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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An alien world uses advanced technology to keep the peace, December 25, 2001
"The Peacekeepers" was Star Trek: The Next Generation novel #2 and Gene DeWeese solves the problem of an overall lack of familiarity with the new characters by focusing on the show's most obvious dyad at the star, Data and Geordi. Since the two sat by each other working navigation and the helm on the Enterprise, giving them an opportunity to exchange significant glances while Picard and Riker dealt with the serious problems, it was clear that these two had the only obvious friendship among the crew members early on. After all, Riker and Troi had that "Imzadi" history between them, Worf was a scowling Klingon, and the show was never going to be about a boy and his mom. So Data and Geordi (who should have been on the cover for this book) were a safe bet to put at the center of an adventure, especially given the entire only android in Starfleet back story. DeWeese further enhances the focus on this pair by getting them away from the Enterprise.Data and LaForge are exploring a deserted alien spaceship when they are suddenly transported light-years away to a similar ship in orbit around a planet similar to Earth. In a rather interesting twist on an old science fiction plot (e.g., "The Day The Earth Stood Still"), we discover that the inhabitants of this planet stumbled onto the advanced technology of this ship and have been using its weapons to disarm the nations and maintain the peace. But the people below are chaffing under the enforced peace and the two Starfleet officers find themselves caught in the middle as the two sides gear up for war. Consequently, "The Peacekeepers" is definitely an attempt to bring the allegorical dimension that was a part of some of the best original Star Trek episodes to the Next Generation crew. Overall, I think "The Peacekeepers" qualifies as at least an average STNG novel. There is a nice ironic contrast between Starfleet and the Prime Directive and what is happening on the World of the Peacekeepers. Shar-Lon, Chairman of the Council gets to make all sorts of impassioned arguments who what the Peacekeepers are doing, but of course you do not need to be an android with a computer brain to see the flaws in his logic. Meanwhile, what Picard and the Enterprise crew discover about the origin of these orbiting ships is no less pleasant. You have to remember that this novel was written in 1988 as well as early on in the run of the television series, a time when "Star Wars" in the news meant talk of a missile defense system. All of these facets make the allegorical nature of DeWeese's novel more apparent, which, I think, ends up speaking to its strengths rather than its weaknesses. There are a lot of early STNG novels I would not bother to download, but this is not one of them, especially if you like the relationship between Data and Geordi.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
We must remember, the writers didn't have much to go on., October 27, 2001
When this book was written, the show was probably not even aired yet, and the authors had to go on scripts. Obviously, this one can't compare to the newer novels, in which the authors have 178 episodes of material to draw from. In light of that, I think that this was a decent one, especially for its time. I would not recommend it, however, for the new trek novel fan.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
STNG #2 The Peacekeepers - Good science fiction!, July 11, 2003
This review is for those who in particular may have read a few of the later Star Trek The Next Generation novels or novels from the other series and find yourself interested in reading the earlier STNG novels. While in these early novels, you may find the author's characterizations to be somewhat off and their knowledge of the twenty fourth century techno-babble to be somewhat off as well. What you will generally find though is that the majority of these early stories are well based in science fiction and some of the authors, such as the author of this novel, make up for that lack of back story knowledge by concentrating on what they did know. Of the few Star Trek novels that Gene DeWeese wrote, I found them all to be quite intriguing and generally good reads. I read this one quite some time ago myself, but the basics of the story still resonate, lending to how well the author wrote this one.The premise: While returning to the nearest Starbase from a mission dealing with the Ferengi, the Enterprise detects a derelict ship. Being the explorers that they are, Captain Picard orders Data and LaForge to investigate the derelict. While on board, they're transported light years away to a similar ship that is orbiting a planet that is in crisis. While Captain Picard and crew frantically search for his lost crewman, Data and LaForge find themselves embroiled in the middle of a political crisis in which the inhabitants of the ship they were transported to have been and are continuing to use the alien technology of the ship to maintain the peace between all the factions on the Earth like planet below. I definitely recommend this second novel in the Star Trek The Next Generation series as it is a well written story and it fits well within the STNG series. {ssintrepid}
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