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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
STNG #20 Spartacus - A great early novel!, September 14, 2003
This review is from: Spartacus (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 20) (Mass Market Paperback)
I found this particular early Star Trek The Next Generation novel to be quite interesting in its premise, plot and execution. It is, quite unfortunately, the only Star Trek novel written by this author, lending one to the belief that it either didn't originally sell too well, or the author "stepped up" to the plate only this one time! That is too bad, considering that T. L. Mancour did a wonderful job with the story. It's not quite, five star material but it is certainly a very good early STNG story. The cover art for this numbered novel is definitely among the better ones of the early Star Trek The Next Generation titles. The premise: The Enterprise answers a distress call and finds a disabled alien vessel known as the "Freedom," which is crewed by a species known as the Vemlans. The vessels captain, Jared asks for and receives very welcome help from Captain Picard and crew. After the relief effort begins, they're interrupted by the arrival of an entire fleet of vessels from Vemla and they claim that Jared and his crew are escaped slaves and request that their property be turned over at once. Reminiscent of one particular STNG episode and a later Star Trek Voyager episode, it turns out that Jared and his crew are Androids, which prominently brings Commander Datas' involvement into the story. Here is where this novel stands outs, as of course, Jared and his crew request asylum with Captain Picard and the Enterprise. The author plays this out very well as Captain Picard wrestles; not only with his personal convictions but with the Prime Directive as the Vemlan fleet is threatening the destruction of the Enterprise if they do not return the slaves and his decision "must" be made. What follows is certainly, as stated above, one of the better early STNG novels that makes an excellent addition to your Star Trek library and I'd definitely recommend this novel to any and all fans of Star Trek fiction! {ssintrepid}
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, good Star Trek entertainment, June 2, 2009
"Spartacus" is an interesting novel that explores the attitudes of organic intelligence versus machine intelligence, specifically androids. When do intelligent machines cease being property and instead acquire the same rights as organic beings? This TNG novel does a fair job of exploring this question.
While the novel is a bit talky at times, overall this is good Star Trek TNG entertainment for a lazy afternoon.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The debate about what characteristics make a group "Federation worthy" make this one of the most interesting ST novels, December 23, 2008
This review is from: Spartacus (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 20) (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel explores the concepts of what it means to be alive, sentient and worthy of being considered a distinct race. It begins with the Enterprise weathering a Gabriel, a violent cosmic storm that can cause great damage to ships as powerful as the Enterprise. When it disperses, they encounter a ship called the Freedom, and Jared is the captain. With his engines badly damaged, Jared asks the Enterprise for assistance, which is readily granted. During the repairs, the Enterprise crew discovers that the crew of the Freedom are very sophisticated androids.
During the repairs a fleet of warships from Velma under the command of Alkrig a politician and Sawliru a soldier arrive and demand that Picard turn the crew of the Freedom over to them. The Velmanian culture and economy is based on the labor of the androids and there has been a deadly civil war between the biological units and the androids where hundreds of thousands have died. Sawliru brands the crew of the Freedom as terrorists and murderers and argues that they are simply property. The androids, supported by Data, claim the right of self-determination.
Picard first rules that the Federation has no jurisdiction, so he prepares to leave the area, even though he knows that the androids will be completely destroyed. However, with the prodding of Data, the androids petition Picard to be accepted as a member of the Federation, an action that he must rule on. The hearing brings up issues of the definition of life, what is intelligence, what rights androids have, and what are the necessary preconditions to be considered a race. This is a philosophically interesting point that should have been explored in greater detail. Given the mission of exploration and new contact of the Enterprise, the answers to these questions go to very heart of the structure of the Federation and how it will interact and incorporate other species. Even though the two sides go to the brink of war, a solution is found that will allow the androids to join the Federation and advance the Velmanian society.
As a consistent and logical story, this one has several flaws, the most major of which is how the Velmans could have such primitive military and weapons technology yet be more advanced than the Federation in the area of android creation. The Velman androids show more flexibility in thinking emotionally than Data does yet the Velman weapons are totally incapable of even denting the Enterprise. Nevertheless, the story is good in the philosophical pursuit of understanding what qualities make a race and which of that set of qualities makes them worthy of being part of the Federation.
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