Customer Reviews

Well of Souls (Star Trek: The Lost Era, 2336)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Star Trek - The Lost Era "Well of Souls" 2336 written by Ilsa J. Bick is a wonderfully written introspective of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C and a few other very interesting characters. The year is 2336, forty-three years after the presumed death of Captain James T. Kirk aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-B in Star Trek "Generations," and twenty-eight years before the launch of the Enterprise-D in "Encounter at Farpoint." The stories of "The Lost Era" are from snipits of information that have come out in the movies and episodic television. In this case from Star Trek - The Next Generation episode we get introduced to Captain Rachel Garrett of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C in "Yesterday's Enterprise."

"Well of Souls" is a difficult book to get into but it is worderfully written. It took me much longer to read this book than what is normal for me, not from it's length (465 pages), but from the wealth of information that the author gives the reader about each character. I've divided this book into thirds as I describe it to you. The first third of the book is the setting of the plot and getting introducted to the cast of characters and the crew. This is a slow process and therefore, a slow introduction, but not void of a thorough introspection of each character as we find out that they are human an suffer from second guessing of their actions like everyone else.

The second third of the book we get to read more complex scenes and get into character interaction. This is where we see the author play the characters out into different plots Commander Samir al-Halak the XO of Captain Garrett's Enterprise. Ven Kaldaaren, Captain Rachel Garrett's ex-husband and xeno-archaeologist and we get a plot with Rachel Garrett's son Jason along with his pal Pahl.

The last third of the book the author pulls the storyline together and the characters that we are introducted to eariler really come to life and depth. The overall tenor of the book is darker than the other "The Lost Era" books, but it doesn't mean that it is less of a book, not in the least. I did enjoy the book but it was a difficult read.

The depth of this book was greater than the other books of this series and this book was more character-driven making for more internal action rather than external action. The main characters in this book are as follows Captain Rachel Garrett, Ven Kaldarren, Jason, Commander Samir al-Halak, Bat-Levi XO in Charge, Jo Stern CMO and Naxeran tactical officer G'Dok Ghemour, Kodell, and Batra. There is a power struggle between the Orion Syndicate and a priveteer Qatala and Starfleet Intelligence.

There is an ancient race called the Dithparu and their main character called Uramtali. These are mind spirits and must inhabit a living soul in order to keep the planet they are found upon alive. There are some space battles and there is a lot of twists and turns in this book to keep you on your toes.

I gave this book a solid 4 stars for its complexity and its a difficult book to finish, Not that I didn't enjoy it, I did. Ilsa J. Bick wrote a brilliant and delicately conceived story, but I found it hard to stay with and finish.

This book is a prime example of something I've seen in quite a few first novels - the author, at the beginning, is still writing short stories. Each chapter is its own little self-contained story, only about one or two characters, and so the book is choppy and overwritten.

Then, about 1/3 of the way through, we finally start getting introduced to the rest of the ship's crew, little by little, and there start being more complex scenes.

By the last third, the book is in fine Star Trek form - space battles, shattering plot twists, brilliantly realized characters, etc, etc. In short, everything you've come to expect from the truly outstanding Lost Era thus far. Granted, a little darker than the first three, but still very much a Star Trek novel.

The problem is that the whole book isn't as good as the last third - the first third is slow, plodding, and doesn't flow at all, and the second third is mediocre at best.

I look forward to Bick's next novel - by the end of this one, she had really figured out how to do this right - but this one just didn't hold together well enough.

I have to admit that after seeing some of the gripes about this book,I wasn't going to read it. Then a friend loaned me her copy, and I succumbed to temptation.
Wow. All I can say is WOW.
This book blew me away. I agree with people who have said that it's very dense, but this works in the book's favor. The author has done an amazing job of introducing us to a whole new crew and bringing them to life as fully-realized, flawed PEOPLE. I haven't seen the likes of this in Trek fiction for a long time (I have to say, probably never), and it makes for a tremendous read. I was so enthralled I plowed through all 400+ pages in three and a half days, was in tears by the end, and bummed that it was over! I can't add much to the praise that's already here. Bick writes with incredible delicacy and verve, and her action sequences are wonderful. I, too, have to say that I'm disappointed this isn't a series. But I would say to the people who don't have the patience to really let these characters get under their skin: you don't know what you're missing.
Bick credits her editor Marco Palmieri with giving her a shot, and Dean W. Smith and Keith DeCandido with mentoring her along. I have to thank all those people, too, for giving us this new Trek author. I've already tracked down some of her other stuff and am eager to see more.

Ilsa Bick's first novel, WELL OF SOULS, is a thick tome packed with lots of internal and external action going on. At first it starts off really slowly in the first 100+ pages of the book, with a heavy bent toward depressing situations and depressing characters. But by the mid-point of the novel, Bick begins pulling things together and creates a good story in the process. The ending is a positive, upbeat one, the complete opposite of the novel's beginning, and well worth it. Had this book been shaved of the first 100+ pages, it could have equally worked. A good first effort.

God how I love "Star Trek" in all it's incarnations! Even though I grew up with the Original Series Star Trek, I also came to love TNG as well and, later, VOYAGER and ENTERPRISE. Being an avid fan of sci-fi in general, however, it would be an injustice on my part not to mention the many other old and new sci-fi works that both led me to Star Trek and which have forever forged my love for all sci-fi works: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "Foundation", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.

Excellent first novel. Started a little slowly but, I was fully caught up by the middle of the book. The characters have been developed so well, there really could be a future for them. I'm looking foward to more from Ms. Bick.

What a fabulous book - very cool character development - lots of twists - great descriptions like, "the way her black eyes flashed - a veritable semaphore of hostility."

I can see why Dr. Bick also won first prize in the star trek anthology contest - a gifted story teller - I hope she publishes more books soon!

In the far past of an alien world, the line of the Night Kings ends with a prince too cowardly to take Uramtali - the goddess of the Well of Souls, the immortal dithparu - into his body. On present-day (2336) Farius Prime, a place not visited by decent or even prudent Federation citizens, Commander Samir al-Halad battles his ugly past in hope of saving the few people from that past who matter to him - and of keeping the person he loves most in his new life alive, too. Aboard the starship Enterprise, Captain Rachel Garrett grieves for a friend and first officer whose life she couldn't save; damns herself for letting that XO's replacement, Halad, go on "R & R" at a time when she desperately needs backup; and fences by subspace communications with a Betazoid xeno-archaeologist who is her still-beloved ex-husband. She's missed their son's twelfth birthday, and can't even manage a conversation with young Jason now without having her ship's needs interrupt it.

I spent the first half of "Well of Souls" wondering how the author would bring together these and at least one other story line. Bick's characters captured me immediately as each appeared, and her graphically written action scenes proved wrenching because I cared about the people experiencing them. But what did Samir al-Halad's secrets, Rachel Garrett's ex-husband (on his way to a dig in Cardassian space that Ven Kaldarren knows isn't a much better place for young Jason than a starship, but what else can a father with full physical custody do except take the boy along?), Lieutenant Commander Darya Bat-Levi's efforts to fit in on her new assignment aboard Enterprise, and the Night Kings from long ago all have to do with each other?

It comes together beautifully in the book's second half. What lifts this one above many other Trek novels for me is the way Bick (a psychiatrist who writes Starfleet counselors with resulting insight, and to her credit shows her "other profession" warts and all) infuses the whole work with depth and theme. Her characters, Garrett most emphatically included, aren't perfect. Instead they are living, breathing, growing people.

I have one complaint, only. I wish this were the first in a series of Rachel Garrett novels to be authored by Ilsa J. Bick. If that were true, I'd be standing in line for every one!

Finally, someone gives us Trek characters with real problems, real emotions, and real foibles. I loved this book, not just because I love Trek but because Bick's written some terrific short fiction including "A Ribbon for Rosie" (a prize-winner which always makes me cry), "Shadows, in the Dark" (another prize-winner that thought of putting Seven of Nine together with Chakotay before they became an "item"). She just did a great story in NO LIMITS, a New Frontier anthology, and she's got stories on SCIFICTION. Bick really knows how to put dialogue in the mouths of her characters so they sound like real people. I don't think I've ever read a Trek book where people were in real anguish and didn't always make the right choices, or like the ones they made. I loved that Bick was brave enough to make Garrett less than perfect, and have her know it, too. Yet Garrett was a hero, too. All Bick's characters were terrific, and it's hard to pick my favorite because I wanted to see more of just about all of them. In particular, I wanted to see what happened to Kodell and Bat-Levy. The way Bick handled their love affair was terrific and had me in tears. And, wow, the way she showed the psychiatrist character was super. Usually, counselors sound too canned, or silly, and personally I hated Deanna Troi because she always said things that were so obvious. But Tyvan was right on. He made mistakes, too, and in a way that made him human and not just a talking head.
I've loved all the Lost Era books. But I hope this is the beginning of a series of Enterprise C books, with Bick at the helm. She's a great writer.

The best way to begin this may be with a guide. This book has 465 pages. Around page 100, there is a good scene. At 200 there is another. Close to 300 the action begins. After that, the book is quite solid, well written and entertaining. However, most of the first three hundred pages consist of long, boring internal monologues by just about every named character in the entire book about how and why their severe mental problems make them anti-social. It's boring, it's irritating, it's pointless - and it just keeps going, one character after another. In the "about the author" section it says this is her first novel. Unless she improves drastically, she would obviously be better off sticking to short stories. Those in Strange New Worlds were brilliant, so this was a real disappointment.