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Rating:  -
I continue to be pleased with all of the book purchases that I have made thru amamzon.com. Tracking dates and information is accurate. The books arrive in the condition stated and in a timely manner. Good service.
Rating:  -
I must admit, that for some reason I have always been a Wesley Crusher hater. Wil Wheaton is fine, but I hate Wesley. I never liked the character. OK. I'm OK now, just had to get that off my chest.
Anyway, it turned out that A Time To Die, the conclusion to A Time To Be Born is a pretty good story, probably better than the first part.
The major plot lines involve the situation in a `haunted' space graveyard that causes Picard to destroy a ship of an ally which lands him in hot water back at Star Fleet Command and under the control of a counselor who seems to be a control freak. The second plotline is of Wesley's initiation into the Travelers, a group of beings who, through mental powers can move through time and space at will. During a vision, Crusher notices the plight of Picard and the destruction of the Enterprise and at the risk of losing his place with the Travelers and the special powers they have granted him, decides to help out.
Somehow he and Riker and the crew must clear Picard's name and solve the riddle of the spaceship graveyard. Meanwhile, the councilor takes Picard onto the Enterprise and together, they all return to the site of the disaster.
Wesley assists in solving the mystery and eliminating the problem, but then he must face his fellow Travelers. Will they revoke his powers? Read on and see.
Overall I thought the two volumes were pretty good.
Rating:  -
The second in the "A Time To..." series, "Die" picks up where "Be Born" left off. The U.S.S. Juno has been destroyed, and after an inquiry has been convened, Captain Picard has been relieved of command, with Riker made acting captain. To clear Picard's name, the crew goes back to the Rashanar battle site to find whatever it was that destroyed the Juno. There's more action in this book than there was in its prequel, but that unfortunatley doesn't do much for it. The characterisations are still off, and there are some big plot points that just get written off way too quickly.
Spoilers...
First off, the love story between Wesely and Coleen Cabot. They talk, have sex and BOOM, they're in love. All within the space of a few paragraphs. It seems that most of the affair is written only for filler, because it's badly done and Cabot dies towards the end of the book.
Second, Wesely is on the Enterprise, having left Picard and co. on the Skegge for like, ten minutes. He comes back and Picard tells him, "Oh yes, we met up with some looters and struck a deal with them, and they've installed a cloaking device on our ship." If I were Wesely, my only question would have been "When?"
End spoilers...
It seemed like as the ending drew nearer, there was a bigger rush to resolve different matters, and that hurt the story. Again, completionists will want to read "A Time to Die" just so they won't be lost in subsequent books. I'm glad that the torch is passed on to other Trek authors in the next book. John Vornholt just didn't do it for me.
Rating:  -
Let me preface this review by saying first and foremost I am a serious Star Trek fan and have been for a very long time. I've had a hard time watching each new TV series fall further and further in quality and have turned to books for my "Trek-Fix".
So without further ado......
(Also please note, some of my comments may spoil things for you if you haven't read the books. I'll attempt to note before hand what is a spoiler)
These first two books written by Mr.Vornholt are mediocre at best. This easily could have been a single book. Nevertheless the books have other faults as well (Note: I'm writing one review for both Vornholt books Time to be Born and Time to Die). Let's start from the beginning of this book.
It takes place pretty much right as the last book ended. I suppose my first real problem with it comes here. Seeing Picard in a nuthouse seems.... well.... silly. The books explains this away as a device to keep him from getting court-martialed for the incident that happened in the previous novel. His "keeper" is named Colleen Cabot. She has little or no personality and seems to take a strange glee in needling Jean-Luc. The first 1/4 of this book is completely disposable except for a couple little plot driving points stuck in haphazardly here and there. Then we move back to Rashanar. The scene of the most horrible battle ever in the Dominion Wars (How many times I've heard that I can't count). The idea behind Rashanar is interesting for the first book and about halfway into this book. Then it becomes the typical "Get the alien" fair, with a little conspiracy thrown in.
--SPOILER AHEAD--
My major gripe with this particular book is the sudden turning of Colleen Cabot into a vibrant, annoying, opinionated brat and that somehow Wesley and her fall in love in the space of a paragraph and all it right with the universe. Colleen questioning herself as to whether she loves Wesley as Wesley or Wesley the Traveler is just sad. Clearly it is in my mind, filler. The author seems to desperately be trying to make you like her as a character and quickly develop her character.
--SPOILER OVER--
The book (including Time to be Born) moves at jerky rates. Giving the reader reading whiplash from the lack of any kind of coherant flow or pacing. The entire middle of the book, with crew members dorking around inside Rashanar was so drawn out I actually started skimming paragraphs. I just took to long with little or no point... more filler material obviously.
The dialogue is sometimes archaic in Trek references (Food SLOT?!) and Data's Dialogue is very forced. In fact I found most characters dialogue forced as if the author had never seen a Next Generation episode in his life.
I do look forward to other authors taking over the helm (pun intended) and doing something interesting with this series of Trek books.
I am not sure what else Mr.Vornholt has written or even if he has written other Trek books. I'm sure he's a fine writer but he just didn't do it this time around.
Rating: -
Fresh on the heels of A Time to Be Born, its companion novel, A Time to Die shows up. And what a clunk it makes. Star Trek novels have their detractors, but I'm not one of them. This one, however, almost makes me change my mind. There is so much wrong with this book that I don't know where to begin. Just to start at the easy part, how about a summary?
After the destruction of the Ontailian ship at the Rashanar graveyard in A Time to Be Born, and after the Ontailians destroy the starship Juno, Captain Picard is back on Earth being held in a mental institution for ongoing medical tests. He has accepted a deal that will avoid a court martial, but he is determined to discover what really happened at Rashanar, site of one of the fiercest battles of the Dominion War. To clear his former captain, Acting Captain William Riker takes the Enterprise, with a skeleton crew, back to Rashanar to find out what the Ontailians are really hiding at the graveyard. Thankfully, he has the help of Picard, the counselor performing his medical evaluation, and an old friend. Wesley Crusher is back, and he's determined to help the Enterprise and his old captain, even if it means he can no longer be a member of the mythical beings called "The Travelers." However, death and destruction await them amidst the wreckage of so many ships.
A Time to Be Born was a book about Picard (and a little bit of Data). Wesley was in it, and he actually became a little annoying prancing around during the inquiry back at Starfleet command (the only annoying part of that entire section of the book). But it was Picard's book. A Time to Die makes the whole thing Wesley's story, and it really suffers for it. I have never been a Wesley detractor as so many Star Trek: The Next Generation fans have been, but he's never been a favourite of mine. However, this book has a lot of Wesley using his Traveler powers, jumping from ship to ship to planet to outer space, observing things. He almost makes things too easy, despite Picard's insistence that they can't begin relying on him. Wesley is a Deus ex Machina throughout the entire book, except for the fact that the book is actually about him so maybe that term doesn't apply. Still, it does make the book less interesting. He convinces Picard's counselor of what happened by whisking her away to the Rashanar graveyard, something she must find very erotic because the next time she sees him she's all over him.
Which brings me to why this book suffers so much. First, Wesley's actions and manner are incredibly annoying, making me want to blow him out an airlock at times. Secondly, the relationship that develops between Wesley and Cabot comes literally out of nowhere. One minute, she's resisting releasing Picard, and then after Wesley takes her to Rashanar, she's suddenly hot for him? And he for her? Yes, he does find her attractive in their first scene together, but to go from "finding her attractive" to "being all over each other" in the span of a few pages? And then to have their relationship be this intense love that makes neither one of them want to be apart from one another? The whole thing is ridiculous, and every time they were together I wanted to belt them one. Then, her inevitable fate is so perfunctorily done that it had no affect on me whatsoever. I also found that this relationship brought out a giddiness in Cabot that just suddenly manifested itself too. She does almost a complete 180 degree turn in attitude that I just can't fathom. Yes, love can change somebody like that, but when I don't buy the love story, I certainly don't buy the character change.
There are other characters problems, too, though most are ok. The most striking is Admiral Nakamura, who goes from an almost ruthless man in a meeting with a character to crying over that character's death at the end. The first part I thought was very good, but I certainly didn't buy the crying, at least not for that character. Vornholt once again gets the regulars right, though that's coloured by Cabot's presence in so many scenes. Wesley's reluctance to reveal himself to his friends is very pertinent (he thinks the more he reveals himself, the more likely it is that he will lose his powers), but it makes for some very awkwardly done scenes between when both he, his mom, Cabot, and others are in a room together.
I'm looking for something positive to say about this book, and I'm having trouble. The scenes that don't have either Cabot or Wesley in them are usually well done. Unfortunately, there aren't many of them. The mystery of Rashanar is interesting, especially the secret behind the creature in the graveyard. Wesley also solves the problem in a very interesting way, fulfilling his vision from the beginning of the first book without allowing any of the main characters (who you know will survive, as Paramount would not allow their deaths) to die. In fact, the entire concept is intriguing.
It's just too bad that it had to end with such a bad book. A Time to Die is worth reading once, just to continue the story. But try to beg or borrow it before wasting money on it.
David Roy
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