Tag Archives: series

Double or Nothing by Peter David (1999) – BR00026 (2001) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
March 4 2001

Plot or Premise

This is the fifth in the series about a vengeful attack on the universe by an “unknown” assailant who uses biological weapons to wipe out races in the Federation. This book puts Riker on the Excalibur, dealing with Shelby et al; Mackenzie on a secret undercover mission to infiltrate the assailant’s lair; and, Picard undercover to do the same thing, eventually linking up with Mackenzie.

What I Liked

There are a series of one-liners with Shelby and Riker that are occasionally funny, Mackenzie’s infiltration is really interesting at the start and his character is great, and there is an interesting interplay between Admirals at one point.

What I Didn’t Like

The Riker and Shelby section is not very well-written, Mackenzie’s infiltration becomes repetitive at the end, and when Picard and he link up, it makes little to no sense for most of it. However, my real problem with this story is the sequencing…up until now in the series, you haven’t known why the assailant is doing what he is doing, or even who it is. This one reveals all, and the motives are kind of a cliché. The New Frontier portion stays true to form while the rest of the interactions with The Next Generation universe is more of a caricature than reality.

The Bottom Line

Readable.

The Mist by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch (1998) – BR00025 (2001) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
March 4 2001

Plot or Premise

This is the third in the series dealing with the bar called “The Captain’s Table”, a bar only for Captains across time and space. Sisko is in need of some rest, so he visits Bajor and finds the bar. And finds that the interesting aspect of the bar is that everyone gets to tell a tale. His tale is of a group known as The Mist. Centuries before, the Mist shifted themselves and their worlds out of normal space into a phased sub-space. Having left normal space behind, they have been excluded from the trials and tribulations of the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulans and the Cardassians. However, they lure Sisko into their space to help them fight an apparent revolt by subversives who are going to phase-shift DS9 and use it in Mist space to attack other worlds.

What I Liked

The story is interesting enough, particularly some of the new-to-the-Star-Trek-universe characters, and good involvement of the Klingons.

What I Didn’t Like

The story jumps back to “normal” time too often to show the bar, when the story Sisko is telling is far more interesting. The characters and Klingon involvement are good, but are either not well-integrated in the main plot or just not developed enough. Plus, Kira comes off as some cartoonish clone of her real character.

The Bottom Line

Worth a read but not a “must read”.

Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs (2000) – BR00024 (2001) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
March 4 2001

Plot or Premise

In this third installment in the Dr. Temperance Brennan series, there are biker gangs in Montreal, and they are killing each other. Most of it happens in Montreal, which is an improvement over the bopping around in previous books.

What I Liked

The story is interesting, and Reichs is still above average.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the characters are fast becoming clichés. And if you don’t figure out a sub-plot (spoiler alert!) about her love interest being a dirty cop, you need to take Mystery Fiction 101 again. Temperance also gets to play Mommy again, this time to a nephew, but it isn’t particularly exciting. More of a Scarpetta rip-off. Again, too, Reichs plays fast and loose with a couple of clues that make Brennan look like an idiot to any intelligent reader and really detracts from the story. The final ending is almost surreal, and reads more like a script for an action TV series than reliable fiction.

The Bottom Line

Not up to the standards of the first book.

The First Virtue by Michael Jan Friedman and Christie Golden (1999) – BR00023 (2001) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
March 4 2001

Plot or Premise

This is the final in the series of six Star Trek books dealing with an assault with biological weapons on the Federation. This book takes the reader back to the time of Picard as Captain of the Stargazer and adds Tuvok and Jack Crusher to the series. Picard is assigned diplomatic duties for a system on the verge of war. Working together with Tuvok and Crusher, they quickly realize that the war is being primed by someone, but they’re just not sure who. Tuvok and Crusher go undercover and they form the majority of the story.

What I Liked

Tuvok’s and Crusher’s undercover antics are interesting reading, and represent a solid addition to Tuvok’s background.

What I Didn’t Like

Crusher’s character is only superficially developed, as is the character of the man who eventually becomes the assailant for the other five books.

The Bottom Line

Not the best in the series.

Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence (1997) – BR00022 (2001) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
March 4 2001

Plot or Premise

Hannah Trevor is a midwife in 1786 colonial America. She has 3 dead children, a dead husband, and a live daughter whose unacknowledged / unclaimed father is a neighbour. Hannah is present when the authorities discover the raped and mutilated body of another village resident, who has left behind a letter accusing some members of the village elite of the crime, including Hannah’s former lover.

What I Liked

The plotting is well-done, if somewhat slow to get to the discovery of the body. So well-done in fact that this would be easily readable without the murder mystery (i.e., if it was just a historical novel about life in colonial America). And perhaps that is the highest compliment to be paid to this book — that it works well on different levels: a historical novel (the life of the midwife, the role of women), a mystery novel (who raped and killed the woman?), and, to some extent, a love story (the relationship between Hannah and Daniel, her child’s father).

What I Didn’t Like

I figured out the murder mystery far too early, and I spotted other murders long before they actually happened. Fortunately, the great writing carried me to the end anyways.

The Bottom Line

A great historical mystery.