Customer Reviews

Invasion #1: First Strike (Star Trek, Book 79)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bully for the way Diane Carey developed the characters in this book. OK, everyone knows what Captain Kirk is like, but she really delved deep into his personality, showing what drives him and how he percieves himself in the the world of Starfleet. Klingon General Kellen and Vergo Zennor of the Furies were flat out awesome. Kellen is the most rational, even-keel Klingon you'll ever meet, until the Furies appear in our part of the Galaxy, then he goes into full-blown Klingon mode of "Shoot! Kill! Destroy!" Zennor seemed in a tenuous situation through the entire book. While the Furies dogma says with absolute certainty this is the part of the Galaxy where they were banished from, Zennor keeps demanding more proof before deciding if they should go to war with the Klingons and the UFP. All the while Kirk is doing what he can to negotiate a solution, but Kellen and his fleet are ready to blast the Furies to hell. I also loved the way Kellen perceived Kirk. At the beginning of the book, he has a lot of respect for the man, even though he is an enemy. But the more he talks to the Furies, that respect goes out the window. I dug his one observation, "This Kirk was no Kirk." The story was excellent with many, "Oh ****" moments and some really cool battle scenes. I look forward to reading the rest of the "Invasion" series.

Kirk is often seen as less diplomatic or intellectual than Picard, but this book proves otherwise; Diane L. Carey paints Kirk in a very positive light as a skilled diplomat, determined to find peaceful solutions to extremely difficult situations. Yet despite his impressive efforts, when the time comes for Kirk to switch into warrior mode, he does so in a manner that demands respect even from the Klingons. Kirk's heroism is rarely well captured in print, but this is one of the few exceptions. "Invasion: First Strike" shows him to be a hero in both peace and war -- and provides a story worthy of his heroism.

Diane Carey is an experienced writer for the Star Trek book series. She definitely shows her experience with this book, the first of a four-book series, entitled Invasion!. The book flows just like an episode of the show; the characters act just as one would see them acting on the screen.

I am not a big fan of the original series; I am more of a next-generationer. Still, I loved this book! It is wonderfully written, and it really makes you think.

Invasion! First Strike keeps a great pace; it does not get boring. I started it at 10 PM last night, and found myself still up at two o'clock when I finally finished it. It is definitely impossible to put down. Don't make the same mistake I did; when you start it, make sure you have time to finish it.

The book introduces a race of creatures called the Furies. They are supposedly demons, such as those in ancient mythology: medusas, devils, etc. They were defeated in a grand battle five millenia ago, and banished to the other side of the galaxy. They have returned, and are looking for proof that this is indeed where they used to rule. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise must disprove this theory, or at least convince them not to destroy civilization. This proves to be a difficult task.

If you like Star Trek, BUY THIS BOOK!

This book manages to bring together the Star Trek world with myths & legends from the deep past of Klingons & humans. Ms. Carey is a writer who uses clear & descriptive language & has captured the psychology behind the relationships of the main characters. It also uses humor as effectively as the best Star Trek episodes & books do. An enjoyable read for any Star Trek fan.

I read Star Trek books for the familiar, not the innovative. The James T. Kirk crew are like old friends, and always guarantee a good and somewhat thoughtful experience. "Invasion: First Strike" is no exception. Here is Kirk up against an overwhelming force, fighting against bothersome Klingons at first, then temporarily allied with them as the future of humanoid races are at stake. No time for romantic interest in this one -- Kirk, and his counterparts the unusually cool-headed Klingon General Kellen, and the approachable but still horrific and treacherous Captain Zennor of the invading race, are too busy struggling for the upper hand. Sometimes with Kirk-inspired diplomacy, other times in battle, from hand-to-hand combat to full-out space war. Interesting discussion of how to deal with ancient peoples' claims to modern lands. It's fair to expect Kirk to cleverly save the day, but remember, this is only part I ...

The concept behind this book is one of the better concepts for a Star Trek book, and it is reasonably well-written. I'm not generally a fan of Diane Carey's writing style, but she generally is fairly good at character development, pacing, and other aspects of writing, and this book is no exception, and she (mostly) restrains herself here in her tendancy to use exotic, unusual, admittedly original but generally just plain wrong use of the language. There are a few instances in this book, but none too severe, and not too many of them. One of her better efforts.

I really enjoyed this one...and you certainly don't have to read the other three to get the pay off from this one...though I may eventually. I loved seeing how Kirk's reputation is with the Klingons and how people from other cultures can see others. The Villians are certainly interesting, and I am certainly curious how others in ST universe deal with them. Though you do have to wonder, are they really villians? or just missunderstood? hmmmm...

Not being a TOS fan, I had no intention of reading this book, but I wanted very badly to read the DS9 and Voyager books of this series. Having found the entire series on ebay for the price that I could get one book on Amazon, I got them all. So I started with the first one, this one.

I am now very glad that I did. This book started off fantastic with the almighty Klingons scared to death of what they saw and experienced. Kept my attention throughout the book as the Klingon General begged Kirk for assistance and offered great insight into exactly how Kirk would handle such dire situations, his ability to lead and his diplomatic flare. I especially enjoyed how the book described the Klingon's views of Kirk as well as the Furies.

This is a story of Kirks successes and failures, because in this book he does both. Definitely a worthwhile read for fans and non-fans alike.

Imagine for a moment, the scariest and most foul thing you can think of. Now, take that to the power of 100 and you will have the creatures in the Invasion Book series. First Strike is the first book in a 4 book series which travels over all 4 Star Trek shows. The Enterprise crew comes across a species so foul looking, that they can't even bare to look at them. This species, appears to come in peace, but as we know, that always isn't the case. I don't want to give too much away, but this book is very exciting and well written. All 4 of these are unique, but I felt that Book # 1 was the best. Even if you don't care for Star Trek books, you should read these. I could hardly put the books down.

In this 4 book series Kirk comes across a race of beings that resemble the devil. All the mythology concerning the big D was actually a from another world and dimension. As far as the action was concerned this was the best of the series. Of all the subsequent series of Trek novels; this was the better of them all. It combines a lot of earth based mythology and applies it to these violent beings. Spock becomes incapacitated in one scene. As a consequence he relays all his observations from sick bay.

Without giving away too much for readers, it was one of the most unusual adventures I have read in a long time. This series orginal publication was back in 1996. However it still reads well today in light of all the sequels that followed. The second book, Soldiers of Fear, brings us to Picard's era. The nature and the strength of the devil beings present an entire set of problems for Picard.

The only lag in the series was the Deep Space Nine entry,part3. That one presents a Starship Defiant from 5000 years in the future. Sisko has to find out why there how and where they came from. The fourth book deals with Voyager's resolution to the alien threat. Out of all of them the first from Kirk's era was the most dramatic and the closest in terms of getting the characers right. It's too bad the editor at the time (John Ordover) didn't let the entire saga take place in the original series era. The story would have been more consistant. The author, Diane Carey, was the most effective. I would have like to have seen her as the author of all four novels.