The Brave and the Bold, Book 1 (Star Trek) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Keith R. A. DeCandido (Author) "CAPTAIN, I believe you should come down to see this..." (more)
Key Phrases: sensor room, transporter room, energy signature, Rio Grande, Captain Keogh, Sierra City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

AN ALL-NEW ADVENTURE SPANNING THREE GENERATIONS!

The Malkus Artifacts: four deadly machines, wielded as weapons of absolute power by an interstellar tyrant thousands of years ago and scattered across the Alpha Quadrant when he was overthrown. After their existence was discovered in 2151 by Captain Jonathan Archer of the Starship Enterprise™, all Starfleet vessels were warned to keep an eye out for these most dangerous devices...

One hundred years later, Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise and Commodore Matt Decker of the U.S.S. Constellation come across the first artifact on the colony world of Alpha Proxima II -- a world ravaged by a mysterious plague. As the crews of the two mighty vessels work to find a cure and locate the artifact, two brave captains must bring order to Proxima before it's too late!

One hundred years after that, Commander Benjamin Sisko of Station Deep Space 9™ enlists the aid of Captain Declan Keogh of the U.S.S. Odyssey to help construct a farming colony on Bajor's second moon -- but the colony is placed in jeopardy when the Bajoran terrorist Orta discovers the second artifact and threatens destruction on a massive scale!

About the Author

Keith R.A. Decandido is the author of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelization, The Xander Years Volume One, and is known to Star Trek fans as the author of Perchance to Dream, a Star Trek: The Next Generation comicbook miniseries published by Wildstorm. He is the editor of Marvel Comics' tie-in novels and of several science-fiction and fantasy anthologies.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743419227
• ISBN-13: 978-0743419222
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,124,528 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mix of the old and the new, March 31, 2003

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The Brave & the Bold is an interesting concept. It is a series of four novellas contained in two books, each novella involving one of the four Trek television series, with a prologue that involves the fifth. Not only is the concept intriguing, but DeCandido does a wonderful job with the first book. It contains a wonderful mix of the characters we know and the ones that he has created, along with characters who were briefly shown in a television episode whom he has fleshed out to a great degree. The first book is a knockout punch, and I enjoyed it very much.

DeCandido has created a very logical way to bring the five television series together into one set of books. It does feel a bit stretched, as yet again the main cast of each show are involved in the same events, but at least DeCandido involves other ships and people as well, lessening that impact a little bit. DeCandido makes good use of the formerly incidental characters from the television series to flesh out the story. Even better, though, the stories are told completely from their viewpoint, so that all of the familiar characters that we know and love are seen from an outsider's view. I found this very effective, as we got to see our heroes as other see them without delving into their thought processes.

In the first story, DeCandido has created a vibrant crew that is interesting to read about. Decker is the only character from the television series, all other characters being original. Decker matches what little we know about him from the series, and the rest of the crew comes across very well also. Takashewada is Decker's no-nonsense first officer who keeps him in line when he wants to go against the book. She's completely against the imposition of martial law on the planet and is ready to tell Decker in no uncertain terms about it when she gets the chance. Fortunately for Decker, she never does, as the situation is resolved before that can happen. She's very determined but you can also tell that she really likes Decker, and that he finds her a very valuable officer. Dr. Rosenhaus is a bit too much of a Dr. Bashir (from the series Deep Space 9) clone, given that he's a young doctor excited to be out on the frontier. He's arrogant and thinks he can fix anything, as well as thinking that he knows better than some of the old hands. However, the relationship he develops with Dr. McCoy of the Enterprise is wonderful. When they first meet, sparks fly as arrogance clashes with experience and McCoy's crotchetiness. Soon, though, a healthy respect develops, especially after Rosenhaus goes off half-cocked and almost kills an experimental subject. Rosenhaus learns some humility when McCoy doesn't berate him (too much) for what happened. Other crew members do well in the limited parts that DeCandido gives them, and all of them seem to have distinct personalities no matter how little screen time they have.

Much the same can be said for the second story, and the crew of the Odyssey. DeCandido tries to do a couple of things in this story. In the television episode in which the Odyssey appears, there is a healthy dislike between Keogh and Lieutenant Dax. This story gives us the reason why, which helps flesh out Keogh and also provides another dimension to the episode. There aren't as many new characters in this story, but DeCandido does a good job with them as well. Especially effective is Orta, who is a Bajoran terrorist from a Next Generation television episode. DeCandido gives him a lot of background and broadens him a lot. He's a terrorist, not a freedom fighter. He fought Cardassians because he hated them, not because he wanted to free Bajor. DeCandido paints a wonderful picture of a man who's lost in his own insanity. When Orta finally makes his move, his reasoning keeps on changing as Kira and Dax point out the logical holes in each story he tells. Descending deeper and deeper into madness, you almost start feeling pity for him for what he's gone through and what he has finally become.

What I found most effective about these stories, at least to me as a Trek fan, is the sense of tragedy that is evoked. Both the Constellation and the Odyssey were destroyed with all hands in the television episodes where they appear. Both of these stories take place shortly before that. We are getting to know these characters, getting to like them, and then we realize that they are not going to survive much longer. I liked that, and it's a tribute to DeCandido's characterization that we wish we had more time with them. Also, the fact that most of the crew is created by DeCandido gives us the possibility that not all of the characters will survive the story, which provides a nice bit of extra tension.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the plot. The stories are interesting, but nothing that special. I found the characters much more interesting than the plot, which is just as well. The plots are almost Trek-by-numbers, which isn't always a bad thing, especially in a franchise series of books. They do their job well, and don't get in the way of the characters. I liked that. We don't get a lot of information about the Zalkat Union, which makes the artifacts little more than McGuffins, though they are at least used in each story. It's the characters that make this book worth reading, and any Trek fan will enjoy it because of that. If you like Star Trek, I think you will like this book. I just hope the second book in this series is as good as the first.

David Roy

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Star Trek: The Brave and the Bold, Book #1, December 4, 2002

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

Star Trek: The Brave and the Bold, Book One written by Keith R.A. DeCandido is the first book in a so far two book series that will encumpus all of the Star Trek genre.

This first book starts out with with Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Starship Enterprise NX-01. This portion of the story takes place shortly before the "Enterprise" first-season episode "Breaking the Ice." This adventure spans three generations of TREK as we will eventually fine out.

This whole story starts to unfold as Archer and his crew find evidence about what will be known as the Malkus Artifacts... four very deadly machines that wielded absolute power to the person who controlled them. One was capable of controlling the weather, one imparted a fatal virus, one served as an immensely powerful energy weapon, and the final device could be used to channel telepathy.

Archer decides to issue an all out alert warning to other vessels that the Federation needs to find these machines before they fall into the hands of those who would do ill with them... you see these machines emmit an energy signal that is unique to these machines, when they're active.

Now, the book carries us to the ST-TOS timeframe. This portion of the story takes place shortly before the STAR TREK first-season episode "Balance of Terror." This is where the artifacts are now being found. You see they were scattered throughout the Alpha Quadrant to keep others from getting total control of the awesome power when combined.

This book starts at 2151 in the Trek Universe, next 2266, and then 2370. So, we get a good sprinkling of the characters in these time frames. Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise and Commodore Matt Decker of the U.S.S. Constellation come across the first artifact on the colony world of Alpha Proxima II. This colony is plagued by disease... a mysterious plague that has the Federation has to stop. Order on Proxima is getting to a fever pitch where a cure needs to be found or all will be lost, the location of the artifact is paramount to the solution.

Now, around a hundred years later, Commander Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine, it's good to see his character in this book series again, is trying to start a farming colony on Bajor's second moon with the help of Captain Declan Keogh of the U.S.S. odyssey. You, guessed it the second artifact has been discovered and now a massive scales destruction threatens this operation. Bajoran terrorists, headed by Orta, are at the heart of this uprising.

This book is a very fast read and the action-adventure flows well as the Federation's best and brightest try to solve this very ancient mystery. I hope book two of this series is as good as this first one was, until then... I will report soon on the second book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbent Fiction, December 17, 2002

By	Daniel (RI) - See all my reviews

Star Trek The Brave and the Bold is a great book for thos who want a light read. The plot spans three decades, three Enterprises. They aren't short stories but they sort of reads like short stories. They each have a connection to each other. The first "story" i set in the time of the television show "Enterprise. It basically introduces you about what the Malkus artifacts are. It's only a couple pages long. The second "story" is set one hundred years later in the time of the show "Star Trek". The two star ships U.S.S. Constalation, and U.S.S. Enterprise(both Federation starships) are investigating a plague on the planet "Alpha Proxima". The next "story" is set another hundred years in the twenty third century. The two starships Oddysey and Deep Space 9(DS9) are working together to build a farming colony on "Bajors" second moon. But when a Bajoran terrorist named Orta who disguised himself as a farmer plans to hijack the Oddysey they see his what he truly wants.

The Brave and the Bold is a good light read. It reads like a Star Trek episode and might be a good read especially for Trekkies.