it saddened me to see that this book is no longer in print. it has to be the best star trek book ive ever read. it chronicles the life of 2 people, one human and one vulcan and their very diffrent lifes and how through everything from their being kidnapped by klingons and romulans to life and death situations their friendship grows stronger still. anyone that likes the relationship between kirk and spock will truly love this book.

This is the ONLY book i have ever read that brought me to tears. It has NOTHING to do with star trek, so if you don't like "trek" books your safe to buy this.

I can't believe pocket isn't reissueing this book like mad, it is SO overlooked.

The two previous reviewers just about said it all, and I can't add much more than my endorsement of this book. I read this book for the first time when it was first released, and it has yet to be surpassed by any other Trek book I've read since. Like the previous reviewer pointed out, it was written before the writers' guidelines were established for Trek novels, and the result is an engaging, original story. I wish Pocket Books would throw out the formula guidelines and bring us more books like this one.

I also enjoyed Margaret's book co-authored with Nichelle Nichols, "Saturn's Child", and look forward to its upcoming sequel.

I fell in love with Saturn's Child when I first read it three years ago. And I'm still dying to find out what happens to Saturna. The first time I read it I couldn't put it down. Now all I want to do is pick up the sequel. So if you want an excellent read and you have the patience to wait, Saturn's Child is the book for you.

Ms. Nichols has written a wonderful book of an intergalactic, forbidden love which has resulted in an extraordinary hybrid child called Saturna. I love the romance shared between Nyota Domonique and Tetrok of Fazis, I loved the beautiful Saturna, loved the WiseOne Krecis. I can't wait to revisit these characters again!

I 'm reading the book a second time to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time. I like the love story that evolved between Nyota and Tetrok. I love the calm, peaseful, trusting nature of the Fazisians and would love to meet them. I'm waiting breathlessly for the next book.

Science Fiction writer Karen Rohmer Guerreri has been through a lot, but now she's got to write herself out of the death of an entire planet. Of the entire species of TQ (third kind alien), only her sometimes-lover Govannon remains--and he only sort of. He's counting on her to write her way to a solution for him and all of his kind. Naturally Karen doesn't have a clue what to write, but the story of Anna, the woman who just might be Joseph Goebbels' illegitimate daughter, keeps coming into her mind. So, without computer, paper, or pen, Karen writes the story. Naturally there are plenty of moments for her to back off and try to sort out where she is in her own life and to sort out the memories that belong to other people and species entirely but that seem to lodge in her mind without much of an invitation.

Neo-nazis have decided that Goebbels was truly the spiritual head of the Third Reich, and that his daughter is the best person to pick up the pieces and create a new German nation. That she's married to a Jew doesn't matter--he can quietly fade into the background. That she just might know the secret to the fabled amber room--looted by the Nazis from Russia and then lost but possibly not destroyed--means that they can actually find the financing for their dream. What Anna wants doesn't matter to them and she is drawn into their plot.

PRETERNATURAL3 is a funny and witty book. Readers who are familiar with the world or writing and the endangered midlist author will share in-group laughs with author Margaret Wander Bonanno and her alter ego Karen. Anna's adventure, and the over-adventure of the hoped for restoral of Govannon's race are compelling enough to keep the reader entertained, but the real justification for this novel is Bonanno's quirky view of the world and her insights into human nature, writing, and time. PRETERNATURAL3 will definitely repay the reader's time in smiles and outright laughs. But just how did she get the novel published through your standard New York editor?

Apparently, Govannon's race's effortlessly traveling through the gats of time ends when a hiccup occurs that leaves the alien people stranded in a void between dimensions. Govannon may be the last of the Mohegans unless he can patch up the flaw in the timeline. He is also stranded and forced to don a human form, which obviously equates to death or marriage and taxes. His human friend Karen, whom he met while Julius Caesar ruled, knows she must save Govannon from either odious fate.

Karen visits Govannon's home planet Relic though he cannot do so for some unknown reason. She enters the Museum, an edifice that contains the history of Govannon's race, in order to create the story of Govannon and his travels. Her theory is that everything will return to normal (whatever that disgustingly is) when Govannon re-finds his alien self once she writes up his memoirs.

As with the first two PRETERNATURAL novels, 3 is a wild science fiction ride that tears into anything and everything that gets in its path. The plot contains multiple story line to include that described above and a Neo-Nazi kidnapping that Margaret Wander Bonanno blends together while acerbically satirizing the universe, ironically including the publishing world being a road kill victim too. Margaret Wander Bonanno takes HG Wells and turns him upside down, in and out, and around. No one does time travel quite as zany and entertainingly as this author does proving that great things obviously comes in threes.

Harriet Klausner

In the fourth Star Trek film, the earth was menaced by a powerful, apparently benevolent yet unwittingly destructive probe. We never find out that much about the probe, except for its interest in whales as the dominant life forms of earth. In this sequel, the probe makes another appearance, this time upsetting relations between the peace loving federation and the Romulan empire. The crew of the Enterprise is sent to investigate, roughly cooperating with the never trustworthy Romulans. In the course of the story, the crew learns much about the probe and its interest in sentient and aquatic life forms.

From a weak premise (built on another story), Margaret Wander Bonanno (I love that name) spins a fun story. The charahcters are good (including the Romulans who could just as easily be dismissed as sly villains) and the prose are crisp. But most of all is the probe which the author cleverly conceals in mystery even as she reveals it. A good read for non-Trekkers as well.

Margaret Wander Bonanno delivers an exciting science fiction adventure as she continues the story begun in the vastly entertaining Star Trek IV. The novel takes place in the aftermath of the mysterious Probe's visit to Earth, and follows the incredibly powerful alien device as it proceeds on its own continuing mission. The storyline also concerns a proposed peace summit between the Federation and the Romulan Empire that may or may not be legitimate. Besides the intricate plot, great detail is given to defining the characters, while the appropriate amount of suspense provides the novel with an edge. While trying to follow the immensely successful Star Trek IV with an comparably exciting novel is an extremely difficult task, Probe does not disappoint.

Star Trek-The Original Series: Probe written by Margaret Wander Bonanno continues where Star Trek IV: "The Voyage Home" leaves off.
The mysterious probe looking of intellegent aquatic life is now invading Romulan space.

"Probe" is a well-written book that conveys plenty of action-adventure to the reader and puts the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew in unparalled danger. As you've seen in Star Trek IV, this probe's purpose was peace and only used its powers for defense.

As the Federation warns the Romluan Empire to leave the probe alone, you all know the Romulans, they won't listen to hat the Federation says. The Romulans experience the awesome power the probe weilds first hand as the Praetor of the Romulan Empire dies. Leaving the Empire in relative chaos, treachery is the game only the Romulans know best.

Peace talks between the Romulans and the Federation are being held on a small planet in the Neutral Zone when words no longer are sufficient... action is going to be the only way the Romulans are going to listen.

This books narrative flows right along as the reader gets well engrossed in the story. The Romulans are true to form and the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew are again in the middle of the action... where confrontation not only with the probe, but with the Romulan Empire is just an eye blink away.

This story fills in a lot to the gaps the film left hanging or on the cutting room floor. This is a excellent adventure, you will not be dissapointed.

It's clear that the author of this book was attempting to be clever with her allusions to various Star Trek-like actors. Unfortunately, it comes off as painfully precious. I have a hard time even describing how much I disliked this book. It is, hands down, the worst book I have read in years...boring, boring, boring.

Karen Rohmer Guerreri is writing an SF novel -- working title, "Preternatural" -- by taking dictation from telepathic ET jellyfish in her head. "Talking jellyfish!" sneers her soon-to-be ex-husband Ray. "You'll never sell this!" Gerald Jonas' NY Times review (above) is right on. Nobody's perfect -- but Preternatural comes pretty darn close. Not to be missed.

I haven't even finished the book yet, I don't read quite as much as I used to anymore, but this book has me right back to loving to read. I don't need to synopsize it for you cause there are already plenty of those above. But if you like Star Trek and enjoy any kind of narrative complexity, or if you *hate* Star Trek and just love a good read, this is a really fun book. Kind of reminds me of a similar book, about a fantasy writer who got involved with the reality of her fantasy, someone email me with the title and author if you can remember it, that one was also literary-experimental and still easy-to-read. About ten years ago, I think the author was Kathryn something. In-something...

if you liked dwellers in the crucible, and want more, this is the book for you.

Two races, living on isolated continents, inhabit a fertile planet. The Others are a peaceful, technologically-advanced, spiritual species, reminiscent of Vulcans (except without the hint of repressed emotion). They live lives of quiet contemplation and inner growth. The People are a warlike, unsophisticated, primitive race with a culture and technological level similar to Earth's European feudal period. Eventually, after an initial period of hero-worship by the People of The Others, the barbaric impulse to genocide causes the People to turn the technological gifts of The Others against them. Any interesting tale that reminded me of Michael Moorcock's "Chronicles of Corum" in which savage humans (Mabden) destroy a decadent, advanced race out of jealosy. I think also that there is a strong Star Trek influence in the portrayal of The Others (i.e. the Vulcans) and in the situation (remember the original series episode where "Nazis" are warring against their racial "inferiors" who were at one time their benefactors.) It was irritating to me to have the author create a race that seemed to have NO concept of self-defence even when their children and their entire existence is threatened but that may be a sign of how real this imaginary world was. Worth-looking for. Imagine, I found my hardback copy at a Rehab Hospital so something good came out of my accident!

Margaret Wander Bonanno's biography is well-worth reading, despite the fact that it was published quite some time ago (in 1987). The author clearly admires Angela Lansbury. The biography provides a warm and respectful recounting of Ms. Lansbury's life and career up to that point without fawning. The subject of the biography is treated as a real person, not as an idol.

There is a thread weaving its way through the storyline of this (mostly well-written) first novel: the growing pains of two women at very different points in their lives, whose paths cross and who ultimately become each other's stalwart defender and champion. With the exception of some unnecessarily intense and terse dialogue, the characters prove to be interesting enough to hold the reader.

It is revealed in the liner notes that the author herself attended a small Catholic college much like the one in her story. Our brilliant protagonist, Sarah Morrow, is an aging yet still popular Chaucer scholar, whose personal tragedy does not become her downfall - on the contrary, her personal relationships with her former students: one devastatingly handsome Jesuit priest and Joan, a young divorced mother, are what hold her together throughout a long process of renewal.

This story demonstrates the power of inner strength over political and personal adversity. If you enjoy references to Long Island, the LIRR, medieval literature and don't mind an occasional jaunt into one woman's personal philosophy about the restrictions of Catholic academic politics (with a few expletives NOT deleted), then you will come away from reading this book with a newfound appreciation for the strength inherent in the lives of women who don't let adversity get them down!

This book is a little different than most Trek. It focuses mainly on interpersonal interaction between two women. I enjoyed it, especially since the interaction of two women is so rarely seen in the Star Trek universe. And it is a complex and interesting interaction, since one of them is Vulcan and one is human. It might also be a good book for people interested in Vulcans because one of the main characters is a female Vulcan and the book goes into some depth on Vulcan culture, and not necessarily the soft side of it either, although that too is discussed. I'd like to add more, but really can't without spoiling it.

The basic plot device used to set up this story, which undergirds the whole plot, is that the Federation uses a system of "Warrantors of the peace"; basically, they're hostages for the good behavior of their people, and if their planet breaks the peace, they're killed. This system is a carryover from an ancient Vulcan system.

The only problem is, there's absolutely no way that the Federation would use such a foolish, barbaric system, and it CERTAINLY wouldn't be of Vulcan origin if they did. I mean, Vulcans don't even have a death penalty for brutal, severe crimes. They certainly wouldn't approve of, much less originate, a system where an innocent was hostage to the good behavior of their government, even if it WAS an effective system...which it wouldn't be, if you think about it. All this system would do is to give an unfair advantage to those political leaders who are harsh enough to have no one whose well-being they care about, and to dissuade gentle leaders who care about their potential Warrantor from becoming involved in government. I found this concept a distracting and implausible concept, one that I could not manage to suspend disbelief for.

Which is a shame, because other than this one very unworkable concept that is essential to the storyline, this is a marvellous story, well-told and with excellent characters. It is not, properly, a story of the Enterprise and our usual cast of characters; they have their roles to play, but are only secondary characters. So if you are looking for a traditional Star Trek story of Kirk, Spock, etc, this isn't what you're looking for. But if you are looking for a fine story set in the Star Trek universe, and can overlook the previously mentioned problem, this is a fine read.

See the friendship of a vulcan & human put thru the gauntlet.
This book is an extreme depature from the later star trek books.

A thoroughly outstanding effort. Margaret did a wonderful job joining together time itself, as well as pointing out the basic fears we have of the unknown. While at times, the story seemed drawn, it became a fast-paced novel as the individual story lines began to collide. I found the tie to one of the original Star Trek episodes intriguing, with the development of character relationships that actually went a long way toward explaining the TV episode itself. An even more intriguing relationship was the tie to Medievil lore. I highly recommend it.

The audio adaptation of this book feels a bit too heavily abridged. I could readily sense that there was much more to this. I enjoyed some elements of the story very much. Spock seeking out his human grandfather was a brilliant touch. I also liked the reference to a "missing" DY-100 class vessel in a launch facility (Khan was here). Some of the story has been contradicted by Star Trek: First Contact, but that's of little consequence. The biggest negative I had was the sorceror. It's an obvious Merlin reference, and I didn't buy it. It was a plot device to get the time travel story going. George Takei's reading is very good. It's that voice of his.

Audio version is read by George Takei (Sulu). This story time line is before the first TV episode of "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The story, to me, follows like a typical TV episode. Maybe it was a screenplay theat never aired? Characters include Lee Kelso, Gary Mitchell,Elizabeth Daner, Spock, Kirk, and so on. Brief reference to Khan in the story. Story doesn't really follow the movie "First Contact". I didn't like the character of the sorceror either, as mentioned in another review. This is the only voice I didn't like George Takei doing. The sorcerer was used as an excuse for their time travel. All the other voices by Takei are great! Leonard Nimoy does Spock's voice a few times in transitions between chapters.