edge; the stars just get sparser the further out you go. This is just about the only sensible idea in the book.)

The sad thing is, Friedman isn't usually this bad. He's never been brilliant; he has very little SF imagination, and his dialogue tends to be stilted and awkward. But in the past he's turned out a number of engaging character-driven stories, including REUNION, CROSSOVER and MY BROTHER'S KEEPER. THE VALIANT, though, is the worst thing he's ever written. It's evident from start to finish that he just wasn't trying. I can't imagine why Friedman is being given an ongoing Stargazer novel series after such a dissatisfying "pilot."

Rating:
Summary: Picard Made It So!
Review: Behind every Starship captain, there are a hundred small legends ... stories, if you will, that depict the moments of discovery, of circumstance, of facing adversity. History has taught us that the sum of a person's greatness is cumulative; if you "walk a mile in a man's shoes," then you will not so much know the man as you will understand him, who he is, and perhaps how he achieved greatness.

Such is the case with Michael Jan Friedman's THE VALIANT, the tale of Second Officer Jean-Luc Picard's rise to the captaincy of the famed USS Stargazer.

The Good

Friedman's 'Picard' sounds right. Much of what is written involving Picard sounds like the man TNG shows an audience. Not only is the character believable to learned Trek enthusiasts, but also a reader of random science fiction could pick up THE VALIANT and experience little difficulty in hopping aboard this journey into the unknown. As well, Friedman rounds out a cast of characters to serve as the officers for the Stargazer that are not only interesting but likeable, a task not easily handled. In particular, the ship's doctor (Greyhorse) and navigator (Gerda Asmund) are standouts that could be picked up and plunked down as believable characters in any Trek book.

The Bad

Did Picard's first literary claim to fame have to descend to the level of the typical shoot 'em up? Granted, there are some valuable lessons learned along the way, but most of those deal with Picard making choices and then questioning whether or not he's done right by himself, his former mentor, and Starfleet ... all completely understandably and appreciable given his position aboard the Stargazer. While the story involving the possible aggressors, the Nuyyad, is interesting, Friedman chooses to never really put on face on the probable villains. Sadly, they're relatively one-dimensional 'baddies' that Picard must vanquish in order to destroy a possible future threat to the United Federation of Planets.

The Ugly

It's a small world, after all, and THE VALIANT is heavily weighted down by events of -- yet once again -- the earlier adventures of one Captain James T. Kirk. In short, the book must contain two dozen references to Kirk, his adventure, or his crewmates. While revisiting some events in the Trekiverse works well in some novels, I found this indirect and none-too-coincidental pairing adventures of the captains -- one legendary and one in the making -- more of gimmick than anything productive.

Also, the obligatory last chapter -- the second half of a frame that begins the novel -- feels unnecessary, rushed, and tacked on at the last minute to remind the readers where the novel began. It stings almost of an insult. Never take the audience, or its collective memory, for granted.

The Sum

Still, like fine wine, all Treks improve with age. Picard earns his stripes, as does Friedman, and THE VALIANT sets the stage for the continuing adventures of the USS Stargazer ... with subsequent adventures already in the works.

Rating:
Summary: A good story combining many Trek plot streams
Review: Friedman and Harrison did an excellent job in this book. The story arc covers nothing less than 300 or so years in the Trek universe. The co-authors go behind the story of the original Trek episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and present the story of the S.S. Valiant and what happened to it, its captain, and its crew beyond the galactic barrier. It also delves into the cause of Gary Mitchell's (Captain Kirk's crewman) transformation into a psychotic superman. Then, the main part of the book, set on the U.S.S Stargazer with Jean-Luc Picard as the second officer, seeks to expand on those stories a bit, and adds the problems of a new and violent alien race, descendents of the survivors of the Valiant who seem somewhat suspicious, a sneak attack that leaves Picard in command with an untrusting crew. The authors do a good job in presenting Picard as an imperfect person, devising imperfect solutions to difficult problems. Some may be offended because the Picard of TNG is not presented in this story, but how can he? If the story takes place when he is younger, you have to expect that he is not as wise as he is during TNG and that he might make some errors in judgment. Not to mention the fact that the authors also have to maintain continuity with what we learned in TNG -- that Picard did not receive a command posting for his efforts with the Stargazer in this story, because he was first office under Jack Crusher later in his tenure on the Stargazer, where yet again, he was forced to take command. This is a very good story, because it shows the very human and fallible face of Picard in his early life, which only makes us appreciate the character all the more in his later life. Picard is, in the end, like any one of us, trying to do what is right in an imperfect world with imperfect people. The only complaint I have was that I wished the Nuyyad race had been given a face and a reasoning behind their attacks.

Rating:
Summary: Fun reading
Review: Fun reading with the unusual aspect of different species, but the usual references to Capt. Kirk. Action and humor.

Rating:
Summary: Starts out good but fizzles...
Review: I enjoyed the parts regarding the S.S. Valiant, but the later part of the book simply didn't work for me. Except for Picard, who we of course know quite well from the series, the other characters were flat and uninteresting. We never find out what is motivating the alien attackers and they are the cardboard cutout enemy-of-the-week, boring. The whole "adversarial" situation with the 1st Officer also just struck me as odd and wrong, and was just not developed correctly or fleshed out beyond being another cardboard enemy for Picard.

Rating:
Summary: Putting together the pieces.
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I liked finding out how the character of Picard became the person, and the captain, we see today.

It was very enlightening to see the way that he looked for a balance between the command style of his captain and the first officer of the Stargazer in terms of developing his own style. He wasn't as reckless as his captain, but neither was he as "by the book" as the first officer. He saw what and what not to do, which is something many of us, including myself, have learned in our own lives.

One reason I give this four stars is because of something that is true of all "Star Trek" books. The authors of these books count upon the fact that you've watched the show (in this case "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and thus eliminates the need for setting up the characters, since there is already a "history" behind them. We already know who they are and what they've done.

A similar "biography" that I would recommend is "Mosaic," which looks at the history of the character of Janeway. While I was not a huge fan of "Voyager" (the stories were a bit weak), this book was also very enjoyable, giving insight as to how the character developed and why they act and think they way they do.

Rating:
Summary: STNG - The Valiant - Another great Stargazer novel!
Review: If a Star Trek novel reader has ever picked up and read a Star Trek novel written by Michael Jan Friedman before and are about to pick up another, they're usually guaranteed one of the better Star Trek novels and STNG The Valiant is no exception to that rule. Given that he is the most prolific of the many Star Trek writers and has written within the many different series, he has a fair amount of knowledge and experience he brings to the page and it clearly shows throughout his stories. Of interest is that when this story was published, it was published under the series name of Star Trek The Next Generation, but since the release of the Stargazer novels, it is now listed as the second in the Stargazer series, right behind "Reunion."

In "The Valiant," MJ Friedman draws from several on screen plots and his past novels to create an exceptional USS Stargazer story, depicting events aboard that small vessel in a timeframe when Captain Picard was Commander Picard and he was the second officer. Combining the crew he created in his previous Stargazer novel "Reunion" and a small amount of the plot line he used in the "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy, he deftly crafts an excellent tale surrounding the events that lead to Jean Luc Picard becoming one of the youngest to ever make Captain in Starfleet. Of note is the great crew he's created to surround Picard on board the Stargazer. Each and every character is well thought out and gets appropriate time within the story without detracting from the main plot events.

The premise:

The Valiant

In the beginning of this exceptional story, we're taken some three hundred years in Starfleet history to when the SS Valiant is thrown beyond the galactic barrier and is trying to make her way back home through the galactic barrier. The SS Valiant is first mentioned in The Original Series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Unfortunately for Captain Tarasco, who captain's the SS Valiant; their failed attempt to cross the barrier results in several casualties and in particular one crewman begins to exhibit "godlike" powers and loses all compassion for human life, thinking of his fellow humans more as bugs than his equals. This leaves Captain Tarasco with few options.

USS Stargazer

The Stargazer, captained by Captain Ruhalter with Commander Jean Luc Picard as second officer is summoned to Starbase 209. Upon arrival, they receive their mission briefing which encompasses two "descendants" of the SS Valiant who claim that they're ancestors, some three hundred years ago, were the crew of the Valiant and they "did" survive to form a colony on the other side of the barrier. These two descendants bring with them warnings of an invasion into Federation territory by a species that lives on the other side of the galactic barrier known and the Nuyyad.

With plenty of skepticism to spare, the Captain and crew of the USS Stargazer head out for the galactic barrier with one of the descendants on board and a Kelvan advisor aboard to determine the truth in this warning and hopefully deal with it accordingly.

What follows is an exceptional story detailing the events surrounding how Commander Jean Luc Picard became Captain Picard, in command of the USS Stargazer. Along with this, one of the better aspects of the novel is the authors setting up the events in "Reunion" with reference to his Chief Medical Officer Carter Greyhorse.

The Audio Tape:

Read by Anthony Stewart Head - While this is no replacement for reading the actual and full story it makes for a good three hour distraction when cruising down the highway.

I highly recommend this Star Trek novel to any and all fans of the series for it is definitely one of the better Trek stories in print. {ssintrepid}

Rating:
Summary: MJ Scores Another One
Review: Like Jordan Michael Jan Friedman scores another 1000 points with his newest Star Trek blockbuster entry The Valiant. His characters come to life readily in your imagination without struggling, trying to discern one from another. Captain Carlos Tarasco, a new invention of Friedman's, can hold his own with any of the Kirk's or Picard's of his day. Tarasco is a very interesting, riviting character. I would like to have read more about him than the young Picard. Maybe Friedman will pen other adventures of Tarasco and company. (Hint, hint).
Michael Jan Friedman has been a favorite author of mine since I first picked up one of his other masterpieces, Crossover. All of his writing is clear, interesting and powerfully riviting from the first page to the last. I would love to see him write a totally original novel, staying away from the Star Trek, X-Men, Superman mold. Friedman's original characters take on a life of their own so proficiently that I'm sure he wouldn't have any trouble creating an entirely original creation. Read The Valiant. Read all of Michael Jan Friedman's books. You are guarranteed to experience a storytelling work of art.

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise
Review: Normally I try to avoid multi-authored series of Science Fiction. Having read dozens of cheap stories in the Star Trek universe growing up,I came to realize that they are more about quantity than quality, and I had become disenchanted with mass-produced fiction before I graduated high-school. My experiences with Star Wars mass fiction were not much better. However, I had the oppotunity to acquire the hardcover edition of this book for a pittance, so I relented of my disdain and bought this book.
What I found was a very good piece. This book bridges the gap between the original StarTrek, and the second series. It is set early in the career of Picard, before he went bald, and is in fact before he was a Captain. (The cover shows him with a full head of hair; it makes Patrick Stewart look like Scott Bakula.)
There are also flashbacks to the Valiant, a ship lost through the barrier at the edge of the galaxy before the original Starship(original FEDERATION starship) Enterprise series. That series in fact covered it in the early episodes,where the transition through the barrier caused one of Kirk's friends to become a sociopathic madman with mind powers. The episode refered to the Valiant, which had been destroyed about eighty years before or so due to a similar empowering/loss of sanity of one of its crew. They presumed the Valiant had been lost with all hands. This book is based on the idea that only a handful of the crew actually died, and that the rest managed to find an M-class planet, and that they had developed mental abilities similar to those who went mad, though not to the same degree and without the insanity that plagued Kirk's friend. These survivors had descendants, and now these descendants have come back, warning of a threat to the Federation. The Stargazer is sent to investigate and Picard has to take command.....
The arrangement of the story, plus the reluctance of the crew to trust Picard all added to the stories merit, along with the accurate references to two episodes in the original series, both of which I have seen several times. A mutiny was mentioned, which I thought was a little over the top, but it was still well written. The only other inconsistency I found was that the Valiant was supposedly lost in the year 2069, which was the year after the setting of the movie First Contact. Given the sheer number of writers invited to fill out Gene Roddenberry's universe, such inconsistencies are inevitable. It is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: The Stargazer Saga Continues
Review: Started in ST:TNG Reunion and continued in The Valiant, Gauntlet, and Progenitor, this particular novel is incredible. It was superior to Gauntlet and about even with Reunion. I loved the Original Series elements and the flashback to the Valiant's last mission. I was slightly confused as to the effects of Greyhorse's syrum on the psychic humans, but all in all, this story is a must-read cover-to-cover.