Encounter at Farpoint: Amazon.ca: David Gerrold: Books

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Book Description

The U.S.S. Enterprise is en route to Cygnus IV, home of the technologically illiterate Bandi and their mysteriously advanced Farpoint Station. After adding to its crew complement from Deneb IV they are harassed and prosecuted by an omnipotent being named Q, who claims that humanity has not progressed beyond barbarism. Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise must defend themselves by solving the mystery of Farpoint Station in a manner satisfactory to their newest judge and nemesis.

From the Publisher

The U.S.S. Enterprise^TM is en route to Cygnus IV, home of the technologically illiterate Bandi and their mysteriously advanced Farpoint Station. After adding to its crew complement from Deneb IV they are harassed and prosecuted by an omnipotent being named Q, who claims that humanity has not progressed beyond barbarism. Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise must defend themselves by solving the mystery of Farpoint Station in a manner satisfactory to their newest judge and nemesis.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
THE FIRST TIME Captain Jean-Luc Picard saw the starship Enterprise he was struck by the sleekness of her lines. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars David Gerrold fleshes out the "STNG" pilot episode(s), May 6 2004

By

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)

This review is from: Encounter at Farpoint (Mass Market Paperback)

I have the original edition of the "Encounter at Farpoint" paperback with proclimas this to be "The extraordinary novel based on the television episode wirtten by D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry, Created by Gene Roddenberry," which pretty much tells you that the Great Bird of the Galaxy had a hand in determining what went on the cover. David Gerrold, who earned his permanent reputation in the "Star Trek" universe by writing the script for "The Trouble with Tribbles" and then writing about his experience in getting his episode produced, has the honors here for adaptation the script of the pilot episode for "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The nice thing about having Gerrold do this is that he is one sentence into the second paragraph of the book's prologue when he puts his own stamps on the proceedings. This is not Captain Kirk's "Star Trek," boys and girls.

"Encounter at Farpoint" introduces us to the new crew of the new starship "Enterprise" as they come together for the first time on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." One advantage of reading this adaptation of the script is that you miss out on seeing how dated the first episodes of the series looked (you can take pictures of Worf for each season and have little problem laying them out in chronological order). With the depth that Gerrold provides to the script in many ways this is a stronger story than what we saw on television, plus we can change the way they looked back then to the way they looked once they grew into their roles (none of this "Spock as he looked then" nonsense from when the original "Star Trek" took their original pilot and worked it into a new story with the new crew).

The "Enterprise" is visitng Cygnus IV to rendezbous with the ship's new first officer and other command personnel as Captain Jean-Luc Picard takes command. However the Farpoint Station, so named because it is on the edge of the known galaxy, has a deep dark secret that has to be discovered. But that pales into significance when Picard and the "Enterprise" have their first encounter with Q, who puts the crew and all humanity for crimes against ominipotent super beings. Of course, in the end this trial would provide both the beginning and the end for "STNG."

Gerrold provides an above average adaptation, arguably the best of those of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes. This is pretty impressive when you take into account that when Gerrold wrote this it was early on in the process when "STNG" epsidoes seemed to be going out of their way to be reminiscent of specific episodes of the original series. Yes, Gerrold tries out some things that do not pan out in terms of the rest of the series, but the attempts are interesting and so is noting these as you read merrily along.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Book for a Weak Episode, Jan 21 2003

By

jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Encounter at Farpoint (Mass Market Paperback)

I remember watching "Encounter at Farpoint" when it first aired with several high school friends, and the great groans of derision we all uttered when Deanna cried out, "I sense joy, Captain! Great joy!" The rest of the premier episode was hardly encouraging. It wasn't *terrible*, but it did not inspire great hopes, either.

David Gerrold took a generally weak episode and fleshed it out as best as anyone could do, but not even Shakespeare could have turned "Encounter at Farpoint" into a gripping read. There are, of course, a few problems with changed premises (for example, William "call me Bill" Riker and Picard's obsession with some woman named "Celeste"), but one can hardly blame Gerrold for that.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great novelization!, Sep 6 2002

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K. Wyatt "ssintrepid" (Cape Girardeau, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Encounter at Farpoint (Mass Market Paperback)

David Gerrold did a wonderful job with the novelization of the episode that started The Next Generation! After purchasing the first season of TNG on DVD and watching Encounter at Farpoint I thought it would be interesting to go back and read this book again. If you want to get the few details of episode that weren't in it, read this. This is the Genesis of Star Trek The Next Generation!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Encounter at Farpoint - Where No Man Has Gone Before
This book was very good. If you're interested in learning some new information about the crew of the Enterprise-D, this is the place to start. Read more

Published on Mar 24 2002 by Tim Dowling

3.0 out of 5 stars A good supplement to the TV episode
A good book, which copies the TV episode closely, with a few additional scenes. A good book to start with for all TNG newbies, if there is such a thing.

Published on Oct 26 2001 by Scott Scheinhaus