After having read the book and have seen the movie, I must say that the book is deffinately worth reading. I also thought that the plot of the book was a combination of Star Trek 2 and Star Trek 6. Questionable as to whether this is the true end for this crew or not. The story is left so open for another, but that is also to be expected. I liked the end scenes in the book better than in the movie. All in all I would highly recomend this book.

Well since Rick Berman and his production team took over the Star Trek movies, there was a trend to have some of the TV writes work on the scripts for the movies. Rick Berman, Brandon Bragga, and Ronald Moore did the scripts for Generations and First Contact...both of which were very weak stories and seemed like a continuation of the shows. Then Michael Piller tried a script for Inserection, and again it was a weak story. Then for Nemesis, they said "Look let's get an acutal screenwriter to do the screenplay" and they got John Logan, and his screenplay for Nemesis (which this book follows closely) was actually very good.
It was better written, the characters were explored more in depth, and it had a more epic feel to it. This is how a Star Trek movie should be written and acted out. So I would hope whatever movies they do next, they keep the TV writers out, and have actual Movie screenwriters do the stories for the films. Treat the movies like they were movies.

In this story the Enterprise finds a prototype of the android Data near the Romulan neutral zone, and soon after the Enterprise is called upon to visit the planet Romulus at the request of Shinzon, the new Praeter of the Romulan Empire. Shinzon has a mysterious origin, soon to be revealed, and he professes peace between Romulus and the Federation, but can he be trusted? This novel is full of intrigue and action, and becomes philosophical at times, in a well concieved plot, with good character development, a joy to read even after first seeing the movie. Much of this novel centers around Data and what it means to be human, including friendships perhaps worth dying for, very well executed.

I have seen the movie also, I consider it to be one of the two top films for 2002, no exceptions, and about as good as THE WRATH OF KHAN. The screenplay was written by John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner, with the novelization by J.M. Dillard, all Star Trek fans in their own right and also great talent. John Logan gives a moving introduction here in this book. This is great page-turning science fiction.

i think this book is the best yet. i dont own it, but thanks to my local library i check it out every time. i have 5 younger siblings, and they always want me to tell them a bedtime story.
finally i reread the story 10 times and memorized it. its a big help. i dont have to carry the flashlight into their rooms now.
i reread all of the series and now i mimorized all of them. i them all a huge 5*. i am what people call a starwars nut. i like the part whenever the rebels come in. and like others i like it that this focuses most on hoole. basicly I LOVE THIS BOOK!

I haven't read any of the ones after this, and this is the one when Tash uses the force to help her buddies. Doesn't DV figure out that Tash knows the Force in this one? I can't remember. Good book for people who are fans of Tash or Hoole, the other characters are squeezes in there for a part.

This is truly an excellent Edition to the Galaxy of Fear series. This is amust-have for any Star Wars fans anywhere no matter what their age is.

The first of this two part series deserved the benefit of the doubt as the story is by definition left incomplete. The incomplete resolution of this second book makes the pair of books a low priority for any fan who enjoys reading these installments, for book #2 would be handicapped enough if it was not such a cliché, and did not use so much material fans have seen before. The solution to the problem is almost laughably poor.

Mr. Barclay is now completely fallen for his new love, Commander Deanna Troi has once again had her empathic powers damaged (sound familiar), and, you guessed it, a rip in space/time is the menace that once again gets recycled by authors who have no imagination for something new.

I will keep this brief as the book is not worthy of your time. The ending is one of the weakest I have read in any Trek adventure, and to make matters worse a great deal of the book is recycled from other stories you have either seen on television or possibly read before. Some have suggested that the movies could be judged by whether they were an even or odd number in the series. I think that perhaps how bad the cover art is may also be a way of judging these books. I know it goes against a long held and valued saying about how not to judge a book or anything else. But when the cover art is poor and not by a talented artist or a well-known one, perhaps the unwillingness to invest in the visual presentation should be a clue for what may lie within.

As with the first book of this mini duology, John Vornholt continues to expound on the wonderful world he has created in Gemworld. In the first book he described only a few of the quite interesting and different species of Gemworld. In book two, he craftily brings the remaining species into the spotlight. As with book one of the Gemworld mini duology and with all of his previous novels, John Vornholt again proves that he can create whole new microcosms within the Star Trek universe, capitalizing on the possibilities of the twenty fourth century and what the future of space travel can entail. Of the entire myriad of outstanding Star Trek authors, John Vornholt stands out in the arena of bringing the oddest of creatures to sentience and cunningly scribing them into a well thought and compelling story or stories.

The premise:

Continuing where Star Trek # 58 Gemworld Book One left off, Captain Picard, Lieutenant Melora Pazlar and the most unlikely of heroes Lieutenant Reginald Barclay are deep in the quagmire of trying to save Melora's home world of Gemworld. Facing a dimensional rift that is seemingly encompassing the entirety of the planet, deceit and deception of those they're trying to help and no apparent means of escape, Captain Picard and crew must find a way to gather the remaining crystals from all six of the sentient species inhabiting Gemworld in order to shut down the shell protecting Gemworld. Combine all of these possibilities and it all adds up to another fairly compelling story by one of Star Trek's better authors.

I highly recommend this mini duology to those who read as many or all of the Star Trek novels and to those who are casual Trek readers. {ssintrepid}

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Gemworld Book #2 written by John Vornholt is the conclusion to the 2 part series called Gemworld. Gemworld is a multifariousness of crystaline structures and the book is written with a vivid and colorful descrition of them.

The main characters are Lieutenant Reginald Barclay and Captain Jean-Luc Picard in this book as they embark on a hazardous trek to find the causal effect that is dooming Gemworld. As mentioned in the first book there are six sentient races of beings interwoven in the Gemworld, one humanoid the Elaysians and five non-humanoid the Alpusta, Frills, Lipuls, Yilterns, and Gendii. Picard/Barclay try to get the engineers of these races involved in the solution of the problem with Gemworld; but there is a mass murderer afoot... determined to destroy all of Gemworld.

This is a well-written book and the plot moves right along, full of action-adventure with mystery and intrigue placed within the story for spice making for a well-told, engrossing, and a desperate quest on a planet in turmoil. I gave it 5 stars for its imagination as well as a well-written story.

I wish only one thing and that would be that both of these books could have been incorporated into one longer novel making for a single purchase, but the money gods at pocket books new they could get the TREK reader to buy both. Other than that, Genworld is a good story to add to your TREK library.

Here There Be Dragons is, like most good Trek novels, a quick and painless read with some memorable moments. The plot is in some ways reminiscent of A Call to Darkness, with Enterprise crewmembers enslaved in a medieval setting. There's simply not much more to say about the book than that . . . .

Star Trek - The Next Generations: Here There Be Dragons written by John Peel is a well-written action-adventure novel written about a Preserver developing world that is hidden inside a tachyon cloud, where the only access is through a tunnel generated by Preserver technology, that is being exploited by a group of interplanetary trophy hunters. The events in this story take place before the sixth-season episode "Rascals."

This planet is right out of Earth's 13th-century Germany where they believe in the force of arms, ritual combat, honor, and glory. And because of the Prime Directive, now, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise have to set things right. This book takes you on an adventurous read where Captain Picard, Data, Ro and a member of a security detail beam to the surface of the planet and investigate. Of course things do NOT go as planned and this adds to the mystery and intrigue of the story. After a while, William Riker and Deanna Troi also beam down to the planet's surface where they follow-up leads as to the whereabouts of the smugglers.

The book goes back and forth between two main storylines with the addmixture of some minor storylines until you get all the main characters involved into the story proper. When reading this book you'll tend to think ahead of the story, but be careful the Enterprise and her crew experience some major roadblocks and impediments along the way making this story a complete adventure.

There is only one fight seen with the indiginous dragon species on the planet involving Captain Picard and it is well-written. These beasties are huge, eighteen feet tall and sixty feet long, with long talons equiped with claws that can cut prey in half with one pass and... if that isn't enough these dragon-lizards have armored hide with large sharp saw-edged teeth.

The story has an ending that has a few surprises and the reader will be engrosed in the story till the ending. All in all, the story is a solid 5 stars and this book is a keeper that you'll want to read again at a later time.

John Peel did an excellent job with this story! The book takes the crew of the Enterprise to a world set in medieval Germany. To get to this world, they use the services of a Federation Security Agent who knows the way through a secret tunnel that traverses a tachyon-full nebula. Apparently, the planet's occupants were put there by the Preservers...and is also home to dragons. Picard and his crew find out that trophy hunters are after these dragons and must stop them from breaking the Prime Directive. Of course, the away team gets into trouble while seeking out these criminals. Picard and security officer Miles are sold into slavery while Ro is taken to a castle to serve the duke and his weird ways. Meanwhile, Riker and Deanna get into trouble as well with the local black magician.

If you like action and humor, Star Trek style, read this book. I consider it one of the best of the first 30 Star Trek:TNG books. Peel involves all characters and while the away team is on the planet's surface, the Enterprise gets attacked. So read it already!

RAIDERS FOREVER IS SKIMPY. IT IS GREAT TO READ ABOUT ALL THESE GREAT PLAYERS. BUT HALF THE INTERVIEW IS WASTED ON THERE BACK GROUND AND SCHOOLING. LETS HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW IT WAS IN THE TRENCHES AGAINST THE STEELERS. THE BATTLES WITH RIVAL CHIEFS. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK. I THINK THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE SPENT MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT THE GOOD OLD DAYS. A TEN PAGE OR LESS INTERVIEW JUST DOESN'T HACK IT. NOT WORTH THE MONEY. NOT RECOMMENDED. GLOSSY GARBAGE.

This is a book that truly captures the spirit of The Oakland Raiders of the 1970's. Best of all you come away with a deeper sense of the personalities and what made the team so unique. It is not just a "remember when" book, but rather a behind the scenes look at why the Raiders where the most compelling team of the 70's. It's well written, full of detail and should be interesting to any football fan.

Raiders Forever is a must read for any Raiders fan. I'll never forget the glory days of the 60's and 70's - guys like Stabler, Madden, Van Egan, etc. After you read this book, you realize they never will either. The author finds all our old favorites, spread out all over the country now, and they reminisce about what it was like to be a Raider back in the good old days. It's fun to hear them as they look back, tell a story or two, and fill us in on what they're doing now. This is a great book about a great team. Highly recommended!

I have to admit that prior to reading the first Strange New Worlds novel I was a little reticent about fan fiction. That being said, the Strange New Worlds I & II novels more than removed that reticence, they turned me into a huge fan of these fan fiction novels, leaving me very much looking forward to the third one. Strange New Worlds III is an even more impressive collection than its predecessors. I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of Star Trek, for in each and every story lays the principles, ethics and overall atmosphere that Star Trek fans have come to love about Gene Roddenberry's universe.

Star Trek

If I Lose Thee (First Prize) by Sarah A. Hoyt & Rebecca Lickiss - It is extremely easy to see why this particularly great story involving Uhura and the Guardian of Forever won first prize and these two fine authors are now professional writers!

The Aliens Are Coming! By Dayton Ward - As with the two authors above, it is quite easy to see why Dayton Ward is now a professional author as well considering his fluid writing style and his talent for plot development. This particular story draws from the events in DS9's "Little Green Men" and TOS's "Tomorrow is Yesterday," weaving a wonderful tale as to what happened to Captain Christopher after the Enterprise left.

Family Matters by Susan Ross Moore - Another well written and thoughtful story! This extraordinarily interesting tale is about a younger Spock meeting his Aunt on Earth and helping with his cousin.

Star Trek The Next Generation

Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story (Third Prize) by Robert T. Jeschonek - I must admit that at first, I was wondering why this story made third prize, needless to say though, the story plays out extraordinarily well and this author deserves high praise for such an inventive and original story.

A Private Victory by Tonya D. Price - This is a very well done story about Lieutenant Hawk during the events depicted in Star Trek First Contact. I look forward to this author's future endeavors.

The Fourth Toast by Kelly Cairo - Nods to this author for bringing this exceptional story to print that is one of those follow up stories that "needed" to be told. Following the events of STNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise," we're taken into Richard Castillo's world after the loss of the Enterprise NCC-1701-C. Great story!

One of Forty-seven by E. Catherine Tobler - This story is an exceptionally well done and quite poignant short story!

A Q to Swear By by Shane Zeranski - I look very much forward to any future stories written by this author as he has with this story written some exceptional Star Trek, tying in events from TNG and a certain, troubled character we saw in Star Trek Voyager.

The Change of Seasons by Logan Page - This is another fine short story that quite poignantly tells one of the small, between the scenes, tales within the frame of Star Trek Generations. Quite touching!

Out of the Box, Thinking by Jerry M. Wolfe - Nods to this author as well as he has written an intriguing and quite humorous story bringing back one of STNG's most interesting and endearing characters, Professor Moriarty.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine

Ninety-three Hours (Second Prize) by Kim Sheard - I'm not sure I can properly express how truly well written this story is and how much praise the author deserves for having written it. Had this author been published previously, this superb story about Ezri Tigan (Dax) would've surely made it between the covers of "The Lives of Dax" anthology!

Dorian's Diary by G. Wood - This is another well written DS9 tale detailing what Ensign Dorian Collins went through after the DS9 episode centered around the USS Valiant and the cadets who were forced to captain her. The author deftly weaves into the tale a couple of the better guest characters from TOS and TNG.

The Bottom Line by Andrew (Drew) Morby - This is another strong DS9 tale that is both highly entertaining and enlightening especially for those who might've been wondering how Cadet Nog was getting along at Starfleet Academy!

The Best Defense... by John Takis - This exceptional tale brings into light what Bashir and O'Brien were doing in the holodeck that the series didn't often have time to elaborate upon. This story was a true joy to read.

An Errant Breeze by Gordon Gross - This is an amazingly well told "short" story that quite poignantly tells the tale of Damar's family near the end of the war.

Star Trek Voyager

The Ones Left Behind by Mary Wiecek - This beautifully well written and quite poignant story told from the perspective of Lieutenant Joe Carey's wife, Anne is made even more poignant by the death of the character late in the seventh season, not long before they made it home.

The Second Star by Diana Kornfeld - This intriguing and well written story plays out quite well, telling the story of a young girl living in a pre-warp society who meets a star man named Chakotay.

The Monster Hunter by Ann Nagy - This story is quite an interesting and well told story involving Paris, Kim and little Naomi Wildman's "monster."

Gift of the Mourners by Jackie Crowell - This is a well told story bringing to light one of the more interesting aspects of Voyager's trip home through the delta quadrant and the myriad of species that they could've encountered.

If Klingons Wrote Star Trek - jubHa' by Dr. Lawrence Schoen - While not being a SNW submission, it was quite interesting to see an entire short story written in Klingon. Many thanks to Chapulina R, a fellow reviewer and highly knowledgeable klinfan, for the translation. {ssintrepid}

This is the third installment of the on going series that the fans of TREK submit stories for publication. Strange New Worlds III is a good look into the talent of some of the fans and what their preception of the STAR TREK universe to be.

This volume contains 20 short stories and one is written in Klingon. The stories vary as to genre and are well written. As with other short stories, these help fill in some of the gaps to the story lines in films and televison series. And I must say that some are very inventive to say the least.

All in all, this collection of short stories is well worth your time in reading, as they are engaging, entertaining, and insightful. The fans know what they like to read and some talented fans know what to write. It is heart-warming to see new talent continue the dream of Gene Roddenberry. As long as there is fan involvement the dream will continue to grow and flurish.

Read this anthology and see the future writers of TREK evolve as they direct the course of TREK to new paths and fill in the gaps along the way. What an interesting future evolving on these pages, not only the storylines, but the grow to the authors themselves.

They say you should never judge a book by its cover and, boy is that the truth with this book. I had bought this book so I could learn the rules of the writing contest but for six months I never bothered to read it. It looked, on the outside, very campy and silly. I didn't want to admit to anyone that I would read such a book. Recently, however, I was home alone and bored. I had nothing new to read, so I took a look.

This book was great! A lot of credit must be given the editors who went through, they say, 10,000 submissions to come up with this book, the best of the lot. Star Trek III, Strange New Worlds, is broken into four parts to reflect the four different shows. From Star Trek to Voyager, we are treated to stories featuring all of our favorite characters.

I was most surprised by how consistently good the stories were. While there were one or two flops, most of the tales here are very interesting. About half of them were insights into stories we have already seen. So, for example, in the movie "First Contact" Lt. Hawk died after becoming a Borg. What really happened to him? Now we know. The other stories were totally originally.

My favorite stories were found in the Generations and Deep Space Nine Section. I especially liked the return of Mr. Barclay and Mr. Moriarty. My only real complaint, a small one, was my strong disagreement with the stories awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. The second place winner was great. The other two were not as good or original as many of the great finds in this book. Still, since most of the stories were so good, I can see how the editors could have made this mistake. "Strange New Worlds," misnamed since it is really about returning old familiar ones, is a fun read.

I've been thinking about what to say here throughout my reading of the book, which I finished this afternoon. At various points in the story, I've had conflicting opinions on the book, so here's what I think now that I've finished it.

The back of the book presented a very intriguing premise -- the Enterprise visits a culture where everyone wears a mask as part of their natural clothing; to reveal your face was equated with revealing any sexual or otherwise intimate part of your body. Kinda cool.

Unfortunately, this book suffers from a plague that has attacked many early TNG novels -- that of the author representing the characters in a way that doesn't really match up with the on-screen versions. Now, of course, this can probably be blamed on a couple of things: the author probably started writing this novel while the series was still in its first season, and so he wasn't as familiar with the characters as we are; the show itself hadn't developed the characters very far yet, and so on-screen writers had the same difficulties, propagating the problem; not to mention new character developments that hadn't yet been seen on-screen at the time of writing, but which were well-known by the time of publication (i.e., Wesley being his own man and the arrival of Dr. Pulaski). I give John Vornholt the benefit of the doubt here because he has written many Trek novels since then, continues to write them today, and this was his first. So I expect improvement from him, and others, as time goes on.

Now, there is one more strike against this novel that I have to mention. That is that it takes a hokey turn towards the beginning. When the first landing party beams down, they realize "Oops! The Enterprise computer can make a great Earl Grey tea, but it doesn't really know what masks are." So they come up with three silly halloween masks, only one of which is humanoid-looking. (Why not all wear copies of that one? Oh, well.)

But once you get past these two early setbacks, the novel takes a definite turn for the better. The plot, while not keeping very much suspense going, does keep you interested. And there are some interesting turns at the end that I wasn't expecting. Unfortunately, I can't elaborate on the plus points of the book without bringing in some spoilers.

The ambassador's character is slighlty unbelievable, but does a good job of keeping the away teams on their toes. Picard has an interesting romance that reminded me of Kirk's approach to the ladies. And plus the ideas suggested by a completely masked culture are interesting. Being known by your place in society, or your chosen caste, and only secondarily by your individual identity, is a different way to live, and the Enterprise crewmembers are rightfully awed by the lifestyle.

I'm a big StarTrek fan, and "Masks" was one of the first volumes I purchased. And it is still one of the best I've read so far. I think that John Vornholt hits the atmosphere of the series and tells a very interesting story. The background of the planet and the mask-based society is a very clever idea and it's set up very well. I enjoy re-reading the book from time to time. The story- twists and the building of tension is truely superb. I went out buying more books from Mr. Vornholt, though none achieved the quality and depth of this piece. I really hope, that the Starship Enterprise is going to re-visit the planet of Lorca sometime in the future. I'm also very sorry, that the book is out-of-stock. I was only able to obtain the german translation, and I'm looking forward for a re-issuing of the title. If you are able to get a copy, read the book and state your own opinion! I liked the book very much for it combines the classical StarTrek SciFi background with elements of a medeavel setting. When you read the book yourself, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for reading.

This is one of the best on-planet Star Trek books I've read. John Vornholt really gets into the culture, and the book is good. I found it interesting; however, there is one security officer that it wasn't really necessary to kill off.

This is the first voice book I've read, but I'll probably end up reading some others. I have a musical background, have played guitar and piano for years, but just recently decided to make an effort to improve my singing.

I found this book helpful in some ways, but I felt it could have been easier to understand. The book essentially details the speech level singing method, in which the chest voice and head voice are successfully bridged.

As a newcomer to singing, I found some of these concepts a little difficult to understand, and felt the book never really explained things very clearly. It reminded me a little of a instruction manual that assumes you have certain parts that have not been included.

Also, I felt it was a little odd that there was so much ink spent on celebrity testimonials. If the method is really that good, it should be able to speak (or sing) for itself.

It's been a couple of months since I read the book and listened to the CDs, and I can say that my singing has improved considerably (that's why I'm giving the book four stars). Although I don't feel I came away with a full understanding of everything the book was trying to teach, I feel I must have osmotically picked up some concepts that have been helpful.

My vocal coach told me to get this book & cds and to use it between lessons. I have learned to sing into my head voice and can handle my 'breaks' with ease! I highly recommend the book..the exercises are simple and he gives demonstrations for each of them. I have made great progress because of his "Speech Level Singing" technique!

I studied classical voice for years but when I found a teacher certified in Seth Riggs speech level singing technique I made progress I hadn't thought possible! I got this book as an adjunct to my lessons and I found that it was clear, precise, easy to understand, and above all-- very, very helpful!

The excersises will help you sing through your bridges easily and confidently. Your voice will thank you!

As one expects from a Trek story, War Drums consists of recycled and borrowed plots; here, we have a Klingon version of Lord of the Flies. And, typically Trek, the resolution is too pat to be credited. Vornholt asks us to accept that the human colonists should "turn the other cheek" toward the feral Klingons who had brutally murdered their friends and family - with no apparent justification. (At no time are we told of anything the colonists did to trigger the attacks, other than simply being there.)

However, as he did with Contamination, Vornholt spins a good yarn, staying true to the characters, even making Ensign Ro somewhat likeable (a major feat in and of itself). Overall, an enjoyable read.

Star Trek - The Next Generation: War Drums written by John Vornholt is a book where the "bumpy heads" make an impression and action-adventure mixed with a little mystrey and intrigue keep your attention till the end.

This book is typical of Vornholt where he takes sometime and adds a Trek twist to it... the the case of "War Drums" it remineded me of the "Lord of the Flies" but with good character development as feral Klingon's and Erth settlers try to get along until a Romulan spy gets into the picture.

Worf leads an away team to the surface of the planet Selva to investigate why young feral Klingons were left on the planet and are now fighting the colonists. As the Starship Enterprise is called away on another mission and leave Worf and Deanna Troi, Data and Ro at the settlement called New Reykjavik to investigate.

Reading this book reveals some of the Klingon rituals of comming of age and Worf leads a mission to contact the feral Klingons as he and the others try to find out why the Klingons have decided to fight the colonists. The story is fast-paced and you will find that you can nearly finish the book in one setting as your interest is piqued.

I enjoyed the story as it was well-written and the characters were true to form and there is a rather intriguing ending to the story which was rather unusal for a TREK book. All in all, this was a solid 5 star book because of the writing style and character development.

This book was my introduction to John Vornholt, and I must say, this book is great! I would definately recommend this one to any Star Trek fan, new and old alike!

If you read this book, you'll remember it. It doesn't mix in with the regular Star Trek books at all. It stands apart from the rest, and it has some very interesting ideas in it. It'll be worth your five bucks.

This is a very original Star Trek book, you get a nice glance at the Cardassian Empire and to the Bajoran politics, meet a new race coming from not far away. I have really loved it.

This book has an excellent story and is exciting from beginning to end. A must read for any Trekie