The Soldiers of Fear [Import] [Mass Market Paperback]

Dean Wesley Smith (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Star Trek (1996)
• ISBN-10: 0671040960
• ISBN-13: 978-0671040963
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The one disappoint volume in the Invasion Series, November 9, 2000

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Invasion: The Soldiers of Fear (Star Trek: The Next Generation, No. 41) (Mass Market Paperback)

It is easy to see why Book Two in the Invasion series is so readily dismissed by a lot of readers. We went from 289 pages of small print in "First Strike" to 234 pages of big print in "The Soldiers of Fear." There is even a 38 page excerpt from "Time's Enemy" to pad the book even more. But those numbers are only indicative of the qualitative drop off from Book One in the Series. You get the feeling Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch worked from nothing more than a synopsis or an outline, because all of the background Diane Carey put into that first book are totally ignored. There are references to what happened with Kirk, and certainly the fear weapon used shows the invaders learned something about their opponents since that first encounter, but the entire culture of the Furies is abandoned, particularly the entire Druid angle. Since Carey is one of the co-creators of this series I have to feel that her perspective gets privileged. If they had the opportunity to actually read "First Strike" surely Smith and Rusch they would have made some serious improvements in Book Two to bring it up to line.

Of the Enterprise crew, Geordi La Forge is the only character who shows any additional depth, and this is mainly because the book does spend some time while he is engaged in solving problems as opposed to his just being the disembodied voice speaking from Engineering. There are a couple of interesting chats between Picard and Guinan, and some nice insights into Troi's subconscious as well as her relationship with Picard. But a lot of the emotional part of the story is reduced to short hand. Troi and Worf exchange meaningful looks when Troi is in trouble and the reader supplies all the meaning and import, although it is not at all clear where this story fits into the Next Generation chronology.

There was a sense of tragedy to "First Strike" because Kirk was trying to stop a war that was so unnecessary. In "The Soldiers of Fear" the writers try to create an epic moment, on the level of Spock's sacrifice at the end of "The Wrath of Khan," but when we get to the big moment there is no suspense because as soon as you know what the mission is, you know what will happen. The writers really needed to come up with a better way of getting out of that do or die situation. More importantly, "The Soldiers of Fear" simply needed to follow up on "First Strike" a lot better. The feeling of momentum in the Invasion series is gone by the time you finish this novel and realize the rest of the book is a teaser for the next volume. But I promise you that if you keep reading the rest of the Invasion books, you are going to be impressed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent in a Series, October 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Invasion: The Soldiers of Fear (Star Trek: The Next Generation, No. 41) (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps not quite as good as the first book, but I loved the way if followed through with the story and made it a continuing series. I've not read the other two yet, but soon will. I highly recommend reading book 1 and 2 of this Invasion series. You'll love it if you're a Star Trek fan.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book and series, August 12, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Invasion: The Soldiers of Fear (Star Trek: The Next Generation, No. 41) (Mass Market Paperback)

this was only the second TNG book I have read. I liked it a great deal and it was a perfect followup to the First Strike. The Furies are great enemies, and Kirk and his crew are at their best in confronting the threat. The pace is blinding in speed, the plot tight and well thought out and the characterizations well done. If you can get it (I noted it is out of stock) read it, but after First Strike