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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ship of the Line - An exceptional Star Trek story!, June 15, 2003
This review is from: Ship of the Line (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Hardcover)
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}
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The entertaining first voyage of the Enterprise-E, January 14, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Ship of the Line (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Hardcover)
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Has its moments, but falls short..., October 30, 2001
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
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