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Rating:  -
I tend to avoid short story collections, as short story collections tend to vary in quality; but this is a collection of short stories set in the Star Trek: New Frontier series that was crafted by Peter David, and since he was the editor, I gave it a shot. Lately, as another reviewer has mentioned, I have been frustrated with where the series is going (too heavy handed, too humerous in a blunt way), but these stories were a complete change of pace, and in a very good way. They are reminiscent of the DS9 relaunch, where various authors have obviously been given an outline to follow, but granted creative expression.
The stories take turns with the various characters of the New Frontier cast, and as such, I found some of them quite interesting (Shelby switching from engineering to command track, a diary-entry story featuring Lefler, a really solid bit of character study for McHenry), but others, based on characters I couldn't really care all that much for (Kebron, Si Cwan), just didn't do much for me.
However, a few of the stories blew me away. Most notably, the one about Morgan Primus (Robin Lefler's immortal mother), was done with such a deft touch of emotionality that I actually got choked up, which is rare enough with Star Trek in general, but very rare in short story Trek fiction. I honestly place it on a level with the TNG episode "The Inner Light." Yes, that good. I, too, will be seeking more stories from Ilsa J. Bick.
Which brings me around to the good part about short story collections - that you often meet a new author worthy of more research and reading. All in all this was quite good, and if you're an anal collector of Trek such as myself, you'll want it.
'Nathan
Rating:  -
This anthology is excellent, although with my tastes, it was a mixed bag. A couple of the stories were a bit more simplistic than I would have hoped for, and some had pretty jarring inconsistencies (the ones that got to me most were in the story about Soleta's first encounter with Rajari). However, that aside, as a general thing, the book is definitely worth getting, especially for a New Frontier fan. Most of the stories offer quite a bit of insight into the character of focus, and none of the plots dragged (although I have to admit, I was in a hurry and skipped "Redemption" the first time through; I am planning on reading it, but can't review it at this time). My personal favorites were "Alice, on the Edge of Night," about Morgan Primus (it was fantastic), and although I can't think of a positive thing to say about D'ndai's character, "A Lady of Xenex" was my other favorite. None of the stories except his own had Peter David's sense of whatever it is that governs NF (I chose to believe it's irony), which I missed, but even for that, the book doesn't come up wanting.
Rating: -
I have read "New Frontier" since the beginning, and I was a bit reticent to pick up this anthology, wondering what these new voices would bring to the universe Peter David built. Indeed, I was curious as to what, exactly, the stories would be; as David says in the introduction, it was a tough decision to decide where the stories should take place, and ultimately they are all in the various characters' pasts, which makes for an interesting read.
The results of "No Limits" are wonderful, illuminating the established characters with new details, explanations, and purpose. Every story adds something new to the characters, whether it is Calhoun's loyalty to Picard (the opener, "Loose Ends"), Kebron's love for fish (the aptly titled "Waiting for G'Doh"), Morgan's quest to end her existence ("Alice, on the Edge of Night"), or Burgoyne's life-altering experience with "visions" ("Through the Looking Glass").
The standouts in the anthology are David Mack's Kebron tale, which offers great insight into his psyche and gives new meaning to "stoicism;" both of the Soleta stories, one which shows us of her fateful first meeting with Rajari, the second which gives us Spock; Josepha Sherman's "Turning Point" which finds Si Cwan as an adolescent coming to the realization that the Royal Court of Thallon does not sit well with his conflicting opinions of high and low castes; and, of course, Peter David's tale of Shelby and Calhoun's ill-fated honeymoon. Oh, and we finally get to meet Morgan Korsmo and see that oft-referred to incident, Wolf-359, and the battle waged on the "Excalibur."
This is a great addition to any "New Frontier" fan's library, or any Trek fan's for that matter. This also works as an adequate introduction into the hearts and minds of the characters that have been changing since 1997. Pick it up. It's one of the best Trek anthologies out there, and it's great to see some new voices add their talents to the ever-expanding crews of the "Excalibur" and the "Trident."
Rating: -
i used to like new frontier, but i thought that Peter David's writing was getting too obvious. his jokes are all really heavy handed and not very funny. but i was curious to see what other writers did with the characters, so i bought no limits.
this was a great idea. since Peter edited the book, maybe he'll see how to write more subtle. David Mack's Zak Kebron story is funnier than anything Peter has written in years. i thought that Terri Osborne's Selar story was going to be a stupid joke story when i realized that it had two of Suzie Plakson's characters in it, but Terri's a really good writer, and made the joke work. Peg Robinson made calhoun's brother into a much more interesting character, and most of the other stories were pretty cool too. some werre only okay, like Kieth deCandido's Soleta story and Loren Coleman's Shebly story, but pretty much all of them were good.
the best is Ilsa Bick's Morgan story, which is the best story in the book and was worth buying the book all by itself. i wasn't going to read Isla's well of souls novel because i don't care about captain garrett, but now i'm going to because her Morgan primus story was so great.
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