A Time for War, A Time for Peace (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Rating:
Summary: A Fitting End to "A Time to..." Series
Review: Having read and made reviews of all the "A Time to..." novels, it's rather surprising to think of where this series has come from since Feb. till now. The "A Time to..." series chose to explain what led to all the rather shocking change of events seen in the last motion picture, Star Trek Nemesis. One of the problems with the last movie was that there was a lot left unsaid, unseen, and unexplained. The mission is rather big; try to provide a back story that adds to the movie and builds up that emotional drive that carries the Next Generation crew out and into their new lives.

"War/Peace" is the finale to this series. Just to be fair, I felt it did have a few flaws. First, the Klingons. The previous duology, "A Time to Kill/Heal" dealt with an emotional event that shook the Enterprise crew to their very core and took the reader on a mission that certainly stands out in your memory. This novel picks up where those left off; the political situation isn't all that good, there's a Federation presidential election taking place and the characters all have decisions about their lives to make. The Klingon plot, I felt, should have been addressed more so in the past two novels than here. It seemed a bit distracting and out of place to have to deal with the Klingon's reactions to Tezwa. If you didn't read the past two novels, you won't truly understand the half of the complex situation.

What I also felt was a flaw in the novel was that the synopsis hypes up an inspection which does play a role in the book but not one of monumental porpotions. It's there, it happens, it helps pull the plot along. I was expecting Riker to be questioned and pushed more while he really has little to do with the Enterprise's inspection. The true plot is left unsaid. The Klingon's deal with the after math of the Tezwa affair. People within the empire challenge Martok, leaving Worf unfortunately in the middle. In the meantime, the Presidential elections captures the attention of many as two candidates, both rather different, offer different futures for the Federation. Both though have the knowledge and power to break the Federation's alliance with Klingons. Both could, if elected, lead the Federation into a war with the Klingons. Through all this, Worf is left to truly play the role of ambassador, mediating and making sure both sides are kept from going to war.

For the good; this book delivers. I did not know how DeCandido was going to choose to end this series. I feared it may end a little weak since the entire premise introduced in "Born/Die" left me rolling my eyes at how unrealistic (even for Trek) and almost fan-fic it was. DeCandido does a terrific job of pulling the series together. It's a little odd because the past two books almost read as if the entire Rashanar event never occured. Even with the few mentionings of it, as a reader, I got the impression that the Federation and Starfleet had gotten over Picard's issues and forgave the Enterprise for their so called "crimes" and failures in judgment. This book showed that those events still haunted Picard and the crew was still on edge a year after the events introduced in "A Time to the Born."

This book was a profusion of Next Generation history. The references chosen were done so with great expertise. I enjoyed reading about all the faces and people who have passed through the Enterprise D and E and see how each fits into this matrix that culminates in this finale. I was also glad that some of the characters introduced or who played a big part in the past 8 books were mentioned or even appeared; Admiral Upton (A Time to Love/Hate), Admiral Ross (Born/Die), Nakamura (Born/Die), Del Cid (Kill/Heal), Admiral Janeway (Love, Kill, Heal). An event also leads to a Next Generation reunion of sorts where the extended crew comes together; Guinan, Pulaski, Lwaxana Troi, Wesley, Worf, Alexander. There are moments and crossovers when you can't help but to smile and gasp, excited to see that an author has taken the opportunity to truly make a powerful TNG novel that could be seen as a lead-in to Nemesis.

What also made this a great novel was that it gave us what we wanted from Nemesis; Next Generation at it's best. The situation with Federation politics, the Presidential debates, the commentary on leaders and wars all is relevant to today. The entire situation ends in a manner that mimicks the series, bringing on a strong sense of nostalgia. I felt that as a fan, I was able to take something away. The author found ways to bring in all the different Trek shows, mentionings of big figures like Kirk and such, allusions to the future. What makes this novel rather affective in carrying out the premise is that by the end, the story does feel complete. You understand why Worf is back on the Enterprise, why the crew is splitting up and you even get a glimpse of the after-shock of Nemesis. The only thing that truly irked me was how the author decided to end the Crusher/Picard arc. Perhaps it was the best ending for these two characters but I felt like more could have been there.

This is one of now many Next Generation books worth reading of the series. I was unsure of it from the "Born/Die." I thought "Harvest/Sow" were okay but the crew beating themselves up over "failing" for the first time in their long careers got annoying. "Love/Hate" definately delivered an emotional punch that grew intense during "Kill/Heal." If you're wondering if this novel does justice to the overall premise, I'd have to say it does. Perhaps there are too many cameos (for you get the inspection team which just happens to consist of familiar faces from various TNG episodes) but it adds a more theatrical, epic tone that the series sort of lacked at the start.

It's almost breathtaking to think that Born through War/Peace is just one year for the crew. All of them went through some trials. I'm glad Troi's character was challenged and she became darker; I was glad to see Beverly Crusher say she wasn't getting anything from her CMO position and look for something more. La Forge taking on more duties and being offered numerous opportunities was appreciated. What I also liked was that Picard and Data's roles were rather scaled back but they contributed a great deal. It proves that the series, or movies, do not always have to ride on their two characters. This book focuses on the ensemble. Being able to see all of the crew, from season one through seven, together in one place gave a rather warm feeling by the end of the book. When Picard is the only one really left on the Enterprise (besides a few other familiar faces) at the end during the post-Nemesis scene, left me wanting to see this on the big screen. With that feeling, I'd say DeCandido definately delivered and wrote a great novel that brings all the series together. Not only that but he was able to write scenes and explain events that for whatever reasons were left out of the movie. It's a must read for any Trek fan. There's something here for everyone and worth your time and money.

Rating:
Summary: A fitting capstone for the TNG crew.
Review: The finale to not only a book series, but a finale for the entire TNG crew. A much better and fitting finale than was given to the fans in the shaky Nemesis feature.

Writer Keith R. A. Decandido is one of the best Trek authors currently writing for pocket books and this book doesn't disappoint.

Genuine character development from the TNG crew was a rarity even on the TV show, and the 'A Time To...' series gave us growth and development from characters that have been positively stagnant in the TNG movie era.

Rating:
Summary: A Time to.....end the series.
Review: The series as a whole has been entertaining. Some books were obviously better than others. Admittedly, this one was meant to wrap everything in a nice, neat package....and, it accomplished that. Unfortunately, to achieve that, the book never really went too indepth to any of the plots...perhaps, if this had been made into a 2 book storyline, that would have been achieved. Its ironic that my biggest complaints regarding several of the other storylines is that they should not have been drug across 2 books.

All in all, an enjoyable read, but not terrific.

Rating:
Summary: A somber story with depth
Review: This is a book that took me some getting into. The presentation is excellent. The characterisations of old characters are spot on, with one exception, and the ones for this book are very clear and, again with one exception, appealing. The old exception is Worf, who comes across more appealing and interesting than he often did on TV. The author's style of mixing descriptive text with action and internal commentary is one I have always enjoyed. The dialogue is wonderfully witty. At one point during the confrontation between Kahless and Martok, I had to put the book down until I stopped laughing.

With that said, I find this book to generally be a somber one, unusual in Star Trek. It is, of course, the final transition between the united Enterprise crew and the dispersion after Nemesis. That part is very reflective, going into the way each character has developed over the years. The author managed to cover every character in depth, including the literarure only Christine Vale, but in a style which did not bog the book down, as previous A Time to ... books generally did. It is also a transition for the two core nations of Trek. For the Klingons, this was another story of the conservative nobility trying to oust Martok by force and propaganda. The presentation was great, but its ground that has been covered before.

For the Federation, it also involved the battle against violent conservativism, and here is where I had a problem with the content. The leading contender for Federation President, Fel Pargo, is essentially a clone of George W. Bush. I despise Bush, so I despised Pargo on meeting him and he only got worse as the book went along. His main election appeal was that since the Federation stood for liberty and justice and the Klingons stood for conquest, the Klingons had to either conform to Federation morals or face invasion and conquest. That is a stupid idea on the face of it. It makes even less sense in terms of Federation history, the idealism underlying Star Trek, and the objective fact that the Federation is still (as mentioned here) having great difficulty recovering from a defensive war that it won only due to Klingon aid. Getting past this, and my false assumption that the election would have a lot of pages with this sort of nonsense was the reason I had such a problem getting into this book.

The author presents and resolves the theme of transition very well. Despite the wonderful dialogue, I cannot say that I really enjoyed this book, or would consider reading it again for entertainment. However, I am glad that I was able to read it. It is deep and thought-provoking. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has really gotten involved with the Next Generation characters. This is a vital step in the development of their ongoing story.

Rating:
Summary: Ambassador Worf and the Next Generation
Review: This one has Worf and some of the cast of Next Generation. Martok and Scotty also have a role in the book as per the cover. I have to say I wish Keith were writing more books in the saga. The story doesn't lag at all and next to Peter David he is one of the better Star Trek writers around. If you like a book you can't put down; get this one. I have to admit I did read the first two in this saga and was dissapointed that John Vornholt were not writing the rest. However, Keith R.A. DeCandido is one of the better writers around. Why didn't the show Enterprise pick him up as a script writer?