Customer Reviews

Balance of Power (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After the serious nature of author Dafydd Ab Hugh's first Star Trek novel, Deep Space Nines #5 "Fallen Heroes," "Balance of Power" is a lighter hearted, much more whimsical novel, while still possessing a story of a serious nature that is well told. I definitely like Dafydd Ab Hugh's writing style as well, as it is fluidic, with good pacing that doesn't bog down too often. The characterizations for this novel were "dead on" accurate for the known characters in each situation.

The cover art for this novel is pretty much the bland, standard fare for when it was published.

The premise:

In an unusual premise for a STNG novel, the author draws primarily from known characters between STNG and DS9, bringing them into a hilarious, well told tale. It was especially nice to see Grand Nagus Zek get some time in a novel!

A famous Federation scientist dies and his son puts up many of his quirky inventions for auction to the highest bidder. Many Federation and non Federation races come to this auction, in hopes of acquiring the technology. Among those items being auctioned is a powerful photon pulse canon that is capable of punching right through a starships shields; an item that the Federation would definitely not like to see in the hands of the Klingons, Romulans or Cardassians.

In a bold move for a novel, the author also brings Wesley Crusher at Starfleet Academy into the story. (I say bold move because for some reason, many "fans" totally rejected this character out of hand.) While attempting to aide his best friend, Wesley finds himself kidnapped by outlaw Ferengi that are bent on controlling the universe through commerce and they've set their sights on the photon pulse canon. Captain Picard now finds himself in a race to save not only the Enterprise but the entire Federation from this deadly weapon and those controlling it while having every antagonistic race in the Alpha Quadrant aligned against him.

What follows from there is an extremely hilarious and enjoyable STNG novel that I highly recommend to any and all fans of the genre! {ssintrepid}

It would appear to me, after having read a handful of reviews, that readers either loved this book or hated it. Those who loved it, I happen to agree with and will not argue with. But those who hated it, I beg to differ with. The haters claim that these Star Trek characters were wildly out of character, one reader even going so far as to claim (paraphrasing) that anyone, even the most casual observer, could tell that the characters didn't ring true, even for someone who has watched only two episodes of the TV series. Er, excuse me, but is it logical to presume to know the characters so well, after only two 43 minute episodes (less commercials), so as to even recognize when they are out of character? Bologna.

What this author did, aside from not taking himself too terribly seriously, was entertain me like no other Star Trek author has ever done, even causing me to laugh out loud, embarassing myself in public, while reading on a bus. The fact that Paramount and the Simon & Schuster people sanctioned this book and published it, clearly illustrates that it passes whatever mysterious criteria there might be for a ST:TNG novel.

Rather than bore me endlessly by introducing an entirely new race of aliens, cultures and customs, as many Star Trek novels do, forcing you to only guess at how to pronounce weird, funky alien names, that never quite sound right in your head as you're reading -- instead, this author made the book about what we already know and love, and even love to hate -- I refer to the Ferengi, who in this novel are the "bad guys", although the author was clever in that not all Ferengi were bad, only these two renegades, and even includes the Grand Nagus as a sort of "good guy" who lends his assistance after the Federation gets itself, as Data puts it, "up the proverbial aquatic waterway without an oar", thanks to the criminal avarice of the outlaw Ferengi, Tunk and Munk (God bless this author for giving me names I can easily pronouce in my mind's ear!!)

I could TOTALLY envision Wallace Shawn, who portrays the Grand Nagus in numerous Deep Space Nine episodes, whining, squeaking and spitting out his dialouge; the author gave depth and humor to these supporting characters, unlike any Star Trek novel I've read.

It's inportant here to mention that one of the ideals conveyed in the novel, as realized by Wesley, is that not all Starfleet officers are the same, nor should they be, in that the uniqueness of each individual offers a fresh perspective to the rest, otherwise, why not dispense with Starfleet Academy entirely, and replicate 73 million Commander Datas, and be done with it?

Likewise, this book doesn't necessarily squash itself into a preconceived mold, and its uniqueness offered me a fresh perspective that made me laugh, made me think, and above all, kept the pages turning.

Here's a litmus test: Read the first paragraph, and if you fail to see the humor in the description of the unpronouncable Klingon scoutship, which, loosely translates into "Strange Legendary Klingon Fish That Hides in Rocks and Spies on Enemies of the Warrior Gods," then this book isn't for you.

If, however, you find it amusing that the Ferengi, Tunk, unable to recall the name of The Enterprise, refers to it instead as "The Business Venture," as only a Ferengi could, this book is for you.

So as to remain as impartial as possible for a positive review, I will make mention of one small detail, or oversight, and that is that the Ferengi home world is referred to repeatedly as Ferengi, when in the DS9's, it's referred to as Ferengenar. But hey, for as well executed as this novel was, I can live with that minor annoyance.

Ab Hugh is a great suspence writer, he is soooo good at keeping pace. If he didn't really limit himself to TV/Video Game tie-ins he would be a household name, up there with Koontz and Crichton. I am not joking. Read any of his books for yourself.

This a good book where Wesley is the main character and he gets himself entangled in a Ferengi counterfiet scheme to buy some stuff at an intergalactic auction. Great book that you don't put it down. I give it four stars.

Balance of power is a totally unrealistic book when taken in context with the star trek universe.

Firstly, there is the emphasis on money, gold-pressed latinum and refrences to starfleet cadets needing to pay for thier education, food, lodging and so forth. Yet, throughout the series it's made clear that they have eliminated the need for money, and have eliminated poverty on earth. So why the focus on money and the lack of it from the charachters? Yes, people in the federation do spend money, but on luxury items, not on basic nessicities or education.

The Warp Five speed limit? Why is this book the only one I've read which mentions it? The author took one episode WAY out of context. The warp five speed limit was for *one* SINGLE sector, not the whole quadrant, so the whole rediculous plot around getting to an auction on time is totally wrong. There have been no refrences in any episodes of star trek TNG or DS9 about a warp five speed limit.

Another thing is the charachters acting totally wrong. Geordie acting like a jerk and telling people off, Worf not acting right and more. The only charachter who was portraied anywhere near correctly was Wesley Crusher.

Most of the book was just [bad]. However, some of the Ferengi and Wesly interactions were funny....so the book gets two, rather than one star.

Never thought I'd give a Star Trek novel 1 star! But this story was weak, and the Star Trek characters were cardboard and did not fit their personalities, except maybe for Data.

Basically, the story centers on Wesley Crusher being kidnapped by Ferengi, after they discover he has a device that countefeits latinum. A big auction of a dead scientists inventions takes place on Novus Alamogordus. The Federation, Klingons, Romulans and Ferengi, among others travel there to bid on these inventions, the biggest of which is the photonic pulse cannon.

Using counterfeit latinum, the Ferengi, Munk and Tunk, using Wesley as their slave per se, end up winning most of the items. It's up to Wesley to figure out how to stop the two, while at the same time, not breaching his Ferengi contract, and getting charged with counterfeiting by Starfleet.

I thought the writing was deplorable and weak. And when does Picard call everyone by the first name during most of a book or TV show? Except for Data, who was experimenting with a laughter program, the rest of the book drew low interest.

This has got to be the worst ST:TNG book that I have ever read, and I've read most of them. I realize that the writers of these books aren't exactly the cream of the authorial crop, but for the most part they're entertaining books for sitting by the pool or on the beach.

This book, however, must be the most idiotic ST:TNG novel that has ever been conceptualized. The overall premise of the book is that a sometimes brilliant, but often wrong Federation scientist dies and his wayward son decides to put his father's inventions up for auction to the highest bidder, including a photonic pulse cannon that could shift the balance of power in the quadrant. Representatives from all of the major races are sent to the auction with all possible haste to try to secure the cannon, while back at the academy, Wesley's brilliant but often wrong (where have I heard that before) roommate makes a machine that turns base metal into latinum and promptly gets Wesley kidnapped by greedy Ferengi.

Ok, decent premise, but this is where the novel goes horribly wrong. It completely ignores everything we know about the Star Trek universe and has the characters that we know and love act strangely out-of-character. Here is a list of the idiocy that is purveyed in this novel, in no particular order:

1) Wesley and his roommate talk about having to pay for their tuition, room, and board and talk about the next time they get paid, despite the fact that the series has LONG established that there is no money in the Federation, that the accumulation of wealth is no longer the driving force of humanity. This is by far the novel's worst offense: references to money, latinum, and humans acquiring wealth are pervasive.

2) Worf's brother Kurn seems jealous of his brother and tries to get himself appointed to be the representative for the Klingons at his Worf's expense.

3) Kahless is the ruler of the Klingon Empire-- Gowron isn't even mentioned.

4) Troi goes to the auction to vote for Betazed-- but Betazed is part of the Federation!

5) The Ferengi are named Tunk and Munk (what clever names) and one of them talks like a pirate. Yes, a pirate. It's so stupid that I nearly put the book down as soon as I heard my first "avast ye hearties!"

6) Geordi acts like a jerk throughout most of the course of the novel

7) The dialog is hopelessly contrived and endlessly cheesy. I would challenge anyone who reads this novel to take a section of dialog, perhaps between Wesley and his roommate Fred, and close your eyes and imagine them saying that verbatim on the show. It just won't work, it doesn't sound even remotely like them, nor does it sound like the way real people talk. That is one of the show-stoppers for me: if the dialog sounds contrived, then there's really no way for the novel to recover.

I know a lot of people have enjoyed this novel, but for me, there is simply too much wrong with it to be enjoyed. I simply can't get over all of the inconsistencies with the known Trek universe and the stupidity of Ferengi talking like pirates, I guess it just sabotages my willing sense of disbelief and doesn't enable me to enjoy what I'm reading. If you don't really care about consistency and don't get irritated at the mere mention of Wesley Crusher, then perhaps you might enjoy this novel, but for me it's a clear miss.

I couldn't put it down! This has got to be one of the best Star Trek books I have ever read. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Balance of Power written by Dafydd Ab Hugh is a Wesley Crusher/Ferengi book with some very funny humor sprinkled in to make the book read quickly.

Wesley Crusher is at Starfleet Academy and his roommate and best friend has a project that is half-finished (a machine that can counterfeit gold pressed latinum), Wesley finishes the machine but is kidnapped by an outlaw Ferengi who wants to control the universe through commerce.

There is also an auction where a famous Federation scientist dies and his son puts up all of his fathers half-baker inventions, of course, none of them work, but there is one invention that piques the crowd... a photon cannon that can penetrate a ships shielding. You've got people from the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Ferengi all in the mix of things. The auction scene is in particular very humorus.

If you like a light read with humor this is the book for you. It can be quickly read and you'll get some good belly-laughs.

Another serious case of mispackaging by Pocket. The legend across the top of the cover declares "Captain Picard must keep a deadly weapon out of enemy hands!!" The back of the book says Picard must stop all other races from acquiring superweapons. And there is Jean-Luc's face on the cover. All balderdash. Picard plays but a minimal role, and these "superweapons" are nothing more than red herrings, declared such by Geordi LaForge during the first ten pages. Instead, the hero of this one is none other than weenie extraordinaire Wesley Crusher.

It was with a somewhat nauseated feeling that I realized that Wesley was to play a major role in Balance of Power. To my utter astonishment, not only did Wesley not bother me, I actually *enjoyed* him. Ab Hugh has done a wonderful job bringing us a Wesley that is interesting and believable while staying remarkably faithful to the original. Under his skillful pen (er, keyboard), we can actually appreciate Wesley's need to leave Starfleet and join the Traveler - and since the Wesley Joins the Traveler episode ranks among the worst, that is saying something.

The plot is entertaining if somewhat strained. Other reviewers have complained about the implausibility of a high-stakes auction for what appears to be junk, but one can easily put that aside and enjoy a fun ride featuring two greedy Ferengi (sorry for the redundancy), the Grand Nagus, and, of course, Cadet Crusher.

I disagree with others who complained that the characters did not ring "true." On the contrary, Balance of Power is the best Trek book I have read in a long, long time - the best at capturing the characters, the best at entertaining, and the best at keeping me interested until the very end. It makes me regret giving out so many three stars to other Trek books. If only they were all like this . . . .

The main plot for this book was fairly lighthearted and funny, somewhat in the style of "Trouble With Tribbles" or "A Piece of the Action" from the original Star Trek TV series. As such, it worked fairly well; but at times, the author seemed to get thoroughly serious. If handled properly, this could have made this one of the all-time best Star Trek stories, one of the handful that is capable of telling a good, serious story while still having a light touch and not taking itself too seriously. The problem is, the transitions between serious and comic were not handled well; rather than coming across as a good, well-balanced story, it came across more like a story for which the author couldn't make up his mind what tone he wanted. The attempt was worthy, but his reach exceeded his grasp.