The Valiant (Star Trek The Next Generation) [Mass Market Paperback]

In "The Valiant," MJ Friedman draws from several on screen plots and his past novels to create an exceptional USS Stargazer story, depicting events aboard that small vessel in a timeframe when Captain Picard was Commander Picard and he was the second officer. Combining the crew he created in his previous Stargazer novel "Reunion" and a small amount of the plot line he used in the "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy, he deftly crafts an excellent tale surrounding the events that lead to Jean Luc Picard becoming one of the youngest to ever make Captain in Starfleet. Of note is the great crew he's created to surround Picard on board the Stargazer. Each and every character is well thought out and gets appropriate time within the story without detracting from the main plot events.

The premise:

The Valiant

In the beginning of this exceptional story, we're taken some three hundred years in Starfleet history to when the SS Valiant is thrown beyond the galactic barrier and is trying to make her way back home through the galactic barrier. The SS Valiant is first mentioned in The Original Series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Unfortunately for Captain Tarasco, who captain's the SS Valiant; their failed attempt to cross the barrier results in several casualties and in particular one crewman begins to exhibit "godlike" powers and loses all compassion for human life, thinking of his fellow humans more as bugs than his equals. This leaves Captain Tarasco with few options.

USS Stargazer

The Stargazer, captained by Captain Ruhalter with Commander Jean Luc Picard as second officer is summoned to Starbase 209. Upon arrival, they receive their mission briefing which encompasses two "descendants" of the SS Valiant who claim that they're ancestors, some three hundred years ago, were the crew of the Valiant and they "did" survive to form a colony on the other side of the barrier. These two descendants bring with them warnings of an invasion into Federation territory by a species that lives on the other side of the galactic barrier known and the Nuyyad.

With plenty of skepticism to spare, the Captain and crew of the USS Stargazer head out for the galactic barrier with one of the descendants on board and a Kelvan advisor aboard to determine the truth in this warning and hopefully deal with it accordingly.

What follows is an exceptional story detailing the events surrounding how Commander Jean Luc Picard became Captain Picard, in command of the USS Stargazer. Along with this, one of the better aspects of the novel is the authors setting up the events in "Reunion" with reference to his Chief Medical Officer Carter Greyhorse.

The Audio Tape:

Read by Anthony Stewart Head - While this is no replacement for reading the actual and full story it makes for a good three hour distraction when cruising down the highway.

I highly recommend this Star Trek novel to any and all fans of the series for it is definitely one of the better Trek stories in print. {ssintrepid}

It was very enlightening to see the way that he looked for a balance between the command style of his captain and the first officer of the Stargazer in terms of developing his own style. He wasn't as reckless as his captain, but neither was he as "by the book" as the first officer. He saw what and what not to do, which is something many of us, including myself, have learned in our own lives.

One reason I give this four stars is because of something that is true of all "Star Trek" books. The authors of these books count upon the fact that you've watched the show (in this case "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and thus eliminates the need for setting up the characters, since there is already a "history" behind them. We already know who they are and what they've done.

A similar "biography" that I would recommend is "Mosaic," which looks at the history of the character of Janeway. While I was not a huge fan of "Voyager" (the stories were a bit weak), this book was also very enjoyable, giving insight as to how the character developed and why they act and think they way they do.