Requiem (Star Trek New Frontier: Excalibur, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Peter David (Author) "THE NORMAL LOW-LEVEL BUZZ of conversation on the bridge tapered off as Captain Calhoun stepped out from the turbolift..." (more)
Key Phrases: comm badge, Catalina City, Captain Calhoun, Widow Splean (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When the U.S.S. Excalibur was suddenly and mercilessly destroyed, Starfleet lost one of its finest starships. But the crew members of the Excalibur lost their captain...and their home. Now, in mourning for their ship and Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, First Officer Elizabeth Shelby and the rest of the crew await new assignments

For Lieutenant Soleta, that means a painful reunion with her Romulan father, while Zak Kebron and Mark McHenry are sent undercover to investigate a series of mysterious alien abductions an a low-tech world. Going their separate ways throughout the Alpha Quadrant, the Excalibur's survivors must face diverse challenges and dangers on their own.

The ship is history, but the adventure continues...

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One: PREVIOUSLY IN STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER...

The normal low-level buzz of conversation on the bridge tapered off as Captain Calhoun stepped out from the turbolift.

He had missed an entire shift, which was unprecedented for him. Everyone understood, however, and no one knew quite what to say to him when he did reappear.

He went to his command chair, took his seat, and when he looked around at the respectfully silent crew, a smile played across his lips. It was a sad smile, but a smile just the same.

"Captain," began Shelby.

"Commander...it's all right," he interrupted. "All of you...really...it's all right. The important thing...the thing I'm not going to lose sight of...is that he went out like a warrior."

There were nods from all around.

"It was very...Xenexian of him, believe it or not. The notion of dying in one's bed is anathema to my people. To die in combat, on the other hand, is very much to be desired...and to die in combat while saving others is the highest, most noble passing that anyone could wish for. I will miss him...and regret the time that we did not spend together, and the time we will not have...but the bottom line is, he died heroically. All of us...should only be so fortunate as to have that opportunity," said Mackenzie Calhoun, five minutes before the Excalibur blew up...

Copyright © 2000 by Paramount Pictures

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek; First Printing edition (August 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671042386
• ISBN-13: 978-0671042387
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,431 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 9 in The Star Trek: New Frontier Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Like A Comic Book, January 3, 2001

By	[e-mail] (Newport, Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews

I am a big fan of Peter David. He's one of the best Trek writers because of his wide knowledge of the Trek universe and love for the characters that inhabit it. His "New Frontier" series started with a big bang, interesting plots and characters spiced up with quirky humor and inside jokes. But unfortunately with each new book that careful balance starts to disappear. No substance, just comic-book style gimmicks. This is highly evident in his latest book "Requiem". The Romulan plot with Lt. Soleta was great, the one saving feature of the book. But everything else detracts. Anything dealing with Si Cwan might as well have been a complete blur. While an intriguing X-Files tribute totally collapsed with a tired, old cameo and an incredible revelation about Lt. McHenry that just makes you roll your eyes.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could this be the best Star Trek book series ever?, October 1, 2000

By	John DiBello (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've followed the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing program for twenty years since Vonda McIntyre's "The Entropy Effect." Many of its hundreds of books have been pretty good. Some have been great. A lot have been less-than-average. But page-for-page, no one Trek writer has entertained me as much as Peter David, and none of Peter David's Trek books have inspired so much enthusiasm in me as his "Excalibur" novels. Filled with characters (mostly) of his own creation, unfettered by a writer's bible or much of the complicated Trek continuity, these twelve (so far) novels have proven to be my ultimate favorites in Trek books, and the two newest are better than ever.

I've mentioned in other Trek book reviews that I heartily applaud any attempt to focus on characters other than "the big three" of each TV series (c'mon, I can't be the only Chekov fan out there!) so the whole concept of the Excalibur books and their non-TV cast crew has been most enjoyable. David takes this concept one step further in "Requiem" and its sequel "Renaissance": after the destruction of the Starship Excalibur and the apparent death of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, the crew breaks up to follow their own adventures. David deftly mixes three subplots: Soleta searching for her hated father, McHenry and Kebron on a funny "X-Files" type investigation which leads them into conflict with a previously-established Trek character, and Si Cwan and Kalinda search for the murderer of their teacher. Nearly every chapter ends with a decent hook or cliffhanger, showing David could write a compelling TV episode that might at least keep us tuned through the commercials!

Why are these among the best Star Trek novels ever? The characterization is, in a mere dozen books, incredible--David takes time and effort to get us inside the heads of his Starfleet crew, to the point where I know much more about most of them than many of the "Voyager" characters. His dialogue is entertaining, brisk, and best of all *fun* to read: David has a keen ear for the way people talk--with sarcasm and humor. The action is fast-paced. And best of all, the characters *grow* and *learn* through the book, throughout the series. Soleta's quest surprises us as much almost as much as it does her, mostly for the reason that I can't think of the last time a Trek character has "grown up" and discovered something so major about themselves since DS9's "In the Pale Moonlight" episode. David's not above throwing in a shocker of characterization once in a while (what *is* the mysterious connection between McHenry and a long-standing Trek nemesis?)--it wouldn't be a Trek novel without surprising revelations. In short, Rick Berman could do worse than to hire Peter David as story editor and consultant for the next Trek series: no one quite brings humanism to "Star Trek" like Peter David.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars New Frontier Spin-offs, Part 1, December 28, 2000

By	Dmitrij Gawrisch (Bern, Schweiz) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I always liked Peter David's New Frontier books... It was so at least until I began reading his latest creation, the trilogy "Excalibur". I think I speak on behalf of many readers when I say this new book titled "Requiem" is a major disappointment. Let me show you where my opinion comes from.

The situation at the beginning of the book can't be more dramatic: USS Excalibur is destroyed; the captain is presumed dead; the surviving crew must find new ways of living. So far so good. Former collegues from the ship meet at a bar and discuss the events of the last month. The first annoyance of this book is the fact that the author uses all his skills to conceal the reasons for the catastrophe aboard Excalibur, an extremely stupid way to build up suspense for the following books. After dinner everybody goes his or her own way. "Requiem" tells the stories of the Vulcan science officer Soleta, helmsofficer McHenry, security chief Kebron and Ambassador Si Cwan and his sister. All those plots are completely independant from each other and take place in different regions of space.

All in all only Soleta's voyage could convince me and saved this book one additional star. This storyline deals in an intensive way with Soleta's heritage as half-Vulcan and half-Romulan and her being the product of sexual abuse of her Vulcan mother by a brutal Romulan spy. Questions concerning Soleta's identity are really intriguing and make us think about our own background and our place in the world. I particularly like remembering those scenes where the heroine confronts her fears concerning her Romulan genes and their negative effects on her personality.

All other of those "spin-off" plots are rather bad. The McHenry/Kebron storyline is a nice character study which turns out to be quite senseless at the end. The only aspect the reader keeps in mind is the mystery around McHenry's true personality. He is probably more than he seems...

The story about Si Cwan is, from my point of view, simply a means to fill some pages. Maybe it will become important in the coming books, although I rather doubt it. This Si Cwan stuff presented a mistake to me David makes frequently: he introduces situations and people without giving them any background. Since the reader doesn't know anything about them, he doesn't care, and that makes a book boring.

"Requiem" is a rather bad book. I hope the continuation ("Renaissance") will be better. If you should feel the temptation to know my opinion about "Renaissance", please feel welcome to read my next review.