Customer Reviews

The Belly of the Beast

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

 

 

The idea of Star Trek: S.C.E. is in interesting one, but Dean Wesley Smith doesn't really do that great a job. I didn't like the last book he wrote without Kristine Kathryn Rusch either (Star Trek: New Earth #2 - Belle Terre). But I have enjoyed the books they have collaborated on together. Maybe it's just his choice of words in this book, but it just didn't seem too good, almost sort of cheesy. The story is interesting, but it's just the way he wrote it that's bad. But I've read the next two S.C.E. books and they get better (of course they are by different authors) than this. S.C.E. #2 is better than #1, and #3 is better than #1 & #2. So like any series it will get better, but I still recommend getting this book, there is a continuing storyline, so reading this book first will help you to understand the references in the next books.

I'd been looking forward to getting to the first of the SCE books for quite some time now and after having read this lead off title, I see that my anticipation for it was greatly warranted. As is usual with a Dean Wesley Smith title, the plot and the writing were both well thought out and paced perfectly.

One thing that I and most likely most every other Star Trek reader has become accustomed to and find highly enjoyable is the manner in which a new series is launched, with having familiar characters leading the way. The Star Trek Starfleet Corps of Engineers series is no different, having Scotty and Geordi LaForge engrained in the story. Also of great interest is the plethora of characters that will be, from what I gather, the main cast of characters for SCE, most of which were gleaned from the various series and their respective guest roles.

The cover art for this e-book is fairly decent, giving the readers a good deal of information as to who and what they can expect within the pages and I especially like that they put the image of a Saber class starship on the cover, giving the readers the best information possible about the Da Vinci.

The premise:

Captain Picard and the crew of Enterprise find themselves in a protracted battle with a behemoth of a ship which had been attacking a colony. After a considerable amount of time and effort, they defeat the "beast" and call in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers to survey the ship. As luck would have it, Captain Picard soon finds that Captain Montgomery Scott is in charge of the SCE and is sending the Da Vinci to their position.

Geordi decides that he'd like to stay with the SCE team and the survey and soon finds that Sonya Gomez is now Commander Sonya Gomez and that she'll be leading the survey missions. What follows from there is a highly intriguing first tale in the Star Trek SCE series that harkens the reader back to the movie Aliens.

I highly recommend this first novel in the Star Trek SCE series and can only hope that the stories that followed this one will match it in its quality. {ssintrepid}

This was a very decent Star Trek Review albet a little bit short.

It is interesting to see the Behind the scenes team at work. The team that goes and makes use of everthing that is discovered in the show. This book was a very quick read and it was alot more shotting then I expected but I still enjoyed it.

In general, SCE 1 is a decent book. I like the SCE concept, however it seems more like a "shoot-um-up" type book than a Star Trek book. They get on the ship, look around and blow it up. Really disapointing, I would expect a more creative solution from a group like SCE is supposed to be.

In the late 1990's the producers of Star Trek literature wanted to expand their franchise into a new market called eREADERS. The first product to roll-out was a series of short novellas introducing a new series based around the engineering class of Starfleet personal. The first author to be commissioned for the task was Dean Wesley Smith, an accomplished writer whose work includes novels in franchises like Smallville, Spider-Man, X-Men and Aliens.

Dean Wesley Smith, limited to about one hundred pages, created a handful of characters that were intelligent and powerful, much like the story itself. The first pages of the book start out with a bang as the Enterprise is in a blow-for-blow battle with an enormous craft of unknown origins. After narrowly defeating the Beast, as it comes to be known, Picard allows Geordi and Christine Vale to leave the ship and meet up with his longtime friend Captain David Gold of the Federation starship da vinci.

Captain David Gold is a strong intelligent man from the Bronx and the husband to a Rabbi of a Jewish synagogue. Getting along in years the Captain has become set in his ways and demands a strong and professional crew but is willing to relinquish some authority to his staff.

Commander Sonya Gomez is Captain Gold's First Officer and is in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. A capable officer with a questionable past chooses to focus on the task at hand rather than the love that lingers for a fellow crewman.

110 and 111, two Bynars with he ability to communicate with computers and are essential to the story. One has a fate that is both heartbreaking and a little funny as well.

Many have said that the book itself is poorly written but I found the short story to be very smooth and fun. The characters are well described and their personalities are well rounded, making for compelling people. By the end of the book I found myself rooting for the crew and was satisfied with just how much was packed into this short story.

I didn't mind the story: it was pretty interesting and it does set up a more than acceptable stage for the series to come. On that level I was pretty satisfied, considering the low price and the story's moderate length. What I didn't love was Dean Wesley Smith's writing, which is sloppy at best. Some ST novels are exceptionally well-written, such as most by Peter David and some by Michael Jan Friedman, so this isn't a problem with the medium itself: it's a problem with SMITH himself.

For one, descriptions are often awkward and terribly unoriginal. From the first page: "Only Data, his emotion chip turned off, seemed as unruffled as ever. Picard envied that android calmness at times." Seriously? In EVERY Star Trek book there's someone who "envies that android calmness." I'm tired of hearing about it. Picard is often made to sound like a weasel, completely lacking any self-confidence and making the weirdest observations ("Picard would give anything to learn how [those alien shields] worked" and "Picard sat back in his chair, studying the alien ship, letting his people have a few seconds to get ready"). Is this the most highly decorated captain in Starfleet, who defeated the Borg almost single-handedly and told his Cardassian torturers to piss off? Bah!

The dialogue is also terribly stilted and completely unrealistic for a TNG crew. Picard: "I'm open to suggestions here, people" or "Give me targets, people!" WTF is he, a public employee? or perhaps Kirk? 'Cause that's the way Kirk would address his officers; not Picard. Smith is also apparently unaware of proper operations on a Galaxy-class starship. When the Enterprise (still in the first two pages) needs to maneuver closer to the alien ship, Picard orders Data to take the helm. Was the conn officer not even there? Was s/he not good enough? What sense does it make to order your OPS officer to "take the helm"?

As I said, the novella itself isn't bad plot-wise, and it does set up the rest of the series nicely... but if THIS is the standard of writing of some Star Trek novels, then even I have a shot at being published!

Smith tries desperately to introduce this new series with an incredibly simplistic story with almost no real motivation or character drive. In fact, the characters introduced in this story seem almost cardboard. If this were the pilot for a Trek TV series, it would rank as the worst of the lot. There are now a number of these Trek SCE stories available. Hopefully, it gets better with age. I'll let you know.

The story is very short (103 pages). The real action starts in the last two chapters and is over before you know. The writing style isn't very good either.