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Ship of the Line by Diane Carey
"Ship Of The Line" tells the story of the first voyage of the U.S.S Enterprise NCC1701-E, under the command of Morgan Bateson. Captain Bateson, a man from the 23rd century now living in the 24th, sees what no one else can see: that the Klingon Empire is building its forces and preparing to strike against the Federation. Seizing his one chance, Bateson takes the Enterprise on a mission to counter the Klingon threat, only to be thwarted by his enemy, a Klingon who has nursed a grudge against Bateson for decades. Standing in the way of Bateson's scheme and the Klingons' plan is Captain Jean-Luc Picard who, faced with the toughest decision of his career, must choose whether to take back command of the Enterprise or let the torch pass to yet another next generation!
This novel continued the narrative from Cause & Effect and focused on the period in between Generations and First Contact. While I'm not going to touch on the continuity issues between the related TNG episodes and the novels, I have to say I truly enjoyed reading the novel. Yes, in most of the parts in gets depressing and full of hostility over ships; yet in relation to the emotions involved after the destruction of the Enterprise-D... the grim mood is unavoidable.
It's an interesting read in exploring Picard's character... for having once again lost a ship under his command, despite his absence during the crash of the Enterprise-D. And it allowed you to further understand his extreme attachment to Enterprise-E later on in First Contact. And while some may argue that the scene where Picard gains a new outlook just watching 'a few episodes of TOS' be silly, I find Picard's interaction with the holo!Kirk very engaging. After all, Picard didn't manage to have a lot of conversation with Kirk in either the Nexus or in Veridian III. It's interesting to hear them debate against each other on what their captaincy of the Starship Enterprise meant to them.
It's also an exciting novel about starship love, of which I have no issue about.
Pantheon by Martin Jan Friedman
From Earth to the edge of our galaxy and beyond, from the early days of warp flight to the latter half of the twenty-fourth century, humankind and its alien partners in the Federation have looked to their heroes to expand the limits of their knowledge. And as each generation's pantheon of heroes has passed on into legend, a new generation has risen to take its place.
So it was with the crew of the S.S. Valiant, the first Earth vessel to cross the galactic barrier. So it was with the crew of the Starship Stargazer and her fledgling commander, Captain Jean-Luc Picard. And so it was with the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, the flagship of Starfleet, which Picard commanded with wisdom and temperate maturity.
Over the years, Fate has woven the voyages of these three vessels into a vivid skein of treachery and sacrifice, hardship and determination, tragedy and courage -- each step of the way demonstrating the immeasurable worth of the flawed but farseeing heroes who commanded them.
A good read to get a first glimpse of Picard's Stargazer days as well to the moment that lead to him inadvertantly being shoved to become the captain of the USS Stargazer. Having the two novels; The Valiant and Reunion, being republished as one full story really made this novel even more wholesome to read... as we're given not just one story of a starfleet crew in a starfleet spaceship but three.
It's a great story about the past that shaped Captain Jean-Luc Picard as we know him in the series.
"Ship Of The Line" tells the story of the first voyage of the U.S.S Enterprise NCC1701-E, under the command of Morgan Bateson. Captain Bateson, a man from the 23rd century now living in the 24th, sees what no one else can see: that the Klingon Empire is building its forces and preparing to strike against the Federation. Seizing his one chance, Bateson takes the Enterprise on a mission to counter the Klingon threat, only to be thwarted by his enemy, a Klingon who has nursed a grudge against Bateson for decades. Standing in the way of Bateson's scheme and the Klingons' plan is Captain Jean-Luc Picard who, faced with the toughest decision of his career, must choose whether to take back command of the Enterprise or let the torch pass to yet another next generation!
This novel continued the narrative from Cause & Effect and focused on the period in between Generations and First Contact. While I'm not going to touch on the continuity issues between the related TNG episodes and the novels, I have to say I truly enjoyed reading the novel. Yes, in most of the parts in gets depressing and full of hostility over ships; yet in relation to the emotions involved after the destruction of the Enterprise-D... the grim mood is unavoidable.
It's an interesting read in exploring Picard's character... for having once again lost a ship under his command, despite his absence during the crash of the Enterprise-D. And it allowed you to further understand his extreme attachment to Enterprise-E later on in First Contact. And while some may argue that the scene where Picard gains a new outlook just watching 'a few episodes of TOS' be silly, I find Picard's interaction with the holo!Kirk very engaging. After all, Picard didn't manage to have a lot of conversation with Kirk in either the Nexus or in Veridian III. It's interesting to hear them debate against each other on what their captaincy of the Starship Enterprise meant to them.
It's also an exciting novel about starship love, of which I have no issue about.
Pantheon by Martin Jan Friedman
From Earth to the edge of our galaxy and beyond, from the early days of warp flight to the latter half of the twenty-fourth century, humankind and its alien partners in the Federation have looked to their heroes to expand the limits of their knowledge. And as each generation's pantheon of heroes has passed on into legend, a new generation has risen to take its place.
So it was with the crew of the S.S. Valiant, the first Earth vessel to cross the galactic barrier. So it was with the crew of the Starship Stargazer and her fledgling commander, Captain Jean-Luc Picard. And so it was with the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, the flagship of Starfleet, which Picard commanded with wisdom and temperate maturity.
Over the years, Fate has woven the voyages of these three vessels into a vivid skein of treachery and sacrifice, hardship and determination, tragedy and courage -- each step of the way demonstrating the immeasurable worth of the flawed but farseeing heroes who commanded them.
A good read to get a first glimpse of Picard's Stargazer days as well to the moment that lead to him inadvertantly being shoved to become the captain of the USS Stargazer. Having the two novels; The Valiant and Reunion, being republished as one full story really made this novel even more wholesome to read... as we're given not just one story of a starfleet crew in a starfleet spaceship but three.
It's a great story about the past that shaped Captain Jean-Luc Picard as we know him in the series.
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