Customer Reviews

Imbalance (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 22)

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

 

 

"Imbalance" is but only the second of three Star Trek novels written by this somewhat talented author. It is too bad that this author hasn't visited either the twenty third or twenty fourth centuries in quite some time, because they did some fairly decent work. As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, this one definitely has a very slow paced beginning to it but that is soon worked out as the plot turns from a plodding setup into a well paced conclusion.

Capitalizing on the Star Trek The Next Generation first season episode, "The Big Goodbye," the author brings forth some non canon knowledge of the Jaradan race which was never actually seen in the episode. This too was unfortunate as I've always found insectoid races to be an interesting aspect in the Star Trek universe but one that is only practically used in the novels but given the latest technology, we're now able to see them, such as one of the species of Xindi in the third season opener of Enterprise, "The Expanse."

As cover art goes, this early STNG novel has fairly decent cover art but it's nothing too spectacular. Of note though is that the images of Riker and Crusher are "realistic," unlike the cartoon like covers of old.

The premise:

The Enterprise is ordered to Jarada to negotiate an exchange of Ambassadors when the Jarada, a mysterious race of insectoid beings that possess an extreme devotion to protocol seemingly come out of their reclusive nature and offer to open diplomatic relations. Upon arrival at Jarada, Captain Picard and crew suddenly find that the Jarada are being uncharacteristically friendly. Without preamble, the Jarada change their demeanor and Commander Riker and the rest of his away team are cut off from the Enterprise. At the same time, the Jarada attack the Enterprise.

What follows from there is, as stated above, a slow starter that has a well paced finished as Picard must find a way to rescue his away team and salvage any hopes of a diplomatic relationship with the Jarada.

I'd definitely recommend this early STNG novel as it makes an excellent addition to your Star Trek library. {ssintrepid}

Perhaps those who gave Imbalance only one star didn't stick around to finish it. It does start slowly, painfully slowly. However, it picks up soon and has some fine scenes. Riker, Worf, Keiko, and Crusher each find themselves alone and trapped on an alien world, with the former three in particular undergoing interesting, tension building adventures. In the end, the only major complaints to be had are a too petty O'Brien and a deus ex machina via transporter.

There are no deep revelations or insights here, just a pleasant read with some fun images that will linger - like that of Riker becoming a human toboggan.

This is one of the only Star Trek books I come close to even liking. For a few reasons. 1) I like alien races. 2) I like insects. 3) I like a story to have a touch of mystery.

Yes, as many have pointed out, the story is somewhat slow, but the author has to build up the foundation. If you don't get time to know the aliens and their planet than the rest of the book and the plot itself is meaningless.

But yes, it is slow for people who do not like the three reasons I listed.

I'll be short, because this book doesn't even deserve a review. The plot builts up slowly, then when the readers expect a surprise at the end, they're left empty-handed except for a corny hypothesis

This book is a sequel to the Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye." In that episode, the Enterprise is en route to make contact with the Jarada, an insect-like species that demands that they be addressed in a precise manner in their language. Furthermore, their language is difficult for humans and they will only allow the greeting to be stated by Captain Picard.
In this story, the Enterprise is traveling to the home world of the Jarada in an attempt to get them to join the Federation. The primary officers of the Enterprise are puzzled that the contacts and events initially go very well, the Jarada seem rather lax for a species known for the precision of their interactions with others. Several teams are transported down to the surface and the Jarada deliberately sabotage their communicators so that the Enterprise can no longer retrieve them.
Furthermore, chaos breaks out between the Jarada and the Enterprise crew members on the surface must battle the odds in order to survive long enough to be rescued. Jaradan ships attack the Enterprise and all contact with Jaradan officials on the surface is lost. After far too lengthy adventures on the surface by some crew of the Enterprise and some rather simple actions on the part of the medical staff of the Enterprise, order is restored among the Jarada.
This story is extremely weak for two primary reasons. The first is that the action of Riker and Worf in moving through tunnels goes on far too long, reaching the point of boredom for the reader. Secondly, the affliction that the Jarada suffer from has baffled their best scientific minds, yet the Enterprise medical team quickly learns that it is caused by a simple mineral deficiency. It is absurd that any society capable of space flight would be unable to determine when a serious illness is being caused by a mineral deficiency. Statistical medical techniques make it very easy to solve such problems. Finally, even though there is little building of tension to the climactic events, those events happen so suddenly and simply that it lands with a very soft thud.

The Star Trek (The next generation) are sent to Beltaxiyan Minor to negotiate a treaty with the insectoids there. Typical of all Star Trek novels I have read and seen, something goes terrably wrong. The Insectoid race lives and thinks a hive metastability which complicates relationships. Individually, it seems, each crew member on the away team gets into serious trouble. The odds are against them, but somehow (surprise surprise) they pull it off in the end. The thesis is archetypal Star Trek: They ain't like us, but in some ways they are exactly like us, we just need to understand them. I think the author pulls that off okay. Some reviews said is started slow. Maybe so, but I enjoyed the writing enough all the way through.
If you like Star Trek stories I think you will like this one as well. Good, but not brilliant by any means.

I really hate ripping on books, but how can I say positive things about this book? It felt like I was reading filler the entire time. Adding descriptions to make a word count can be good, but only rarely. The foreshadowing(what little there was) was obvious and made the end a Duh! moment. Luckily the pace of the book picks up at around page 230, so the last 50 pages aren't complete torture.

Only read this book if you are one of those people that must read every book in the series and in order.(Like me)

And in the case of this book, some of those details are just devilishly WRONG. Other than those few details, this is a fairly middle of the road Next Generation novel; the pace is a bit slow at times, although it does pick up at others, and the basic plot is fairly standard Next Generation fare, so if the idea of a Vulcan commissioner demonstrating unadulterated impatience, to the point of repeatedly requesting information without allowing enough time from the previous request to pass for it to be POSSIBLE for an answer to have been received doesn't strike you as illogically emotional; if the characterization of Miles O'Brien as a surly, possessive, jealous, chauvinistic jerk doesn't strike you as completely out of character, AND if you're willing to believe that birth control technology hasn't improved sufficiently by the 24th century to make unplanned pregnancies EXTREMELY rare, but that in fact both Molly O'Brien AND Wesley Crusher were the result of unplanned, accidental pregnancies, then by all means, consider this a three star review. If it weren't for those whoppers, this would qualify as a mediocre book.

If I could give this book zero stars, I would. This piece of trash should never had made the shelves. One would think that the editors of Pocket Books would have screened this novel and put a stop once they found how bad this is. Hopefully, V.E. Mitchell will never be allowed to write another Trek novel. Take my word from a very experienced trek reader. Also, those who rate this one star are also dead on the money.

I read Imbalance when I was about 14, maybe 13, and I absolutely loved it. It may have had a slow plot....but interesting, with a good message. The story between Beverly and Lorens is really touching, in my opinion.