Customer Reviews

Star Trek: The Next Generation No. 17: Boogeymen

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Star Trek - The Next Generation: Boogeyman written by Mel Gilden is a Wesley Crusher novel along with an interesting computer race that uses the humanoid brain for warp propulsion.

A holodeck experiment that goes bad for Wesley Crusher after Data compiles a holodeck program called boogeymen and an exologist by the name of Eric Baldwin one of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's oldest most trusted friends wants Picard to erase all traces of his existence get crossed in the Starship Enterprise's computer and cause real problems for the Enterprise crew.

This is a well fleshed out story that will keep you on your toes as things really start to heat up for the Enterprise crew as the boogeymen pay a visit to the Enterprise. If you like stories about what can go wrong this is the story for you.

There are two stories that eventually blend into one major mess for the Enterprise as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and crew try hard to find out what has gone awry with the Enterprise computer. As they work their way through the ship, problems become suddenly dangerous and the boogeymen assassins lurk around every corner of the Enterprise and they want to win at all costs.

You'll find light mystery and intrigue in this story but the story moves rather quickly and you can finish this book in one setting as Wesley begins to grow up. And the messes that he creates cause Picard headaches.

This is a solid 4 star book as it is well-written and will keep your interest till the end and the ending is something that you will not suspect.

Long time Star Trek fans have probably wondered at least once or twice why Star Fleet allowed holodecks on their ships. It seems as if they cause no end of trouble.

Wesley is once again stressing over his entry into the Academy and in order to prepare he has reprogramed the holodeck to run a new training scenario, one where he will face the figures that used to haunt his nightmares. Unfortunately for Wesley and the rest of the Enterprise they have also just made contact with a particularly alien alien vessel - one that can travel at warp speeds without warp engines. It is only a matter of time before these events and the arrival of one of Picard's former classmates all combine to disasterous results. Needless to say the Enterprise crew manages to put all to rights and still find time to teach young Ensign Crusher a valuable life lesson.

Ok, so it is predictable but, as usual with this series it is not the destination but the journey that matters here....after all we all know going into this that the Enterprise and all the regular crew members will survive even before we open the book. The author has managed to capture the characters well, not violate any of the 'canon' as laid down in the original series still tell an interesting story.

This is probably my favourite in Next Generation reading for light entertainment. Wesley Crusher has designed imaginary aliens for use in holodeck simulations. One of Picard's old friends, Baldwin, has come on board with the intention of erasing his (Baldwin's) existence, starting with a computer virus. The two programs get together and cause havoc, first on the holodeck and then throughout the ship. The Enterprise is also investigating an alien group that cause some genuinely paranormal events to happen aboard ship.

This is written to be light entertainment and it works very well. The events that occur and the way they are written are funny, to the reader at least. The descriptions of the events are very good, although they are usually done with subjective commentary that comes close to getting in the way. The characters are generally a bit less serious than normally portrayed, but never to the point of diminishing them.

This is one of only two original Star Trek stories written by author Mel Gilden, which is kind of a shame because I found this story to be a fairly well written one. Had Mel Gilden explored farther into the Star Trek universe I'm sure he would've written several more "well told" Star Trek tales.

The premise:

As with what often happened to young Mr. Wesley Crusher, his science experiment has gone bad and it causes serious trouble aboard the USS Enterprise. Add that and a visit from a long time friend of Captain Picard's in Eric Baldwin who is the Federation's premier exologist and a very strange alien race and you have a well thought out plot that will keep you reading through this novel at a good pace.

Albeit one of the shorter Star Trek The Next Generation novels, I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of Star Trek novels for in it you will find a well paced and thought out plot and some dead on characterizations. It is truly too bad that the author hasn't written anymore stories in Gene Roddenberry's universe. {ssintrepid

What one hopes to find in a book is a great idea, superbly executed. What one will settle for is a book that is either a great idea, competently executed, or an okay idea, superbly executed.

What one has in this book is a stupid idea, competently executed. The writing is good, but not great enough to compensate for the fact that the story idea is just about the next thing to completely worthless. There's way too much focus on Wesley (if you're actually a fan of that character, you might be able to justify bumping my rating all the way up to "three", but even so, the story is weak), and way too much of the overused concept of a holodeck program gone berserk to provide the conflict. In addition, the characterizations are inconsistent; Picard is far too tolerant of Wesley given his alleged aversion to children, and we never do get an answer to the question of whether "Eric Baldwin" is a dashing hero having a rare lapse of nerve, or an overblown windbag riding his self-created reputation (ala "Gilderoy Lockhart" from the Harry Potter books, who the character reminded me of). Nor do we see any real justification for his breakdown, nor any real explanation of how Counsellor Troi managed to settle him down. The character was completely inconsistent, but not in a way that made him feel real and "human", but rather in a way that made him feel entirely cardboard.

I've read worse "Star Trek" books, but most of them were very early "Original Series" efforts ("Spock Messiah", "Spock Must Die", "Triangle", "Killing Time", "The Prometheus Design", and "Black Fire", to name a few). This book is unquestionably better than any of those, but only just. Only recommended if you're a real "Trek" junkie needing a fix, and there just isn't anything else available.

This is a nice book if you like Wesley Crusher and "holodeck gone bad" scenarios. It tries to expand with a story about a Federation exologist who attempts to erase himself from Starfleet records. All in all I felt it was a little too much at once.

I remember reading it when it first came out(making me about 10 yrs old) and all I could think was this is EXACTLY what little kids fears about boogymen are, they will take over and you can't tell reality from the holodeck(or get out of the holodeck as the case maybe)

Like the Star Trek's where the holodeck goes crazy? Thinking for itself causing havick on the Enterprise? Westly Crusher gets Data to make a program that simulates a completly "new" species. Only problem is a "new" speices becomes part of the holodeck and sends the Enterprise into problems at Warp speed

One of the early STTNG novels. If you liked the Wesley Crusher character, then you will like this novel.