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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Q's Quest is Quite (Qu)great, April 15, 2009
This review is from: Q&A (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Mass Market Paperback)
After the not especially memorable start to the new post-Nemesis TNG era in Death in Winter and Resistance Q&A gives the series the kick it needs and finally shows us what a great TNG novel can be. Q & A, a Q story, or indeed The Q story, as the book tries, and very much succeeds, in tying every Q story together. The Qish elements of this book are perfect, Q feels very much like Q, and the way all Q's appearances are tied together is brilliant. DeCandido does a great job making the Enterprise feel inhabited and introduces two new big characters; Second officer Miranda Kadohata and chief of security Zelik Leybenzon. These two were about the only parts of the novel I didn't enjoy, I found both quite annoying. While T'Lana was a pest to the Enterprise crew in Resistance, there was something endearing about her, and that continues to be in Q & A. Kadohata and Leybenzon on the other hand, despite all the best efforts to flesh out their characters and establish them as unique and interesting people just didn't have anything that made them stand out and say "look at me, I'm interesting".
DeCandido also manages to make the Trekverse feel much bigger (something really lacking in Resistance) with some brief appearances from characters from all over the galaxy. These short bits of story added a lot of interest and make use of DeCandido's (and others') previously established characters and settings without them seeming out of place or in need of more explanation. All in all Q & A is a very clever, witty and thoroughly enjoyable book.
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14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of "Q & A" [Minor Spoilers], September 26, 2007
This review is from: Q&A (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Mass Market Paperback)
As the second book in "The Next Generation" relaunch in the books, this novel was far better than the first, "Resistance." To be honest, the plot wasn't entirely fresh or new; it's the end of the universe as we know it and Picard and the Enterprise are the only ones who can save it ... along with Q. On that note, the book is just average for me as a reader because after this many years of Star Trek, it's hard to come up with a novel that does anything new with that premise. And once its executed, I was left wondering "So that's it?" What earned another star in this review was the way the author handled the characters. It was clear that Decandido is very familiar with this cast of characters and there really wasn't a moment that seemed off or poorly handled. Decandido also did well with integrating the new characters that'll fill the Enterprise's roster, planting the seeds for what will hopefully be a dynamic group of characters.
What I felt weakened the book or plot is the lack of development of the true protagonist, being the planet the Enterprise is investigating. It was as if they ran into it which triggers the events that consume a good portion of the novel. The planet, the inhabitants of the planet and Q all have a big part in all of this ... but that's cut short by the end and we're left, as readers, with more questions at the conclusion than we had at the beginning. This novel, premise wise, is supposed to explain why Q has taken such an interest in Picard and his ship. The explanation given (and perhaps this is supposed to be the case with the plot) seems far too simple. Plus, the action and TNG plot is interupted by cameos galore showing what's happening across the universe in relation to the situation at hand; from Elizabeth Shelby (New Frontier), The Malon (Star Trek: Voyager), Ferengi in the Gamma Quadrant (Deep Space Nine), Klingons (I.K.S. Gorkon), Romulans (Star Trek: Nemesis), Riker and Troi (Titan) ... they all didn't come together and add something to the plot, they seemed to be distracting and thrown in to add something to an average plot. It was nice getting a glimpse of all the "who's who" in the Star Trek universe but as a book that's supposed to continue to re-launch "The Next Generation" and focus on the Picard and Q association, it seemed out of place and more like a gimmick than literary point. And add on that at the end when there's a touch of the TNG episode "Parallels" and "All Good Things ..." when we have multiple Enterprises and cameos by everyone from Wesley Crusher to Yar to even Data and Lore ... it seems like something added to wow the readers and make the book seem "cool" rather than sticking to and fleshing out the main premise. If you take away the gimmicks and stick the plot, it's nothing more than an average, slightly above fan-fic level, book.
Still, stacked up against other novels that have come out lately in Star Trek, it's good. I don't think it's the greatest novel written, even the best novel featuring Q (that would, in my opinion be either Q-Squared or the novel where Lwaxana Troi and Q meet). There were too many cameos for it to really be a full-on "Next Generation" novel. For the universe to be in jeopardy and coming to an end, the way to go about saving it seemed far too easy and I hate, as a TNG fan, to think that Q's interference and interest with Picard and crew comes down to the events of this novel. I would have liked to have seen the planet of interest and those responsible for building it be fleshed out, but we don't get that luxury. In all, you probably won't be let down by the book. It's not perfect but no novel is. Check it out for yourself.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Back and Forth with Q, December 4, 2008
This review is from: Q&A (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Mass Market Paperback)
The omnipotent being called "Q" has been testing and meddling with the Enterprise and her crew since their first mission. When Q shows up again while the Enterprise is investigating the planet Gorsach, the Captain Picard tells the crew to simply ignore Q. But Q is there to tell them that the end of the whole universe is approaching. And that they're the cause.
Bouncing back and forth between post-Nemesis timeframe and different times amongst the Q Continuum began a bit confusingly. But we soon discover that the scenes with the Q are instances just before each time Q visits the Enterprise, starting with Encounter at Farpoint and leading up to the "present day."
The majority of the novel is a lot of build up to "the end of the universe" that was somewhat anti-climatic. And the whole mystery behind Gorsach wasn't explained enough to my liking. But we do get a deeper look into the Q Continuum and the background behind each of Q's encounters, leading up to this cataclysmic event. And as Q is one of my all-time favorite characters from the Star Trek universe, I thoroughly enjoyed reading a Trek novel that revolved around Q rather than the seemingly ever-present Borg. Q&A is humorous, fun and a refreshingly light-hearted break from some of the latest darker and heavier Trek novels.
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