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3.0 out of 5 stars
Where Reader Meets Satisfaction, Aug 23 2003
Whales in Space sounds like the premise for another, hokey, syruppy Greenpeace diatribe ala Howard Weinstein. Fortunately, Weinstein is nowhere to be found here. Instead, Jerry Oltien presents us with a tale that is interesting and at times even gripping. The space whales turn out to be vicious predators, eating machines that would make the aliens of Aliens proud. When, early on, one literally takes a bite out of the Enterprise, you know you're in for a good time. The Captain Pike here is not entirely consistent with that seen in The Menagerie, and Peter David did a better job with Pike's crew in The Rift than Oltion manages here. Nevertheless, Oltion does a creditable job, giving us a book more than worth any Trek reader's time.There are two serious flaws here. First, the ending is abrupt, pat, and weak. Typical Star Trek happy ending. The other is that Oltion is forced to work within the god-awful Captain's Table concept. Fortunately, he makes our job easy by alternating chapters between the bar and Pike's story, making skipping blessfully easy. The Captain's Table as a whole produced one exceptional book, (Janeway's Fireship), three very good books (Kirk/Sulu, Pike, and Peter David's Calhoun) and two down-right stinkers (Picard and Sisko, sadly). With the possible exception of the Kirk/Sulu tale, the books that succeed do so in spite of the Captain's Table concept, not because of it. The concept was a stupid one and the Trek universe is worse off because of it. Discerning Trek readers should still read the four good books, however; simply skip everything about the bar and enjoy the rare first-person perspectives.
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