Customer Reviews

Star Trek: The Original Series #90: Belle Terre: New Earth #2

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Well, it's summer time and that can only mean one thing--the beginning of a new, multi-novel Star Trek saga, courtesy of Pocket Books. Last year's Double Helix series was a hit-or-miss affair that dealt with events in the TNG universe. This summer, Pocket treats us to the long-awaited classic Trek crossover series. And first up, is Diane Carey's "Wagon Train to the Stars."

All in all, I've got to say this is a good start to the series. What really works is that Carey plunks us down in the middle of the story and fills in details via flashbacks and the characters interacting. The series takes place between the events seen in The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan and finds Kirk, having temporarily taken a reduction in rank to Captain, leading a fleet of colonists to a new world that is nine months away. The first novel sets up the secondary characters and establishes the mood and the scene. It also sets into place the fact that the planet our heroes are headed for isn't what it seems (frustratingly enough, one of the characters knows what is going on but refuses to tell any one or give any hints....oh well, I guess it is a six-part series and we'll find out soon enough). Before you know it, Kirk is up to his ears in squabbles, disputes and egos other than his. It's interesting look at Kirk as he tries to deal with leading a group of people that aren't in Starfleet and don't necessarily want or have to follow his orders. There's internal intrigue as well as an external threat or two (the planet the colonists are heading for is at the center of two, ancient warring races and the Orions aren't far behind--seeing the colonists as potential profit in the slave trade). Carey balances a lot of elements to make an entertaining novel and one that sets up events well. The stage is set for the next five books and there's enough mysteries involved to keep me curious as what's to come next.

My only fear is that we won't find out the planet's myterious secret until book six and the other four books will be a holding pattern of sorts. Also, minor characters are being set up to be in conflict and you can see some of Kirk's headahces that are ahead. I only hope Carey and the rest of the authors will take some chances and not give into a standard, cliched Trek storyline.

All that said, I will say that Wagon Train to the Stars is a good start. It's an enjoyable summer Trek read--not too heavy, but not too light. I'm definitely interested to see what happens next.

Star Trek #89 "Wagon Train to the Stars" is the first book in the New Earth series. The concept behind this six book series is Captain Kirk, who, after the events depicted in "Star Trek The Motion Picture" has given up his Admiral's rank to Captain the Enterprise as she leads an "armada" of over sixty thousand would be colonists who are on their way to Belle Terre to begin a new life.

At the core of this concept is a very solid and interesting premise. To see the stalwart hero of Star Trek leading an enormous group of civilians who don't exactly have to bide by the rules of Starfleet on an extraordinarily long trek (pun intended) through space, out of Federation space, into the unknown to settle a tame but raw M (Munshara) class planet and begin a new life. The colonists and their governor, Evan Pardonnet is seeking to not only start a new colony, but they also wish to be almost entirely independent from the Federation.

With that very basic concept laid out, concept creator and author Diane Carey leads off this series of books with "A Wagon Train to the Stars." From the beginning I found this concept to have been an interesting one and was looking forward to getting to these books, despite the generally lackluster reviews and ratings for the majority of the books in this series; wishing to judge for myself upon reading them.

If time devoted to reading a particular book is any indicator of how well a book was written, this novel doesn't score too well because I found that I just couldn't relate to it very well based on its pacing. I've been reading Star Trek fiction for years now and I'm not normally one to critique Star Trek novels too harshly based on continuity and pacing problems generally because the majority of the novels are just entertaining and quick reads that equivocate to a good Star Trek "fix," if you will.

I found "A Wagon Train to the Stars" to be a contradiction to many of Diane Carey's past stories in that at times, it seemed to be disjointed or more or less she would just skip over certain parts that needed to be there, assuming that the reader was still with her. I don't know if this was spawned from her original manuscript or poor editing on the part of the publisher.

I've found that many Star Trek fiction readers have complained of Diane Carey's adding her extensive knowledge of naval terminology into the twenty third and twenty fourth century terminology of Starfleet to be distracting. I don't particularly agree with this point of view; while such terminology is not canon to the series, it just gives her novels a distinct flavor all her own and I've found it to be interesting.

The cover art for this first book in the New Earth series can be counted among the best in the Star Trek fiction genre. It is certainly very rare indeed that this much effort is put into one of these covers.

The premise:

I've already covered the "basic" premise to this first novel in the series. Along with that, Captain Kirk finds himself, leading this armada of colony ships to Belle Terre, but along the way he finds that he must deal with a criminal named Billy Maidenshore who he'd personally arrested not too long before this mission began. Somehow, Maidenshore worked the legal system and didn't stay behind bars very long and has worked his way into to this colony and has sworn to cause as many problems for Captain Kirk and company as he can.

Combining that aspect and the general problems that Captain Kirk finds himself dealing with as the "imposed" leader of this expedition and the sixty thousand plus colonists makes for some interesting but not well executed plot between himself and several different leading characters. He soon finds that he must find a way to earn the trust and confidence of these colonists in order to more efficiently lead this colony on its trip or they will most certainly fail and perish.

The one saving grace for this novel is the extremely well executed conclusion to it, where Diane Carey pulled some of her better writing abilities out of the proverbial hat and put it on the page, so to speak!

In conclusion, being a devout Star Trek fiction reader, I'd recommend this novel as it is the first in the series and gives the basics for the rest of the books, I would have to say that this is not the best novel Diane Carey has put on the shelves, but it is most certainly not the worst in the world of Star Trek fiction. If this is or was the first Diane Carey Star Trek novel you've read or are reading, I implore you not to take the position that this is what all of her novels are like. The good majority of her novels can be categorized as among the best in Star Trek fiction that are completely enjoyable reads. {ssintrepid}

I'm the type that has to be hooked in the first chapter, and while this was by no means a bad book, it took me three tries to finish it. It genuinely surprises me that a book written by Diane Carey didn't have me staying up all night to read it. I say these things in comparison to the other novels in the New Earth series - I was pleasantly surprised by the next book in the series, Belle Terre. It starts off with a bang and just keeps going! So please read these books, I think they are worth the effort it took to get through Wagon Train to the Stars. The New Earth concept is quite interesting in spite of the fact that bookstores are flooded with so many crossover series and multi-novel series that I might be too old to read by the time I get them all!

This book is a solid start to a series with a promising premise. The early going uses a standard plotline: unknown characters in unexplained situations performing waht is natural to them, and it is only through the course of the book that the meanings of those acts become understood. Meanwhile, those unknown characers eventually interact with Kirk & Co., only this time the "Co." numbers in the thousands. Why it took until not to take Gene Roddenberry's "Wagon Train to the Stars" concept literally is beyond be, but the opening bolley in this series carries it out quite well, and sets up plenty of future story lines. The plot twists are well thought out without being telegraphed, the characters are not out of character, and the results give the reader the satisfaction of hearing a story well told.

It's probably at least a bit easier to build epic stories on the foundations of the more recent Treks (TNG, DS9 or Voyager) than it is to exume Jim Kirk & co, who were created 35 years ago. Back then, sci fi was more or less interstellar horse opera--"Wagon Train To the Stars" was a working nickname for Trek in its formative state. Trek TOS fiction has been mainly good guy/ bad guy, unlike its successor forms. But this series of books is among the best in the TOS universe when it comes to fleshing out Jim Kirk as a person, which is a lot easier to imagine about Picard and Sisko. And unlike in the sci fi of old, friends and allies don't always get along. Kirk is not only in the middle of a uber alles conflict between two alien races due to the fact that he and his charges happen to be passing through--he's getting just as much grief from anti-Starfleet types among the people he's on this mission to protect. It's easy to relate to that nowadays when it's trendy to hate your government, when the most obscene four-letter word is "GOVT". Herman Wouk this ain't, but I'm going to be very interested to see how this shakes out in the final reel.

I bought all six volumes of this series, of which this book is the first, at a used bookstore. I've read several other Star Trek novels and enjoyed them, and thus looked forward to reading the series.

In this first book, I found Diane Carey's writing and characterization to be intensely annoying. She has a habit of using common words in odd ways. She does this frequently, like every other paragraph. It makes you stop reading and say, "why is she using that word?" Perhaps she thinks this makes her prose colorful, but I found it to be an irritating affectation.

The author seems obsessed with Starfleet uniforms. In one scene, Kirk models the new uniform for other Starfleet bigwigs. They applaud, he blushes. I found this scene to be completely contrary to Kirk's character as it's been established in the TV series and films. I don't think Kirk would care one bit about uniforms except to find them a minor annoyance.

In another scene, the Enterprise's chief of security is described as inordinately proud of his appearance in his new uniform, as he "prances" around the bridge. I can't believe the Pocket Books editors let this stuff get by.

The second book in the series, "Belle Terre," was a vast improvement. The story moved quickly and efficiently.

But the third book, "Rough Trails" by L.A. Graf, was dreadful. The main characters spend what seems like the entire book slogging through mud and radioactive dust. This book was so dreary and unpleasant that I gave up on it, and the entire series, halfway through the book. To anyone considering reading this series, I would say, don't bother.

This book is easily the worst Trek novel I have ever read and that includes fan fiction. The novel fails in every category. Stilted dialog makes it a chore to slog through. All of the characters have reverted to generic roles, Kirk, Sulu, Spock, Uhura, Chekov, the dialog assigned to each of them could just as easily be randomly assigned to any other. There is no individuality to any of the characters, nothing that makes them stand out from each other, nothing that makes them recognizable as the people we've come to know. Many times the dialog is so out of character that I had to go back and make sure that I had read the correct name! The plot drags and worse still is a mish-mash of corny American frontier picture book plot lines. If you've read a pulp fiction Western or two or watched some of the truly terrible Western pioneer TV shows then there is nothing that will surprise you from this novel.

Spare yourself the pennies it will cost to buy this novel and don't waste the time it will take to thumb through the pages. There is better Trek stuff out there.

Diane Carey is somewhat restrained in her attempts to play "wordsmith" in this book, which is a good thing. (Frequently, she tries so hard at being a "wordsmith", coming up with so many novel and creative ways to use the language, that it's difficult to recognize the language as English. She isn't anywhere near as bad as that in this book, although she does still occasionally stretch the language until it screams in torment.) On the other hand, she is just plain sloppy in her word use; the typos and accidental wrong word use is much more frequent than it is in some of her other novels; in most cases, it's clear that these instances AREN'T intentional. In some others, it's less clear: Kirk telling Sulu to take "invasive" maneuvers, rather than "evasive" (off to a great start; that one was on page 2. But since he's telling Sulu to get the Enterprise BETWEEN an attacking ship and its target, I'm willing to believe that that usage was intentional, but it's stupid. In a combat situation, you don't give an order that needs to be translated, but that's exactly what happens here; the full command is: "Invasive maneuvers, Mr. Sulu, get between that drone and the Oregon Trail..." Similarly, we have Kirk reminiscing about the many years that the Enterprise has "serviced" the Federation. That's a common enough misuse of the language that I'm willing to believe that it's intentional, but I have a news flash for Ms. Carey (a professional writer who should know better): what the Enterprise has fdone is SERVED the Federation. SERVICING is what a whore does to a john. Or MAYBE, if you stretch the language a bit, what Scotty does to the Enterprise's engines. The words SERVING and SERVICING are ***NOT*** interchangeable. And we have a few instances in which I just can't tell whether what we're dealing with is misuse of the language or just sloppiness ("Reality was a picker bush.") I THINK what was meant there was that reality was a PRICKLIER bush, in which case what we have is just sloppiness. But I'm not certain; all I can say is that if that ISN'T what was intended, she's finally managed to do it: she's gotten so creative with the language that I can't decipher her at all. (ALL of these examples show up by page 7.) But then we have obvious cases of pure sloppiness: "even" when what is clearly meant is "every" (page 88), "breath" instead of "breathe" (page 95), "every" instead of "ever" (page 118), "make" instead of "mask" (page 189), "would've like" instead of "would've liked" (page 199) (okay, that one was in dialogue, so it's possible that it was an intentional attempt at capturing sloppy speech, but it really didn't come off well), "fairing" instead of "faring" (page 239), "reducted" instead of "reduced" (page 285). Mind you, there were other errors; these are just the most obvious ones that jumped off the page, grabbed me by the throat, and wrestled me to the floor. On the positive side, she actually used the word "niggling" correctly, for the first time in any novel of hers that I've seen. (Usually, she uses the word "sniggering" when she means "niggling"; at least 4 times in other books that I can remember.)

Also on the plus side, and the reason that I've given this incredibly sloppy collection of errors 3 stars, is that her plotting, characterization, and pacing are all good, sometimes very good to excellent. It's ironic: she wants so badly to be a wordsmith, but the single worst aspect of her writing, and really the ONLY bad one, is her ability to choose the correct word for the situation. She's not a terrible writer overall, but she is as far from a wordsmith as it's possible to get. She has no feel for the language, no skill at choosing words, and that both detracts and DISTRACTS from her otherwise excellent writing. So if you have no trace of the proofreader or English teacher in you, and don't care in the least about sloppy word use, you'll doubtless enjoy this book. But if such things as I've described here bother you at all, be warned: this book will leave a bad taste in your mouth, even if you DO enjoy the plot & characterizations.

I've read the first five of these. Carey sets up some really interesting premises and characters in the first book. The dynamics of the civilians vs Starfleet vs privateers vs bad guys has tons of potential that she makes use of. Plus she creates a couple of very interesting generals of warring alien forces, leaving us completely unsure of what it is they want, only knowing that the story lines that people could write from these in upcoming books could be fascinating.

The subsequent books throw all this away and turn into monster of the week books. OK, not exactly monsters. But each book has a planet threatening event and oh noes, we have to evacuate everyone from the planet for the fourth time in six months! But wait, Mr Spock has an idea that just might work! If only those grumpy colonists will agree!

Sorry for the sarcasm but you'd think everyone writing these would have asked the others what their plots were and refrained from writing basically the same boring book. Carey's writing may not have been stellar (no pun intended), but at least she was using people and characters to create tension in an interesting way, and not just hurling giant laser beams at a planet.

When Gene Roddenberry first proposed Star Trek to the networks he tried to get them to 'buy' into the series by saying it was going to be a type of space-western, a "Wagon Train to the Stars". And from this comes the title of Carey's book. Unfortunately, as one who likes many of her other titles, I have to say I was less impressed by this one.

The reason I like the old series of books is that I get popped into an adventure with characters I know. Those of you who know the context of this quote will know what I am talking about. "If I drop a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see the hammer fall to know that it has actually fallen." The characters I KNOW are not part of this book. Can you imagine a critical situation with just minutes to spare and where lives are at risk that Kirk would play a cat-and-mouse game that was irrelevant to the task at hand? Or that Chekov in a critical battle on his first command would begin roll playing the non-Enterprise crew as Spock, Scotty, etc? Highly unbelievable. Silly jokes that don't seem all that relavent (especially about the Clock). There are transitions I also can't quite follow (mind you I still have a 1/4 of the book to go).

Still, that said its an interesting book and I'll continue to read the series. I hope they are a bit better.