Customer Reviews

Progenitor (Star Trek: Stargazer, Book 2)

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

 

 

Before the Enterprise, "Q," and the Borg, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's first command was on the U.S.S. Stargazer. This adventure of Star Trek: Stargazer - Progenitor by Michael Jan Friedman is about the continuing adventures of Captain Picard's first command.

This is a character driven adventure mainly focusing on two stories interwoven within the main theme of this book. But there are sub-stories within this tapestry... potential for sabotage, deceit, and intelligence gathering. Also, there is great character interaction and interplay. This is a well crafted story and will keep you interested... galactic heroism and a race for a bloodline survival... hence the title "Progenitor."

The book takes right off where "The Gauntler" left off and builds to two important climaxes as the captain and crew work their respective ways through a maze of twists and turns. All testing the mettle of the characters as self-doubts and second guessing play into the characters thinking. Also, as the characters work through the story, they find their respective talents and strong suits making an interesting story better.

This series called Star Trek: Stargazer has a lot of potential and so far has delivered... both in character crafting with a cohesive narrative along with action and adventure spiced with intrigue. This provides us with a much needed backstory for one of the most interesting of all captains Jean-Luc Picard.

If you are a fan of Jean-Luc Picard this is a good series to get to know him when he was a younger and more free captain. Start with "The Valiant" from the TNG series to get a good foot hold on the series... if you happen to have the "Double Helix #6: The First Virtue" it has background and is worthy of reading for this new series.

Fascinating potential for a new series in the STAR TREK Universe.

In this second part of the new Stargazer series the Chief Enginner and the Scond Officer Wu are the main focus. Simeon has to return to his world and has to participate in a race with other of his kind. In this race if you win you get to fertilize the eggs and continue your family line.
Simeon has to have some people with him in this race and he picks his Stargazer friends. His family members hav died off and only one remain so this is why he has to pick offworlders.
While this is going on Wu has to rescue a ship and decide if she wants to stay on board or become 1st office of her old ship.
If this was not enough we hav good old politics going on back at Fleet headquarters. This is a continuation from the first book where there is this admiral determine to mess up Jean-Luc.
The story also has some interesting cameos from people such as the Hansens (Seven's relatives), Rachel Garrett and a new crew member someone with the last name of Paris. The series is off to a good start and I can't wait for more.
The only flaws I saw was a printing mistake that merged some stories together without a break between them. I also saw that Picard's first officer referred as human which I believe he is not. But those errors are very minor and not important to the story.

Oh, it's far from the WORST Star Trek novel I've ever read, but it's even farther from the best. For one thing, the main plotline -- the one from which the title is taken -- is far too reminiscent of the original series episode "Amok Time" to avoid the charge of being derivative, and if it's better handled than that episode in some ways, it's also handled less well in others. The secondary plot, the one involving Commander Wu and the ship, is somewhat better, but still rather predictable. And the subplot of the admiral who has it in for Picard is getting annoying. Not to mention the nit-picky fact that the editing is rather sloppy; there are numerous places where we move from one scene to another -- from the primary plotline to the secondary one, for instance -- and ordinarily, there would be an extra linefeed to set the scenes off from one another, and there isn't, which makes a rather jarring transition as we go from "Commander Wu did thus-and-such" to "Picard did thus-and-such", without getting our standard hint that we're changing scenes from one in which he isn't present to one in which he is. Trivial, but sloppy and annoying.

If you liked the first book of this series, you may like this one. Then again, you may not.

This is a great series and it shows a young Jon Luc before the officers aboard the Enterprise followed him without question. It shows an untested captain and makes for much more interesting stories.. there is a scene in this novel where the characters are surrounded by intergalactic wolves. Greyhorse is another one of those Friedman characters that always surprise the reader.

This series is going to rival that of Peter David's Excalibur series. I just wish they would do more than two a year. At that pace no one is going to get into this series without having to wait a very long time for the next installment.

The two stories are pretty good, Picard and his friends have to help the chief engineer get the chance to have children (they don't help with the ejaculation part, just the fore-play). In the meantime Cmdr Wu helps two of the troubled crew members find a place for themselves in Star Fleet and rescues a trapped cargo ship. Wu is not the Gas Lady, that is the low-density person from a gas giant planet who is normally a cloud of particles. The stories are okay, well written and hold together. Cmdr Wu is an interesting character and really could use a few stories more. As part of the early life of Picard this fits in pretty well, shows him to be a good guy and determined character who does all he can for his friends, except help them ejaculate, he leaves that to them. Why didn't he at least stay and cheer the guy through?

Progenitor continues the saga of the Stargazer crew that was began with Gauntlet. In this book we continue to see wonderful characterizations. As in Gauntlet there are no great enemies to defeat no planet to save just great characters working together. Picard, Greyhorse, Ben Zoma accompany chief engineer Simenon to his home world and help him with a ritual he must face. We continue to see the developement of Victoria Wu as she commands Stargazer as they attempt to rescue a stranded starship. Ensign Nicholas learns the hardway that an Asmund sister isnt helpless. What is the mystery concerning Ulelo Dikembe? All in all an excellent addition to the Stargazer series.

In May 2002, Pocket Books published Michael Jan Friedman's Gauntlet and Progenitor, two novels set in the first year of Jean-Luc Picard's command of the USS Stargazer. It is over 30 years before his adventures as captain of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation and thus we have a Picard who is still urbane and cultured, but still a relatively unseasoned starship commander.

We meet again Picard's weapons officer, Lieutenant Vigo (introduced in the ST:TNG episode "The Battle"). As well, we are reintroduced to Picard's command staff who served with him for 20 years and more (shades of Kirk and his command staff): Gilaad Ben Zoma, his impulsive first officer; chief medical officer Carter Greyhorse, who is better at dealing with lab equipment than with people; earnest security chief Peter "Pug" Joseph; Idun and Gerda Asmund, twin sisters (humans raised by Klingons) who are the primary helm and navigation officers, respectively; and Phigus Simenon, the curmudgeonly chief engineer and member of the Gnalish species (think Jack Klugman crossed with a velociraptor). These characters were all first introduced 11 years ago in Friedman's novel Reunion and have also appeared in The First Virtue (Friedman's contribution to the "Double Helix" series, co-written with Christie Golden), Requiem and last year's The Valiant.

In Gauntlet, Picard is tasked with stopping the pirate known as the White Wolf. An ambitious admiral has given Picard this choice assignment on the assumption that he will fail and his new captaincy made a lauging stock. The White Wolf turns out to be something totally other than what Picard has expected. In Progenitor, chief engineer Simenon returns to the Gnalish homeworld - accompanied by several Stargazer officers -- to undergo a time-honored ritual that will determine the continuation of his bloodline. A comparison between this plot and the TOS episode "Amok Time" is inevitable, but it's an intriguing take on an old plot.

Among the new characters introduced in these novels are Juanita Valderrama, a middle-aged chief science officer whose complacency in her career leads her to an unwise choice; Joe Caber, scion of a Starfleet family, whose kindness towards some of his fellow officers doesn't offset some nasty personality traits; Martin Paxton, the Stargazer's chief of communications; Elizabeth Wu, a by-the-book second officer who is reminiscent of Commander Shelby from TNG "The Best of Both Worlds"; Jiterica, a young ensign of the low-density humanoid Nizhrak species who wears a containment suit while aboard Stargazer; Obal, a comical-looking Binderian engineer (he resembles a plucked bird and I visualized Daffy Duck on Prozac) who becomes the target of another officer's bigotry; and Dikembe Ulelo, a newly-transferred communications officer with a hidden agenda. Also appearing are relatives of Star Trek: Voyager characters (I won't spoil it for you by telling you who).

I enjoyed both novels. The 70-year "interregnum" between the events of Star Trek: Generations' prologue (set in 2293) and ST:TNG is still largely unexplored territory. Absent a television or movie series set during those years, a book series that fills in some of the gaps is very welcome. Friedman's handling of the gaps in the tapestry of Star Trek history is deft and fun to read. Each novel contains portents of plotlines for future Star Trek: Stargazer novels, which I ancticipate with enthusiasm.

As the second entry to Michael Jan Friedman's new Star Trek Stargazer series, PROGENITOR gets into the mix of character dynamics early and with a passion. Surly and cantankerous Chief Engineer Phigus Simenon is even worse than ever, and Admiral McAreet is plotting to set a spy aboard STARGAZER after Second Officer Elizabeth Wu accepts a First Officer position with her old captain. Wu was one of the new crewmen McAreet ordered aboard in the last book for Picard's first mission as captain. The author shakes out his net with the patience and craft of a born storyteller. As it turns out, Simenon is being called back to his planet for a very important ritual regarding the continuation of his family. Wu takes Ensign Jiterica (a low-mass energy being) and new ship's pilot Cole Paris (any ties to Tom Paris to further shore up the Star Trek families?) under her wing to help them through personal issues. Furthermore, Ensign Andreas Nikolas is back as the reader's personal barometer for what the rest of the ship is doing, and he's taken an interest in Idun Asmund, one of the human sisters raised by Klingons. In the middle of this juggling act of plot threads, the reader also gets a closer look at Dikembe Ulelo, who definitely has nefarious ideas in mind for the ship.

Michael Jan Friedman is an old salt when it comes to telling tales of the Starfleet crews. He's done novels in Star Trek The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as many of the mini-series and special events within that license. He's also written novels about Marvel Comics' X-MEN, including the cross-over between the X-Men and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Other books include volumes in the Wishbone series, based on the kids' television program, and upcoming books about the Cartoon Network smash-hit, JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Friedman displays a real flair for handing a young Jean-Luc Picard and the new ship and crew. He keeps the plot threads weaving, finishing off some stories just as he is starting others. Despite getting a satisfying read with each novel, he always leaves the reader wondering what else is going on with the things he hints at. At the end of both novels so far, the reader is left wanting more. Even though the readers know that Picard goes on to have a very long and distinguished career in Starfleet, there is a host of other characters to worry over. The books read very much like episodes of the television series, and serve to keep the reader nailed to his or her seat during the tour of duty. The interplay between the characters, both with each other and their thoughts bouncing off the readers, is excellent.

One of the most jarring parts of this book was the lack of blank spaces and/or asterisks to warn the reader of scene changes. This was no fault of the author, and is only mildly unsettling because this lack happens at the end of the book. Another small niggle is Carter Grayhorse's uncanny ability to do a feat at the end of the novel that kind of comes out of nowhere. Although Grayhorse is the ship's Chief Medical Officer and is in love with Gerda Asmund, the other human sister raised by Klingons, he doesn't quite come across as a fully realized character yet. He somehow lacks the depth of character exhibited by the other ship's crew. However, after seeing how Friedman is handling the books, that's sure to be resolved in short order--and very probably with a twist that will catch readers off-guard and make them think, "Cool!"

Anyone that is a fan of Star Trek in any of its varied forms will enjoy this book. The Stargazer books carry the values set forth in the original series, and the wonderment of ST:TNG. Friedman's characterization of Picard in his youth is spot-on, and the rest of the crew makes for interesting reading. Get on board while the series is just starting and enjoy waiting for each new installment instead of doing catch-up reading later!