Gods Above (Star Trek New Frontier) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "NEVER FOR AN INSTANT had Si Cwan thought he would find himself helpless before Lodec, the senate speaker of Danter..." (more)
Key Phrases: conference lounge, conn station, ops station, Captain Calhoun, Captain Shelby, Robin Lefler (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Captain Mackenzie Calhoun has often been accused of playing God, but he has never faced off against real gods -- until now. As Captain Kirk did before him, Calhoun has encountered beings of unnatural power and abilities verging on godhood, and who claim to be the very individuals who inspired the Greek, Roman, Norse, and, other pantheons from Earth culture.

These beings say that all they want is our worship, and in return for it will provide us with a peaceful galaxy-wide paradise of perfect health and endless pleasure. When the Federation, in the person of Captain Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur, refused their offer, the resulting battle left Morgan Primus dead and Lieutenant Mark McHenry, whose own powers over time and space had proved to be substantial, in a limbo beyond death.

Now, with a wounded ship and an injured crew, Captain Calhoun, along with Captain Shelby and the crew of the Trident, must face these god-like beings once again, with the fate of galactic civilization at stake.

About the Author

Peter David is a prolific Star Trek author whose novels include IMZADI, TRIANGLE, Q-IN-LAW, Q-SQUARED and the NEW FRONTIER series, featuring Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the USS Excalibur, specially created for Pocket Books.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743418581
• ISBN-13: 978-0743418584
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 13 in The Star Trek: New Frontier Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ST-New Frontier: Gods Above, January 10, 2004

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Star Trek-New Frontier: Gods Above written by Peter David is an adventure that takes you on a ride of a lifetime. This book continues where "Being Human" has left off and takes us through an interesting story about The Beings.

The Beings are made of energy and can take the shape of Earthlike pseudo-Egyptian-Greco-Roman-Norse-Mesopotamian-Gods i.e. Apollo, Artemis, Thoth, Anubis, Woden, and Hermes just to name a few. The Beings need worship to derive their energy and to get the people to worship them they hand out ambrosia to guarantee continued compliance.

This book continues the storyline of Mackenzie Calhoun the captain of the U.S.S. Excalibur along with Captain Elizabeth Shelby for the U.S.S. Trident as they face these god-like beings in a show down. Freedom of thought vs. total compliance and worship of a pseudo-god are what's at stake. This book takes us from the Excalibur to the Trident to the planet Danter as we read on. There are twists and turns as McHenry is in a self-imposed state of stasis and is experiencing out of body experiences. The Danteri run off SiCwan and Kalinda as the Thallonians tried to pose a government with them as the head, only to be rescued by an icon in the Trek universe.

This is a well-crafted story with plenty of action-adventure to go around. The beginning of the book is a little slow going as David sets-up the story, but there is plenty of character interaction and interplay to make the story interesting as it begins to take stride. There is a good space battle scene and as space begins to open up and things happen. There are scenes in this book that take us back to adventures of Kirk and crew and the original Enterprise-1701.

All in all, this was a good, fast and interestingly enjoyable read. I gave it a solid 5 stars and it is worth the purchase price. A point of fact, I have NOT read anything by Peter David that was a dud, he is a very intertaining author that writes a well-told story.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The New Frontier is getting a little heavy-handed., October 4, 2003

By	Jonathan Burgoine "bookseller" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The latest installment in Peter David's "New Frontier" series got a little out of hand in its plot, but was ultimately enjoyable.

When we last saw the crew (or, I should say, 'crews,' since Shelby's crew on the Trident is now just as much a part of the plot as Calhoun's on the Excalibur), they were getting beaten to a pulp by the ancient gods of historical earth, and we'd learned that Mark McHenry had, in his ancestry, one of those gods - Apollo. In the episode of the original series with Apollo, he took a lady lieutenant aside, and apparently, they conceived, which ultimately led to Mark and his odd abilities.

Since Mark told Calhoun not to trust the gods (including Artemis, his childhood friend and adolescent lover), the gods smacked the Excalibur to heck and back, killing eight crewmembers, including Robin Lefler's apparently not-so-immortal mother, and leaving McHenry in a strange dead-but-not-decaying state.

And that's just the set up at the start of this novel. Si Cwan is back on Danter, trying to rekindle the Thallonian empire (but one of the gods is also on Danter, handing out ambrosia, and things get awkward, fast). The role of the gods, ambrosia, and the effect it is having on the quadrant is the main plot of the story, and done interestingly, if a tad over the top, and of course, the McHenry story (like he'd really be totally dead). Ditto Robin's mother.

The 'B' plot is the continuing story arc on the Trident of Lieutenant M'Ress, Lieutenant Commander Gleau, and Lieutenant Commander Arex - a twisted little love and hate and potential murder triangle that leaves one a little confused at best. Kat Meuller, Shelby's XO, gets quite a bit of attention in this book, and it's a good thing, but Peter David's tendancy to make everyone lust after the wrong person is starting to get a tad trite.

I was looking forward to this book, so I think I was a little let down by holding it up a little high in my expectations. It has some great one-liners (a David trademark), and the plot advances in some significant ways, so I cannot complain overmuch. It was good enough, just a little heavy on the coincidence.

'Nathan

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best New Frontier Book Ever --spoiler heavy, September 27, 2003

By	J. McCain "Jim McCain" (Shreveport, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Peter David scores a home run with God's Above. This latest installment has major changes in store for many of our characters and plenty of action. The last book left us with McHenry and Morgan Primus appearing to dead. We have a unique resolution to these to characters that will leave some pleased and some and leave some a bit sad. S'Cwan finally finds out how Lefler feels about him. New information is learned about Moke and we see a major change for the better with Zak Kebron and find out the reason for his behavior in the past that will surprise many. If you disliked Zak in the past you will probably find him more to your liking at the end of the book. I for one cant wait to see where New Frontier will lead. I would love to see them tie up with Captain Riker for a story.