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Elena. reviewed Star Trek: Picard: Firewall by David Mack (Star Trek: Picard, #6)

David Mack: Star Trek: Picard: Firewall (AudiobookFormat, 2024)

Two years after the USS Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds …

The start of how Seven became the woman we know today (as in ST: Picard)

5 stars

Content warning Possible spoilers for David Mack's "Star Trek: Picard: Firewall". I don't say anything too specific, and nothing that I would call plot relevant, but some people might still count that as spoilers. Hence this CW.

I love visualising Seven in a mosh pit. LOVE IT! I love how several Trek shows are woven into this book. I love seeing some familiar characters of those shows. I love the scenes between Janeway and Seven. They truly are like mother and daughter. I love seeing Seven finding a purpose, a reason to carry on. I love seeing Seven learn and grow as a human. I love getting to know the Rangers, both as a whole and the individuals we meet. At the beginning of season 3 of Picard we shortly meet the Rangers and I didn't like how they were portrayed there, but after this book it makes sense now. Thank you, Mr. Mack for that.

The ending... what can I say without spoiling anything? Let's just say if you have seen the show you know what's going to come. [insert appropriate emoji]

January LaVoy is the queen of audio book narration and making characters sound like their actors. Thank you, Ms. LaVoy!

#StarTrek #TrekLit #StarTrekNovels #StarTrekBooks #bookstodon #StarTrekPicard

Elena. reviewed A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Andrew J. Robinson: A Stitch in Time (AudiobookFormat, 2023, Simon & Schuster Audio)

A Stitch in Time (ISBN 0-671-03885-0), published June 5, 2000, is a Star Trek: Deep …

A must read for all Garak fans

5 stars

Content warning Andrew J. Robinson "A Stitch in Time" -- possible spoilers!

After another long break I powered through the last 4 1/2 hours today.

What a fantastic book! Robinson is as good at writing Garak as he is at playing him, both on screen and for this narration. He tells a life's story so full of heart break it was at time almost unbearable for me to listen. I took quite a few breaks and some of them of several weeks or even months. And yet, or exactly because of it, I say this is an absolute must read for any Garak fan. You may want to keep some tissues nearby. I love when Star Trek novels stray from the classic form of here's a problem and our heroes are going to solve it, including a space battle or two -- happy ending. This book is such a different novel: It is a memoir, and therefore a collection of incidents in Garak's life that lead him to Terok Nor, have him stay on Deep Space 9, and finally allow him to return to Cardassia. It's the tale of how he so desperately tries to earn his father's love and his peers' and superiors' respect, but only gets their despisement, and of how he endures it all. His observations about humanity and the Federation are spot on of course. How does the Federation survive? LOL

#StarTrek #TrekLit #StarTrekNovels #StarTrekBooks #bookstodon

Elena. commented on Star Trek: Destiny: The Complete Saga by David Mack (Star Trek: Destiny, #1-3)

David Mack: Star Trek: Destiny: The Complete Saga (EBook, 2013, Simon & Schuster)

The omnibus edition of an epic crossover trilogy uniting characters from every corner of the …

Star Trek: Destiny -- Book 1: Gods of Night ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a book! Several ships and a story spanning centuries. I have not read any of the (relevant) post-Nemesis books before this one, so I'm probably being thrown in some cold water here. But I am just going with the flow. I may not understand all interpersonal relationships, but I always feel that the authors are good in describing what's been happening to new readers, or as a refresher for those who read the earlier books. I did struggle a bit to keep my storylines straight though, because there are several going on at once. But all in all a fantastic book. One of my favourite Trek books for sure.

The Columbia story is quite something. I'm really interested to learn more about the Caeliar. Ezri Dax as Captain is so amazing! I was not happy with how Troi's situation …

Star Trek: Destiny -- Book 1: Gods of Night ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a book! Several ships and a story spanning centuries. I have not read any of the (relevant) post-Nemesis books before this one, so I'm probably being thrown in some cold water here. But I am just going with the flow. I may not understand all interpersonal relationships, but I always feel that the authors are good in describing what's been happening to new readers, or as a refresher for those who read the earlier books. I did struggle a bit to keep my storylines straight though, because there are several going on at once. But all in all a fantastic book. One of my favourite Trek books for sure.

The Columbia story is quite something. I'm really interested to learn more about the Caeliar. Ezri Dax as Captain is so amazing! I was not happy with how Troi's situation was dealt with by the people involved. Those characters didn't earn any sympathy points from me.

#StarTrek #StarTrekNovels #StarTrekBooks #TrekLit

Elena. reviewed Double Helix Omnibus by Esther M. Friesner

Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Diane Carey, Dean Wesley Smith, Peter David, Esther M. Friesner: Double Helix Omnibus (2002, Simon & Schuster, Limited)

Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha …

Not the medical drama I expected

3 stars

A mixed bag. Some books were good, especially "Vectors", some were average, though all of them had good parts and elements that I liked. I liked that we get to see well known on-screen characters before we meet them in their respective shows. I especially liked to have Dr. Pulaski as the main character in one book, "Vectors". That was great and as I said in my comment about that book, I'd love to have a series called "The 6 husbands of Katherine Pulaski".

When I started reading this series I expected medical drama, which I got in the first two books. But after that the virus was only there to make the story start and the hunt for the maker and the reason they made the virus was the main story.

#StarTrek #StarTrekBooks #StarTrekNovels #TrekLit

Elena. reviewed Articles of the Federation by Keith R. A. DeCandido (Star trek)

No cover — Keith R. A. DeCandido: Articles of the Federation (Paperback, 2005, Pocket Books)

Following the surprise resignation of Federation President Min Zife after the disastrous Tezwa affair, Nan …

A year in the life of the president of the United Federation of Planets

5 stars

Content warning largly spoiler free review with a small but not insignificant spoiler at the very end, specially marked, with space before and after, so you almost can't read it accidentally

This is a really good, never boring look into the Federation government, which unfortunately we don't ever really see on screen, with a few short exceptions. Without a doubt, this book is one of my favourite Trek novels. It's so good.

The book follows the newly elected president throughout one year, January to December, with one or two month breaks in between. The way that was done I found to be a cool way to tell a story.

Each segment (=month) of the book is lead by a chapter of civilians of various planets watching the political commentary and discussion show "Illuminating the City of Light". There the participants discuss the crises and their outcome, that we just read about in the segment before. I liked that a lot.

I also liked the extensive number of races and characters that appear, just as it should be in a Federation of over 150 member states. There are quite a few cameos, some shorter than others, some of more importance than others, some of on screen characters, some of books-only characters.

After the Strange New Worlds episode "Ad Astra Per Aspera" left me wanting a Star Trek legal show, I now want a political show as well. Maybe combine the two themes. Maybe make it a limited series, taking the structure of this book as model.

I discovered one mistake: On page 184 Starfleet's motto "Ad astra per aspera" is translated as "To the stars for hope". That's wrong. The correct translation is "To the stars through hardship". Unfortunately a whole speech is based on that wrong translation.

Interview with the author on Literary Treks podcast: www.trek.fm/literary-treks/265

SPOILER further down . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPOILER AHEAD

There is one thing however that I did not like at all: The involvement of Section 31. It is never named, but I guess that “they” are meant to be Section 31. The more I think about Section 31 the more I dislike it. I want it out of Star Trek. I want it completely dismantled and never to re-surface again. That would be a great episode of Star Trek.

END of SPOILER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #StarTrek #StarTrekBooks #StarTrekNovels #TrekLit

PeterTrek1 🖖

We are pleased to announce the 1st “Member Spotlight” episode of the #TrekBookClub podcast. @petertrek1 is joined by Martyn of DS9Continuing to discuss his fan fiction project which provides 7 more seasons of DS9.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/trekbookclub

https://www.ds9continuing.com/

#TrekBookClub #TrekBooks #TrekLit #AllStarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #DS9 #StarTrek

A picture of "Member Spotlight" graphic, with the words "Member Spotlight" in the center bottom and a light projector on the top left corner shining a light beam onto the words

Elena. commented on Double Helix Omnibus by Esther M. Friesner

Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Five: Double or Nothing by Peter David ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Action packed, lots of violence, and full of wacky drama as only New Frontier books can be. A classic Peter David.

Here we finally find out who the creator of the virus is and why they did it. But that does not seem to be the main story actually. Which is a pity. Our heroes seem to stumble upon it almost by chance. And the bit that was actually planned... well, I wished we found out how that came about. I've been missing the actual virus for a couple of books now. Maybe I should stop expecting medical drama from this mini series, because it clearly isn't that at all. Still 4 stars because it's entertaining and never boring, even though it could be very well a book outside this mini series.

I wonder if …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Five: Double or Nothing by Peter David ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Action packed, lots of violence, and full of wacky drama as only New Frontier books can be. A classic Peter David.

Here we finally find out who the creator of the virus is and why they did it. But that does not seem to be the main story actually. Which is a pity. Our heroes seem to stumble upon it almost by chance. And the bit that was actually planned... well, I wished we found out how that came about. I've been missing the actual virus for a couple of books now. Maybe I should stop expecting medical drama from this mini series, because it clearly isn't that at all. Still 4 stars because it's entertaining and never boring, even though it could be very well a book outside this mini series.

I wonder if any of the people involved with Picard, season 3 have read that book. 🤔

#StarTrek #StarTrekBooks #StarTrekNovels #TrekLit #CalhounIsMyCaptain 😉

Elena. commented on Double Helix Omnibus by Esther M. Friesner

Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Four: Quarantine by John Vornholt ⭐⭐⭐

As with the previous novel in the series, we do not learn anything new about the virus and nothing more than one tiny kind of new thing about its creator, which for me is a bit of a let-down in the middle of this series. We do however learn a bit about Tom Riker. The great thing about Trek novels is that we can re-visit characters that did not get much screen time before. Tom is one of them. Here we follow him from his assignment on the Gandhi to a mission that will change his life. We also meet a certain Maquis crew, which I enjoyed a lot. I'd like more of that.

The story wrapped up a bit too fast for me and I am not satisfied with the ending. I wished we had learned …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Four: Quarantine by John Vornholt ⭐⭐⭐

As with the previous novel in the series, we do not learn anything new about the virus and nothing more than one tiny kind of new thing about its creator, which for me is a bit of a let-down in the middle of this series. We do however learn a bit about Tom Riker. The great thing about Trek novels is that we can re-visit characters that did not get much screen time before. Tom is one of them. Here we follow him from his assignment on the Gandhi to a mission that will change his life. We also meet a certain Maquis crew, which I enjoyed a lot. I'd like more of that.

The story wrapped up a bit too fast for me and I am not satisfied with the ending. I wished we had learned more about Tom's process to come to his ultimate decision as well as about his life on the Gandhi before that. We got to know too much about certain Helenites and Cardassians, but way too little about our heroes. Bummer.

#StarTrek #StarTrekNovels #StarTrekBooks #TrekLit

Elena. commented on Double Helix Omnibus by Esther M. Friesner

Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Three: Red Sector by Diane Carey ⭐⭐⭐

There are too many words in this book, at least for my taste. We have to go through 10 chapters, and more than 100 pages until we finally arrive in the right time and at the right place for the main story. That does not mean that all of the first part is useless. It isn't. Not everything. We meet people important to the story, and some scenes are very good. But the main character is so annoying that it was not a fun read for me. Luckily, he grows over the years and I do like him for the rest of the book. I also enjoyed Spock and McCoy, I think Carey captured them very very well. I loved the scenes on the Saskatoon, a Combat Support Tender, and I would be interested in more …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Three: Red Sector by Diane Carey ⭐⭐⭐

There are too many words in this book, at least for my taste. We have to go through 10 chapters, and more than 100 pages until we finally arrive in the right time and at the right place for the main story. That does not mean that all of the first part is useless. It isn't. Not everything. We meet people important to the story, and some scenes are very good. But the main character is so annoying that it was not a fun read for me. Luckily, he grows over the years and I do like him for the rest of the book. I also enjoyed Spock and McCoy, I think Carey captured them very very well. I loved the scenes on the Saskatoon, a Combat Support Tender, and I would be interested in more stories set on one of those. I would have loved to see more of Crusher and Data. Their story was a bit brief and their conflict came pretty out of the blue for me. Another negative is that we learn practically nothing new about the virus. We do however get new info about the maker, if I interpret it correctly.

#StarTrek #TrekLit #StarTrekBooks #StarTrekNovels

Elena. commented on Double Helix Omnibus by Esther M. Friesner

Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Two: Vectors by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I like Katherine Pulaski a lot, so I loved seeing her as the main character here. I want more! It was nice to also meet one of her ex-husbands. I kinda want a "All the Ex-Husbands of Katherine Pulaski" mini series now. (Only slightly kidding.) We also get to meet quite a number of characters from DS9 in a time it was still very much Terok Nor, which I always like as well.

There's one thing that I wished they did more with. It was set up as a potential conflict, but it never really got any kind of "dangerous" ever. I thought that was a lost opportunity to explore one of the characters better. Overall however, this novel a big improvement from the first book in the series.

#StarTrek #TrekLit #StarTrekBooks …

Star Trek: TNG: Double Helix -- Book Two: Vectors by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I like Katherine Pulaski a lot, so I loved seeing her as the main character here. I want more! It was nice to also meet one of her ex-husbands. I kinda want a "All the Ex-Husbands of Katherine Pulaski" mini series now. (Only slightly kidding.) We also get to meet quite a number of characters from DS9 in a time it was still very much Terok Nor, which I always like as well.

There's one thing that I wished they did more with. It was set up as a potential conflict, but it never really got any kind of "dangerous" ever. I thought that was a lost opportunity to explore one of the characters better. Overall however, this novel a big improvement from the first book in the series.

#StarTrek #TrekLit #StarTrekBooks #StarTrekNovels