Customer Reviews

Ship of the Line (Star Trek Next Generation (Unnumbered))

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Capitalizing on the Star Trek The Next Generations fifth season episode "Cause and Effect" and the sixth season's episodes of "Chain of Command" parts I and II, Diane Carey deftly weaves another great STNG tale involving Captain Morgan Bateson and Gul Madred respectively in "Ship of the Line." Captain Morgan Bateson, seen only briefly in "Cause and Effect," is skillfully brought to life in this tale along with his crew. Gul Madred, the much hated Cardassian interrogator who tormented Captain Picard in "Chain of Command" parts I and II is revisited by Captain Picard. Along with these characters, the author also brings Captain Kirk and Spock into the mix as well.

Several Star Trek readers I've talked to in the past have complained of Diane Carey's injecting so much "naval" speak into her Star Trek novels, this is an opinion I do not share as I believe it gives her novels a distinctiveness all her own. I always have and continue to look forward to reading her novels as she is one of the top Star Trek authors.

The premise:

This outstanding STNG novel begins with the crew of the USS Bozeman in the year 2278 telling the events where Captain Morgan Bateson and his ship were engaged against a Klingon ship just prior to and leading up to the events in the STNG episode "Cause and Effect," where the USS Bozeman came through a temporal anomaly coming forward ninety years and "nearly" colliding with the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.

The novel is now set in the timeframe of approximately five months after the events depicted in "Star Trek Generations," where the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D is lost. Captain Picard and the majority of his senior staff are at Starbase 12 awaiting their next assignment which is hopefully the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E, the beautiful Sovereign Class starship first seen in "Star Trek First Contact." Of course Worf at this time is on Deep Space Nine.

From this point the author takes the reader through a superb story where on one end, Captain Morgan Bateson is in charge of the shakedown cruise of the Enterprise-E and dealing with the same Klingon that forced him into the temporal anomaly and on the other end, Captain Picard is headed into Cardassian territory to deal with Gul Madred, his tormentor from "Chain of Command."

I highly recommend this Star Trek The Next Generation novel; it certainly deserved the hardback that it came in as it outclasses many of the Star Trek stories in print. {ssintrepid}

Diane Carey continues her tremendous writing success in the Star Trek universe with this exciting and original novel. The story chronicles the maiden voyage of the newest Federation flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, as it proceeds under the command of not Jean-Luc Picard, but Morgan Bateson, the captain who traveled with his crew forward into the 24th century. Carey uses great detail in defining the characters of the novel, including Picard who is contemplating his future in Starfleet, and Bateson who is considering his role in an entirely different century. Plenty of action and epic space battles exist throughout the novel to complement the strong plot and characterization. With Ship of the Line, Diane Carey creates yet another worthy addition to the Star Trek universe.

When I started reading this book I thought to myself, "wow, I actually like this book." But soon after, I decided it wasn't as good as I thought it was.
It has some excellent moments, namely, Riker's attitude toward Bateson and his "old style" of thinking, and Picard's identity crisis is a real plus.
I don't think it was very realistic to have given Morgan Bateson, a man from ninety years in the past (oh wait, ninety- THREE!), command of the new Enterprise, (granted, they WOULD try to promote Picard to admiral, so I'm not complaining about that), but I think command would most certainly have gone to someone who knew how the current world worked... and the way Bateson botched the Klingon encounter, it was obvious he didn't know what he was doing.

I was going to give it 3 stars (it was a descent book after all) but the ending ruined the ENTIRE book. Man, Diance Carey slapped an ending on it just to end it. The book could easily have been another 100 pages, if not two... That would have been sweet. There was still so much story to tell, and she didn't give the book its due.

Diane Carey has never been one of my favorite writers, but she had something with this one, but it fell short of it's potential. 2 stars.

Recomended read, but only if you want to be dissapointed

Diane Carey misses the mark on this one. While the idea of following up on the events of the Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect" is a good one, her factual errors and characterizations drag down what could be compelling reading. Fans who pay attention to continuity will notice mistakes like placing Picard's Borg experience after his torture by Madred and the almost cavalier disregard for the Dominion situation as developed on Deep Space Nine. Her portrayals of the Next Generation characters, such as making Troi and Crusher sound like whining schoolgirls, having Picard sound annoyed at having to come on the Enterprise-E at all and then turning him into some sort of interstellar Rambo after talking to a holographic Kirk, and her blessedly brief but bizarre portrayal of Data after hearing bluegrass music just feel wrong. The inclusion of Scotty really felt like she just wanted to throw in an Original Series character. She tries to build up sympathy for Captain Bateson as a man out of time, but with the exception of the last few pages, Bateson comes off as an annoying character and one that merits little sympathy. In the end, while this book may be a good read for some, I can't recommend it for hardcore Trek fans because of its many flaws.

The story itself was okay, with some interesting details. The events of "First Contact," "Cause and Effect," and the original series episodes were well told. Unfortunatlely, it juggled too many stories and had some really annoying incongruities with regard to the movies and series. First, Klingons don't live quite so long, so Bateson's enemy probably wouldn't be alive after all this time. Second, didn't anybody PROOFREAD this book!? I can understand the occasional misspelling of a big word, but "Alfa 177"!? I think if the author had taken more time to get down some of the small details and have somebody proofread her book, it would have come out much better. The story is good, it just needs to focus on one or two of the big storylines.

Yes, I hate to admit it but I read a Star Trek novel. I haven't read one for years, but this one was on sale at the dollar store so I picked it up. I also hate to admit it, but I liked it.

The plot focuses on the time between the 2 movies Generations and First Contact. It involves Captain Morgan Bateson, the captain played by Kelsey Grammar (a.k.a. Dr. Frasier Crane) in one episode of the Next Generation series. It deals with his forced time travel of 90 years into the future and Picard's angst over the loss of his ship. Kirk is also in it thanks to great holodeck programs. Yes, it is way too cluttered and the ending is hackneyed, as most things Trek are, but it was an entertaining read. A great novel would have dealt in-depth with the issues of a captain w/out a ship or a man living out of his own time, but who expects to find great literature at the dollar store?

Granted, she still tries to be too cute with the language, and generally fails miserably when she does, (for example, describing the ship "swaggering" under enemy phasers, rather than the more normal (and accurate) "staggering". Had anybody else written that, I'd have assumed that it was a typo, but given Diane Carey's history, I'm forced to assume that she meant to write that.) This is the only reason that I've rated this book at four rather than five stars; if you don't object to sloppy, incorrect use of the language on occasion, consider this a five-star rating.

But she does so far less frequently in this book than in almost any of her other books, and on balance, less egregiously, too.

Further, the plot and characterization are even better than she usually manages, and that's always been her strong suit. And as an extra added bonus, she manages to refer back to numerous episodes, something that I always enjoy, and generally only see in Peter David's work. And she does it quite well, too, always plausibly and (where one can check on it) accurately. I understand that some people don't care for that sort of thing; if you don't, consider this a three-star rating instead of four. But I consider it a definite plus.

Diane Carey brings to life the Star Trek Universe not by expanding on the lives of the already, Oh so well known, crew of TNG, but by introducing us to new people. You dont get know these new people as well as the crew of the Enterprise but you will understand and feel for them and what motivates them in much the same way. Its refreshing to walk in the shoes of other Captains from the ST universe and Diane Carey walks you through it as if you were standing on deck next to them. Great book with a wonderful plot and easily explains why events happen as they unfold. Read it and enjoy the ride.

This was the first Diane Carey book I'd ever read and I was shocked.

The book got absolutely nowhere, the characters were boringly portrayed and, at times, seemed to act very much out of character.

The novel is filled with over-simplification, clichés and stereotypes, while it gives us the usual Klingon-animal Human-God type of message.

About 85% of the book is made up by completely irrelevant and poorly paced scenes that don't contain any entertainment or artistic deapht.

But it DID portray an interesting time on the TNG timeline and is maybe worth one read if you have time and can find it from a public library. But don't by it. Thats all I have to say about this one.

The dedication to old navy ships was way too hokey. She did a good job of trying in familiar scenes from movies and episodes, however. I think she used her thesaurus too much in this book. I know this sounds uncomplicated, but I really would have preferred to have a villain in this book.