Customer Reviews

The Romulan Prize (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 26)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this tale, the Romulans have developed a plan to seize the Enterprise and engage in actions that would lead to a war against the Federation. Valak is a Romulan commander who is also a scholar, where his specialty is human behavior. The Romulans have created a new class of warship, far more powerful than anything they have had before. The Praetor has selected Valak to command the first of the new class of warships in a mission to not only capture the Enterprise but also investigate a planet in the neutral zone. According to Federation records, the planet is under strict quarantine; no Federation ship is to visit it.
For reasons unknown to both the Romulans and Picard, a long-lost Federation ship is in orbit about the planet. The Romulans succeed in their daring plan to capture the Enterprise and both ships go to the planet. The situation does not conform to the initial appearance, as the planet is in fact a hollow sphere with living quarters inside. A very advanced civilization constructed it as a space ark, but there seems to be no one living on it. That turns out to be false, the original tenants and survivors from the Federation ship live in the ark.
The Enterprise crew plot to retake their vessel while simultaneously trying to learn all they can about the ark. Since there are landing parties in the ark and Federation people on both ships, the action moves from location to location. The story ends with the original inhabitants of the ark, who are shape shifters, restoring control of the Enterprise to Picard, keeping the Romulans prisoners, moving the ark out of the neutral zone and embarking on a plan to infiltrate the Romulan Empire. The infiltrators will try to influence it away from their warlike ways. It is a somewhat unsatisfying ending, because there is one severe logical flaw.
When the original Federation ship arrived at the ark, the inhabitants would have learned all about the Federation and the fact that the ark is in the neutral zone. A quarantine imposed by the Federation would keep Federation ships away, but it would be only a matter of time before the Romulans investigated. Once they realized that a Federation ship was in orbit about the planet, the Romulans would consider it an act of war and react accordingly. Since the ark is capable of moving at warp drive, it would have been a simple matter for them to move it out of the neutral zone to a more remote location and prevent the possible outbreak of an interstellar war. Therefore, while I enjoyed the action, the ending was unsatisfactory.

Trek's most boring Romulans ever and a painfully slow pace make this a real funkiller. Lots of extremely distracting oversights in editing, such as the narrator retelling the same bits of barely relevant backstory each time we switch to a different group of characters. Or like the first chapter when Picard cancels red alert twice within a few pages. I think this went to print before the final draft was ever proofed. I stopped 80% through because I actually didn't care how it turned out. Don't waste your time.

Overall, one of the absolute best trek books I've read. It has a mixture of awesome action and suspense and mystery. The characters are well written and stick closely to the show, and the premise keeps you guessing until the end. A definite must read for trekkers, and for those who haven't read trek books, read this one first!

For a TNG book, this definitely deserves 5 stars. There's excellent character interaction. There's a good amount of action, as well. Overall, entertaining Trek material.

The premise for this book is very interesting: the Romulans capture the Enterprise and take it to explore what they believe is a secret Federation outpost in the Neutral Zone. Picard and his crew must outwit their captors and deal with a first contact in the Neutral Zone. The overall writing quality is rather mixed. The descriptions are excellent. The fight between Riker and the Romulan first officer was very clear, very vivid, and had lots of interesting commentary on various martial arts styles. The non-main characters tend to be rather generic but vividly described. The two balance each other out for a generally good result. The Romulan captain, on the other hand, has more background and more distinctiveness. He and Picard make a good pair of protagonists. Finally, the book also gives us a good look at how the Romulan military and aristocracy behave and interact with each other. Overall this is a solid action story, with a lot of interesting subplots and details. I enjoy reading it.

"The Romulan Prize" is most certainly one of the best Star Trek The Next Generation numbered novels to date. The author, Simon Hawke most certainly deserves a great amount of praise for this particular gem. What I find most surprising is that this was but the first of only three adventures into the Star Trek genre by this author. I would've definitely thought he'd have been writing more.

The title of this novel alone drew me in when considering the nature of Romulans and their natural tendencies towards mystery, intrigue, treachery and deceit, all of which the author infused within this story with ease. I found his writing style to be quite fluid, making for a very quick read as one is turning the pages as quickly as possible to get to the solution of this exceptional early STNG novel by one of Star Trek's "not so" prolific writers.

The cover art for this particular title a little bit better than the standard fare; showing Captain Picard, a Romulan, the Enterprise and a Romulan Warbird and the typical background of stars and planets.

The premise:

The Romulans learn of Hermeticus 2 which is a Federation planet that is so secret that even few in the Federation know of its existence. This kind of adds a little bit of an Area 51 type mystique to the Star Trek universe. The Romulans immediately formulate a plan to infiltrate this facility and here is where the Enterprise becomes involved.

As the Enterprise is on a routine patrol near the Romulan Neutral Zone, they discover an abandoned Romulan Warbird prototype that is very advance and lifeless. Not long after, Captain Picard and crew begin an investigation of this abandoned Romulan vessel and they soon find themselves embroiled in a Romulan threat that threatens the very foundations of the Federation.

What follows from there is, as stated above, one of the best early STNG novels that will make an excellent addition to your Star Trek library and I highly recommend it. {ssintrepid}

"The Romulan Prize" is a TNG novel by the very talented author Simon Hawke.

It's a good insight to the Romulan culture, with a plot that holds out throughout the book.

The novel is set late season 5, and captures the atmosphere of the TV-series most exemplarorily. The story has many twist in it, and the book is extremely visual, making it an entertaining book to direct in your mind.

The book had one dissapointment, though. It was the fact that it centered too much around the characters that, perhaps, are allready overused in the show. But those characters were fortunately portrayed extremely well.

And one more complaint goes to the unbeliavably unintelligent and ridiculous storyline, that shows our own cave-man Commander William Riker trying to make matters better by kikking some Romulan butt on the holodeck. It was like watching a Hollywood action film.

But if you're looking for good characterization and story that feels exactly like an episode of TNG (if not better), this is the book.

This is an excelent book about a Romulan attempted capture of a Federation ship to learn the secret about the undercover Federation world of Hermaticus 2. A world few Federation officials even knew about. After a perfectly planned hijacking, Picard must play with the ego of the cocky Romulan comander aboard the Syrinx. Cut of from their captain the crew must formulate away to escape from the cluches of the Romulan Prototype before reaching the forbidden quarintined world of Hermaticus 2. Simon Hawk's great book should be read by everyone bent on reading many of the books in The Next Generation Series!

The Romulan Prize is a awesome book for Star Trek Lovers of all ages. In the Romulan Prize a new Romulan captain tricks the crew of the Enterprise into thinking his new Romulan Warbird is disabled. He then takes Enterprise to Hermeticus 2 a planet within a planet THAT The Federation has under quarentine. But I'll just let you find out for yourself because this is a awesome book!!!!!!

This has to be the best book of them all! unexpecting, Action, thrilling, and suprising book! Good writing , you see the pic in the words. I'll say it one more time , its a AWSOME BOOK!