Customer Reviews

The Genesis Wave Book Two (Star Trek The Next Generation)

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

 

 

This was a good book, and is necessary to complete the storyline so artfully begun in Book One of the series; HOWEVER, it felt like it was originally three chapters that were stretched out into a complete book (like it probably was). The book IS worth reading, but NOT at hardcover prices.

If you haven't read the first one yet, then wait and buy them both as either individual paperbacks OR in their eventual "single-bound" version. THEN you can enjoy it.

If you HAVE read the first one, then put it aside and have Amazon "email alert" you to the paperback's release. Or, try your local library. Once you get the second one, skim through the first book (you'll need to, even if you only walked away for a couple of weeks) to remind you of the storyline and where all the characters were last left standing.

Though book one was a griping tale the follow-up by Vornhort was disappointing. The enemy was an interesting choice, well thought out, and presented new challenges developed from Star Trek lore. The mystery of book one was lost and though the story telling was masterful, the climax and resolution were not only much too quick, but below the level of energy and enthusiasm you felt throughout the story. Almost as if Vornhort tied some pieces together to meet a deadline, not to complete what had promised to be one of the better Star Trek stories.

An intriguing adventure that ultimately went no where...

This book is the 2nd of at least 3 books in this on going story.

We find that Earth is now threatened by one of the most remarkable achievements of the Alpha Quadrant... the Genesis Device. But, now some alien intelligence has purloined this technology and is wreaking havoc through the known universe.

We pick up where Book One leaves off. Now we know that Carol Marcus (inventor of the Genesis technology) has been kidnapped and is helping the aliens with the perfection of her work, but for being 137 years old she is not to be taken lightly, as you read on in the book.

The aliens prefer deception, stealth and guile to brute force and messy scenes after all they are cryptogamites. They are changing the Genesis Wave to carry their species genome throughout the galaxy. They are dying and the home planet Lomar is just about depleated of resources and they have a strong will to survive. So the aliens con, kidnap, and hijack their way to survival. But they need humanoid life forms to carry out these plans and a place to live.

Enter Jean-Luc Picard and company to save the day, but the alien plan is so large and threatening that it takes not only the Klingons but they have to ask the Romulans for help. Now we have a known villian mixed into the story, never trust a Romulan for anything but grief and debauchery. We are not disappointed. The fragile alliance is holding to defeat a common threat, just as in the Dominion Wars, but the Romulans want all the Genesis technology for themselves.

We have Georodi LaForge love struck by two women Leah Brahms and Deloros Linton. A Klingon who saw the Genesis Wave firsthand, Maltz, and wants to bring honor to his house through a blood oath. Riker taken over by the aliens and Dr. Crusher recuperating from the ill effects of the from the alien influence. Jean-Luc Picard trying to keep the alliance together and Data being Data.

Admiral Nechayev was injured from the attack by the Neptune that Dr. Crusher was in charge of and LaForge keeping things on the planet together via phase shifting to combat the Genesis effect. Suspense action and adventure abound in this book. Twists and turns are always a part of a Romulan mix. And Deanna Troi has an allergic reaction to the fungus subterfuge, a Dyson sphere moon and alien telepathy...all make interesting reading. But, of course, we are not through with these cunning aliens and their will to survive... ergo book 3.

I would recommend reading this book... enjoyable and a fast read.

This pickes up only minutes after book one concludes. I was glad to have it on hand to finish a very suspensfull cliffhanger. This trillogy, however, seemes to suffer from 'Trillogy Syndrome'(seems many do) in that it starts with a bang, and then fizzles out in the second and third books. There's a "sneak preview" of a chapter of book three at the end of this book, and just from that little bit seems to be streching it out for all it's worth, but losing momentum.

There are some great scenes with the Klingons, in fact, I belive the best part of the book is how Dr Braums, as captain of the Klingon vessle Hos, interacts with her crew, and the heroic actions of the Klingons she serves with.

Genisis Wave also gives more detail about the horror of what they're up against.....and how they are able to launch such an incredible attack when they've hardly been heard of previously. Some conflict is also given when they show a more spiritual side of these creatures.

Also, it's important to note that the charachterising isn't really up to par, and it seems Captain Picard and Dianna Troi both have some flatness, and speak in a way that just doesn't seem to fit thier personalities. Dianna does have a very important heroic part in all this though. On a good note, Geordi is more thoroughly explored, and Data saves the day as he is the only one immune to the effect of the creatures.

Worth it to finish the trillogy, I'll be reading the next book ASAP as well. A good, albiet not great story.

The Genesis Wave, a mutated form of Dr. Carol Marcus's long believed buried Genesis Project, has washed over the planet Myrmidon, transforming it into a primordial horror. The Romulan phase shifting technology may have worked, sparing the lives of tens of thousands inhabitants, but the survivors are now intruders on a world not meant for them, and they are not alone. The creature behind the Neptune's pre-Wave assault on the Myrmidon shields infiltrates and attempts to hijack the Enterprise. Meanwhile Dr. Leah Brahms and her crew of Klingons try to track down the home of the genocidal aliens to avenge those that have died.

The first book of the series had everybody discovering the Wave and then running from it for their very lives while trying to figure out a way to stop it, or at least survive it, at the same time. Book Two allows the now haggard Federation forces, and our cast of characters in particular, the chance to fight back and get a few choice jabs at their new enemy. While light on dramatic story, B2 does not skip on the action that fans crave from the series. In the long run a four star rating may seem generous, but I'm grading this strictly on the entertainment curve. Recommended to fans only.

This second installment of the Genesis Wave starts out with all the bells and whistles usually found at the climatic end of a stand alone edition. The first half is filled with excitement and intrigue as the team from the Enterprise and citizens of Mr. Mots' home-world fight tooth and nail against their fungal enemy. Saving themselves for the time being the story continues on to tie up some of the loose ends that evolved over the first book. Although the tale is well told and does a good job capturing the reader the ending left me non-to-happy. Given so many story arcs spread over 500 and some pages the conclusion felt rushed and empty. With there being so much rehashed events from previous shows, movies and books the whole two part Genesis Wave didn't truly offer anything to advance the Star Trek universe. A good story and a decent read but a epic tale this was not.

After reading the first two books, I'd definitely liken Genesis Wave to a Star Trek-style Disaster film - ala' The Poseidon Adventure or Towering Inferno. The big difference is that we know exactly who's going to live and who's going to die. The big drawcard is Vornholt's descriptions of the horrific effect that Genesis has on its victims. Particularly in the case of Persephone and Myrmidon.

The plot flows at a near frenetic pace - so fast that you almost don't notice the small changes in characterization. One glaring example is Geordi LaForge's budding attraction to Leah Brahms. I'd always assumed that the two nascent lovebirds had decided to be good friends. It's interesting how an internal monologue within a novel can turn what I thought was the romantic status quo, completely on it's head. I still can't decide whether this decision was fan wish-fulfillment, or a logical next step for the two characters.

I don't put Vornholt on the same level as Keith R. A. DeCandido, as I think the latter has the edge when it comes to writing solid characterization and witty dialogue. But for those interested in a James Blish-style Trek story with Next Generation characters, this is definitely the novel for you.

Like the first book in this series, this is a marvellously well-written fragment of a story; as suggested in the "Book 2" in the title, it is not a complete story unto itself. It starts in the middle of the action, book one having left us hanging on a cliff; this one picks up from there and rides the story through to an (apparent) ending. We also get a preview of "Book 3", just to let us know that the story ISN'T actually over yet, but at least the current immediate plot is tied up nicely.

Between the two of them, books one and two make for a five-star Star Trek novel, with excellent characterizations, good action, and a fine plot with many interesting convolutions. I'd have preferred to see this sold as a single large volume, but that's just a personal preference; I hate to see stories broken up into separate books just for marketing purposes.

The second book of the Genesis Wave series continues the rollicking ride that the first book gave us, though it's not quite as tight as I would have liked. We still have the galactic destruction, but this book is much more character-based, taking some of the characters in directions that are a little more absurd than I would have liked, but still enjoyable. The ending is predictable (though the method isn't necessarily), and the story is weakened by what turns out to be multiple scenes of monster slaughter. At times, the book felt like a variation on Dawn of the Dead, and lost a little bit of its luster because of it. Still, it was quite enjoyable.

Vornholt once again has some good characterization of the regulars in this book. Maltz and Brahms are the highlights here, as they add a lot of fun to a rather downbeat book otherwise. That Vornholt does this without making the Klingons caricatures is even more of an achievement. Instead, they stay true to their Klingon heritage, trying to die with honour and taking as many of the enemy with them as possible. They look down on the humans as soft (one amusing scene has Maltz on a Federation ship trying to get *uncomfortable* in the captain's chair because it shouldn't *be* comfortable), but they develop a healthy respect for Dr. Brahms, mainly because she realizes she has to be just as gruff and harsh as a typical Klingon captain. Other than Maltz and Gradok, we don't really get a good sense of why the rest of the crew is following her. That's a minor point, however.

What's not quite as minor is one of the twists involving the Romulans, which I won't get into here other than asking: for what possible purpose would the Romulans have a contingency plan in a fairly deserted area of space before any of this happens (we're talking a matter of days, so there's no way they could have set it up after the Genesis Wave began)? There doesn't seem to be any point to it unless they somehow knew that this area would be important, but there's no indication of that. This plot hole sets up the finale, which does cheapen it a little bit

The other problem with the book is that it does, at times, become a monster hunt. This hunt is related to the whole story, so it does serve a bit of a purpose, but on Myrmidon it doesn't seem to connect with the rest of the story. Yes, these monsters are the same as are being dealt with elsewhere, but it only serves to give jeopardy to an already poignant storyline on Myrmidon, where all of these Bolians are trying to survive on a planet that's not really hospitable to them anymore. That may have been an interesting story to tell. These sequences also emphasize a "Super Data" that became a bit annoying at times. Yes, I know Data is capable of leaping great distances, but picturing him bounding around, grabbing people and then jumping away again and again became a little silly. All in all, the situation on Myrmidon did tend to distract from the rest of the book (though it did contain the classic line from Data, "Actually, you were trying to bite my face." Ok, you had to be there).

What did I like about Genesis Wave: Book 2? While I found them a bit far-fetched, I loved the Brahms/Klingon scenes. They were just a lot of fun, filled with Klingon bluster and adventure. Maltz is once again the highlight, either when he's swearing vengeance on Carol Marcus or when he's offering to pretend to be Leah's consort in order to protect her from any untoward advances from a crew member. These scenes certainly aren't flawless, but my enjoyment of them outweighed any incredulity that I might have had for them. Carol Marcus was also handled well, especially when she figures out that she's been duped, that Jim Kirk and her son are not really around her, and she must do whatever she can to stop the Wave from being unleashed again. Again, there were a few bits here and there that didn't quite connect for me (I didn't buy how easily she was able to empty her thoughts so that her captors couldn't read them, for example), but I could put any faults aside for the sheer entertainment value and the strength of the characterization. She's a woman who has the deaths of billions on her conscience, even though she was duped. This guilt and determination to not let it happen again shines through.

Genesis Wave: Book 2 is not as good, not as cohesive as the first book. However, it is a fitting conclusion to a cosmic adventure. I particularly liked how the ending is not all tied up in a neat little bow for the characters, though it is for the reader. There are some questions that you know they will never be able to answer. It's a nice change of pace. This duology is definitely worth a look-see for any Trek fan.

David Roy

This book picks up seconds after book one. By the end of the book I was left thinking that this was a perfect ending to the story. Here again we see Geordi dealing with his love interest Leah Brahams. She has been busy moving up the chain of command and now has a crew of her own. The crew of the Enterprise start succuming to the aliens that set off the Genesis Wave in order to save their dying civilization. Billions are dead and the Klingons are in the unconventional roll of acting as transport ships of the injured and refugees left in the wake of a massive evacuation that has decimated much of the alpha quadrant.

Makes a nice tie-in to the Star Trek S.C.E. series.