Customer Reviews

Possession

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was one of the best books that I have read in a long time. I have read a lot of Star Trek books, and this one left most of them in the dust. The summary may not seem that great, but the writing was excellent. Many of the ideas in the book got deeper and deeper until you threw the book away from you in fear that something was going to "get" you. I did that several times, and each time I came back within a minute to finish reading the book. I recommend this book to everyone, especially those with knowledge on Star Trek.

A horror Trek story is not the norm and they pulled it off. I continually was thinking, "This could make a great movie!, This could make a great movie!" Plus the ending was classic. I love the unemotional Vulcan statement....I would share but don't want to spoil it.

"Possession" was evidently written by two women who were having a fight and not talking to each other anymore. You could always count on finding a detail that would contradict something from a previous chapter. One chapter everybody on board goes into a medically induced 36 hour sleep, a few hours later a guard is easily captured because he "has not slept in two days." Hello?? First that new android has eyes that are superior to Data's, then the opposite is true.
And then the authors must have been told by an editor that it was 50 pages too short for a ST novel, so they started adding in redundant sentences and additional adjectives like "he attacked her fiercely and savagely." (or words to that effect).
My favorite sentence went something like "Worf could not imagine that kind of senseless warfare, it was beyond his imagination."

So no, I would not call this well written. It was one of the most painful reading experiences I have ever had. There are much better Star Trek novels out there to spend your money on.

This is like that but it's not a game, it's little things that get into your mind and feeds off your fears. They try to get more into other people and try to shut off Data. Well Worf and a woman that he is starting to like, Alexander and Deana all save the crew. It's pretty good because you see Picard's basic fear, the Borg.

In case any of you are wondering,this book is a sequal to an earlier book of Ms. Dillard's:TOS #30:Demons(look for my review on this book also).The two book have basically the same storyline(aka. energy beings that feed on fear invade the Enterprise)but not the same plot.This book was definately chilling.The author really makes you feel Deanna's instense fear of these creatures.Like its prequal,a MUST read!

This is a sequel to Dillard's Original Series book Demons. The possessing, evil aliens are back and set on taking over the Enterprise and then the galaxy. The writing of this book shows true quality. It has exactly the right mixture of suspense, macabre scenes, action and flashes of humour. It starts out and stays sombre, but without getting morbid and depressing as most of Dillard's books do. The depiction of all the characters is excellent, with the scenes of Picard fighting the influence of the aliens the best of them. The main character of the book is Deanna Troi, and this is one time when she really gets to shine. Picard, Worf, Alexander and Data also have many great scenes. Riker, Crusher and LaForge have only fewer scenes, not lower quality ones. This is an outstanding Next Generation book.

This book is a sequel to the original series book #30, "Demons". I hadn't realized that fact until I read some of the other reviews here, and was prepared to blast Dillard for simply filing off the serial numbers and putting the same plot into a Next Generation novel as had been used in an earlier book; I can only plead in my own defense that it's been a LONG time since I read that book. This book is much better-written than that one, though; I suppose that Dillard matured some as a writer in the intervening years.

It would have been nice if that continuity had been more specifically referenced, although in retrospect I can see that it was hinted at. Also, I am dubious at a concept that I'm unwilling to discuss here because it would be an unnecessary plot spoiler. But this was close to a five-star effort. Definitely a fine story.

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Possession written by J.M. Dillard is well-written book. This book is a sequel to an eariler book by Dillard called Demons in the ST-TOS series.

This book is about energy beings... bodiless entities that brought a planet-wide plague to Vulcan eighty years ago that were trapped inside special containers. Now, the containers are being opened... unless the entities can be stopped once again, they will spread their madness, their maelstrom of emotion, hatred and rage throughout the Federation.

This book has fleshed out Deanna Troi and Worf characters as they battle the energy beings as they begin to take over the minds and bodies of all they encounter. The Enterprise and her crew are amoung the possessors targets and Captain Jean-Luc Picard will face this deadly enemy.

If you ever have a chance read Star Trek-The Original Series Demons #30 first and then Star Trek-The Next Generation: Possessions #40 in that order it will make better sense. This book really gets into the character's minds and you think you're reading a horror book. There is a high degree of intrigue and mystery as the characters turn from friends to foes and no one can be trusted.

An addition to my other comments:To those of you who say that this was a lousy bok or the characters weren't developed, or anything like that, I partly agree with you because tere were a couple of things that could have been better, but overall I think that this was an awesome book! You still need to read it.

Oddly enough, out of all of the Star Trek stories that J.M. Dillard has written this is the only original Star Trek story of hers that I've read so far. For several years I chose to skip over the original series stories where she's written most of her original stories, something of which I corrected a couple years ago.

I found this story to be, while not extraordinarily original in theme, well told with an excellent premise, plot setup and execution and, in combination with Kathleen O'Malley's writing, an extremely well paced novel that borders on the horror genre, which is rather different but enjoyable for the Star Trek genre. Of special note is these authors characterization for Deanna Troi, which was dead on accurate.

The cover art is just a cut above the standard fare for the time in which this novel was published.

The premise:

Some eighty years ago on the planet Vulcan, bodiless entities plagued the Vulcans bringing a wave of violence and bloodshed, something of which had been unheard of on that planet for more than a millennia. These entities were finally trapped inside special containers. In the present day twenty fourth century, during a scientific exposition, the containers have been opened, freeing these entities that immediately start possessing whoever they run across, to include the crew of the USS Enterprise. As the majority of the crew becomes possessed it is up to Data to save the day and recapture these entities before they're able to spread throughout the Federation.

I highly recommend this numbered STNG novel to any and all fans of Star Trek fiction for it is a true gem among the numbered novels. {ssintrepid}