Customer Reviews

Requiem (Star Trek New Frontier: Excalibur, Book 9)

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

 

 

I've followed the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing program for twenty years since Vonda McIntyre's "The Entropy Effect." Many of its hundreds of books have been pretty good. Some have been great. A lot have been less-than-average. But page-for-page, no one Trek writer has entertained me as much as Peter David, and none of Peter David's Trek books have inspired so much enthusiasm in me as his "Excalibur" novels. Filled with characters (mostly) of his own creation, unfettered by a writer's bible or much of the complicated Trek continuity, these twelve (so far) novels have proven to be my ultimate favorites in Trek books, and the two newest are better than ever.

I've mentioned in other Trek book reviews that I heartily applaud any attempt to focus on characters other than "the big three" of each TV series (c'mon, I can't be the only Chekov fan out there!) so the whole concept of the Excalibur books and their non-TV cast crew has been most enjoyable. David takes this concept one step further in "Requiem" and its sequel "Renaissance": after the destruction of the Starship Excalibur and the apparent death of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, the crew breaks up to follow their own adventures. David deftly mixes three subplots: Soleta searching for her hated father, McHenry and Kebron on a funny "X-Files" type investigation which leads them into conflict with a previously-established Trek character, and Si Cwan and Kalinda search for the murderer of their teacher. Nearly every chapter ends with a decent hook or cliffhanger, showing David could write a compelling TV episode that might at least keep us tuned through the commercials!

Why are these among the best Star Trek novels ever? The characterization is, in a mere dozen books, incredible--David takes time and effort to get us inside the heads of his Starfleet crew, to the point where I know much more about most of them than many of the "Voyager" characters. His dialogue is entertaining, brisk, and best of all *fun* to read: David has a keen ear for the way people talk--with sarcasm and humor. The action is fast-paced. And best of all, the characters *grow* and *learn* through the book, throughout the series. Soleta's quest surprises us as much almost as much as it does her, mostly for the reason that I can't think of the last time a Trek character has "grown up" and discovered something so major about themselves since DS9's "In the Pale Moonlight" episode. David's not above throwing in a shocker of characterization once in a while (what *is* the mysterious connection between McHenry and a long-standing Trek nemesis?)--it wouldn't be a Trek novel without surprising revelations. In short, Rick Berman could do worse than to hire Peter David as story editor and consultant for the next Trek series: no one quite brings humanism to "Star Trek" like Peter David.

I am a big fan of Peter David. He's one of the best Trek writers because of his wide knowledge of the Trek universe and love for the characters that inhabit it. His "New Frontier" series started with a big bang, interesting plots and characters spiced up with quirky humor and inside jokes. But unfortunately with each new book that careful balance starts to disappear. No substance, just comic-book style gimmicks. This is highly evident in his latest book "Requiem". The Romulan plot with Lt. Soleta was great, the one saving feature of the book. But everything else detracts. Anything dealing with Si Cwan might as well have been a complete blur. While an intriguing X-Files tribute totally collapsed with a tired, old cameo and an incredible revelation about Lt. McHenry that just makes you roll your eyes.

I waffled a bit over whether to give this one 3 or 4 stars. I finally went with 4 on the strength of the Soleta plot.

To start at the beginning, Peter David created a series called "New Frontier." An alien captain, three characters who were cameo's on The Next Generation, and the rest of the crew made up from his fertile imagination. They are put aboard the USS Excalibur, and sent into Thallonian space.

In book eight, the last line of the story takes us, with no explanation, to "five minutes before the Excalibur blew up."

Ack.

The first foible of this book is the very manipulative way we are kept out of the loop as to what happened to the USS Excalibur, and further, Captain Calhoun specifically.

The second foible is that the crew scatters, which is fine, but the B-story of McHenry and Kebron, despite revealing some really interesting and tantalizing tidbits about McHenry, read like a joke. A bad joke. X-Files meets a Circus Act.

For all that those two are two major concerns, the plot with Soleta exploring her mixed racial history was just phenomenal. The amount of intruigue that Peter David managed to slide between only about a third of the book was just a treasure to read. If the book had focused entirely on Soleta, I would have been a happy man. Instead, the more awkward bits with Kebron and McHenry had me groaning, and I was tempted to skip passages (but didn't).

Still, exploring a crew in their "downtime" is a new side to the Star Trek universe we've not really seen explored often, aside from the occasional Risa episode of DS9 and TNG. This was handled rather well.

A must-read for Soleta, but otherwise, just a fair book.

Those expecting any details regarding the loss of the Excalibur and Captain Calhoun will be disappointed (We'll probably have to wait until "Excalibur: Restoration" for that). However, "Requiem" is notable for focusing on some of the "New Frontier" characters who've gotten little attention: Zak Kebron, Mark McHenry and especially half Vulcan/half Romulan Soleta.

The Kebron & McHenry plot is rather whimsical, but it winds up adding a whole new layer of mystery to McHenry's character and gives Kebron a faint hint of genuine feeling. While I look at McHenry in a whole new light, I wish author Peter David had concentrated more on Kebron and the toll his solitary nature has taken on him. However, I expect we'll see more of that in the future.

The standout story in "Requiem" by far is the Soleta plot. Since "New Frontier" began, Soleta has been a character with great potential that was never utilized--until now. David has taken this character's blood lines and created a personality that is distinct from that of Spock, yet quite natural, and I for one look forward to seeing more of her. There is also a little sub-plot involving Si Cwan and Kalinda which, although interesting, doesn't shed any new light on either character.

All in all, Peter David is making the most of the Excalibur's destruction by concentrating on what's really important: characters. Once the crew reunites (you don't really think they won't, do you?), it's going to make future stories that much more interesting.

Peter David's "New Frontier" series is easily the best thing to happen to the Star Trek franchise in years. In a time in which Voyager is mired down in dull plots and a lack of character development, David is following the Trek credo and exploring "strange new worlds" with his series of novel. The New Frontier books have always been about finding the perfect blend of gripping plots, humorous moments and superlative character development. And just when you think you've got it all figured out and are getting comfortable, David pulls the rug out from under you.

Such is the case with the latest novel. At the end of the last book, David ended with the destruction of the starship Excaliber. The novel picks up several weeks after the destruction of the ship and finds the crew in a mandatory "cooling down" period before they are given new assignemts--all except Shelby who uses the Excaliber's destruction to force Starfleet to give her what she's always wanted--command of her own. After a lengthy scene in which the surviving regulars (everyone but Calhoun) commiserate on the ship and say farewell, the book takes off in several directions--all of them intriguing. One is a lightweight one featuring McHenry and Kebron going to a backwater planet to stop a series of practical jokes pulled by Starfleet ensigns (they convince the natives that aliens are attacking by doing such typical things as using flashing lights and tipping cows). Along the way, the stumble across something far more insidious--an old foe from TNG is back...but to tell who would be to ruin it all. Next up, Si Cwan's sister Kalenda is haunted by dreams of the death of their teacher and Si Cwan swears vengeance. Add to it the book's best plotline--Soleta finding out the Romulan who raped her mother and is her biological father has been set free and how she confronts him and the news that he's dying. The scene in which Soleta confronts him for the first time is chilling and complusively readable. You can almost feel the book getting heavier in your hands as you read it and the temperature in the room get colder. It's that good.

All in all, David gives each of the plots balance and a great deal of depth and interest. The pages fly by as everything spirals out of control into the final pages in which you find out that not everything can or will be resolve in one book. As with all the best books of a series, this one leaves you with more questions than answers and leaves you utterly begging for more. For my fellow reader who complained that you don't find out why the Excaliber is destroyed, keep reading. The explanation will come to you soon enough and it's certainly shocking.

A must-read for any Star Trek fan out there. This is Trek at its best.

Spoiler Alert!

This book is an excellent continuation of the New Frontier series, with one exception: Peter David doesn't explain WHY the Excaliber blew up! And I wanna know! UGH! Anyway, other than that one flaw, the book is an excellent further study into the lives of the characters after the destruciton of the Excaliber. The book primarily explores Soleta, McHenry & Zac Kebron's post-Excaliber adventures. But the beginning does give some interesting new insight into Commander Shelby as well. Highly recommended!

Requiem is the first of three books about the crew of the Excalibur following its explosion and the death of the charismatic maverick captain MacKenzie Calhoun. After a brief get-together, the crew members go their separate ways. Soleta goes home to Vulcan to see her father on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of her mother's death and learns some shocking news, leading her to the moon Titan. Zak Kebron and McHenry become detectives, investigating strange happenings on a world not yet ready to join the Federation. There is a surprise guest appearance which I refuse to spoil and a fascinating revelation or two about some of the characters. I read this in a couple of hours, so it's a good fast read you won't want to put down.

I waited and waited and waited to find out if there was ever going to be more books like this. Then out of the blue, when I'd given up hope and left the crew of the Excaliber for gonners....Two new ones jumped right out at me off the shelf and demanded I buy them. Best thing I ever did.

Peter David has taken us so many places and done so many things with these characters and I for one was glad that they didn't all perish. Soleta's quest was humourous, but also gut wrenching. Mark and Zak's predicament had me guessing all the way through. As for Si Cwan and his sister....I don't know what to think of their problems. But we all know that everything will turn out well...As long as the ship doesn't blow up again...

I always liked Peter David's New Frontier books... It was so at least until I began reading his latest creation, the trilogy "Excalibur". I think I speak on behalf of many readers when I say this new book titled "Requiem" is a major disappointment. Let me show you where my opinion comes from.

The situation at the beginning of the book can't be more dramatic: USS Excalibur is destroyed; the captain is presumed dead; the surviving crew must find new ways of living. So far so good. Former collegues from the ship meet at a bar and discuss the events of the last month. The first annoyance of this book is the fact that the author uses all his skills to conceal the reasons for the catastrophe aboard Excalibur, an extremely stupid way to build up suspense for the following books. After dinner everybody goes his or her own way. "Requiem" tells the stories of the Vulcan science officer Soleta, helmsofficer McHenry, security chief Kebron and Ambassador Si Cwan and his sister. All those plots are completely independant from each other and take place in different regions of space.

All in all only Soleta's voyage could convince me and saved this book one additional star. This storyline deals in an intensive way with Soleta's heritage as half-Vulcan and half-Romulan and her being the product of sexual abuse of her Vulcan mother by a brutal Romulan spy. Questions concerning Soleta's identity are really intriguing and make us think about our own background and our place in the world. I particularly like remembering those scenes where the heroine confronts her fears concerning her Romulan genes and their negative effects on her personality.

All other of those "spin-off" plots are rather bad. The McHenry/Kebron storyline is a nice character study which turns out to be quite senseless at the end. The only aspect the reader keeps in mind is the mystery around McHenry's true personality. He is probably more than he seems...

The story about Si Cwan is, from my point of view, simply a means to fill some pages. Maybe it will become important in the coming books, although I rather doubt it. This Si Cwan stuff presented a mistake to me David makes frequently: he introduces situations and people without giving them any background. Since the reader doesn't know anything about them, he doesn't care, and that makes a book boring.

"Requiem" is a rather bad book. I hope the continuation ("Renaissance") will be better. If you should feel the temptation to know my opinion about "Renaissance", please feel welcome to read my next review.

The "New Frontier" series of Star Trek books is generally a step above the other Star Trek books, mainly because it focuses on mostly original characters (and the characters that aren't original were only seen in an episode or two of the Next Generation series). Thus, Peter David can do anything he wants to do with them, as long as the universe itself doesn't change (thus, he can't destroy the Federation or anything). This is a definite plus in a line of books where the stories can start to sound the same. The fact that Peter David created and is writing all of the books in the series is even more of a plus. I have always loved his writing, whether it's his comics or his books.

Number 9 in the series, "Requiem," is a good example of this quality. It's the first book of a 3-book miniseries within the New Frontier line. The Excalibur has been destroyed, and its crew is back on Earth learning to deal with it. They have lost their captain in that explosion, the captain that held these disparate personalities together as a unit, sometimes by sheer force of personality. The crew is going through the "cooling-off" period that crews must go through when their ships are destroyed. The beginning of the book consists of a meeting between the entire crew at a bar, where they drown their sorrows a little bit. Then, the book branches off to follow three of the crew members: Soleta, the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan science officer; Si Cwan, the Thallonian ambassador that had been traveling aboard the Excalibur assisting it in its mission; and Kebron & McHenry, the security officer and helm officer respectively.

Soleta's story consists of her going to find the man who raped her mother, thus resulting in Soleta's birth. This quest brings her new realizations about herself, especially her half-breed legacy. Si Cwan and his sister have to find the killer of Si Cwan's former instructor, after his sister dreams of his death. The dream turns out to be a perfect image of the truth. Finally, Kebron and McHenry go to a backward planet (where nobody has ever heard of space travel) to discover why some people are apparently being abducted by aliens.

David switches between these plots effortlessly, usually ending the chapter on a cliffhanger, unless the next chapter is also about the same character. Soleta's plot is the most interesting, as her voyage is almost one of self-discovery. She tracks down her biological father, ready to hate him, but she finds herself coming to respect him. He's apparently reformed, and he's dying. The relationship grows and lives with David's writing of it. There are plenty of surprises in store, though, so don't think you'll be able to predict how it ends.

The other two plots aren't quite as interesting. I've never really cared for the Si Cwan character, so his subplot, at least for me, was just marking time until we could get back to Soleta. There were a couple of funny moments in there, but overall, it just dragged the rest of the story down. I don't really remember his sister (it's been awhile since I've read the previous book), but she didn't really do much for me in this book. She has some sort of prescient dream ability that she has no control over, but otherwise she's a bit of a cipher. Overall, when David came to this plot, I wished he'd go back to one of the others. Unfortunately, this story is the only one that doesn't come to completion, which means we're going to get more of it soon.

The alien abduction storyline wasn't much better, and had a resolution that just made me groan (and not in pleasure). It has to be seen to be believed. However, it was saved by the humor. Kebron is a very droll character, and he's very set in his ways. He's also very direct. He won't pull any punches in what he says. The reactions of other characters to this is just priceless. McHenry's character is not quite as interesting, but his interaction with Kebron is very good. It's too bad that the plot ended this way, because otherwise it would have been the standout of the book.

As it is, though, Soleta's story is the only one that holds together until the end. Overall, the book is very good, though. David's writing and humor save the book where it starts to drag. Only a couple of "now wait just a minute" moments detract from it. Otherwise, it'd be a 5 star book.