Customer Reviews

Dyson Sphere

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

This review refers to the original version of the book, which was approved by Paramount for publication and which was mysteriously gutted by Pocket Books on the eve of publication - -without either author's knowledge or consent. I, like many readers, am familiar with the superior works of both authors and as I trudged through these seemingly misconnected chapters I could not escape the feeling that huge pieces were missing. Conversations would break off unexpectedly, then start off somewhere else - with different people! It was as if a good movie had been given over to Ed Wood for editing (or to the writers' worst enemy). One of the authors (Pellegrino) is a professional engineer and archaeologist and I could not imagine how a book in which the Captain of the Enterprise, an archaeologist at heart, is given charge of a most amazing archaeology expedition - - the Dyson Sphere, and the archaeology of the Borg - - could possibly go so wrong. I approached Pellegrino about this and he confirmed that approximately 25% of the book had been removed, that someone had renamed ships half-way through the story but not throughout (so that ships and even characters abruptly changed names), and that gross scientific inaccuracies had been introduced. All the more puzzling because Pellegrino claimed that he and Zebrowski had been hired on specifically to write a scientifically literate Star Trek novel. He was kind enough to let me read the original, approved version and I will never understand why some of the most fascinating creatures and chapters (including anything at all that dealt with character development or Piccard's personal suffering) were deleted. Pellegrino politely explained that there had been sincere apologies from Pocket Books, and that although no one at Pocket seemed to know how this had happened, the full version would be published shortly. That was nearly two years ago, and when I ran into him at a recent conference in Philadeplhia, he confirmed that the promise of a restored edition was apparently nothing more substantial than "lip service," and stated (this time, not so politely)that "Dyson Sphere" was the only one of his own books that you would ever find on his shelves. This is too bad, because the version I read was every bit as good as Pellegrino's "Dust," Zebrowski's "Brute Orbits," or Pellegrino and Zebrowski's "The Killing Star." Pocket could easily have had another New York Times best seller on its hands. I've never before heard of a publisher destroying one of its own books. It makes no sense. It's like eating your children.

I don't know what so many people seem to think is wrong with this book. I thought the Horta crew was interesting, since there never was much talk about the Horta since their main episode. Picard kept in character with his need to go into the sphere and be the archeology lover he is. Though some characters didn't say much, that does not take away from the story. There doesn't need to be a chapter per character to be a good novel. The science was very evident, the authors obviously did their research. The sphere itself was well-described, and the manakin people showed evidence of new life beginning, and unfortunately a quick ending. Using the sphere in a story was a good idea, and I enjoyed it. All in all, it was an excellent book, and don't be afraid to try it.

This book takes on concepts that are on par with the Rama books, but unfortunately doesn't go anywhere with it. The situations the crew encounters are mind-boggling and VERY nifty. The book does very well describing the immensity of an object like the Sphere, and coming up with unique things that might occur with such an object. Unfortunately, no sooner are you just getting interested in something than the crew runs away to do something else.

You'll find yourself saying, "Uh...WHAT?" often as you read this book, as the crew makes wild speculation on everything and running with it as though it were proven fact. They frequently add zero and zero to get elephants, and it gets tiring after a while. Guinan shows up, for no apparent purpose than to wander around and periodically say something mysterious.

The text of the book itself seems to imply authors with good talent, who were trying to meet a deadline. "Dyson Sphere" is a trilogy of thick books, boiled away and crammed into an inadequate 197-page novel.

Quite sad, really.

This is a real Star Trek book in the same sense that Co-"Author" Charles Pellegrino is a real writer.

The fact of the matter is, Pellegrino took a pet theme of his and re-worked it slightly to sort of (Sort Of) "fit in" to the Star Trek world. Characters behaving, talking and acting very much unlike they ever had before or would...well, that is the sign of a writer who maybe doesn't know his subject matter, but it can be lived with - in fact, at times it could even serve to enhance the series to the future.

This is Not one of those times.

The main Problem with this book is that it is possible that some people might have read Mr. Pellegrino's Other works - most notably "Her Name: Titanic" (A WONDERFUL docu-drama on the loss and find of the Titanic) and a disaster fiction piece (of moderate interest) called "Dust".

And Why are those titles important in relation to this one? Simple:

"Author" Pellegrino has stolen entire paragraphes and structures, action (and I use that word losely) sequences and half a chapter From those two books - in some cases word for word and only changing who is speaking. (In fairness, he Actually only "stole" his own work from "Her Name: Titanic" - Which he then re-used word for word and only changed a few locations and meanings in his book "Dust".

Bottom line, unless you are trying to build a Star Trek book collection and need Every Single Book - Avoid!

This book seems to prove the saying "A champion team is better than a team of champions". Given the authors' apparent credentials, you could be forgiven for expecting a lot more from "Dyson Sphere".
The question that came to my mind after finishing this book was "Why?" What was the point of a book that executes such mind-blowing concepts in such a shallow and unsatisfying way? A book that could have held so much and delivers so little? Any tale of the exploration of the Dyson Sphere - even one that employs the terrible cliche of taking the Sphere far beyond the reach of mere mortals before anything meaningful can be learnt - needed to be epic. "Dyson Sphere" wasn't. It was perfunctory at best, with nothing explained and everything skated over in a rushed manner. There was no sense of character, and the authors have little or no talent for visual description. The frequent attempts at deep and meaningful statements that punctuated the action sat very awkwardly. At times the writing was so bad I couldn't follow what was happening and what the characters were thinking/saying/doing. And the essays at the end did strike me as somewhat self-indulgent.
Okay, there's more science in "Dyson Sphere" than in any other Star Trek novel I've read, but as with any other science fiction novel, something more than good science and fantastic ideas is needed. A plot and characters would have been a good place to start. I would suggest to Messrs Zebrowski and Pellegrino that they try again, do another book unconnected to Star Trek so that they can have as many pages to fill as they please and remain unbound by the conventions of the Star Trek Universe as they explore their own fantastic ideas.
I really did find this book in a remainder bin. Now I know why. But I've given it two stars (which may be overly generous) because at least "Dyson Sphere" aimed high.

Contrary to what some reviewers have said, I think this is an excellent addition to the catalogue of ST novels. The style and pace may be different from many other novels, but this just reflects the kind of characters the book is dealing with. In fact the leisurely pace of the book echoes well the slow physical movements of the Horta themselves. As to the charge that there's too much "science" in the book, well ST has always prided itself on having a credible scientific basis on which to build its dreams and at lwat one of the authors of this book is a scientist with a PhD! If you just want people zooming through space blasting each other with photon torpedoes, try some back issues of the comic books. If you want thought-provoking Trek (the best sort of Trek) this is one of the books you should read.

I believe this was quite a well written book, and i was intrigued by the scientific ponderings of the Horta. I am not sure, though, the Horta are animals... refer to Star Trek Encyclopedia-- or rent the episode.. In any case, I believe this lacked one thing-- A conclusion. It simply didn't make sense. I, myself, am more shakespearan in style, preferring to have not a perfect ending, but this seemed more like an open pipe than one with a clamp, if you understand my meaning. I won't go into the details about then end, but i believe more questions could have been answered-- or a second book could be written elaborating such. In any case, it was a written book, and i enjoyed it. I recommended it to my father, and he seems to like it. Anyways, later my friends!

This may be the worst book I have ever read. I have always blindly bought the Star Trek series of books taking it for granted that the well-paid editors would sort out the trash. That won't happen again. I kept reading this book hoping it would get better, but it never did. From now on, I will read the Amazon reader reviews before purchasing - it's obvious Pocket Books has taken loyal readers for granted when they publish trash like this.

Rather than being an action-oriented, plot-driven novel, this is a concept novel; the concept in question is: "Remember that Dyson Sphere from the episode 'Relics'? It sure is BIG!" Okay, we get it. But that isn't NEARLY enough of a concept to make an interesting story, and there just really isn't much else here.

On the plus side, the writing itself is competent, and the characters stay pretty well within concept, so it's nowhere near the WORST Star Trek book I've ever read. But there just isn't enough story to make it anywhere near mediocre, either.

Having read over 60 of the various Star Trek books written, this has got to be the worst. Poor plot, little character development, it just doesn't work. Only reason to read this is for the right to say you've read all the various ST books written.