Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Call to Darkness [Import] [Paperback]

Michael Jan Friedman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books; paperback / softback edition (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852862149
• ISBN-13: 978-1852862145
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,390,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STNG #9 - A Call to Darkness - An excellent early STNG story, July 19, 2003

By 

K. Wyatt "ssintrepid" (Cape Girardeau, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Call to Darkness (Star Trek The Next Generation, No 9) (Mass Market Paperback)

"A Call to Darkness" is Michael Jan Friedman's second Star Trek novel and first Star Trek The Next Generation novel which has lead to him being Star Trek's most prolific author altogether. This was the first of his novels that I'd read and from this very beginning I found his writing to be quite compelling and a true joy to read. If you've read any of his later novels and not read this one yet, I suggest that you go back and check this one out for you will not be disappointed in the least.

The premise:

Captain Picard and the Enterprise discover a lifeless Federation research vessel in orbit of a planet that his hidden behind a mysterious energy shield. Despite the strong and ever present objections of his first officer, Commander Riker, Captain Picard leads an away team to the abandoned vessel to search for the crew; then they disappear. Commander Riker now finds himself in the position of having to find his missing Captain and crew and at the same time a mysterious disease strikes the crew of the starship...

Of the many early Star Trek The Next Generation novels, this one stands a cut above the rest due to Michael Jan Friedman's captivating and intriguing writing style. I would definitely recommend this early STNG novel to any and all fans. {ssintrepid}

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Trek, May 5, 2002

By 

jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Call to Darkness (Star Trek The Next Generation, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)

Micheal Jan Friedman shows why he is one of the better Trek writers in Call to Darkness. It is standard Trek fare, not likely to linger in the memory for very long, but written in an engaging way. There are some flaws, of course, including a holodeck scene with Homer reciting the story of Cassandra (absent from the Odyssey; Virgil or Aeschylus would have been more accurate). However, it was good to see Pulaski again. Unlike every other character in Trek, we all know and have worked with a Pulaski-type; she was the most "real" of all Trek characters, and Friedman does a fine job of capturing her orneriness. Overall, A Call to Darkness is worth any Trek fan's time.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ST-TNG: A Call to Darkness, April 2, 2003

By 

Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Call to Darkness (Star Trek The Next Generation, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)

Star Trek-The Next Generation: A Call to Darkness written by Michael Jan Friedman is a book where Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise is taken and Commander William Riker has to figure out how to get him back book.

This book is early TNG and the rolls of Worf and Data still need direction and real purpose. This book pays more attention to the rolls of Riker, Dr. Pulaski, and Geordi LaForge as they try to find a way to get Captain Picard back after he is trapped on a brutal world. A world that for entertainment of the masses they have war games for real... made for TV. Of course, the combatants are all kidnapped from spacefaring races that happen to come close to the planet.

War being the only entertainment for these people they require more and more players(combatants), as such, more and more crews become MIA's. At least 18,000 people are alive and doing combat war games for entertainment. But, that is not the only plot in this book. Soon after Picard's disappearance, Commander Riker has a strange mysterious disease begins to ravage the crew of the Enterprise.

I found this book to be a fast read, engaging till the ending. What I liked about this book in particular, was Riker working independent from Picard as it shows Riker's character and fleshes him out. Friedman tells a good tale and you will be throughly entertained