Ever wondered what happened when the Enterprise returned home after its 5 year mission. Captain Kirk gets promoted to Admiral. Spock goes home to Vulcan. And McCoy haves some Medical Lectures. But All in all the crew reunites and this story has 2000 years in the making rather then 5. I enjoyed this tale. It keeps my attention span. A good edition to the star Trek Library.

"The Lost Years" starts 'The Lost Years' series, wich tells us the tale of the crew of the original Enterprise in the years between the original five year mission and "The Motion Picture".

"The Lost Yaers" the novel is very well written by Jean Mary Dillard and contains great characterization, but lacks seriously in terms of plot developement.

The book begins with the crew leaving the ship behind, an overly long phase with painfully uneventfull scenes, that contribute nothing important to the story, and offer frustratingly few character insights.

This phase is followed by the unsuccesfull introduction of some of the characters' (mostly Kirk's) new lives after Enterprise.

The story kicks in far too late, and is as predictable as expected from a plot that only covers the latter half of a book.

The biggest problem with this book is the fact that almost all characters involved in the story just happen to be the familiar characters of the Enterprise crew who are introduced to the story via ridiculously unbeliavable coincidences. Mix that with two-dimentional additional characters, magic, Tarod reading and prophesies, you get a slightly entertaining book with no credibility to back it off. A waste of a good premise.

this book. It was a good account of the period after the original 5 year mission. I enjoyed it so much I have bought the next 3 books in the Lost Years saga.

If you are a beginner, this isn't for you, but then again, I looked everywhere to find another. If you have some skills in stage presence and acting, then you will find this useful.

There is a volume 2 available as well.

I found this book and cassette very useful in learning an Irish accent. As someone who completely lacks any natural gift for mimicry, I needed the detailed information and numerous techniques that Stern offers. The only drawback was that the extensive focus on technique left relatively little room on the tape for examples of Irish speech. I would have liked to hear more monologues.

Nobody should expect 24th century jurisprudence to be the same as that in the early 21st, but the "courtroom drama" of Contamination is a farce. Vornholt tries to excuse an apparent ignorance of the law by saying that Federation law is "Solomon-like" - simple and without mumbo-jumbo. Fair enough. But then he describes procedures that no rational law-maker would have tolerated:

1. Data as defense lawyer. Data represents the accused, even though once the trial is concluded he will have to testify as a victim against the accused for another (although related) crime. Any modern attorney who participated in such a conflict of interest would be disbarred. Well, okay, this is *Data*, so maybe we can forgive this. But not:

2. Worf as prosecutor. Where's the JAG corp when you need it? As lead investigator, Worf has no business acting as prosecutor; he is a fact witness and a lawyer may not act as both counsel and witness; he is supposed to be a disinterested advocate.

3. Compelling defendant to testify. One would have thought that the right to not be compelled to testify would be sacrosanct in the enlightened Federation, yet the judge twice calls the defendant to the stand, once at Worf's prompting. (Worf: I'd like to know where he got the phaser. Judge: Yeah, me, too. Take the stand!)

4. Wesley giving his opinion on the defendant's guilt. A witness is not, and should not be, allowed to opine on the ultimate issue in a case. That is for the fact-finder (judge or jury) alone. Wesley's opinion is completely irrelevant and would never have seen the light of day in a true courtroom (and not just because it's Wesley, either!).

And so on. In "Measure of a Man" we were told that Riker and Picard had to act as attorneys solely because there were none around; it was an emergency measure only. Here, we are given no such excuse. Modern Navy ships have a JAG officer on board; why doesn't the Enterprise?

And yet, despite all of that, I found Contamination to be an enjoyable read. Nothing gripping or moving, but a good read to help while away a few hours. Exactly what one should expect from a Star Trek novel.

Star Trek - The Next Generation: Contamination written by John Vornholt is for all intents and purposes is a murder-mystery that occurs on the Starship Enterprise.

This is a classic Worf and Deanna Troi book as Captain Jean-Luc Picard assigns Worf to investigate a murder on the Enterprise of a prominant research scientist, Lynn Costa. As the book goes into detail, we the reader get a better look into the ship's science labs and we are exposed to betrayal, madness and down right deceit as Worf investigates. We get to see Worf's investigative skills emerge as all parties are guilty until a confession is beaten out of them... but of course Captain Picard wants Worf to use more refined skills and we get to see how good Worf can be.

I enjoyed this book, but I must say, that the true murderer was revealed too early on in the book and it made for an anticlimatic ending. Too bad the author couldn't of hidden the identiy for a little while longer.

Other than that the book was a very good read and it warrants a 5 stars for the mystery, intrigue, and for excellent charter developmet of Worf.

I listened to the audio cassette recording of John Vornholt's book and I enjoyed it and was really impressed with Michael Dorn's audio reading, I have listened to many audio recordings in many dfferent generes, Scince Fiction, Romance, Classic Literature, mystery and Supsense etc, but out of all of the ones that I have listened to I was most impressed with his reading, as usual he was great as Worf the character he played but he did a great job with all the other voices too, I especially liked his voice for Emil Costa, I also liked the sound effects they used in this audio and though maybe it wasn't the most challenging mystery I really did enjoy it and I would reccomend this audio cassette recording to any fan of Michael Dorn! This is a keeper!

I've read and enjoyed both of A.C. Crispin's previous Star Trek novels, "Yesterday's Son" and "Time For Yesterday", and given that the second of those was significantly better than the first (although the first was good) I expected that she was growing as an author, and expected great things from this one.

I got some good things, but far from great, and some very BAD things as well. I expected much better.

There are basically three parts to this book; there is the main plot and two subplots of note.

The main plot is a variation on a common concept, one that was done in one of the original series animated episodes: a spacegoing "Devil's Triangle", an area of space that is a "roach motel" for spaceships. The concept is hackneyed, but it is handled well enough and originally enough that I found myself at least partially willing to overlook the unoriginality of the basic idea. Still, it is a bad sign when the basic idea behind the primary plot needs overcoming.

One of the two subplots involved the relationship between an orphaned Andorian girl and a Vulcan physician on the Enterprise; this subplot was handled quite well, and was quite moving.

The other subplot, unfortunately, involved Data approaching various members of the bridge crew for their opinions on an (appallingly bad) adventure/romance novel he was writing. In spite of the fact that this particular plotline ended with a serious message, and was tied up rather nicely all things considered, still it is apparent that it was supposed to provide the comic relief for the story; as such, it was not unlike many similar concepts used during various episodes of the series, so at least I have to give Crispin credit for being true to the characters as established for the show. But just as was true in MANY of the similar "Data makes a fool of himself trying to be human" stories that aired, not only was this one NOT funny, it was downright PAINFUL to watch. I fail to understand how any author (who has no doubt experienced the insecurity of asking for the opinion of friends about her writing, as well as being asked for her opinion about the writing of others, and the extreme difficulty of treading the line between being dishonest or downright cruel) could POSSIBLY think that there was ANYTHING funny in this scenerio.

On the other hand, if it WASN'T intended to be funny, then we run into the same problem that Troi ran into in critiquing Data's work: if something that was meant to be serious is percieved as being comedy (even failed comedy) then there's something seriously wrong with it.

Much of this book was well worth reading; if you're a fan of the subplots in which Data strives futilely (and painfully) to mimic human creativity, you'll no doubt love this one. I don't.

Eyes of the Beholders is not even close to being a four- or five-star book, although it had the potential to be. It is, rather, a typically enjoyable Trek read, interesting and amusing at times but not terribly moving or powerful.

Crispin is certainly capable of better. Yesterday's Son is a well-deserved classic, and her Han Solo trilogy was very well done. Here, however, she lowered her sights too far. We get an alien artifact that traps the Enterprise and will eventually drive the crew mad (yet none of the major characters except Troi are affected without actually going on board the artifact. Apparently, senior officers are exempt from the effects). And there is a twee sub-plot involving a blind Andorian orphan girl, which is interesting only because it involves the Vulcan Dr. Selar.

Where the novel could have excelled is with Geordi LaForge. Crispin makes token references to LaForge's blindness, and early on it seems there will be a tie-in between Geordi and the Andorian girl, Thala. When Geordi ends up being the only one on board who can handle the visual impact of the artifact, one thinks there will be still more insight offered. I don't mean a "blind people are people too" kind of revelation as that would be both cheesy and condescending. Rather, there could have been a situation where Geordi is truly forced to deal with wearing his VISOR or (as he ultimately did) receiving some kind of neural implant to allow him to "see," and Thala's own handling of a similar choice would have provided a perfect foil. Alas, Crispin presents the dilemma in the first dozen pages then largely ignores it. In the end, it is Data, not Geordi who has the revelation.

On a side note, I first read this one over a decade ago and, for some reason, it had left a sour taste. It ended up being much, much better than I remembered.

The Eyes of the Beholders by A.C. Crispin is a first contact novel something the author is good at and you will not be disappointed here. She writes with a refreshing suspensful style that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat.

As a new trade route opens, there are ships missing, both Federation and Klingon seem to disappear, now the Enterprise and crew are sent to investigate these disappearences and find something rather unique. It seems that a graveyard of ships, of all shapes and sizes, are here and some of them are quite old. This is a Geordi LaForge and Data book mainly as the Enterprise trys to figure out the mystery of this graveyard and an Artifact that seems to weld immensely awesome power.

The Enterprise crew are affected by this power and are threatened by insanity. The author keeps you involved with the story and has good character development throughout the book and gives a lot of information about Data. This story is intriguingly captivating as your intrest is piqued with the first contact.

This is a well told story written true to the TNG characters. Those wanting good action adventure with excellent science fiction should buy this book.

This period was covered in New York 1900, which provided background material from 1876 and before. Although New York 1880 is longer than New York 1900, it seemed to me to be a padding of what had already been said in a more succinct and more readable way in the first book of the series (NY 1900).As for the length, New York 1880 badly needs an editor.

With over 1100 pages, this book was so difficult to handle physically, that it hampered my enjoyment of this epic-length volume. On the other hand, the book is a bargain in terms of cents per page! Photos average more than one per page; however, the quality of photographic reproduction is frequently very disappointing (even when compared to Stern's 'New York 1900,' which also uses very old photographs). There are approximately 75 floor plans, with most page space used for the less-than-rivetting text. Chapters are divided by building type. A surprising amount of page space is consumed by illustrations of entries in architectural competitions (Union League Club and Cathedral of St. John the Divine).

While it is too heavy to lug around, NY 1880 is an eye popping journey into New York of 120 or so years ago. There are over 1,200 photographs and 99 pages of footnotes. Anyone interested in seeing what this wonderful city was like a generation before the First World War is strongly urged to grab this book. So much of what this book is about is no longer standing - churches, synagogues, clubs, apartments, etc.

Buy it!! This is the best of the 4 books in the series (NY 1880, NY 1900, NY 1930 and NY 1960) with NY 2000 to come in a few years.

I ordered this book because I wanted to understand Australian dialect better. The book is very short, only 16 pages, but it contains lots of useful information. It includes phonics and speaking exercises which I found helpful. However the tape was horrible! I assumed that the tape would be done by an actual Australian; but how wrong I was! I started listening to it, and I've heard enough aussie's speak, to begin to wonder if the tape's speaker was really Australian. I soon found out however, when the speaker smoothly changed to his normal voice; east coast american! That was enough for me to start laughing insanely and finally to toss the tape into a pile of other cassette rejects, including my personal favorite; How to Speak with a Southern Accent by Zehni lai Quien!! If you really want to understand aussie dialect, listen to real aussies. But if you want a good laugh, order this!

Learning any dialect can be tricky. Imitating one can be even more. This book/cassestte offers a different approach to mastering an australian accent aside to the pronunciation changes. You learn how to develop a new resonance to your voice that makes it sound more natural and realistic. Written and narrated by Dr. David Alan Stern. It's a valuable source for anybody wanting to learn the australian dialect

I think this book was great. Just great. It really helps people with spanish accents. It tells you how to get rid off them and it does it quick and easy. This book tells you step by step how to pronounce words. This book also tells you the most common mistakes people make trying to speak the english language. THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE!!! :)

I have read quite a few Star Trek books (almost all of them Next Gen) and I can quite honestly say that if this isn't the worst of them, it's pretty bloody close and the worst must have been so traumatically bad that I've blocked it out. I think the most frustrating part is that, as another couple of reviewers have pointed out, the general idea was really pretty interesting, both in terms of how the crew would deal with being split up and the concept of the mud entity, but neither aspect was carried through with any imagination or flair whatsoever.

I think a great deal of what bothered me in this one were little things which, like a housemate leaving dirty dishes in the sink once too often, just destroyed the entire experience. For instance, every time an as-yet unclassified or otherwise mysterious substance is encountered, it is referred to as "stuff", even in formal settings. I somehow doubt that this is the appropriate Starfleet terminology for unidentified materials, particularly by senior officers with scientific training, and even more particularly by characters like Data. On the topic of Data, the author has him using contractions, which may seem like a silly thing, but it has played a sufficiently significant role in Data's characterization during the course of the series (his inability to use contractions is one of the features that distinguishes him from his evil twin brother Lore) that it is something that should have been caught during the editing process. Speaking of the editing process, around the middle of the book, an ensign is referred to by his proper rank, then called "Lieutenant" in the next paragraph and then suddenly demoted back to Ensign in the immediately following paragraph. That's just plain sloppy and stupid.

In the middle of all this, there is an annoying subplot in which a formerly quasi-autistic patient of Troi's named Penelope is handed off to Data for therapeutic purposes (the idea being that he is an unthreatening male-ish presence and she has trouble communicating with men). During the course of the novel, the captain requests a Level One Diagnostic, requiring the participation of a large portion of the crew, and yet Data is granted a dispensation from working on the diagnostic by the captain so that he can escort the girl to a party. I'm sorry, but it is well established that Captain Picard doesn't even approve of having families on his ship, and given his suspicions that something is dreadfully wrong with the Enterprise, it doesn't sit well that he would let his Science Officer (to say nothing of his best analytically-minded crewmember) wander off to a dance just so the girl doesn't feel bad about not having a date. On top of this, during the course of the party, Troi approaches the two and makes what seems to be quite vocal comments pertaining to Penelope's psychosocial progress, which seems like a pretty big breach of patient confidentiality. While Troi has never been presented in the show as overly intellectual, she has always been portrayed as at least having a pretty strong commitment to her professional standards. Of course the girl ends up being central to wrapping up the story, but this is so clumsily handled as to be cringe-worthy.

I kept hoping this would get better, but it didn't, so the day after I finished reading it I took it several miles away from my house and left it sitting on a bench, and I just want to take this opportunity to apologize to whoever picked it up.

The story for this book could've been quite promising--the Enterprise is an accidental victim of a clay-like enemy whose destructive instinct for survival causes Starfleet to opt for the Enterprise's destruction. I will be blunt--the editor more than the author would seem to me to be at fault for this book not working as it might have worked. There are sloppy errors in typing, not to mention Trek lore, to be found here--not the least of which, Data uses contractions on several occasions. A more "Trek-geek" related error finds the story taking place between the episodes "The Game" and "Unification Part I" according to the book's stardate, and yet Data remembers things that happened during the episode where Geordi and Ro are "out of phase" which didn't occur till much later in the 5th season. Okay, geek mode off. I wouldn't have minded that error because it's so ... wel, as I said, Trek-geekish...but Data's lack of contractions is a basic part of his character. Also, some of the frustration is thrown David Bischoff's way as well. He spends pages and pages developing a character who is sure to save the day--I can't say did save it because these frustrations caused me to toss the book aside two-thirds in--which makes for slow going for the overall story...and yet, the news of Starfleet's decision to whack our beloved Enterprise is delivered in a summary paragraph, with no actual dramatization at all! It was almost an afterthought--as if to say "Oh yeah, and they got to the starbase and by the way, the admiral there decided it would be best to blast the Enterprise to smithereens with a photon torpedo spread..." (Not a quote, but it might as well be.) Rarely do I not finish a book, and I gave this one plenty of chances to get better. I've heard the ending is better...but after a while, I just decided no ending would make up for the chore reading this book became for me. I only stopped short of giving it one star because of the fact that the story could've been better-told, and because the idea itself was quite good. Ah well, next Trek novel...?

Star Trek - The Next Generation: Grounded written by David Bichoff is a mildly adventurous book that could have been written better. There are errors throughout the book and others on this review page have pointed them out. But as for the general overall story, it could have been better.

The alien in this novel is a clay-based life form that takes over the Enterprise and transforms inorganic materials to it's own form as it spreads thoughout the Enterprise endangering the crew. All of this happens in a remote part of the galaxy as the clay entity makes it's way piggy-back on the Enterprise.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard has a feeling that something isn't quite right with his ship and does a level one diagnostic as the crew is involved they begin to find the extent of the problem. This book has a subplot that mixes with the primary plot as Data is the dance partner to an autistic child that part of the story drags on as the real problem seems to get worse by the minute for the Enterprise and her crew.

The ending to this story is the confrontation with this malevolent alien force and there is a clever way of making this alien compliable. The book, as mentioned before, could have been written better. The story was clever but it fell flat.

This book is a 3 star book and that was generous... the editing had a lot to do with it. Whomever was the editor, needed to be more familuar with TREK cannon and the book would have flowed better and would have been a more pleasant read.