Customer Reviews

Possession (Signet)

5 star:		(9)
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.

Possession is the ST:TNG sequel to the chilling original novel "Demons". That pretty much says it all. The evil force responsible for the death and destruction in the first novel is back. But hardly with a vengeance. In fact, in Possession they seem far more restrained and controlled than in Demons. Plus, the Next Generation crew doesn't seem nearly as well suited to form a good story with them here. Finally, the more mundane explanation given for the creation of the artifacts undermines them considerably.

That all adds up to this being a three star novel.

At best.

But, the last line of the novel is so absolutely ominous, chilling, foreboding, and ultra terrifying that it serves to elevate the novel by fully two stars. When you've forgotten everything else about the novel Possession, the final six words will stick with you and send chills down your spine that do not dissipate easily.

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.