The Captain's Table (Book 5 of 6): Once Burned. Star Trek the New Frontier edition by Peter David, October 1998.

The Captain's Table is a bar that is frequented only by those who are, by rank, captains. Only they are allowed entrance. This is usually interpreted as ship captains, although sometimes the admittance is more broad than that. The place is not somewhere you set out to go: it actually seems to find you.

It is actually a sort of interdimensional cross-time meeting place, much like Munden's Bar as seen in the 1980s comic book Grimjack. Anyone from any time and any place can enter...if they are a captain. And the first drink is paid for with a story. That is the device used to tell a set of Star Trek stories, in a six-book series. Captains Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Calhoun, and Pike each got a volume to tell a story in the first person. In this one, Peter David writes another volume in the life of his character, Mackenzie Calhoun, this time in a first-person style.

Calhoun first encounters the bar as he has just killed the first man, the first of many in his war to free his home planet of Xenex while still a teenager. Emotionally spent from the experience, he stumbles onto the bar, and is greeted by the barman, "Cap," and is provided free drinks. He is told that, in the future, he will have to pay...with a story.

Some years later, in a holodeck program, Calhoun again comes upon the bar, and enters. Reminded of the establishment's requirement, he tells his tale to another man, and gives the story of his original departure from StarFleet, when he was first officer of the Grissom.

Calhoun had just gotten promoted to first officer on a new ship, and was settling in, when the crew had the assignment of taking a diplomatic team to a system with a pacifist society that was being attacked by a militaristic one. The diplomatic team turned out to be the captain's brother and daughter. The aggressive society killed the two relatives, and the captain slowly started coming unhinged, requiring Calhoun to do something about it. Something drastic.

The story goes a long way toward exploring Calhoun's background in the service, and provides a good story as well. Once again, Peter David fans will like it, and those who don't like his books won't like this one either. There is action leavened with humor, sexual situations, and bloody fights. It's not for the weak of heart.

Star Trek #6: New Frontier; Fire On High by Peter David (April 1998).

The crew of the Excalibur is finishing up operations on Zontar. Science officer Soleta is examining the cave where she and other members of the crew were disabled by some still unknown force. She unearths a disk with a strange emblem. Immediately afterward, the ground beneath her gives way and she finds herself in an underground cavern.

Janos, the Mugato security guard (named for Janos Prohaska, who was in the costume when Captain Kirk first encountered a mugato) hears the commotion and goes to Soleta's aid. The ground has reformed, so Janos uses his phaser to blast it open again, and takes Soleta to safety, just as the entire mountain blows up. Soleta does, however, manage to hold onto the disk.

With nothing left to investigate, the Excalibur proceeds to the planet Momid, where a Federation citizen has been held for five years after being apprehended on the planet's surface. As it turns out, this is Lt. Robin Lefler's mother, whom she has thought dead for ten years.

Captain Calhoun must find out what Lefler's mother, Morgan, wants, and also solve the problem of the energy creature inhabiting the warp engines. It won't be easy, as Morgan is secretive, and the energy creature resists all efforts to get it to leave...and they may not want it to, if it does. Then there's the problem of Morgan's friend Tarella is on the planet Ahmista, the previous inhabitants of the planet are dead, and Tarella holds a weapon that can destroy a starship.

It's another Peter David adventure, with fun, thrills, blood, and deadly peril. Something for everyone. Once again, if you like other Peter David books, you'll like this one, and if not, well then.

Star Trek: New Frontier #5; Martyr by Peter David (March 1998)

500 years ago on the planet Zondar, the prophet Ontear left behind a scroll saying that the civil war on the planet would only end when the savior appeared. Ontear said, "Look to the stars, from there will come the messiah! The bird of flame will signal his coming! He will bear and scar, and he will be a great leader! He will come from air and return to air! And he will be slain by the appointed one!" Although that last sentence was not widely publicized. Given that description, it certainly sounds like a description of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the starship Excalibur.

Calhoun and his ship are still on patrol in sector 221-G (not 221-B, because that would be where Sherlock Holmes lives) and are receiving requests for visits and help, most funneled through Si Cwan, formerly of the royal family of the now-dead planet Thellonia. All of the characters return: Captain Calhoun, visibly scarrred warlord of the planet Xenex; Commander Elizabeth Shelby, tactical expert and first officer; Lt. Soleta, Vulcan science officer and archaeologist; Dr. Selar, Vulcan chief medical officer with an oncoming pon farr; Burgoyne 172, the Hermat (hermaphrodite) chief engineer; Lt. Robin Lefler, optimistic ops officer with a crush on Si Cwan; Lt. Mark McHenry, oddball navigator and playmate of Burgoyne; and Zak Kebron, rock-solid Brikar security chief.

A call for help arrives from the usually insular Zondarians. Si Cwan recommends pushing this request to the top of the pile, if for nothing than its sheer unusual nature. The Zondarians send a ship to intercept and receive the Excalibur, to escort their prophesied savior to Zondar. This is a double-edged sword; being called the savior might make Calhoun's job easier, but failing to live up to expectations might make the situation fall apart and prolong the 500-year civil war. Calhoun must walk a fine line.

Meantime, Dr. Selar prevails on the Captain to help her with her mating drive. She will soon have to heed it, and she has settled on Calhoun as the logical alternative. That Calhoun has served the same role before as a tribal leader on his home planet leads to the logical request. After consideration, Calhoun accedes.

However, Calhoun turns up missing on Zondar. With the Zondarian diplomats being unhelpful, the starship crew must find him themselves. When the rescue team ends up injured or dead, it is up to Burgoyne 172 to find the captain.

It's another Peter David romp in his own section of the Star Trek universe. David has either created these characters or gotten permission to use them (Shelby, Lefler, and Selar) and he has a lot of fun putting them through their paces in a quickly-moving plot. As usual in a David book, there is lots of action, there are amusing moments, and there is blood and gore. The story clips along very fast, and the pages will keep turning.

If you like Peter David Star Trek novels, you'll like this one. If you don't like David's stuff, you probably won't like this either. That's the best way to tell you what is going on here. It's fun, it's fast-paced, it has character moments. And anything, anything can happen. I recommend this book.

Star Trek: New Frontier #3 and #4 by Peter David. "The Two-Front War" and "End Game." August 1997.

The final two books of the New Frontier saga resolve many, though not all, of the plot threads in the first two parts. The characters now all introduced, we get to see many of them in action. Si Cwan and Kebron are in trouble, apparently blown to bits at the end of the second book: they are "rescued," to be taken to Thellon. In the meantime, Captain Calhoun must deal with the refugees found by the Excalibur, and find a place to resettle them.

A solution is reached for the refugees when the planet Nelkar offers to give them safe haven. That seems workable, except that Calhoun has a funny feeling about it, which is borne out when the Nelkar hold the refugees hostage and demand Federation technology. Most of book 3 is taken up by these problems, as well as the problem of Dr. Selar: she asks Soleta's help in determining the nature of her difficulties.

Book 4 resolves the problem of the refugees, as well as reuniting the ship with its missing crew members. However, Calhoun must face the son of a man he killed 20 years ago, in ritual combat. At the same time, Thallon seems to be tearing itself apart...or perhaps, something else is doing it. Great Bird of the Galaxy!

It's more adventure from Peter David, romping in this section of the Star Trek universe that he has created. There's lots of fun, action, and humor. A good time will be had by all.

Star Trek: New Frontier Book Two (Into the Void) by Peter David, July 1997.

This book continues the story from the previous novelette, which was produced in four parts. As we begin this volume, the Excalibur is being readied for launch. Si Cwan, Thallionian prince, is surreptiously loaded onto the ship as part of Soleta's luggage. Ah, but Soleta lets Captain Calhoun know of Si Cwan's presence. Calhoun allows the bag to be loaded anyway, and has security chief Zak Kebron greet the stowaway in the cargo bay. Kebron is a Brikar, a race from a heavy-gravity planet who resembles nothing so much as a small mountain. Cwan holds his own, but is stopped by Calhoun, and sent to the brig. He is released by Calhoun later to be an "ambassador" to his home region of space.

In the meantime, we meet more of the crew. Burgoyne 172 is the chief engineer, and also a Hermat, a race of hermaphrodites. Mark McHenry is the navigator, and often looks like he isn't paying attention even when he is. An affair between Captain Calhoun and first officer Shelby from years ago is also revealed.

When a damaged ship of refugees is found, they greet Si Cwan like a savior returning to bring hope. While attending to them, a distress call is received from a Thallionian ship that reports having Cwan's younger sister on the passenger list. Cwan sets out at one in a runabout with Kebron, who does not trust him. But all is not as it seems....

This is part two of a four-part story, which was also printed in a collected "Omnibus" edition with all the parts. It is Peter David, one of the best Star Trek authors, getting to play around in a Star Trek universe with some familiar one-shot characters from the show, and others of his own creation. On the way, he also takes a few shots at Star Trek: Voyager in this book.

This is good stuff, as David works always are, even if it is incomplete.

Star Trek: New Frontier #1 (House of Cards) by Peter David: July 1997.

Imagine getting a chance to develop your own part of the Star Trek universe. That was the opportunity Peter David, noted Writer of Stuff, had when he was presented with the idea for New Frontier. With Pocket Books editor John J. Ordover, David developed the framework for a new ship and crew, set in the Star Trek universe and with roots firmly set in the series canon.

The series itself was something of an experiment. There is limited tension in the regular novels, because no lead characters can be killed off in a novel. No matter what peril Captain Picard may find himself in within a book, we know that he must survive. In a new series, however, there are no such guarantees. It was this idea that lead to the creation of this series, and that drew David, one of the most successful ST novelists, to it.

The characters are a mix of the familiar and the totally new. Dr. Selar, seen on the Next Generation crew, and Lt. Commander Shelby, seen in the two-part Borg episode as an anti-Borg strategist, are used, as is Robin Lefler, who also was seen on the TNG crew. None were regulars, but all are familiar faces. This helps connect the crew to the familiar, and to ground them for the reading audience. Around these characters, David creates a new set for a new series.

Introduced this time is our new captain, M'k'n'zy of Calhoun, or the standarized version, Mackenzie Calhoun. Calhoun was a freedom fighter on his home work of Xenex against a race, the Danteri, that seeks empire. Although just 19, Calhoun succeeds in leading the resistance that drives the Danteri to give up the planet. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Stargazer is suitably impressed, and sponsors the young man to Starfleet Academy.

We are also introduced to Soleta, a half-Vulcan half-Romulan who first appeared in the youth-aimed novels about Starfleet Academy. Soleta, an archaeologist, will become the science officer for Calhoun. But there is more to her story. (Also in the series are two other characters David created for the StarFleet Academy books, Zak Kebron and Mark McHenry.)

The book is written in sections ranging from 20 years past to the present day. First the story of Calhoun's battle for his home planet is recounted, as is his first encounter with Picard. Next, we move to 10 years ago, when Soleta came into contact with Ambassador Spock on the Thallonian homeworld. An undercover Spock rescued her from certain death. She also went to the academy.

In the next section, we see Dr. Selar leaving the Enterprise to answer the savage call of the Vulcan mating ritual, pon farr. In the mating act, her betrothed suffers a heart attack and dies. Selar interprets this as a need to shut off all emotion, and shut out feeling from her life. This is two years before the book's present.

Finally we come to the present day, as on the Enterprise, Picard and Commander Riker meet with Admirals Jellico and Nechayev, both seen previously on Next Generation, both as adversaries of our heroes. At this meeting, they discuss the situation of the Thallonian Empire, which has collapsed. What should be done? It is decided to send a starship, but with whom in command? Picard recommends Mackenzie Calhoun, who is from a nearby world. Jellico is outraged, but Nechayev is intrigued. This might be just the thing. In the meantime, Soleta is called to duty on the recommissioned Excalibur because of her experience on Thallonia, but finds herself threatened....

Originally simply titled "Book 1," this volume was later designated "House of Cards." It is largely introductory material, serving to introduce us to Calhoun and also to set up the situation. The book is short at 168 pages. The first four books of the series were released at nearly the same time, in a smaller and somewhat cheaper format, to allow for reader sampling. It was successful, no doubt because David was the writer. The four books were also later collected into a hardcover volume with some new material.

It's Peter David, it's Star Trek. There is humor, and action, and really more blood than is required, but it's a page-turning story. In other words, this is what we have come to expect from Peter David. The series is good, solid entertainment.

The Siege by Peter David: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #2, May 1993.

This is Peter David's only Deep Space 9 novel, and the first original novel written although it is numbered #2, after the novelization of the first episode.

The wormhole adjacent to the planet Bajor is unstable and must be shut down, so space station Deep Space 9 must play host to unhappy folks who were planning to visit the gamma quadrant. It doesn't seem so bad when a Borg ship comes through....in pieces. Among the uncomfortable guests are an Edemian priest, who was planning to spread the word of his god, K'olkr, to the gamma quadrant. Instead, he and his family proselytize DS9. It doesn't go well, especially when one of the party is murdered. And he is only the first.

Odo quickly sees that this is a "locked-room" murder, and suspicions begin to flow. When more murders are committed, it eventually becomes obvious that the killer is a shapeshifter, much like Odo. With hundreds trapped aboard the space station, the being has a rich killing field. The situation only worsens when Edemian and Cardassian warships show up, demanding justice for those of their race that have been killed.

Peter David, as usual, writes an entertaining and involving book. You'll read through this one fast, as the plot keeps the pages turning and the light writing style makes it easy to consume. David is gifted at writing serious, often gory, plots with a leavening of humor. One scene, a body will get ripped apart, and a few pages later you'll laugh out loud. This is the dichotomy of a Peter David book.

Considering that he had just the series character guides and five episodes to write from, David gets the characters right. Part of this is due no doubt to the guidelines, as DS9 is the best written and best acted of all Star Trek series and deserves more recognition as such. Primary series creator Ira Stephen Behr is responsible for much of that. Behr would later create "The 4400" for cable, and should be put in charge of current Star Trek projects. Oh, well.

The murder mystery is the main plot, but there is more going on here. David examines fundamentalist religions through the Edemians, who are dedicated to their deity but have warships, and have an ill son whom they do not want treated medically. Of course, Dr. Bashir will have none of this, and coerces the mother into letting him treat the child. This has serious consequences.

Of course, the Cardassians have to show up. It would hardly be DS9 if they didn't. Gul Dukat dispatches an emissary (read: spy) to DS9, but he is among those murdered, in the act of an attempted rape of a Bajoran woman. Why do the Cardassians, who profess no love of Barjoran or similar races, tend to ravage their women so? I know, it's more about the violence. The murder gives Dukat a reason to show up at DS9 armed to the teeth and threatening. It also raises the stakes for the climax.

Quark plays a major role, and as often happens becomes a focal point of the action. David captures the Ferengi rather well in this novel. It's hard to imagine that the Ferengi were originally proposed as the Federation's big rivals and enemies, based on what they have become. David captures both the humor and the ruthlessness of Quark.

Sisko and his untenable situation are also captured. O'Brien, Kira, and Dax get scenes, although they are not center to the action. Of course, you can't get them there every time.

Odo is really the central character. The murder mystery, and the search for a being like himself, consume the shapeshifter. This was a good use of Odo, who at this time did not have a lot of his background revealed. David manages to write a story that is not strongly contradicted by future events, but still hangs together well and uses the characters. Quite an achievement in a licensed novel.

"Ship of the Line" by Diane Carey. Star Trek: The Next Generation hardcover, October 1997.

A ship of the line is an impressive craft, and built for that purpose. It is meant for exploration, and often for defense, to "hold the line" against those who would do harm. Author Diane Carey takes that theme, and others from the stories of Horatio Hornblower, and characterizes the starship Enterprise as that "ship of the line."

Star Trek has been referred to as "Horatio Hornblower in Space" by numerous people, including Nicholas Meyer, director of Star Trek movies II and VI starring the original cast. This novel takes on those themes of the starship as "naval" vessel (StarFleet has always used navy terminology) and relies on author Diane Carey's own experiences with sailing.

This book was the only hardcover Next Generation novel published in 1997. It is one of a long list of Carey's novels, and one of her three Next Generation hardcovers. Her strengths and weaknesses are all on display here, but unlike many of Carey's books, on this one the strengths outweigh the weaknesses.

Carey grounds her story in established Star Trek lore. The book begins on a Klingon ship, a ship that is about to launch a solo attack on a Federation starbase while the rest of the Klingon fleet distracts StarFleet elsewhere. Only the cutter Bozeman is left to defend the border, helmed by Captain Morgan Bateson. Bateson (played on the show by Kelsey Grammer, a big Star Trek fan) was seen very briefly in the Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect," in which the Enterprise shockingly collides with another ship and explodes in the episode teaser, then seems to return unharmed when the show comes back from commercial. As it happens, the ship is caught in a temporal feedback loop, continually repeating the same crash over and over until the Enterprise takes action to prevent it. The loop is caused by the Bozeman traveling through time.

Carey's story begins back before the causation of that loop, in the time of the original series. The Bozeman encounters the Enterprise of Kirk and Spock in a somewhat gratuitous scene, which leads to a too-long scene of tedious naval discussion of interest only to avid sailors. It is one of Carey's weaknesses, the need for heavy editing, but thankfully this is the only serious instance of the problem.

The Bozeman encounters the Klingon ship, and engages it in spite of being outgunned. Bateson hopes to keep the Klingons busy long enough to get help and save the starbase that is undoubtedly the target. It works, and the Bozeman is likewise saved when it falls into the temporal field and moves 90 years into the future, and the time of Next Generation, encountering the Enterprise of Picard and Riker.

Now, the crew of the Bozeman must face the loss of family and friends, and knowledge that is 90 years out of date. Captain Bateson manages to keep his crew together, and manages a job supervising starship construction. Thus, when the Enterprise-D is destroyed in the events of Star Trek:Generations (the crossover movie involving the original series and Next Generation, basically the first Next Generation movie) Bateson is supervising the building of the new Enterprise-E. The Enterprise command crew gathers, hoping that Captain Picard will be offered, and will accept, command of the new ship.

StarFleet, however, has other ideas. Bateson is given command of the Enterprise for the shakedown cruise, and Picard is given a diplomatic mission to Cardassia, negotiating for prisoners of war. He takes Dr. Crusher and Worf with him. The other officers, including Riker, are assigned to the Enterprise. LaForge assists Montgomery Scott in engineering, and Data takes ops. Troi is on medical/science staff, the old-fashioned Bateson not believing in the need for a ship's counselor. Riker gives Picard a gift: he has the civilian ship Picard uses fitted with a holodeck, and provides him with tapes of Captain Kirk's exploits.

While Picard watches the original series crew (in scenes from "Balance of Terror," featuring an encounter with the Romulans, and "The Enemy Within," when Kirk is split into passive and aggressive personalities by a transporter accident) his thought processes coalesce, and he decides both that he does want another command, and that simply pleading with the Cardassians, and his former torturer (from the two-part episode "Chain of Command") is not the proper way to deal with the situation.

Meanwhile aboard the Enterprise, Bateson is convinced that the Klingons are being aggressive again, and takes a still-incomplete Enterprise to the site where he expects trouble. Trouble indeed shows up, in the form of the still-living Klingon commander who was once his nemesis. With his knowledge of Bateson, and 90 years of experience, Commander Kozara defeats the Enterprise and boards her, imprisoning the crew. Bateson, Riker, and Scott must regroup and take back the ship.

As you can see from the plot description, this is quite an involved book with a lot going on. This is a welcome difference from the usual Carey habit of packing 100 pages of plot into 300 pages of overblown writing. While at times she gets a bit wordy, most of her usual weaknesses are avoided, although some dialogue is too cute by half and Riker is generally out of character. Too cute? This exchange is early in the book, when Bateson informs the crew that they can ask the soon-to-be-visiting Mr. Spock any question:
"Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?"
"How do you know when to tune bagpipes?"
"What's the French word for 'bouquet'?"
"Was 'dead reckoning' ever alive?"

And this exchange between Bateson and Troi on the subject of his and Riker's similar beards:
"You know, we have a problem. One of us is going to have to shave this D'Artagnan imitation. Either that, or everybody aboard is going to have to grow one."
"Don't look at me!"

Funny, but reaching. However, it doesn't hurt the overall book. It's a good read, even if the climax is a bit anticlimactic. This one will also be popular with lovers of sailing.

Q-Squared by Peter David: Star Trek the Next Generation hardcover novel, published July 1994.

Commander Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise has agreed with his best friend and commander, Captain Jack Crusher, to be the go-between for normal command communications with the new chief medical officer, Dr. Beverly Howard, Captain Crusher's ex-wife. It's the least he can do, since the captain will handle most dealings with families, as Picard does not deal well with children.

As the ship proceeds on its first mission, they encounter an enormously powerful being who stops their ship cold: Trelane, an odd fellow who alternately seems charming and petulant, and somewhat threatening. As they encounter him again, his level of threat increases to an alarming point. Then, another odd being, named Q, materializes out of a wall, saying, "You have no idea how screwed up this is."

So begins Peter David's novel of the Q continuum and alternate histories, as he returns again to familiar territory. David cut his writer's teeth writing comic books, so exploring origins and alternate time lines is old hat to him. David is also adept at using a dollop of humor to lighten very serious happenings. These things all hold true here.

David makes the very logical leap of tying Trelane, a character who encountered the original Star Trek crew in the episode "The Squire of Gothos," to the Q continuum. At the end of that original episode, Trelane's "parents" reprimanded him for harming lesser species. His father says, "Stop that nonsense at once! Or you'll not be permitted to make any more planets!" It is obvious that Trelane is a child of a very advanced race. In the novel, Q is something of an "uncle" given charge of a part of Trelane's education.

As part of the plot, Trelane manipulates, and brings together, three separate timelines or universes of the Next Generation crew: a timeline with Jack Crusher as captain, Picard as his first officer busted after court-martial following the events at Maxia, and Worf as a member of the Klingon Empire, who frees a captive Will Riker from a prison/torture planet of the Romulans and Cardassians. Riker is then reunited with his wife Deanna and son Tommy; the second, the familiar universe of the Next Generation; and the third, the more militaristic version seen in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," where the Klingons are at war with the Federation and months from victory. David skillfully weaves these timelines together, and shows the similarities and differences between the versions fans know, and other stories that might have been.

It is a well-written novel of excellent characterizations, a twisting plot, and plenty of moments of interest for both those who do not know the series, who can enjoy a book on a surface level, and the deeper levels of continuity for fans of the series. This is good stuff. As David remarks in the introduction, "there is a lot going on in this one."

The Devil's Heart by Carmen Carter; Star Trek: The Next Generation hardcover novel, April 1993 (paperback February 1994).

The Enterprise is diverted to the site of a Vulcan archaeological survey, as the senior member of that team, T'Sara, is believed by her staff to be suffering from Bendii's syndrome, the Vulcan version of Alzheimer's disease. When the ship arrives, they find all the Vulcans dead, apparently at each other's hand. Further investigation show that the scene was staged, and the scientists actually murdered by other parties. Picard, who of course has followed T'Sara's career, seeks the item that would lead someone to cause such carnage, and then cover it up. He finds "The Devil's Heart," an artifact found in the history of many races, reputed to have tremendous powers to make its holder invincible.

Such an artifact naturally draws a lot of attention, and much of it goes through a nearby starbase, which is so out of the way it is lightly staffed with Federation personnel, but a crossroads of species from all over the galaxy. The bar owner there is a member of Guinan's race, who has turned her listening skills into a profitable trade in information. Guinan is not pleased with this turn of events.

While Orions and Ferengi seek the Enterprise for the gemstone, Picard begins to receive telepathic dreams of the history of the stone itself. The captain becomes convinced that the stone itself, apparently a fragment of the Guardian of Forever, a powerful time-travel device, has a destiny that must be fulfilled. And so, he sets out to fulfill it, all the while becoming more attached to the Heart and more loath to let it out of his possession.

As the parties involved get closer to the rock, a confrontation is inevitable. And Picard must fulfill a destiny, even if it means overcoming his obsession.

This is Carmen Carter's last Star Trek novel to date, after a production of four. Her stories were usually off-beat, and this one sort of fits that bill. She often tells tales of a somewhat supernatural or mystical nature, and this is no exception. However, her writing in this book is somewhat repetitive, and the climax becomes an anticlimax. The ending is somewhat satisfying, but the promise of the premise is not fulfilled. On the other hand, the author seems to reach the conclusion she was attempting. A shoot-em-up ending is not the normal modus operandi of Carter. Instead, this one goes out with more of a whimper.

And that, in the end, may be the problem. The ending seems too easy, and there is no explanation of why this fragment of the Guardian of Forever would want such a disposition, as intimated in the plot. Not to give too much away, but the end did not make much sense to me. It was not emotionally satisfying. The reconciliation between Guinan and Camanae (Carmen Carter?) was nice, but not enough.

Can't really recommend this one. If you find it in a bargain bin or a library, a Star Trek fan might like it.

Imzadi by Peter David; Star Trek: The Next Generation hardcover novel (#2), August 1992, paperback July 1993.

We begin in the future (in reference to general ST:TNG continuity) with an embittered Admiral Will Riker, commanding an out-of-the-way, backwater starbase. He cares little for duty any more. Meanwhile, Data, now a starship captain, seeks an audience with the Guardian of Forever, a time-traveling machine that is also a historical viewer. Word reaches Riker that the ambassador from Betazed, Lwaxana Troi, is dying and wishes to see him. Captain Wesley Crusher's ship, the Hood, comes to pick him up.

On her deathbed, Lwaxana accuses Riker of being responsible for the death of her daughter, and his lover, Deanna Troi, many years earlier. This is what has embittered Riker, for he too blames himself. We give way to an extended flashback of how the relationship began.

After a vignette revealing the circumstances of Deanna's death, most of the book looks at how the relationship of Riker and Troi began. He was a young officer, posted on Betazed between starship assignments, to help defend the planet from space raiders. She was a university student. The young military man is smitten with the empath's beauty, and pursues her, but she can see what he is out for, and reads the usual impermanence of his "flings." This one, somehow, is different. A stormy but deep bond forms between the two, through months on the planet. Both find their views of the universe expanded. They meet again, when both are assigned to the newly designed Enterprise.

Riker is informed by Data that Deanna was likely killed due to actions she would otherwise have taken, and lives in an alternate history. Riker has Doctor Crusher perform an autopsy, which reveals a poison developed only in the years since her death, leading Riker to suspect a time traveler. He proposes to go back in time, but Data refuses, saying use of the Guardian is against regulations. Riker goes back to his starbase, still a beaten man.

Of course, things can't remain that way, and the action builds to a quick conclusion as Riker determines to act. Data is just as determined to stop him. Deanna's life hangs in the balance.

It is another Peter David triumph, tying together pieces of Star Trek history and blazing new trails, opening new paths. It also provides an interesting look into the formation of one of the central relationships of Next Generation, and how it came to be. It is a very plausible and fascinating explanation of how these two very different people came to be so attached.

Given the gravity of the story, it becomes hard for David to use much of his trademark humor, but there is room for that in the flashback session. Riker discovering Betazoid customs, such as nudity at weddings, is always amusing. The novel moves along quickly, and provides an interesting read. It also rings true in Star Trek history, with one exception: Betazed is referred to as a Federation "ally" rather than a "member." A strange distinction, and one that doesn't seem to work. It makes more sense for Betazed to be a Federation member.

Still, the book works very well. There are those who simply do not like Peter David's writing, but for a fun, adventurous, and sometimes funny novel, about a very serious subject (for Star Trek fans, at least) this is a terrific book.

Reunion by Michael Jan Friedman, Star Trek: the Next Generation hardcover novel, November 1991 (hardcover), August 1992 (paperback).

Captain Morgen, skipper of the Excalibur, is going to be promoted...to the leader of his people, the Daa'V. This Starfleet officer and former member of the crew of the Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard's old ship, is gathering with him a number of the members of that crew as an "honor guard" of sorts. Seven members of the Stargazer crew join on the decks of the Enterprise to travel for the ceremony. But while there is joy in reunion, and pathos over the remembrance of their former crewmate, Jack Crusher, there is a problem: someone begins trying to murder the former crew of the Stargazer. The former Stargazer crew and the current Enterprise crew must join to find out who is doing this, and why.

Some references are made in Star Trek to the Stargazer and its crew and mission during the original series. It is part of Captain Picard's backstory, and his command prior to his appointment to Enterprise. As part of the crew of the Stargazer, Picard took command of the ship when the captain was killed and the first officer injured. When Picard resolved the situation, he was appointed captain of the ship, a post he would hold for 22 years on the deep-space exploration vessel. It was on the Stargazer that Picard is said to have come up with his strategem, "the Picard Maneuver," to defeat a Ferengi ship at Maxia. The ship, however, was heavily damaged and had to be abandoned after this action.

This is the first of what turned out to be a series of novels by Friedman about the Stargazer and its crew. After this one and another, the books were identified as their own series. It is part of the expanding universe of Trek in books.

The novel offers the opportunity to look into the characters of Picard and Doctor Crusher, who comes face to face with her husband's memory in the form of his old shipmates. Also, Wesley Crusher sees in the flesh the people he has heard about only from his father's tapes. It is a rich area of Trek history, mostly unexplored. There is a vast world available to explore.

That is perhaps the most disappointing part of the book. Given a rich palette to use in creating a novel, Friedman produces a so-so murder mystery with a lot of hand-wringing by the main characters. If you pay attention, the would-be killer is telegraphed about the middle of the book, although the motives are leaked out only a bit at a time later. It isn't even a real "fair-play" mystery, where the reader gets enough information to figure out the killer on his (or her) own. This is a common problem for Friedman's books: they promise much, but don't deliver very well.

The writing style is straightforward adventure stuff, with limited humor, and a serious expression all around. There isn't much fun here, and while there is some reminiscing, it gets lost in the main thrust of the plot. This may be why so many other Stargazer books were required (I only read this one) if only this much of the backstory gets revealed here.

I am not a fan of Friedman's books, though I was sometimes lured by the storyline as I was here. I was often disappointed. Such was the case with this one.

Q-In-Law by Peter David, Star Trek: The Next Generation #18, October 1991.

The Enterprise is to play host to a wedding: not just any wedding, but a wedding that will cement an alliance between to factions of a spacefaring trading race, the Tizarin, something like the Ferengi but fair dealers. The occasion is momentous, enough to require the Federation's flagship and guests of the highest rank, including the ambassador from Betazed, Lwaxana Troi. Since Mrs. Troi always brings out the worst in her daughter, Enterprise counselor Deanna Troi, and fear in the object of her affections, Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard, this promises to bring difficulties. Since she is both a powerful telepath and unafraid to speak her mind, Mrs. Troi can also bring discomfort to a variety of situations. So much more so, then, when the seemingly all-powerful being Q shows up. Q states that he intends to study that most curious of human emotions--love.

This pairing of two of the most popular guest stars of the Next Generation series, Lwaxana Troi and Q, is a story made to be written by Peter David. With the humor and sense of adventure that accompanies the appearance of either of these popular characters, David combines the abilities needed to write such a story. He does not disappoint here, bringing a comical tone at times, and a note of pathos at others. Lwaxana becomes infatuated with Q, a being whose mind she cannot read, and finds herself marvelling at his power. When he shares that power, then rejects her love, the tale becomes the story of a woman scorned on a level never before seen in the galaxy.

This would have made a great TV episode, except that it would have been too expensive to film. That's the great benefit of books, the effects budget is unlimited. The age of computer graphics has brought that down somewhat, but some of these scenes would have been the devil to film. It makes great mind pictures, though.

David juggles character bits with the regulars, builds lives for the new characters (mostly the Tizarin) and shines the spotlight on the two "guest stars," all with the deft hand of the confident writer. David would go on to write several other Q books, and continue to display an affinity for the character. After all, characters who can do virtually anything are not easy to write. How do you beat them, for instance? Not an easy task, to write a believable outcome with such an antagonist.

David also excels at getting into the minds of his characters. When Kerin, the bridegroom-to-be, comes upon a waterfall in the holodeck, he expresses amazement: "I've never seen anything like it." Q is somewhat nonplussed: "Running water? Something as trivial as that, and you've never seen it?" Kerin replies, "When you've lived your entire life in space, nothing to do with nature is trivial." David gets his characters, really gets them and what makes them tick.

It's another fine book by Peter David, and features two of the most popular Next Generation characters. It's a win-win all around.

Strike Zone by Peter David, Star Trek: The Next Generation novel #5, March 1989.

An alien race called the Kreel is considered barbaric even by the Klingons. Brutal and relentlessly warlike, they scavenge what they can and take whatever they can bully away from others. However, few races will trade with them, and their technology and weaponry trails far behind other races, making them something of the jackals of the universe. Then, one ship of Kreel stumbles onto a planet with a large number of weapons, powerful weapons. Weapons that allow them to destroy a Klingon ship, and give this group of Kreel some very nasty ideas, indeed.

Things are going as usual on the starship Enterprise when the crew encounters the Kreel. The alien weapon clumsily attached to the Kreel ship cuts easily through the Enterprise shields, but when the Kreel stop firing to make demands, Captain Picard orders the weapon to simply be beamed into the cargo bay. Thus disarmed, the Kreel are of little more trouble.

However, Kreel still occupy the planet with the weapons, and this poses a problem. The Klingons prevail upon the Federation to broker a deal, and so the Enterprise is dispatched to pick up Klingon and Kreel ambassadors to go to the planet and at the same time negotiate an agreement. This proves touchy, seeing as how Klingons and Kreel cannot stand the sight of each other. Picard must cleverly navigate the parties involved, and find a way to keep these deadly weapons out of hostile hands, which turns out to be even harder when the advanced race that created them shows up.

This was Peter David's very first Star Trek novel, a number that now numbers dozens, and includes his own series, "New Frontiers." David was a veteran comic book writer, Star Trek fan, and was writing the Original Series comic for DC at the time the novel was published. He uses some of his own characters from the comic book, a practice frowned upon from time to time in the novels, but at other times allowed, as well as people he knows, a common practice by Mr. David. In this case, his former Marvel Comics cohort Bobbie Chase pops up as an ensign with a crush on Cmdr. Riker.

One of David's characters is in fact a key character, the Klingon ambassador. David had placed a half-human, half-Klingon in his comic, abandoned by the Klingons but adopted by a Klingon defector in the Enterprise crew and his human girlfriend, later wife. In this book, the dwarf now named Kobry has become an honored Klingon for brokering the peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. In fact, he is always addressed with the honorific, "The Honorable Kobry." It is quite a step up in the world for the character, and those of us who had read the comics were glad to see it.

The novel is set in the time period early in the second season. Dr. Pulaski is the medical officer, and Guinan is now on the ship. The second season had apparently not yet aired, and David was just working from notes, because there are some references that ended up changed in the TV episodes. Ten-Forward of often referred to as the "Ten-Four Lounge," which had passed out of use by the time the season began. Picard is still a bit stiff, and Worf's character not yet fleshed out, common problems of the time. David does deftly handle Wesley Crusher's character, taking the often-reviled (in those days) boy off the main story line and giving him a problem he cannot solve. Wesley does return in time to help save the ship, but it is a narrow thing.

David's trademark humor is apparent throughout, as it usually is. Picard remarks to Kobry, "I cannot recall seeing a Klingon of your advanced years." Then Kobry replies, "The advantage of my stature, Captain. I'm a smaller target." This is a mild example, as the best ones come out of the situations. But while there are some who cannot abide Peter David's humor, many of us love it.

This is a top-notch ST:TNG outing, albeit early in the show with characters that were still developing. It makes for an interesting adventure nonetheless.