Customer Reviews

New Frontier (Star Trek New Frontier)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Book is a combanation of books 1-4 in Star Trek New Frontier. I just finish reading it and I enjoyed it. It has everything you want in a star trek soy. The plot get you intrested It introduces the caraters it is also aborut relationships. It also has camo by Spock Capitan Pecard and former Capatn now Admral Jelaco. Read this book .

Usually I think of Star Trek as what mankind can do if it put it's mind to it. A utopia where anything is possible... If you are any of the following you might want to reconsider your those views and put them on the side before reading this series.

Peter David, has introduced a Hermaphrodite main crew character named Lieutenant Commander Burgoyne 172, she is the Cheif Engineer of an old Ambassador class vessel.. (Enterprise 1701-C was the same vessel class.) So far he/she has the hots for Dr. Selar... but I won't say more. If you can't tolerate this kind of writing in a story this novel is not for you.

Than there is the new Captain a brave Kirk-Sisko like character.
Mackenzie Calhoun. This man does not follow the tradition Starfleet by the book approach when you get into book 3 of this book, you will see why. I like this Captain only because he has a willingness to fight and or do the very unexpected when the odds are impossible.

I do not wish to go into the rest of the characters. I will say this... Peter David is a master Sci-Fi, writer, when he writes you can almost tell when he's having fun and when he's just writing... I like the inside jokes that Peter David writes.

If you are a TNG fan... You will like this novel. If you are a TOS fan you will like this novel. I have just ordered the rest of the series... I hope you all consider this a good novel.

This review is in reference to the turtleback, ISBN: 0671019783 and the four paperbacks.

Book One: House of Cards
Book Two: Into the Void
Book Three: The Two Front War
Book Four: Endgame

Peter David being one of the best Star Trek authors throughout its history is rewarded with his very own series. I can only imagine how honored he must've been to be able to create a whole new series. Tasked with this, he stepped up to the challenge and exceeded even his own high standards. One of the main things I love about the whole New Frontier series is that Peter David is allowed more freedom with what he can do in the New Frontier series as opposed to one of the other lines. The only question I have about the first four books of this series is why is the series started off with four small books, when this clearly could've been accomplished with two books or one large hardcover? Either way, who cares, they're all four of them absolutely fantastic!

Just like Star Trek The Next Generation's "Encounter at Farpoint," Deep Space Nine's "Emissary," Voyager's "Caretaker" and Enterprise's "Broken Bow," the four book set or the turtleback containing all four is Peter David's introduction to this great new series! "House of Cards" starts off with the introductions to several of the primary characters. It also includes some great cameo appearances as well. Captain Jean Luc Picard from the USS Stargazer inspiring M'k'n'zy of Calhoun (Mackenzie Calhoun) to join Starfleet. Lieutenant Soleta is introduced to the series through a chance meeting with Ambassador Spock, consequently saving her life. And finally, the ever dreary Admiral Jellico makes his first of many appearances. Commander Elizabeth Paula Shelby from STNG's "Best of Both Worlds" is given a first name, a nickname and a history with the new captain. Ensign Robin Lefler and Dr. Selar are brought over from STNG as well. Dr. Selar's introduction is extremely interesting.

New to the world of Star Trek we're introduced to: Captain Mackenzie Calhoun formerly M'k'n'zy of Calhoun from the planet Xenex. Captain Calhoun is certainly one of the best new characters added to the world of Star Trek. Zak Kebron, who is the USS Excalibur's Chief Security Officer. He is a Brikar, a race of beings who are basically built like large, moving landmasses. Lord and later, Ambassador Si Cwan, one of two remaining members of the ruling family of the Thallonian Empire, which has collapsed. Which is the cause for Starfleet sending the USS Excalibur into Sector 221-G. Commander Burgoyne 172, the Excalibur's Chief Engineer. Burgoyne is a Hermat, which is a species where each individual is pretty much made up of both sides of the battle of the sexes. An particularly interesting character to say the least. Lieutenant Mark McHenry, the Excalibur's primary helmsmen, an exceedingly intelligent and of course, eccentric human.

Mix all of these extremely interesting characters together with Peter David's well thought out villains and what we have here is an enormously great line of Star Trek novels. The only downside, they are more or less in episodic format and have a tendency to end with To be continued...., and they're not a regular line coming out with several per year. The upside, with one exception, they typically come out two or three books at a time. If you purchase the turtleback containing all four stories, it includes a Star Trek New Frontier Minipedia. Overall this is a great series that will make a fine addition to your Star Trek collection!

If you like Star Trek, and you like Peter David, you can't go wrong with the first four books of "The New Frontier", his introduction to Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the rest of the crew of the Excalibur. I was hooked on David's writing through his classic "Grey Hulk" series of Marvel Comics. I find his prose and wit stands out from the crowd (though they did bring in some good writers for the original Trek book series).

These first books in the ongoing "New Frontier" series are classically organized, developing the characters in their individual threads and then bringing them together on the Excalibur for a unifying adventure in their new territory. There's very nice balance between characters and a breezy pace. The Star Trek comics, er books, have a little more leeway with asides that you don't get in the TV shows or movies. With Peter David writing, the often serious tone is punctuated with comic relief. The time and place is set around the time of the Next Generation, with Jean-Luc Picard and even Spock putting in an appearance.

Just to be clear -- these books read like comic books, or like a Star Trek episode. It's pure pulp, but pulp of the highest order. One word of warning: these "books" are barely novella length; it takes about an hour to read each, and that's if you read the funny parts twice. All in all, just as Star Trek should be.

This set of four short books sets up one of the best book series in ST writing. This would make a great TV show! The characters are skillfully and well crafted. The action and drama is well balanced. There was "just enough" use of STTNG and STOS characters to color in a great begining to a great series of books!! Once you read this one, you'll read the rest as well!

If I'd bought each of these books separately and paid 6 bucks a pop for them, I'd have been annoyed. As it was, I spent not too much money for an enjoyable four hours or so. They're not too lightweight for tie-in novels, but inasmuch as I didn't come to these books knowing and loving the characters, I wanted the author to make me love them. And he didn't.

However, these guys are recognizably Federation in their attitudes and actions, and if you like the world of Star Trek but aren't that attached to specific people in it, this just might be an amusing read.

I'm not the biggest reader of ST novels, but I truly enjoy this series. What sets it apart is that while it has ties to the TNG universe, it gets back to the roots of the original series: exploring space with the Federation playing a very minimal role in the overall course of events. The protagonist, Mackenzie Calhoun, is engaging and the supporting cast is a wonderful use of the infinite diversity of the universe. Also, there are enough ties to TNG for the TNG fan (such as myself) to truly enjoy this series and all of the characters are handled in a manner that engages the reader. Adventure, humor, political intrigue - it's all here and every book so far has been a real page turner!

This book made me keep reading the books as they came out and i found it to be a very good series....especially later on! Its basically about the first four major events that happened to the U.S.S. Excaliber and her crew. I would recommend at least finishing it before making your choice on wether or not it is dumb. The very end of book for is the event that sets the rest of the books in motion!

From the man who brought us "Q in Law," and the "Imzadi" books, comes "The New Frontier." Given command of the USS Excalibur, recently repaired, we are introduced to a new crew and a very new captain, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, a Xenexian who led his people to freedom as a young rebel leader.

The only downside to this book (or rather, these books) is that the story of Calhoun's past drags a little in the telling.

Calhoun reads very much as a cowboy, which suits a series set on a new frontier where they are very much the only federation presence, and an ancient and powerful empire is crumbling to dust, and anarchy is the rule of the sector.

Peter David drafts some great characters who cameod on Star Trek The Next Generation, and adds them to his own crew. The familiar faces include Robin Lefler, Dr. Selar, and - best of all - Shelby. Teamed up with a hermaphroditic engineer named Burgoyne (any resemblance to my last name is a total fluke), a strange seemingly-savant navigator named McHenry, a tactical officer who is a walking mountain named Kebron, and a half-romulan, half-vulcan science officer, Soleta, you'll find the Excalibur crew to be as amazing as I did.

These first four mini-books, collected into one volume, charts Calhoun's past, and the first mission of the USS Excalibur into what was once Thallonian space. Calhoun's past is out to kill him, and the growing pains of a new crew definately sets a good pace.

Oh, and did I mention that Calhoun and Shelby were once lovers?

Grab this one - it's a great read.

I wqas quite surprised to hear that Paramount was going to let someone create new Trek characters for an ongoing series of books, and glad to hear that Mr. David - the best of the Trek novelists - was going to be be the man to do this. But I waited to read this, suspecting that something would be missing.

It is. But it's not merely the lack of exciting characters. The plots in this series are rather weak, and feel like warmed-over Next Gen. The hero of the series, Mackenzie Calhoun, shows signs of being more than the two-dimensional former wunderkind he is here, and some other aliens are quite intriguing. I especially liked the Thallonian ambassador. But most of the cast is rather flat - Robin Lefler is as dull as she was when young Wynona Judd played her, Cmdr. Shelby shows little of the spark we saw on Next Gen, and we can really do without the overly titillating hermaphrodite engineer and Worfish security officer.

Other little things alot hinder the book, such as PAD's literal use of "the Great Bird of the Galaxy" and the transformation of Edward Jellico from a somewhat annoying but capable officer into a complete jerk.

PAD's Trek novels always entertain, but this one fails to do much more than set up a series. Without the visuals of the TV shows, this is more a storybaord than a story. It could make a great Trek TV series, but it's not much of a novel.