Customer Reviews

Belle Terre (Star Trek: New Earth, Book 2)

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

 

 

Pocket's Star Trek publishing program seems to have shifted in focus over the past several months: rather than publishing stand-alone novels, we've seen a number of multi-book series ranging from the excellent ("Millennium" for Deep Space Nine) to the, mmm, not-quite so-excellent (not mentioning any names!). I'll frequently pick up a Trek book based on the author ("Millennium" was written by the always-entertaining Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens), but in the case of "Belle Terre" I bought it mainly because of the intriguing concept of this multi-book series: Kirk and company are assigned to escort a group of colonists to a deep-space planet for colonization. I haven't had a chance yet to pick up the first book in the series "Wagon Train to the Stars" (I will, because it's written by another of my fave Trek authors, Diane Carey), but #2, "Belle Terre", is a fun read and intriguing enough to make me look at the rest in the series as well. When the idyllic world the colonists land on threatens to be destroyed, Kirk and the Enterprise crew must race against time and exceptionally long odds to save the planet. Characterization is dead-on, always a plus when dealing with characters based on real actors (the grumpy, argumentative, but humanist McCoy is so authentic you can hear the late De Kelley in your head as you read). I've also got to commend Smith and Carey for the character of the colony's governor...it's a long-running Trek cliché that colony governors are thick-skulled, selfish diplomats, butting heads with Kirk and endangering themselves and others. This character rises above that cliché with a much more interesting personality--he's an individual with different ideas and goals than Starfleet, but he's willing to do everything to help Kirk and Spock's dangerous plan to stop the planet's moon from exploding. The conclusion is no happy-ending cop-out...the planet is saved (did you doubt it?), but at incredible cost...and, as befits a decent book series, a cliffhanger subplot featuring a scout ship investigating a nearby dead planet obviously leads into book three without taking the attention away from the plot at hand. In short, a decent Trek novel, nothing exceptional, but very good suspense, characterization, and an intriguing plot that's different enough from the usual Trek storylines to make me check out "Star Trek: New Earth #3: Rough Trails" next month.

My main concern going into this book was after "WagonTrain to the Stars" that the next four books would stall out withmajor developments until Diane Carey came in to wrap things up in August. The good news is that, for now, that hasn't happened.

"Belle Terre", while considerably shorter than "Wagon Train to the Stars", packs no less of a punch. As was hinted in book one, things aren't going to be peaceful when the crew arrives at the planet--and they're not. An imminent disaster will happen in just eight days--the destruction of a moon that will destroy the lush world the colonists have come to settle. It's up to Kirk and company to pull another miracle out of their hats and save the day. The book works nicely because it allows the crew to fail and to work through it to come up with an answer. It also introduces some nice supporting characters and gives the ma bit of character depth as well. In addition, it's a nicely plotted and suspenseful book that really takes advantage of the crew working against the clock to save the day.

I've got to admit I'm hooked now on New Earth. Having devoured the first two books, I find myself anxious for the next four. It certainly makes June seem a bit longer as I wait for parts three and four.

My only major problem with the book is that it drops some of the interesting storylines from part one. No mention is made of the traitor's fate nor do we get any confirmation that the Orions are still a threat. Also, with the Enterprise and the colony in a disputed war-zone, there should have been some development there. I'm willing to overlook these sins of omission for now, simply because we've got four more books to go and develop these.

Here's a question: Why, unlike the first book in the New Earth series, is BELLE TERRE written as if the target reader is a 9-year-old? The vocabulary and sentence structure are barely up to the standards of a YA (young adult) novel, and the story itself is a simple-minded meet-the-deadline crisis that ends exactly the way one thinks it will.

The book is needlessly divided into four arbitrary "parts"; the natural assumption here is that it was done for padding, a fair conclusion when one sees a countdown ("Four. Three. Two....") divided into separate paragraphs. The dialogue is straight from the cliche encyclopedia, with enough "one-quarter impulse, Mr. Sulu"s and "course plotted and laid in sir"s to fill three or four bad novels. And the author's idea of a scare? "Skeletons." That's right: skeletons.

My advice: skip directly to Part Three and a different author, where there should be enough background to discern the essentials of this piece of hackwork.

I'm only part way through the book but had to stop and share my frustration. In "Belle Terre", Kirk orders the Starfleet cutter Impeller of Captain Merkling to aid in the search for some lost children. Apparently, Kirk is senile because in "Wagon Train to the Stars," the Impeller, severly damaged by the Orions, was sent limping back to Federation space with a blinded Captain Merkling on board. The only possible explanations are that 1) Q made an early appearance and helped out, 2) transwarp was developed, used ot get the Impeller back to Belle Terre quickly, or 3) the author and the editor screwed up royally. Sorry, but I have to go with option 3 as my final answer. This bodes ill for the rest of the book.

I was afraid the push would be toward these multi-book stories. The last time I saw this I bought the entire VECTORS series of Star Trek books all at once -- a decision I regret to this day. At least this time all I am out is the price of one new book (selling cheap). This book just drags. Too much detail, too many characters. I am a stalwart fan of the series and I was just bored to tears with this one.

Normally I really like series'. For instance, I thought Millenium, the Badlands, Day of Honor, Captain's Table, and the New Frontier series were all great. But I have to admit, this one got boring, confusing, and had a strange ending. Too much technobabble made it get bogged down as they try to move the moon. It wasn't very original, either. The character developement needed some help. I normally like Diane Carey, but wow, this one I could have done without.

Finally, the wagon train to the stars got there. They're established in their new planet and out of nowhere comes a new menace to the colonists, which the Enterprise must try to avert. Taking into account that this is a TOS book, I'd say they do OK. It's true that many clichés pop up, but I guess that's the way some of us fans like it. I found this book entertaining and the story line kept me hooked. Taking into account that this is the second book of the series and that further developments will come to pass, my recommendation is "keep on reading"

After a rollicking start to the New Earth series, this latest entry is a major disappointment, taking a deep dive from the story and plot quality of the first version. In this novel, the aliens that caused so much of the havoc and intrique in the first novel have essentially disappeared. meanwhile, we get lots of colonial sniping. Spock's role is to call out probabilities to the umpteeth decimal point, a hackneyed cliche that is used over and over here. In every chapter, it seems, there is a new doomsday scenario, with Spock calculating the odds of success in the single-digits percent, yet Kirk & Co. pull off one predictable miracle after another. There is one poignant moment when the small crew of one ship, send out on a scouting mission, dies in the dark, powerless vacuum of space, their ship made black by a mysterious phenomenon that is neither explained nor used again. Coming on the eels of the gripping first novel, this one turns out to be a dud.

Much better than the first in the series, thanks to the fact that Dean Wesley Smith doesn't torture the language the way Diane Carey does. Just as in the first installment, the plot and characterization, the pacing and the general idea are all very good to excellent. Unlike the first installment, this author understands how to use the language to best effect. Highly recommended; it doesn't even seem to me that it would be hard to follow this book without having read the previous episode, the backstory is filled in unobtrusively and as thoroughly as needed, but no more than that.

I can't help but repeat what i done worte i love star trek books.

Rondall Banks