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Do Comets Dream? (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 
 
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Do Comets Dream? (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ S.P. Somtow (Author) "Your Excellencies: The advisory board on preliminary consideration of worlds for Federation status wishes to place the following document into the record..." (more)
Key Phrases: High Shivantak, Captain Picard, Simon Tarses (more...)
2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Every five thousand years, so the people of the planet Thanet believe, the world ends in fire and a new cycle of creation begins. Now the Last Days are once again upon them, and a fiery star draws near. This is the Death-Bringer, the Eater of the World, whose coming heralds the end of all things....

But to Captain Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise™; the Death-Bringer appears to be nothing but a rogue comet, easily destroyed. Picard faces a difficult dilemma: how can he save the Thanetians' rich and intricate civilization without destroying the very beliefs upon which their culture is based?

This quandary is challenge enough, yet the captain's position becomes even more complicated when Deanna Troi discovers that, incredibly, the comet is alive!

About the Author

S.P. Somtow is the author of more than forty books which have been translated into over a dozen languages. He has also published several hundred shorter pieces -- fiction and nonfiction -- under his birth name of Somotow Sucharitkul. Also an internationally known composer, he lives in Thailand and is related to the Thai royal family.
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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 262 pages
  • Publisher: Star Trek (July 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743411307
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743411301
  • Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #878,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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S.P. Somtow
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
Your Excellencies: The advisory board on preliminary consideration of worlds for Federation status wishes to place the following document into the record. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
High Shivantak, Captain Picard, Simon Tarses, Ambassador Straun, Commander Data, Deanna Troi, Counselor Troi, Holy Father, Robert Halliday, Adam Halliday, Commander Riker, Ensign Engvig, Holy Panvivlion, Beverly Crusher, Book of the Forbidden, Geordi La Forge, Lord Kaltenbis
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The Return by William Shatner
 

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (10)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.9 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Split down the middle., December 17, 2003
I've noticed that most of the reviews for this album are either 5 stars or 1...it seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it thing for most. As for me, I may have a rather unique perspective because I was very much of two minds about it. Since ultimately I chose to purchase and keep it for future re-reading, I rounded my 2.5 rating up to 3 stars (2 and 1 are for items I do not keep). In order to prepare for this review, I found myself keeping a pros-and-cons list so that I could try to accurately report both. I found, though, that on some of the very same points, I would feel one way about it one second and the opposite a moment later!

Perhaps the best thing that Do Comets Dream? had going for it was the rich descriptive prose. I do not always get vivid sensory impressions as I read, but in this case I could certainly envision myself in this colorful world. Similarly, the richness of the culture he devised was quite enticing, and I vastly preferred the scenes that delved into the history of Thanet to those involving the Enterprise crew. The reason for the existence of the thanopstru was certainly an engaging tale, as well as a look into the political machinations of Thanet.

However, I had mixed feelings about the heavy allusions to Earth culture and languages. On one hand, it was rather fascinating to try to pick them all out, but on the other, I also started to see it as a cheap substitute for inventiveness on the author's part. I would have been even more impressed by his inventing his own mythology rather than a retelling (even such a vivid one) of our own histories. Certain parallels were simply TOO close to be believable. For instance, what are the odds of another world developing root words such as "mnemo-" for memory and "thanop-" for death, which are close to words in ancient Greek holding the *same* meaning? This is where it becomes hard to suspend disbelief.

As I alluded to before, the scenes with the Enterprise crew were nowhere near as convincing as the ones involving characters of Somtow's own creation (with the exception of Simon Tarses, whom Somtow was pretty much on his own to describe, anyway). Another problem that I had with this book was the extremely shoddy editing job. I find myself wondering if Somtow was uncertain of what he wanted to name the young Icelandic student who won a tour on the Enterprise for winning an essay contest (Speaking of unrealistic--after the failure of the Enterprise-D, did Starfleet not decide that it was too dangerous to have children on board ship?). This is because I found the following three spellings: "Engvig", "Envig", and even "Envgvig". The fact that neither Somtow nor the editors rectified this glaring inconsistency is truly pathetic.

Overall, this book merits only a 2.5, but because it can offer an engaging read at times, I kept it and gave it the 3-star rating.

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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars ST-TNG: Do Comets Dream, July 2, 2003
Star Trek - The Next Generation: Do Coments Dream? written by S.P. Somtow is a quick fast paced book that gets right to the point. As the trailer states this book is about a comet that threatens the planet Thanet every five thousand years. Where life begins anew now, as Thanet has achieved space flight and warp capacity, they call upon the Federation for help.

This is an interesting story. I read it in one afternoon and enjoyed it. As I mentioned, this is a fast paced story. The book is divided into for distinct segments or parts:

Part One: The Reluctant Ambassador
Part Two: The Machine that was Mortal
Part Three: The Mortal that was a Michine
Part Four: The Planet that Waited for Death

Each of these parts are divided into chapters that have names of the subject of that chapter. This makes the reading fly by and there is interdispersed parts from the planet Thanet's Holy Panvivlion.

The character development was very descriptive and you could picture the character in your mind as you read on in the book. The principle Star Trek characters are Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Data and Deanna Troi with some minor characters thrown in for spice, like Simon Tarses which I could see his character come to life in the book.

All in all, you'll find the book an easy enjoyable read the action-adventure is not high, but the charater interplay was highly enjoyable making this a good change-of-pace book.

The ending is a suprise, so I'm not going to say anything but... interesting. This is a solid 5 star story with real life scenarios making for a very believable story and the character dialog was very descriptive.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The View from the Comet's Tail, July 24, 2003
By A Customer
It is as much a bane as a boon having to toil in a shared literary universe, especially in one as contrictive as Trek. If you are compelled to toss one of these things off for a quick buck without resort to pseudonym, one solution is to turn the main characters into generic spear-chuckers, investing instead in your guest characters. Another is to devise a culture so distinctive, it takes on the attributes of a character. Here, Somtow has done both. Not surprisingly, those who like their Trek straight and unadulterated may find themselves lost in space with this one. Those, however, who might be inclined to welcome the depiction of a world inspired by Hindu and other Asian cultural underpinnings will be amply rewarded. The funny, and maybe sad, thing here is that this novel could have worked quite well outside of the Trek universe and its often onerous literary restrictions.
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This book was a slight disappointment to me because, based on the title and the back-of-the-book synopsis I expected a far more philosophical view at the problem of the day. Read more
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1.0 out of 5 stars Is this really a Star Trek story?
My opinion of this book is that the author tried to work in some kind of connection with Star Trek just to get it published. Read more
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1.0 out of 5 stars Forget It!
I feel bad rating this book so low because I hate to give anything "Star Trek" a bad rap. I can't honestly recommend it to anyone with a clear conscience. Read more
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2.0 out of 5 stars Misfire
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1.0 out of 5 stars I want the last 4 hours of my life back!
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