Customer Reviews

DREAMS OF THE RAVEN (Star Trek, No 34)

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

 

 

In my opinion, this is not one of the better Star Trek novels. A new and dangerous species enters Federation space and is able to take control of humanoids (including Klingons) and make them operate against their will. Because the creatures have a resemblance to ravens, that quickly becomes the way humans refer to them. Unfortunately, McCoy suffers a knock on the head and reverts back to the time when he had just become a doctor. Devoid of all his experience, he is of little help to Kirk and the Enterprise, often becoming a hindrance due to his inability to deal with situations.

Kirk, Spock and the remaining medical personnel try everything they can to get McCoy to recover, but he shows his characteristic stubbornness and remains in his backward mental state. Of course, despite the odds, with the help of the Klingons, the Enterprise emerges victorious.

There are two things that made me dislike the story:

*) The fact that McCoy so easily lost his mind. The chief medical officer of a starship would have undergone an enormous battery of psychological tests before ever leaving Earth. To think that a simple head injury would have caused him to revert to a young age is absurd. Despite the superficial appearance of being emotionally flighty, McCoy would be an anchor of emotional and psychological stability.

*) Once he reverts to his earlier age, McCoy acts so foolishly. At the age where he is portrayed he was very successful in medical school and preparing to join Starfleet. There is no way such a man could act so stupidly.

The great advantage that the writers of Star trek novels have is that they have an entire universe to pull their story lines from. To use the timeworn device of a bump on the head and memory loss just seems so weak in this environment.

This is one of the more forgettable novels of the Star Trek: The Original Series. It is predictable and rehashes an old storyline.

Buy only after you have read all the other novels in the series.

This wasn't a bad novel, it had an interesting plot and it revealed some background information about the main characters, especially McCoy. The thing is - I didn't like Dr McCoy as Carter portrayed him. It was really hard for me to find any sympathy for him. I understand that his personality changed but the author could have still made him more likable. Acerbic is one thing, whiny something completely different.

Brains. Tasty, right? Well, if you're a Raven they are. This was far more...graphic...than most Trek novels. The characters are well thought out, the story was complelling, and the 'bad guy' was cruel, viscious, and easy to hate. A great read, in my opinion.

Too predictable, and "young" McCoy was just painful. Worth reading for the style and attention to detail. It's an odd mix of good and bad.

This is one of the better classic Trek novels from a period where it was extremely hit or miss. What I liked most about the work and think that Carter worked out very well is McCoy's emotions at being a young man, trapped in an old body in his future. Definietly a must have if you are a collector of the series of books and a great read for the more casual buyer.

This book is rather poorly written; the plot devices introducing the characters to the uninitiated are rather transparent and add nothing to the story, the plot itself (the allegedly main plot involving conflict with a hostile alien race) is trite and artificial, the scene-shifts are choppy and amateurish, and the characterizations are rather two-dimensional for the most part (the exceptions being McCoy and Dr. Dyson, the romantic interest). The only thing that saved it from a one-star rating is that the subplot of McCoy losing his memory (as near as I can tell, the REAL main plot) is moderately intriguing in concept, and handled surprisingly well other than the fact that the cause of the amnesia is trite beyond words (the old bonk on the head trick) and the cure for it so heavily foreshadowed that by the time we finally get to it, it's seriously anticlimactic. This is not the worst Star Trek novel I've read; it's better (by far) than "Triangle" or "Spock Must Die", and a bit better than "Killing Time" or "Black Fire". But overall, I'd have to say that it's in the bottom 10% of all the Star Trek novels I've read.

The author uses McKoy's memory loss to explore his character deeper en go further into his history, his daughter and his choices in life. The relationship between Kirk, Spock and McKoy is shown from a different angle, because one link is missing. A warm book about a bantering friendship, with even some small romance for McKoy. If you where not a McKoy fan at the beginning (I wasn't) then you'll be one at the end. (Yep, I am)

And yes, there is also mistery in space, strange creatures with unusual powers, body snatchers, Klingons being overtaken, spacefights, and a lone space station thats a trifle to defenseless....

I really liked this. Its not quite up to the level of say, Imzadi, but it is excellent. The atmosphere of the novel is great, lots of little details that add to the novel. Good plot, nice character interaction. Pretty much everything you can ask for in a Star Trek novel.

My first reaction when reading this one was how true to form each character seemed. This was somewhat because it was the first of the "Pocket" Treks that I had read. After reading most of the bantams prior to that, this novel was incredibly refreshing. I enjoyed the mystery aspect in the early part, as the Enterprise crew slowly uncovered who/what was behind it all. The only thing that I didn't like was how the aliens ate people's brains- yeech! This left me with an uneasy discomfort. However, I rationalized that when encountering new races in such a huge galaxy, anything is possible. Not for the squeemish though. This was the only reason that I did not give it a 5th star. Otherwise, it is a good read for people who wish for more classic Trek adventures. Sometimes Star Trek writers do not handle love interests very well. However, McCoy's memory loss helped make this one work for me. I recommend this one.