STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION - LOSING THE PEACE

POCKET BOOKS

Written by William Leisner

Copyright 2009 by Paramount Pictures Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

TM, Registered and copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.



In Losing the Peace, Captain Picard and the Enterprise are on disaster relief duties after the Borg War.

After the events of the Destiny trilogy, Picard is reluctantly put on disaster relief duties close to home space by the President of the Federation after the Borg war has devastated most of the Federation - as well as devastating the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Chief of Security Jasminder Choudhury has survivor's guilt from surviving the Borg war and wonders about the fate of her family after her home world of Deneva has been devastated by the Borg. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher goes on a mission for refugees to the planet Pacifica.

Because the Federation has not known want, the government of Pacifica can not deal with the pressure of the semi-permanent refugee population from throughout the Federation being sent to Pacifica. The government of Pacifica then threatens basically to build a concentration camp for the refugees, instead of a real refugee camp - while an outbreak of contaminated water breaks out amongst the refugees. A pregnant Dr. Beverly Crusher arrives on Pacifica on a runabout and gets the outbreak under control with help from the resident doctors and a refugee who is on Pacifica. Meanwhile, Alpha Centauri considers withdrawing from the Federation because of Alpha Centauri's selfishness - until Picard kidnaps the Alpha Centaurus president and forces the president to confront the beleaguered planet of Pacifica.

It is interesting that half-Vulcan T'Ryssa Chen is contacted by her long-estrained Vulcan father when learning about her human mother's death during the Borg invasion. After meeting T'Ryssa's apparently uncaring father, I can understand now why half-Vulcan T'Ryssa embraces her human side instead of her non-emotional Vulcan side. Since she felt her mother was safe, I felt for T'Ryssa when she learns of the unexpected loss of her mother.

This book leads into Federation President Bacco announcing that the Federation enemies are forming the Typhon Pact.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - DESTINY - BOOK III LOST SOULS

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POCKET BOOKS

Written by David Mack

Copyright 2008 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Art by Rick Rick Berry; design by Alan Dingman.



Lost Souls written by David Mack, is Book III of the Destiny trilogy. Captains Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, and Ezri Dax must fight the Borg for the sake of the known galaxy.

What I liked about Lost Souls is that you finally get to find out where the Borg came from and who the Borg Queen is. Having Will Riker being forced to leave behind his crew and his wife, Deanna Troi, in order for Will and his ship to escape the Caelier with Captain Erica Hernandez of the Columbia on board made me feel for Will and the responsibilities of command. Having President Bacco of the Federation accepting the responsibility for the fall of the Federation made me really feel for her knowing the Federation is being destroyed as she listens to report after report of the fall of various strategic points in and out of Federation space to the Borg. It really makes me feel for President Bacco because she is really just a regular person from a small town on a small planet, who just happens to be the President of the Federation. The fact that President Bacco gives Captain Picard to take any actions - even if they violate Starfleet or Federation law - made me appreciate how desperate she considers the situation.

With Picard strongly considering using Thaleron radiation to destroy the Borg, of which use was last seen in the movie Star Trek - Nemesis, Geordi LaForge strongly objects to building such a device as it is morally wrong. You can see how obsessed Picard is for ordering Geordi to build such a device. As it is, they use the dangerous Omega molecule - the perfect molecule of which the Borg have been looking for - as bait to lure the Borg into a trap. Now will their plans work in stopping the Borg?

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION - FOREIGN FOES

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur

Copyright 1994 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.



In Foreign Foes, written by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is mediating a peace treaty between two hostile races - the Klingons and the Hidran race. Things get deadly when the Hidran ambassador dies and kills a Klingon delegate in revenge as he does so.

It was sad for me to see Worf being charged with the murder of the Hidran ambassador. Although under accusation for murder, Worf acted very dignified under the circumstances which I appreciated. Having the civilian doctor in charge of the colony that the negotiations are being held, holding sway over the crew of the Enterprise is frustrating.  I was also very upset that Data was acting differently. I felt, while reading this, that the writers were taking umbrage with his character initially. Even though Data's actions was eventually explained, it was very frustrating to read about what Data was doing in his paranoia of the Klingons - thus jeopardizing the Federation/Klingon alliance as Data takes the U.S.S. Enterprise into Klingon space. While the Klingons were traditionally arrogant against everybody, they were true allies with the Federation when the Klingons finally team up with Picard.

I am not crazy about the cover being white. The white cover makes me think the story is much brighter than the story really is. I was getting schizophrenic about the tone of the story while I was reading it. If the cover was dark, I would have been in the proper mood for the story.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - AVENGER

POCKET BOOKS

WILLIAM SHATNER with Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Copyright 1997 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Avenger, a deadly virus is endangering the Federation. James T. Kirk, long believed dead, leaves his home and goes on a quest in Federation space to find a cure. Meanwhile, Spock must deal with his father's mysterious death.

With Kirk and Spock on the scene, it was inevitable that they would eventually find each other - along with new associates similar to their old crew. Working together, Kirk and Spock seek to fight against common old foes. And being in the 24th century, they would eventually meet up with Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, also looking for the cure to the virus. Spock becomes more emotional after his father Sarek's death. While there is a logical explanation for this, it is quite disconcerting to see our beloved Spock act in this manner. Although on the same side, Kirk and Picard have different agendas and go into conflict with each other. Vulcan officials are not exactly crazy about Kirk and his actions either.

While it is nice to see Sarek earlier in his career during the flashbacks, it also shows that there is more to Sarek than you ever suspected. You also see a young Kirk struggling to survive while he was at Tarsus IV - which also suffered from an exotic fungus.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - STARGAZER: OBLIVION

POCKET BOOKS

Written by Michael Jan Friedman

Copyright 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Stargazer: Oblivion, USS Stargazer Captain Jean-Luc Picard is on an undercover operation to meet with a defector on a planet in Ubarrak space - when the meeting goes wrong and Picard is accused of terrorism. While in jail, Picard meets someone who will help him - Guinan.

This is the first time Picard meets Guinan. Picard appreciates her talents, like freeing them from jail, while Guinan keeps the secret of them meeting before - as well as holding in the pain she has from being released from the Nexus. The chief of security takes it personally when Picard and Guinan escape from jail and leads the manhunt for them. With the Cardassians searching for Picard and the defector, their running from the law leads them on quite a hunt.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.



















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STAR TREK - COUNTDOWN

IDW PUBLISHING

Story by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman

Writers Mike Johnson & Tom Jones

Artist David Messina

Copyright 2009 by Paramount Pictures Corporation
Copyright 2009 by CBS Studios Inc.

In Countdown, the graphic novel collection of the four issue comic books, is the prequel to the movie Star Trek. The graphic novel shows the origin of Nero and why he was so determined to destroy Spock and Vulcan as an unstable star becomes a supernova that threatens Romulan space and soon Federation space.

It is great to see The Next Generation crew after Star Trek: Nemesis try and stop Nero. The crew has grown as characters and is basically the last you will see of them as Star Trek moves onto a different direction in the reimagining of the franchise. The developement of Red Matter to stop the supernova turns the nova into a singularity as Nero gets pulled into the singularity by it's gravitational field and winds up in the updated Star Trek movie universe. The art by David Messina captures the likenesses of the actors. There is also a gallery of several of the characters that were depicted at the end of the graphic novel.

See movie review:

Star Trek

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - DESTINY - BOOK II: MERE MORTALS

Pocket Books

Written by David Mack

Based upon STAR TREK and

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
created by Gene Roddenberry

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller

STAR TREK: VOYAGER
created by Rick Berman * Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE
created by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga

Copyright 2008 by CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In Mere Mortals, the Borg are coming to Federation space and Federation President Nan Bacco gathers allies to stop the Borg invasion. Meanwhile, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Ezri Dax are determined to try to close off the Borg's route of subspace tunnels. On the other side of the galaxy, Captain William Riker in his explorations has made contact with the Caeliar who has held captive Earth starship Captain Erika Hernandez for 200 years.

You feel for President Bacco as she realizes that the Federation's only hope against Borg assimilation and annihilation is an alliance with governments and people that were hostile to the Federation and  also her realization that she will be the last President as the Federation gets destroyed. She is just a person in charge that everything has fallen onto her. Bacco's strategic negotiations are a desperate action for the preservation of the Alpha Quadrant. My respect for Captain Hernandez has fallen considerably from her being the captain of one of Earth's first starships to being the sole survivor of her crew, despite the fact that she has evolved into part Caeliar and has been able to live so long. In fact you feel that she deserves the pergatory that she has been placed into, especially when Riker and the crew of the U.S.S Titan are captured by the Caeliar with her. The Titan's crew plan an escape strategy, but can not trust Hernandez as a result. With Counselor Deanna Troi pregnant, you also feel her peranoia against the reptillian Titan's ship's doctor - Dr. Ree as her pregnancy endangers her health.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - THE Q CONTINUUM - Q-ZONE

An Original Publication of POCKET BOOKS

Written by Greg Cox

Copyright 1998 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Q-Zone, the second book in The Q Continuum, the Enterprise battles some cosmozoans near the Galactic Barrier space, the high energy field beyond the edge of the galaxy first seen in the Star Trek episode Where No Man Has Gone Before, while Q takes Captain Picard back in time to observe the younger Q as they witness the destruction of the Tkon Empire.

While the illness of the Betazoid scientist, who brought the Enterprise to the Barrier for an experiment, might make you sympathetic to him, his obsession with penetrating the Galactic Barrier with no apologies is very annoying amidst the safety of the ship and crew as they battle the cosmozoans. He makes you want to make the Enterprise crew beat him around some as the Enterprise comes under attack. His lack of concern for his son and daughter, whose craving for their fater makes the son become more mature than he should as he takes care of his little sister, makes the scientist even more despicable as the Enterprise crew has the grace of trying to protect him. The super beings that the young Q pals around with are some of the most famous evil super beings in the Trek universe and you get to see their influence in the destruction of the Tkon Empire.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STAR TREK - A Time to Be Born

POCKET BOOKS

Written by John Vornholt

Copyright © 2004 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In A Time to Be Born, a part of the A Time to... series, Traveler Wesley Crusher returns in disguise and observes the crew of the Enterprise as they patrol an interstellar graveyard. As tragic events occur in the space graveyard under his watch, Captain Picard is sent home to Earth to undergo court-martial proceedings.

You can see the frustration mount in the book the longer you see everyone spending time in the graveyard. The various anomalies and the patrolling for alien scavengers take their toll on the crew of the Enterprise and of her Starfleet allies. The counselor in charge of Picard's evaluation seems to be determined to prove that he is incompetent.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Star Trek - The Return

Pocket Books, A Division of Simon & Shuster, Inc.

Written by William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Copyright 1996 by Paramount Pictures

Star Trek - The Return is about the return of James T. Kirk - back from the dead. Using Borg technology, the Romulans reanimate Kirk with one mission - to kill Jean-Luc Picard!

As a Borg story, the story is interesting. With Kirk searching aggressively after Picard, it seems like petty jealousy is rearing it's head with Kirk, even if you realize his obsession is the result of Borg programming. It does feel like Willima Shatner's voice is behind Kirk in this story and Picard's character feels just right. This is the first of William Shatner's Star Trek books.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Star Trek - Captain's Glory

Pocket Books, A Division of Simon & Shuster, Inc.

Written by William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Copyright 2006

In Captain's Glory, an alien threat called "The Totality" tries to absorb all life in the Milky Way galaxy - including Captain Kirk's son. Because they have different agendas about The Totality, James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard are on opposing sides about The Totality as Captain Kirk searches for his lost son.

With the alien woman leader Norinda of The Totality's driven interest to embrace Kirk to her with The Totality's love, it makes you wonder what love truly is and what it means - as The Totality's persuasive love makes one become part of The Totality, which The Totality did with the Andromeda galaxy. This is definitely a Kirk book, although Picard's personality is just as strong - especially when Kirk and Picard go up against each other in their own ships. Can Kirk really defeat the Enterprise?

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.