World Famous Comics: Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night
Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night
By: David Mack Publisher: Star Trek Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Star Trek Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 400 Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Product Description: Half a decade after the Dominion War and more than a year after the rise and fall of Praetor Shinzon, the galaxy's greatest scourge returns to wreak havoc upon the Federation -- and this time its goal is nothing less than total annihilation.
Elsewhere, deep in the Gamma Quadrant, an ancient mystery is solved. One of Earth's first generation of starships, lost for centuries, has been found dead and empty on a desolate planet. But its discovery so far from home has raised disturbing questions, and the answers harken back to a struggle for survival that once tested a captain and her crew to the limits of their humanity.
From that terrifying flashpoint begins an apocalyptic odyssey that will reach across time and space to reveal the past, define the future, and show three captains -- Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise, TM William Riker of the U.S.S. Titan, and Ezri Dax of the U.S.S Aventine -- that some destinies are inescapable.
The origin of the Borg This saga is one I have been waiting for for a long time. It gives us a glimpse how the Borg started. The three book series leads to all the events in the current series of novels. David Mack has all the characters portrayed just as they would on the TV series. I liked so much, in fact I didn't want story to end.
The story crosses over from Captain Archer's time to the present era with Picard. Not wanting to give away too much, I have to say this one set of books is good for repeated readings. There is so much in the way of character development and action; it would have made a terrific movie trilogy.
I have to wonder Paramount doesn't want to return Star Trek back on the air again. It's not like there would not be millions of fans ready to embrace the show again.
Best Star Trek Series in a long time Except for a couple books about Q I read as a child that have a fond place in my heart for sentimental reasons, this is the best book and series in the Star Trek universe.
David Mack is superb. Read this book. But dont waste your time ordering one at a time, order the whole series right now.
So So I've read easily over a hundred Star Trek novels throughout the years, mostly while during my college years. I continue to read them here and there when I get time. In general, I love the characters and find them a good read, or I wouldn't keep reading.
With this book, I think the overall story is good, but I do have some criticisms. First, there are just too many characters. I ended up caring for none of them really. Some character development would have been nice, but with three crews it's a bit hard to find the time I suppose.
Another criticism was the Riker and Troy story line. Some parts of it had me rolling my eyes. It's not that I don't have sympathy for the characters dilemna, but rather I found his reaction to be out of character and hence unbelievable. Troi's behavior on the other had seemed consistent with her character but equally annoying.
And last, while some of the writing was good, I thought it was a bit inconsistent with some passages seeming amateurish.
These are just my opinions however. No offense to anyone who found it five out of five stars. I will download the preview for the next book in the series to my iphone before deciding whether or not to buy it.
Incidentally, this is the third disappointing Star Trek book I've read in the last two months. Too bad.
Trek Rises to New Heights I have progressed through several layers of Trekker-hood. Initially, I scoffed at Trek offerings beyond the orignal series cast. The seventh Trek film, featuring Captains Kirk and Picard, was my first exposure to the Next Generation. My fondness for all things Federation forced me to admit that I enjoyed it. I was hooked, and soon became enthralled by the superior story arc of Deep Space Nine. In short order, my love for Trek grew to include all of the television shows. But all series eventually end, and once Enterprise was cancelled, I tried to fill the sad and sudden void through reading. To my dismay, many of the authors seemed more interested in showing off their knowledge of science than in tearing off a ripping good story. The Star Trek: Destiny trilogy has decisively changed all that, and it begins with the first book, Gods of Night. Present here are extensively developed characters and cultures both familiar and brand new. Readers will encounter events separated by centuries--and sometimes millenia--but with a clear impact on one another. There are gasp-inducing encounters with arch enemies, genuine and serious moral dilemmas, exasperating political maneuverings, and finally, loads of ACTION!!!!! Star Trek: Destiny is no physics textbook; it's about multiple species trying to overcome their own frailties and survive the machinations of ruthless and implacable enemies. David Mack puts to work all of familiar features that true Trekkers crave to create an entirely new direction for the Federation to follow. Longstanding fans should find this trilogy, and the subsequent books that have sprung Athena-like from it, a joyful addition to the canon.
Lots of complexity, modest payoffs to the casual Trekker I've watched all of the Star Trek shows and movies and am old enough to have seen ST:TOS in first run as a kid, but I've never been real big on Trek novels. I've enjoyed some of the classics, such as SPOCK'S WORLD and FEDERATION, and even read some more recent novels, such as TAKING WING, the first in the Titan series, but I'm no more than a casual reader. This review is aimed at people like me.
You probably already know the outlines of the story: The Borg have for some reason decided attack Federation colonies, annihilating rather than assimilating their populations. Picard's Enterprise and Riker's Titan (yes, he has a command) become caught up both in trying to defend the Federation and in trying to discover why the Borg have changed their goals and how they have managed to slip deep into Federation space. Ezri Dax's Aventine (yes, she has a command, too) is investigating an old mystery that might have some relevance to fighting the Borg: How did the USS Columbia, a contemporary of Capt. Archer's Enterprise, end up wrecked in the Gamma Quadrant, much farther from Earth than it could traveled in two centuries at warp 5? The answers to all of the novel's mysteries apparently involve some heretofore undiscovered aliens who are advanced, shy, pacific, and not perhaps as bright as they think they are.
You might think that bringing together characters from Enterprise (Capt. Hernandez of the Columbia was a colleague and sometime lover of Capt. Archer), The Next Generation (Worf, etc.), Deep Space 9 (Dax), and Voyager (Tuvok) would be loads of fun. It's really not. When put together with a full cast of supporting characters, there are just too many people to keep track of, much less care about. When Mack focuses on individual characters, the result is sometimes engaging, as when he details Ezri Dax's insecurity in her new position, but it is sometimes unnervingly awkward, as when Ra-Havreii tries to follow through with his crush on Pazlar (two Titan officers), and sometimes jarring, as when he delves into well-meaning efforts by the Titan's XO and doctor to convince Troi to terminate her pregnancy. And then there's Beverly Crusher's pregnancy ... The combination of too many characters and too much Gray's Anatomy is not all that appealing to me.
Then there are the aliens -- the "new life and new civilizations" that are a must for any Star Trek tale. They may be able to do as many as six impossible things before breakfast, but they're wan, foolish, and disappointing, with not one-tenth the whoa! factor of the Borg or even the Q.
In any event, do not be fooled by the five-star reviews others have given: this novel is OK, but it is no classic. If you're like me, you will not be deeply disappointed, but you will still find yourself skimming some parts and rolling your eyes at other parts. Keep that in mind and you'll be fine.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
