Forged in Fire (Star Trek: Excelsior) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Michael A. Martin (Author), Andy Mangels (Author)
Key Phrases: isomiotic hypos, warp trail, biogenic weapon, Captain Styles, Qul Tuq, Commander Sulu (more...)

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Product Description

AN UNTOLD TALE OF STAR TREK ®

HISTORY REVEALED AT LAST.

A vicious pirate known as the Albino is cutting a deadly swath across space, creating turmoil in the Klingon Empire that threatens to spill into the Federation. But this criminal also has a secret that could shake the halls of Imperial power, and his genocidal plans against the race that bore him will have consequences even he cannot imagine, as several unlikely allies join swords to bring the Albino to justice: Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior; Klingon captains Kor, Koloth, and Kang; and a hotheaded young Federation diplomat named Curzon Dax. Tempered in the flames of their shared adversity, a captaincy is forged, a Blood Oath is sworn...and a hunt begins that will stretch from one generation to the next.

About the Author

Michael A. Martin's solo short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. He has also coauthored (with Andy Mangels) several Star Trek comics for Marvel and Wildstorm and numerous Star Trek novels and eBooks, including the USA Today bestseller Titan: Book One: Taking Wing; Titan: Book Two: The Red King; the Sy Fy Genre Award-winning Star Trek: Worlds of Deep Space 9 Book Two: Trill -- Unjoined; Star Trek: The Lost Era 2298 -- The Sundered; Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Mission: Gamma: Vol. Three: Cathedral; Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31 -- Rogue; Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #30 and #31 ("Ishtar Rising" Books 1 and 2); stories in the Prophecy and Change, Tales of the Dominion War, and Tales from the Captain's Table anthologies; and three novels based on the Roswell television series. His work has also been published by Atlas Editions (in their Star Trek Universe subscription card series), Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Visible Ink Press, The Oregonian, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books for young readers. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Portland, Oregon.

Andy Mangels is the USA Today bestselling author and coauthor of over a dozen novels -- including Star Trek and Roswell books -- all cowritten with Michael A. Martin. Flying solo, he is the bestselling author of several nonfiction books, including Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Characters and Animation on DVD: The Ultimate Guide, as well as a significant number of entries for The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes as well as for its companion volume, The Supervillain Book.

In addition to cowriting several more upcoming novels and contributing to anthologies, Andy has produced, directed, and scripted a series of sixteen half-hour DVD documentaries for BCI Eclipse, for inclusion in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVD box sets.

Andy has written hundreds of articles for entertainment and lifestyle magazines and newspapers in the United States, England, and Italy. He has also written licensed material based on properties from numerous film studios and Microsoft, and his two decades of comic book work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Image, Innovation, and many others. He was the editor of the award-winning Gay Comics anthology for eight years.

Andy is a national award-winning activist in the Gay community, and has raised thousands of dollars for charities over the years. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his long-term partner, Don Hood, their dog, Bela, and their chosen son, Paul Smalley. Visit his website at www.andymangels.com.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416547169
• ISBN-13: 978-1416547167
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #363,023 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, February 7, 2008

By	TJAMES03 (CA) - See all my reviews

A great book featuring some of the more underused TREK characters (Janice Rand, Christine Chapel, etc.). Everything fits together perfectly. Also, we FINALLY find out why the Trills seen on TNG's ep. "The Host" look different from all of the other Trills shown on DS9 (I am going to use the reason to also explain why a few other TREK species underwent different looks at different times).

I really wish that there were more EXCELSIOR novels out there, BTW (listen up authors!).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sulu, Excelsior, Klingons, oh my!, February 6, 2008

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

One of the strengths of many Star Trek novels is the ability to fill in continuity gaps left by the various television series. At times they can go too far, but if the book tells a good story as well as filling in the hole, I'm all for it. Thus, when a novel like Excelsior: Forged in Fire comes along, I have to stand up and take notice of it. This book is fairly dense, but it is marvelous. I enjoyed it so much that I could hardly find any flaws in it.

I'll get the first and only real criticism out of the way here. The threat to Sulu and his daughter seems tacked on, to make him even more involved in the story than he really needs to be. I think it's enough that he's involved in the events that set the blood oath into motion. Due to his past history with the Albino, he had every reason to take part in the events here. Tacking on the attempt to murder Demora seemed pointless.

That being said, the rest of this novel is riveting. Almost 500 pages, with small text, it has to be one of the longest Trek books ever (certainly the longest not written by David R. George III), yet it's almost impossible to put down. Martin & Mangels' prose just flows off the page. Whether it's a tactical briefing, a discussion between a former first officer and his new acting first officer who doesn't appear to like him, or whether it's an action scene, it all just grabs you and won't let you go. I've always enjoyed their storytelling, and Forged in Fire is no exception.

Even better is the characterization, with not a false note in the bunch. Sulu is his typical self, having learned from Jim Kirk when it's time to go against orders and follow what you believe is right. They get Captain Styles down pat, fleshing out his character from the arrogant boob who was in Star Trek III yet still making him recognizable. It seems Starfleet brass has seen fit to force Sulu upon him, despite the fact that it was Sulu's mentor who embarrassed him in front of the entire fleet. Yet despite not liking Sulu, he demonstrates why he deserves at least some respect as a captain. Finally, Dax and the three Klingons are picture-perfect. They even manage to give the Albino a believable and interesting back story.

The best thing about Forged in Fire, at least in my eyes, is the way Mangels and Martin handle the continuity. Filling this many holes in Trek history (Sulu taking command of Excelsior, Dax and the Klingons, they even manage to throw in how these three Klingons went from having a smooth forehead to the bumpy ones between the two television series!), it would be very easy to mire the book in a swamp of continuity references. But they don't do that. In fact, they seem to make a lot of assumptions that readers will generally know all of this stuff. The references are there, but they pass by quickly and then move on.

Forged in Fire is a must-read for almost any Star Trek fan. Not only does it explain a lot of things, it's just a rollicking good Star Trek novel. Even for those uninitiated into the whole Trek phenomenon, this book would be good. Despite being a prequel of sorts, it's definitely a standalone novel. Though if you find yourself fascinated with this whole situation, you may have to track down the episode to see what eventually happens. All in all, this is a stellar Trek book.

David Roy

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost 5 Stars, September 9, 2008

By	James Yanni (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Have you ever wondered why the Klingons in Star Trek (the Original Series) looked basically like swarthy humans, while in the movies and later series, they had brow ridges that wouyld have prevented them from EVER being mistaken for humans? (OK, we all know the real reason is the the original series didn't have much of a makeup budget, while the movies and later series had the budget to make their aliens look a bit more ALIEN.) But that's not a very satisfying answer to those geeky enough to want their Star Trek world to be internally consistent, so in the Deep Space Nine episode, "Trials & Tribblations", in which the Defiant crew go back in time to the date of the original series episode, "Trouble With Tribbles", the issue is acknowledged (but far from addressed) when Worf, responsing to his cohorts' confusion at seeing Klingons with no brow ridges, simply snarls, "We don't talk about that." Later, in another Deep Space Nine episode, we see Kor, Kang, and Koloth (three Klingons that we saw in the original series & animated series with smooth foreheads) as older men, and they had brow ridges.

An attempt at explaining this internal inconsistency away was made in an episode of "Enterprise". That explanation is expanded upon in this book, and it is done well enough that I'm willing to consider it the final word on the subject. In addition, this book shows the first adventure of Sulu as Captain of the Excelsior, as well as the first adventure of Curzon Dax. It is, for the most part, a delightful book and the only reason that I do not rate it five stars is that in the beginning of it, the transitions between time periods (it relates events happening in several different periods of time) are rather choppy and difficult to follow; otherwise it is excellent.