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1outside's review against another edition
4.0
My first Star Trek novel & it wasn't love at first sight. It took me several chapters to "get into it" by the second half of the book I was 100% hooked. It turned out to be a very interesting adventure/SF novel. Will definitely read more by this author.
taaya's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Genocide
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
Weinstein is good, but I think he's more at home with TOS characters. I find his novels about the original series much more compelling.
frakalot's review
5.0
Truly an episode in paper form. The story fits so good with the TNG era trek and the characters are spot on.
djwudi's review
3.0
The best of the early TNG novels so far. The characters felt right, and there was a good mix of serious plot and humor throughout. An obvious final solution, but that’s forgivable.
octavia_cade's review
3.0
Two and a half stars, rounding up to three. This was generally a quick, enjoyable read. I liked the environmental focus of it, and I really liked the planet of people who were dedicated to conservation, essentially making their life's work the restoration of endangered species throughout the galaxy. I'd absolutely read more of them, once they got off their about to be uninhabitable world (volcanoes are no fun) and settled on a new colony. To be honest, I was more interested in that than the schism between the conservationists and their (first) old world, and I was certainly more interested in that than I was the grumpy return of yet another group from that same initial planet. That being said, I liked it all well enough, and it would have been an unreserved three stars from me, had the final chapters not been marred by not one but two plot points of astounding stupidity.
First is Picard's decision to ram the enemy ship with the Enterprise. Tactically it's a sound decision, I understand it, but he demurs a little because it will kill all the civilians on board, including the crew's family members and children. I understand that too. Still, he has plenty of time to send said civilians to life pods and doesn't do it, because it apparently doesn't even cross his mind. What on earth, Picard?! Were you dropped on your big bald head? Second was the inability of Dr. Crusher to tell that this important animal taking up room in her sickbay was pregnant. Its keeper had previously said it's always hard to tell, which is pretty much brandishing the narrative pregnancy gun, but the thing is, the beast gets sick. Crusher treats it successfully because body scans show blockages in its breathing tubes. Now it's just me, but if a scan can pick up a bronchial blockage, surely it can pick up a full term pregnancy, if only because there's suddenly another heartbeat! Situational incompetence from the captain and the chief medical officer does not a happy reader make.
I don't know what the editorial team was on when they let either of these things get past them, but clearly they were on lots of it. Honestly, how does stuff like this get missed?
First is Picard's decision to ram the enemy ship with the Enterprise. Tactically it's a sound decision, I understand it, but he demurs a little because it will kill all the civilians on board, including the crew's family members and children. I understand that too. Still, he has plenty of time to send said civilians to life pods and doesn't do it, because it apparently doesn't even cross his mind. What on earth, Picard?! Were you dropped on your big bald head? Second was the inability of Dr. Crusher to tell that this important animal taking up room in her sickbay was pregnant. Its keeper had previously said it's always hard to tell, which is pretty much brandishing the narrative pregnancy gun, but the thing is, the beast gets sick. Crusher treats it successfully because body scans show blockages in its breathing tubes. Now it's just me, but if a scan can pick up a bronchial blockage, surely it can pick up a full term pregnancy, if only because there's suddenly another heartbeat! Situational incompetence from the captain and the chief medical officer does not a happy reader make.
I don't know what the editorial team was on when they let either of these things get past them, but clearly they were on lots of it. Honestly, how does stuff like this get missed?
wai's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really liked the themes of environmentalism and unification. It does get a bit muddled at times, and bringing in this twist of a terrorist attack that is really just a deus ex machina to solve one of the major problems (relocating an entire world of people quickly) was a bit sloppy as a conclusion I felt. But overall it was engaging and I did get into the drama of the Alajians and Etolosians that is hard to do when they are not a part of the canon Trek world. All the characters were written well and true to their characters. If you like The Next Generation, you will probably like this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty
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