STAR TREK: AVENGER CASSETTE (Star Trek: All) 0671575244Audioworks01 May, 1997Star (Star Trek)

STAR TREK: AVENGER CASSETTE (Star Trek: All)

0671575244

Audioworks

01 May, 1997

Star Trek "Avenger" is a good conclusion to William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens first Star Trek trilogy that spans well over a century of "Star Trek" time. The first two, "The Ashes of Eden" and "The Return" were absolutely phenomenal in so much as telling a good story about Captain Kirk just before the events of Star Trek "Generations" and after the events of that movie with his return from the dead in "The Return" bringing this compelling character back to Star Trek readers if not moviegoers. The one unfortunate aspect of "Avenger" is that while it is a very good novel it doesn't quite live up to its two predecessors. The story in and of itself is a pretty good one, it just reaches into some areas of Star Trek that leaves one wondering where the authors were going; by that I mean in the areas where the dialogue more or less puts Captain Kirk in such a glorious light and in doing so demeaning such STNG icons as Captain Picard and Commander Riker. That being said, the overall story is still a very good one where all three authors deftly put together a truly good story that is in good fashion in Gene Roddenberry's universe. The pacing of the novel is exceptional and the overall plot set up and execution is well on the mark. The cover art for "Avenger" is pretty much more of the same bland stuff that was very typical of Star Trek novels at the time of its publishing. The Premise: In true Star Trek style and fashion, William Shatner and the Stevens brought together a story that clearly ties up many of the loose ends set up in the first two novels and set up a reunion between Captain Kirk and Spock. The two storied heroes eventually come together when Captain Kirk, long thought to be dead, sets out to discover the source of a lethal virus that is destroying crops all over the Federation causing famine throughout the Federation with the situation worsened by over population. At the same time, Spock returns home to Vulcan to investigate whether his father died of natural causes or could there have been foul play involved. Both investigations lead them into a long awaited reunion that is told extremely well... What follows is an exceptionally well written novel with only few technical errors that aren't too difficult to overcome. Overall, I would highly recommend this and the first two novels in this, the first Shatner/Stevens trilogy to any and all fans of good Star Trek fiction! {ssintrepid} For all those complaining that this book is self-serving on Shatner's part, realize this book is about KIRK and SPOCK, not about the Next Generation!!! That said, Shatner writes the BEST Trek books, no doubt. Although RETURN is my true favorite, this one still weaves a good tale, and includes all the best characters. Yeah, I love Shatner, so I may already be a little prejudice in regards to other STAR TREK characters, but to be honest, KIRK was the smartest captain. Kirk was the strongest, coolest, toughest and perhaps, THE BEST! And with that, I recommend this book to any fan of the STAR TREK continuum... This is real good ST and real good Sci-Fi. Lets see, Picard is what, about 50, Ricker about 19 and Data 8 years old. Alone come Captain Kirk, who has been in star fleet for 100 years, spock 150 year and Shatner (WHO IS KirK!!!) is attacked for writing a book where Kirk and Spock outshine Picard. Why Shatner haters even read Shatner books (maybe they don't?). I know why they should read this one. Even if you hate Shatner, this is a good stuff. Shatner and his friends, and I don't care how much Shatner actually writes, tell good stories. I wish they would keep writing ST books and include the characters from DS9, TNG and Voyager. Maybe even get caught in a time warp and go back to visit Capt. Archer. Also, Picard thinks enough of Kirk that he went into the stream to get him, an event that ended in kirk dieing again. Might not Picard defer to Kirk for a plausible rational when he lacked one? I think so. Picard was great at sounding out his officers before acting. Once they are finally on the same side, Picard and Kirk are a great team. This book has a lot in it. If you like the pacing and style of this book, try Shatner's Tek War books for the adventures of a futuristic PI Jake Cardigan.

STAR TREK: DARK VICTORY (Star Trek: All)

0671043854

Audioworks

01 April, 1999

Eh. This book in itself is good, but a little less exciting than the previous "Spectre". It's pretty much a continuation in the trilogy but only serves to connect the first and last in this trilogy. So it's ok, not as good as Spectre, but in my opinion a lot better than "Preserver". 
 
 I would still recommend reading this book, Shatner's Mirror Universe trilogy is a very great story and a must read. It just seems that all of the good stuff in this trilogy was put into the first book. This story, the second of the "Mirror Universe Trilogy", continues right where "Spectre" (the first book in the series) left off. The story takes place in 2374 initially and then jumps forward about eight months later into 2375, placing it at least after the events of the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection".
 
 Here we have Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Picard (and his crew), and the "Mirror Universe" counterparts setting off to save the day. And this highlights some of my issues with this book: there are a lot of characters and a lot going on. You have secretive Starfleet organizations in this universe and two fighting factions in the "Mirror Universe" plus various members of both the Original Series and the Next Generation showing up (not to mention a few Deep Space Nine and Voyager personnel) and I just get this feeling of not really caring about the plot, per se - just letting the story carry me forward.
 
 And that brings up another point for me which is that a lot is happening here from a human angle. Dealing with counterparts from another universe; the possible death of loved ones; the loss of limbs and abilities; the chain of command and when it should and should not be followed; different command styles for different time periods; being out of place in a new time period; bitter regret at apparent betrayal after services rendered in the line of duty. All these things are alluded to, in passing, but none are really explored. They are subsumed under the general plot. Whole areas where human angst would come into play are usually glossed over in a page or even just a paragraph. I know that in-depth exploration of these issues is not the point of the story: but then the brief focusing on each of them is, to me, more distracting than engaging.
 
 "Spectre", in my opinion, was saved from avoiding many of these same kinds of issues by the pace of the action *and* by the continuity of the action. To be sure the same sense of pace is in "Dark Victory" and that pace is just as fast in some ways, but, for me, not as continuous. Too much of the action struck me as episodic to the point of being a bit too fragmented. Certain events just seemed to happen without a lot of context behind them, the idea being just to keep the pace going. Characters would just turn up or say things or know things and, again, sometimes a context seemed to be lacking. What saved the book for me is that it is the second of a series. So if you are reading it you are (presumably) already curious about how the story continues and thus a little more forgiving than you might be with a stand-alone story. Overall, "Dark Victory" was a moderately interesting story for me in the Star Trek mythos but I really only found myself plodding through it to make sure I would have a context for the third in the series ("Preserver"). I would prefer a story that is not trying so hard to interweave so much Star Trek history and instead explores the characters in a given setting that allows us to come to understand them and their motivations better.
 
 I gave this three stars because it kept me reading - but only by rote. It was not a boring read by any means but a lot of characterization was subsumed under the plot as the mysteries and secrets kept piling on leading to the inevitable cliff-hanger that would take us to the final book of the series. Arguably the best of the 6 ST books. Taken from the original Star trek TV series episode MIRROR MIRROR, Kirk's double - twin has not been defeated by spock as we hoped. "Spock is logical and the mirror universe is illogical. If I know my Spocks, he'll..." well he didn't. The Kirk Twin is now Emperor Tiberius (ET) and he has enslaved humans and Vulcan alike. ET has left home and found a way to our universe and has bad things planned for the federation. Only kirk can stop him. But kirk has a lot of friends to help. Shatner has two Spocks, McCoy and Scotty, and Picard & crew to help. But how do we know which Picard is a mirror or not? This is the second book of the second trilogy (5th of the double trilogy) written by Shatner and friends for the star trek galaxy. I had long been disappointed in ST books, because they often read as if throw together. Shatner's ST is clearly the best that ST has to offer. If started with ASHES OF EDEN which turned into a trilogy, with the second book being THE RETURN. So, you want to kill off James T. Kirk huh? If you haven't read at least SPECTRE, you will want to because it starts this story arch. The story doesn't end with this book, and continues with PRESERVER. This is great sci-fi and great ST stuff. Some have called DV the weakest of the trilogy which can happen to the middle book for a series, because things end "up in the air". But for shear entertainment this was a lot of fun to read. You have to read PRESERVER for the ending. Do it. Shatner is a great story teller. Since I am now boycotting Star Wars NJO with the killing of Anakin, I truly hope that the Star Trek people will do a better job giving us more high quality books that are fun to read. Shatner is great. But I recently read the Dominion War 4 book set and was disappointed. I read these for the familiar characters and especially like what Shatner has done, reviving kirk and putting him with TNG characters.