Customer Reviews

Battlestations! (Star Trek, No 31)

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

 

 

This book is a sequel to the novel "Dreadnought"; it is somewhat better than that novel, in that the plot is a bit more original, if still an offshoot of the same old worn-out concept. Like Dreadnought, it is rather untraditional as a Star Trek novel, in that the main character is a young officer just out of Starfleet academy, and we only see Kirk, Spock, etc, through her eyes. It is an interesting and worthwhile variation, almost making up for the unoriginality of the basic storylines; Piper is transparently a female equivalent of the young Kirk, with just as much talent and potential as Kirk had as a youth, and just as much inexperience. So in a way, watching her adventures has the advantage of giving us some insight into the early development of the Kirk character, without the disadvantage that "flashback" stories have of being restricted to events that fit into what we know of Kirk's history, and without the guarantee that he will come through successfully (after all, we KNOW Kirk got through those early trials, but there's no guarantee that the next young hotshot officer will).

There's something of the feel of juvenile fiction to these stories, with the young main character saving the day repeatedly, but to her credit, Ms. Carey doesn't limit the usual main characters to the sidelines; they take their full place in the plot, and are as amazingly competent as they should be. There's simply the addition of another main character, taking her turn at saving the day. Also to Ms. Carey's credit, she resists the temptation to include a romantic entaglement between Kirk and her heroine, a concept which would clearly be out of place, but which many authors would fail to resist (there's a talented, attractive female character; quick, have Kirk seduce her, or at least try.)

(Oh, and Ms. Carey still hasn't learned the difference between a "niggling" doubt and a "sniggering" one, the difference being that there IS such a thing as a niggling doubt, but if there's such a thing as a "sniggering" one, I've never heard of it.)

There's no lack of action in this story, nor any lack of fascinating character insight. It does seem that the attempt to make Piper a parallel for Kirk goes a bit overboard, though, in that her best friend and most trusted colleague is a Vulcan, and her next best friend and most trusted colleague has a southern drawl. It gets a bit forced, but the book is still worth reading for fans of Kirk and Star Trek.

I first read this book in junior high and it is still my favorite.Both it and Dreadnaught are hilarious and exciting. For those you want more of Spock and Kirk, it may not be your favorite, but for those of us who fanticize about being in a star trek book, this is as close as you can get. I love Piper and all her friends.

This novel continues the adventures of a new character in the Star Trek universe: Lt. Commander Piper.

The novel itself deals with a topic that was hot at the time:Transwarp. If you can get past the techno-babble, it is fairly good reading.

Not a traditional Original Series novel.

Note the errors on pages:176, 194, 201, and 219. This novel was obviuosly rushed into production to catch the coattails of the best selling Dreadnought! novel.

This novel continues the adventures of a new character in the Star Trek universe: Lt. Commander Piper.

The novel itself deals with a topic that was hot at the time:Transwarp. If you can get past the techno-babble, it is fairly good reading.

Not a traditional Original Series novel.

Piper is a wonderful character, and has
very good chemistry with both the traditional
and new characters. She shows ingenuity and
versatility. The story line is engaging, and
the book is a masterpiece. I recommend that
you read the first novel in the Piper series,
Dreadnaught, also.

I did like this book, in that it was well written. However, I gave it 3 starts for one simple fact: the main character. The character of "Piper", is to me, even less likable in this novel than in the previous novel, Dreadnaught. She is WAY to obsessed with Kirk and his opinions/ideas. Piper, as a young Lieutenant Commander, has no real ideas of her own (and when she does get them, its a big mental struggle to formulate one.) She has to pass all of her mental theories with her personal image of "What Would Kirk Do in this situation?" and it gets old. In all honesty, she doesn't really know Kirk at all. In the timeline of these two novels she has only known Kirk personally for a few weeks. This is not the kind of officer I'd like to serve under, if I were in Star Fleet. Nor is this the kind of officer that Star Fleet should be placing in command of a star ship.

It's worth reading but not at the Kindle price. No paper, no ink, no glue, no fuel costs, no Text-to-speech. Do yourself a favor buy a used paperback. Don't support the "Publishers" price gouging. No TTS, $3.99. with TTS $5.99 max.

I liked this book better than Dreadnought, probably because Carey delved into Piper's complicated relationship with the fascinating Sarda. Her Vulcan friend is interesting as he is not a "typical" Vulcan; he's a country-bumpkin with a serious flaw, a genius for the wrong type of technical development which is almost always misused by the military-types trying to rule the Federation. I loved the camraderie of the characters, and the discussions of the dilemnas of Command. Read it.

In my reviews of Classic Star Trek novels, it must be understood that I adhere to the original canon as invisioned by Gene Roddenberry, and not the "Star Trek" universe accepted by Rick Berman and company.

I generally rate a classic novel thus:

Adherence to Canon -- does this novel adhere to the vision of the original Star Trek?

Again, seems to.

Believability (within the confines of 23rd century Star Trek viability) -- is this novel well-plotted and well written? Can I picture this novel or imagine myself in it?

Yes, it's a pretty vivid story.

Coherence and Consistency -- does this novel internally consistent? Is it consistent with other Star Trek novels by the same author? Is it consistent with what is known of the CLASSIC Star Trek universe?

Yes, especially with the author's previous novel.

Mitigating Factors -- pluses or minuses which dramatically affect the enjoyment of this book

Again, like "Dreadnaught", this book is not a brilliant work of literature, but it's a fun read and certainly a welcome contribution to the Classic Star Trek canon.