Customer Reviews

STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION IMZADI (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

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If telling the back story of William Riker and Deanna Troi was not ambitious enough, David is also audacious enough to work in the Guardian of Forever from the classic original "Star Trek" episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," scripted by Harlan Ellison (and you all know how Ellison felt about what Gene Roddenberry did to the episode, so you can imagine the second thoughts David had to have about picking up on the idea--the volume is dedicated to Harlan). The result is as fine a "Star Trek" novel as you will ever read, with an ending that I still pick up and read from time to time, and which still touches me. David took what ended up being a throw away element from the pilot and turned it into a truly epic love story.

The novel actually begins with the end of "The City on the Edge of Forever," as Captain James T. Kirk says, "Let's get the hell out of here." The event is being observed by several people, including Commander Data. The setting is the future, in which Riker is now an admiral, Wesley Crusher is the Captain of the "Hood," and Lwaxana Troi dies cursing Riker for letting Deanna die many years before. We then go back to the beginning, when young William Riker was assigned to Betazed and found himself intrigued by the tantalizing but completely uninterested Deanna Troi. What follows is one of those rare times that a love story in the "Star Trek" universe reaches a believable level of pathos, which, granted, is hard to do in a television episode.

In addition to the aforementioned challenges of coming up with a compelling story for the Riker-Troi romance and working off of the Ellison episode, David also decides to tell the story of "Imzadi" by jumping around in time from "The End" to "The End of the Beginning" and eventually to "The Beginning of the End." However, this is not a concern because David has worked out the logic of his story and all of the pieces fit together. Besides, if you have any questions, the Guardian of Forever can answer them.

This is probably my favorite "Star Trek" novel. I have a tendency to like stories that connect the dots more than those that try to tell stories that are too big for the small screen (or too expensive for a theatrical film). Even though I had already read the book at the library I went out and bought a copy, in hardcover, and when Marina Sirtis came to the Zenith City for a "Star Trek" convention it was my copy of this book that I had her autograph.

While I enjoyed Imzadi, it wasn't what I'd call a home run.

Having not even read the backcover of the book when I got it at the resale shop, I was surprised to see most of it set in the future, using a plot structure that actually pre-dated similar stories like All Good Things, Timeless and Endgame. I liked the detail and characterization of all involved, however the flashback made for a very weak middle section.

One can definitely see the prototype for the Calhoun/Shelby relationship in how David depicts the relationship between Riker and Troi. Unfortunately, this sort of screwball comedy romance where the two outwardly hate each other but really love each other is a style I just really can't stand. It results in that kind of aggravating back-and-forth dialogue where each thinks they know what's best and what the other is really feeling. I guess I'm just not the romantic type, but it's something I don't find realistic at all (same goes for the two of them consummating the relationship in the jungle when she was probably malnourished and bloodied and everyone worried about them). And Troi finally developing a backbone with her mom and Will falling conveniently into the arms of another woman felt manipulative and telegraphed where the standard misunderstanding would come in.

I had other problems with the flashback sequence, namely details like how there was one little security team for the entire planet of Betazed and how there apparently isn't any kind of Starfleet vessel assigned to a member world, especially one that's come under harassment from pirates. That just didn't make sense. I imagine a member world coming under attack on a regular basis would bring harsh retaliation from Starfleet.

Thankfully, once the past segment is done, the book picks up again and finds a way to end on just the right note. I also liked the characters attempts to tackle time travel paradoxes that have gone by the wayside in recent televised episodes. Having the future Data become something of the villain was also an interesting twist and David made his near invulnerability fairly menacing. Although the scene of Admiral Riker running around with Data's head followed by his headless body was patently silly. He could have simply given him his head!

Otherwise, a fairly recommendable book. The slower pace was pretty welcome and might appeal to some more than others. The origin story of the Troi/Riker romance rang pretty false with me and it hurts the overall effect since it starts it all off, but again, some might not mind it.

After reading this book, I never saw Star Trek the same way again. One never knows of the relationship Troi and Riker had til they read this book. I reccommend this book to all my Star Trak friends. You need a good Star Trek book? Check it out ! You wont be disappoointed !

Before buying the audio cassette of "Imzadi," I read the book which I absolutely loved. I'd always thought that there was a lot of story potential in the Troi-Riker romance storyline that was never developed in the TV episodes. Listening to the tape (narrated by Jonathan Frakes) was the next best thing -- but that's not to say that it was a "secondbest" effort! Not at all!

The audio tape was great! It has a lot of sound effects which make it easy to imagine the scenes. And Jonathan Frakes for all the jibes he has endured about being a second-rate actor, was incredibly good as narrator and voice for all the characters in the story. (He's got that distinct Deanna Troi accent down pat! And his Jean-Luc was golden!) It's easy to forget that all the voices are being done by one person. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have listened to the tapes several times by now.

Also, as is inevitable with audio versions, the story was abridged, but very cleverly so as to maintain the continuity and tension of the story. In some respects, the audio tape story is stronger for its terseness. I highly recommend this tape!