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Publisher:
Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) |
Release
Date: September 2003 |
ISBN:
0743448529 (Book 3)
0743448545 (Book 4) |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Paperback |
Buy it at Amazon
Oblivion US
|| UK
Three US
||UK
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Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
SF/TV Tie-in |
Reviewed:
2003 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: |
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Stargazer:
Three
Stargazer: Oblivion
Star
Trek, No. 3 & 4
By Michael
Jan Friedman
Michael
Jan Friedman has written two further chapters in Captain Picard's
early career when he was in charge of the USS Stargazer when only
28 years old. There are those who want him to fail, but he has a
stalwart crew behind him and of course his canny self. Read how
twins Gerda and Idun Asmund suddenly find that there is another
"twin" on board called Gerda Idun, and in order to send
her home the crew have to deal with several ships full of hostile
aliens. Then discover what Guinan was like when Picard first met
her in a strange city made up of abandoned ships. This is where
Picard meets Enabran Tain for the first time while searching for
an old friend with vital information to share with Starfleet.
Of course, while all this derring-do
is going on the crew's personal relationships add depth to what
could have been just an adventure involving phasers and aliens.
It is this element that lifts Star Trek out from the common run
of SF and gives it that vital human dimension. Three could have
revealed more about the Balduk as they appear to be a new species,
but the two plots dealing with the twins' dilemma and Vigo's mission
to Wayland Prime to see the new emitter balance each other out nicely.
However, each could have been fleshed out a little more to make
a fuller story; this is a very rare occasion when I am actually
suggesting that this book should have been longer
Oblivion
works much better as we are already familiar with the Cardassians
and Guinan so the story can work with the minimum of description
necessary. This is a more together-feeling book all round, with
the powerful triad of Picard, Guinan and Tain striking sparks off
each other and the whole thing having something of the feel of a
Farscape episode. What this series does need are some more fleshed-out
descriptions of the various new races, and perhaps a bit more conflict
among the crew. But this notwithstanding this is an engaging new
series that ought to develop nicely.
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