Customer Reviews

Dujonian's Hoard : The Captain's Table, Book 2 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

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

 

 

"Dujonian's Hoard" was without a doubt a very good book. I prefer it to the first book in the Captain's Table series, though that might subconsciously have something to do with the fact that I prefer reading about Captain Picard over Captain Kirk. In my opinion, Friedman did an excellent job of portraying Picard. He was very much in touch with the traits of the character he was writing about. However, there is something that this book lacked: a plot. The name of the book is "Dujonian's Hoard", though, to be honest, it does not seem like the book was based around the Hoard. Perhaps if the author would have made the characters talk a bit more about the Hoard, it would have seemed that way. Instead, it was about Jean-Luc Picard and Red Abby. This is not a bad thing, mind you; I enjoyed this book being about Picard and Abby. Also, there seemed to be a lot of things included in the storyline that made no sense. For example, when Red Abby commands the Romulan Warbird into Hel's Gate, she had pirates following her in. They did not follow her out through the other side. What was the point of even writing those pirates into the book? To show that Hel's Gate was a hazard? Plus, at the beginning of this story, Picard walks into the Captain's Table and sees a model ship just like the one he built as a kid. The author used a lot of emphasis on this note, making the reader think that it would play a part in the story, perhaps near the end. However, it played no part in the story whatsoever. Will this incident come back to haunt me in a later book in the Captain's Table series? Captain Neil Gleason entered the pub with Picard, and vanished. The author made it seem like Gleason was abducted or in trouble. That notion consumes the reader's mind ... and in the end, it was a build-up for nothing. Though, despite all of these critical opinions, this was a really good book, and the ending involving Picard and Abby was not at all bad. For a moment, there was actually a time reading this book where I thought Abby had died. I should have known better. This title deserved an average 3 stars, just like it's predecessor. Michael Jan Friedman is still a good writer, and I will soon be reading book three of the Captain's Table, "The Mist".

The concept of a bar full of starship captains spinning yarns to each other is an appealing one and Picard's tale for the quest of a stash of treasure stolen from the Cardassian homeworld, eons before that race had evolved, had me rivetted to the seat. The only problem was, though Jean-Luc Picard was telling the story, I couldn't help picturing that more flamboyant adventurer, James T. Kirk, acting out through the story. But it was a gripping yarn, nonetheless!

Michael Jan Friedman writes another amazing tale. This book shows once again Picard's incredible desire for archaeology. My second favorite Captain's Table book (favorite being Once Burned).

In the first of the series, War Dragons, there is wonderful excitement and continuity of the story. This is always commendable, but more so when you realize the dual nature of the story. In this poor follow up, Picard cannot capture our imagination in the same way. The story is constantly interrupted by the audience. You don't have the time to build excitement enough to care what is going to happen next. The ending is predictable, (Picard never waivers), and even Worf manages to sound boring in this tale. Oh well. I'll still read The Mist and the others. I'm looking forward to Pike's tale.

Excellent book! Light years better than Captain's Table #1. This one was just a slam bang action-adventure, something that I just haven't seen very much in the Star Trek books, and every now and then, you need a book like this. Picard and Worf go undercover on the crew on an adventure-seeking vessel captained by a tough, gorgeous redhead. Their mission is to find a missing ex-Starfleet officer and keep an archeological treasure of enoromous power from falling into the wrong hands. To do this, the crew must go into a previously un-entered area of space (surprise!). What they find is not what they expect, and to get there, they must fight several alien races. There is some spectacular action in this book, including several space battles and lots of hand to hand combat. Picard also has a hint of romance for himself. Unfortunately, as usual, it's just a hint. An excellent read though, and I could hardly put it down to go to work. I anxiously await the 3rd installment in this six-book series.

A weak star trek novel. The story was nothing but fighting - not very deep. Not much point to it.

Picard's stint at The Captain's Table was a bit of a crawl for me. It seemed like tiny morsels doled out over a long period of time - a bit like the plot lines of 'choose your own adventure' stories. The chapters were three or four pages long - over the course of nearly 200 pages this became a bit silly. Much of these chapters were filler and seemingly an attempt to stretch the story to a predetermined page count.

What is good about the story is that it involves Picard and Worf, on their own (under cover)- I'm particularly interested in their relationship, now that it is known that Worf becomes Picard's choice for first lieutenant once Riker departs the Enterprise (post-Nemisis continuity).

It is a decent swash buckling jaunt with pirates, and there is a rare love interest between Picard and another character. In the end, there are no surprises and I was glad once I had finished the book. It was eminently put-downable, and I daydreamed about what to read next through much of the climactic chapters.

I'd perhaps go to two and a half stars, but not three.

Don't let the cover of this book fool you- this book takes place in 2370-early 2371 on the Enterprise-D... before the Enterprise-E and the grey mustard uniforms have been put in use. Great book. I bought mine used, and I thought that it was a good adventure to see Picard stand alone, and having to run into the Cardassians and the Romulans and to see Worf in action.

Of all my favorite authors, Michael Jan Friedman is best in writing Captain Picard. This book reads almost like the TV episodes Gambit parts I and II. Only instead of Riker going with him on a mission, it's Worf. Worf is the better choice. Especially with his Klingon heritage and fighting skills. Of all of them this one has a special place in my heart because I know how well MJF makes the characters come together.

He also wrote one of my favorites with Spock and McCoy called "Crossover". You can believe that this book is a sure thing for Star Trek adventure. MJF went on to write the Stargazer series.

As with the first book of the "Captain's Table" series, this is a frame story. The story within the frame is a story about Jean-Luc Picard, told "in his own words", and is an excellent story. The outer framework of the story involves his arriving at the mysterious bar, "The Captain's Table", meeting some fellow captains, and being persuaded to tell his story. "The Captain's Table" is sort of a cross between "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" and the cantina in the original "Star Wars" movie. It's an interesting concept, but I honestly don't think that it works for the Star Trek universe. A shame, really, and it admittedly isn't as obviously unworkable in this book as it was in the first, but the concept still misfires slightly.