Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned Part 3 by Peter David - Disappointing

Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned Part 3 by Peter David

When I learned that Peter David was releasing three new novels in his New Frontier series of novels, I was very excited and eager to read. After reading the previous eighteen books in the series, I found I wanted more. Now, after reading the third of this latest series, I find myself wondering if the series has finally played itself out even though part three is very open ended and begging for a continuation of the saga that features Captain Mac Calhoun and the crew of the USS Excalibuir.

Part three starts where part 2 leaves off; the Excalibur has entered a pocket universe where the D’Myurj have their home world and Calhoun is determined to make them pay for the destruction of his home world and for the genocide committed against his people. Calhoun has a second objective which is to rescue a group of Starfleet personnel that were captured by the D’Myurj that includes Admiral Alynna Nechayev. Calhoun is cautiously optimistic when a seemingly friendly race known as the Dayan ask for his help in the destruction of the D’Myurj Homeworld.

After the destruction of the D’Myurj, Calhoun soon learns that the Dayan are also on another mission to destroy all life, no matter where it exists.

In the meantime, back on New Thallon, the current despotic ruler, Shintar Han is on a mission to make sure that his rule is not usurped by Robin Lefler and her child, Cwanzi. She is being protected by Mark McHenry, a former Starfleet officer turned demigod. Han is not alone as he has recruited the Thallonian deity who turns out to be none other than Q, who goes about his usual creation of chaos and playing one against another for whatever reason.

While all of this death and destruction along with Q’s constant game-playing is taking place, Lefler sleeps with her protector; Soleta, the Vulcan/Romulan hybrid, enters Pon Far, and seduces Calhoun; Q kidnaps Lefler’s child and returns him as a grown-up liaison to the Q Continuum, who also saves the day by killing the entire Dayan race. And to top everything off, Soleta turns up pregnant as a result of her rape of Calhoun.

I have enjoyed past installments of the New Frontier stories, but this latest trilogy has left me somewhat cold. It isn’t the story itself that is disappointing to me, although there are elements that, in my mind, are not what I would expect from a Star Trek story. As far as Story is concerned, this entire trilogy, with the possible exception of Part 1, reads more like a draft of a completed story than a finished work, at least as far as what I have come to expect from Peter David.

In the first novel, Admirals Jellico and Shelby plot to send Calhoun off to the pocket universe to rescue the officers captured by the D’Myurj. They are sure that Calhoun can complete the job, but they fail to realize that he is severely emotionally compromised and the objective that he will actually pursue, the destruction of the D’Myurj, is not within the normal operations of Starfleet. Calhoun has become a loose cannon and should be reined in until he regains his perspective before he resumes command of a star ship. Calhoun’s officers are more than willing to follow him into whatever situation he deems appropriate, including genocide, with only mild protestations from his first officer.

After the rescue of the officers from the D’Myurj Homeworld, there is no mention of them. There is an admiral on board the Excalibur, and in the past, Nechayev has never had a problem with asserting her command position to make sure that the interests of Starfleet are enforced. There is not a single mention of her or the other officers that are rescued, which seemed to be a main plot point earlier in the series.

Mac Calhoun tells Soleta that he will have to tell his wife, Admiral Shelby about the illicit activity between them because they have no secrets from each other, yet that same Admiral Shelby who has no secrets from her husband, along with Admiral Jellico, manipulated her husband into going on a mission that would be normally frowned upon, to say the least, by the Federation.

I could go on with numerous other plot holes, but that isn’t the main reason I am disappointed. What I missed in this story, and in the trilogy in general, is the depth of the characters that I have become used to in the author’s previous stories. In the past, Calhoun has been a complex character who is able to think on his feet and solve problems cleverly. The Calhoun in this story is a very shallow person, a mere shadow of his former self who has become single minded and quite one-dimensional. The supporting characters as well have become equally less interesting than in the past and seem to have been treated as pawns on a chessboard. Had I not read the New Frontier series from the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have finished this latest installment.

I am sorry to say that it is perhaps time to let this be the end of the adventures of the Excalibur and her crew unless the quality of the characters can be restored. In the past, while the stories may have been good, if not a little far fetched, the members of Calhoun’s crew would leap off of the page and became ones that I deeply cared about.

Well, there it is…

Qaplah!

Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned - Part 2 - I enjoyed It, However...

Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned - Part 2

The Returned-Part 2 picks up at nearly the moment that Part 1 ends. There are three main story plots involved; first is the story of Mac Calhoun in command of the USS Excalibur entering a pocket universe in pursuit of the D’myurj, a self righteous race who believes that it is their mission to destroy all life. Unfortunately for them, they chose to destroy Xenex, Calhoun’s home world and he is determined to exact revenge on the D’myruj, and if anyone can single-handedly do that, it is Calhoun. Upon entering the pocket universe, the crew of the Excalibur encounter a derelict D’myruj ship and learn that all hands on board, save one, have been killed. It is a gruesome scene. It isn’t long before another ship arrives on the scene belonging to a race of people called the Dayan. Under the command of Nyos, who explains that they are also out for the destruction of the D’myurj, proposes an alliance. The D’myurj home world is apparently protected by a series of defense satellites that the Dayan are unable to penetrate. Since the Excalibur is equipped with a cloaking device, it is thought that Calhoun might be able to take out the satellites and allow Nyos to do the rest. However, Calhoun’s mission is not only to visit revenge on the D’myurj, but also to rescue a small group of Starfleet personnel that have been captured. The uneasy alliance teeters on the edge and all is not as it appears to be in this plot that has a few twists and turns.

The second story line is the plight of Robin Lefler and her son Cwansi who have been taken to New Thallon by Mark McHenry, a man with some special powers, off of which was to teleport Lefler and Cwansi off the Excalibur and onto New Thallon to keep them safe. The current ruler of New Thallon, Shintar Han is determined to keep power and makes attempts to kill Lefler and Cwansi because Cwansi’s father was Ci Cwan, the late ruler of the Thallonian people thus making Cwansi the rightful ruler. McHenry intervenes and does a great job of protecting Lefler and the baby. Meanwhile, it is discovered that McHenry has powers to heal certain ailments and he is kept quite busy as hundreds appeal to him for help. Shintar Han appeals to the Thallonian god known as the Awesome to intervene and secure his rule. The Awesome has actually been intervening in the Thallonian political scene on numerous occasions, some of which are chronicled in the third story line.

In that story line, it is explained how the Cwan family has been aided in taking and holding power throughout the history of Thallon, a planet that was destroyed in an earlier book. The Awesome goes by many names and the big reveal of who he actually is is a surprise, because he is someone that we who are Trek fans, know all too well as Q.

I did enjoy this story continuation but found the main plot somewhat predictable and would have found it quite slow if it had been any longer than it was at 161 pages. I knew that the crew of the USS Excalibur would encounter another race and that they would ally with them, and that the new race they encountered would have some hidden agenda that would set the two factions at odds. I am also thinking that the third and final part of the series will be just as predictable and that, as always, Calhoun and the crew of the Excalibur will be triumphant at the end. Along with that, I also felt that it was predictable that Lefler, who seems to be quite promiscuous at times, would wind up in bed with McHenry, however I am interested to see where this healing ability that he has is going to go.  I am thinking that it will most likely result in some sort of showdown between him and Q.

For me, the best parts of this segment of the story is the history of the Thallonian people and the secession on power of Ci Cwan’s family. While well written for a subplot, I would liked to know more about the rulers, one of which seemed to be benevolent while the next was apparently despotic.

Actually, thought the entire book was a little abrupt and left me wanting more, which I suppose would be the point of a middle book in a three part series.

There are a few other points that I should like to point out such as I am having a little trouble seeing this as a Star Trek story. The behavior of some of the characters is a little off the mark for my personal taste. For instance, Captain Calhoun seems hell bent on committing genocide in an almost obsessive act of revenge, and his crew is more than willing to follow him no matter what he does. In the story, he gets a half-hearted talk from his first officer about the morals of the mission that has been decided on, as far as he is concerned, unilaterally and without the backing of Starfleet Command. Admiral Jellico and Calhoun’s own wife, also an admiral, even backhandedly are in supporting his actions while leaving the door open for plausible deniability. Calhoun, who has always been a hero in the past by using his wits and intelligence to resolve situations, has now become a villain. What’s more, even if he is acting out of a sense of revenge for the genocide against his people, then should it not be determined that he is emotionally compromised and thus temporarily relieved of duty?

I also reviewed The Returned-Part 1 and raved about it. I found it a good solid exposition, however Part 2 also read a little like continued exhibition. Despite the few plot holes I pointed out and the feeling of abruptness I felt as I read, this is a good story and I looked forward to reading Part 3 very soon.

Well, there it is…

Qaplah!

Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned Part 1 by Peter David - Mac Is Back And He Is Looking For Payback

Star Trek: New Frontier: The Returned, Part 1 by Peter David (July, 2015)

Back in December of 2012, I blogged about a series of books from Peter David set in a New Frontier. I began reading that series during the summer while off from school and could not stop reading them once I started. Later I was saddened to learn that the last book I read (Blind Man’s Bluff) was most likely to be the last of the series as Mr. David’s contract for the series had been fulfilled and he had received no word from the publisher that he could continue the saga. Earlier this year, I learned that there would be three more novels in the series and I immediately added them to my pre-order list on Amazon. The books arrived on my Kindle and I finally got around to reading the first one, and it is great, just as I expected it would be. Mr. David, as his readers all know, can tell one hell of a story.

When last we saw Mac Calhoun, captain of the USS Excalibur, his home planet Xenex was being attacked by the Brethren, a faction that were being used as footsoldiers by a race known as the D’myurj.  Their mission was to wipe out all life on Xenex and Mac received word that they may have done just that.

The Returned, Part 1, begins about three months after the events of Blind Man’s Bluff. Mac is on Xenex searching for any survivors and not having any success.  It would appear that he is the last of his people. His wife, Admiral Shelby arrives looking for him and tries to bring him back, but Mac tricks her and he goes off on a one man mission to exact vengeance against the D’myurj.  Mac soon arrives on a planet where he intends to use the Guardian of Forever to go back in time and prevent the events that destroyed his people from happening. Thanks to his former navigator, Mark McHenry, Mac realizes that he could do far more harm than good by going back in time and decides to take a different tack.

Mac returns to the Excalibur and takes back his command from his first officer, Burgoyne 172. The crew is happy to see him back in the center seat and pledge to follow him no matter what the future holds. It is Mac’s intention to go to a wormhole located in Thallonian space that will take him to a “pocket” universe where the D’myurj are.

Meanwhile, Admiral Jellico tells Mac that he is not to be seen entering Thalloian space.  With the help of a cloaking device, Mac is able to follow Jellico’s orders, but somehow, the Thallonians do find the Excalibur and demand that Mac hand over Robin Lefler and her child to them. Lefler decides the issue for herself and with the help of McHenry, transports herself onto the Thallonian ship and is taken to meet the new ruler of the New Thalon, a being who is determined to solidify his power base by eliminating anyone that might pose a threat, including Lefler and her infant son.  But how was the Excallibur discovered? There is another force at work with the Thallonians that knows Mac and the Excallibur well enough to pose a clear and present danger to the ship.

With few choices, and realizing that McHenry will not let anything happen to Lefler, Mac decides to take his ship into the pocket universe, but there he learns that there is another even more powerful race that poses a threat to the D’myurj. Are they allies or another foe?

In this latest installment, the first of three parts, Mr. David once again demonstrates that he is one of the masters of not only telling great Trek stories, but he is also a master at making his characters jump off of the page and come alive. Mac Calhoun is a character that I have enjoyed in his other books, and recently as a character in the Mirror Universe. He is very much alive in my mind, along with the other characters he has introduced in the New Frontier series. This book focuses mostly on Mac, but many of the others are also there. One bonus is that he also develops characters that we are familiar with from the television series. Two of those are both from TNG lore, one being Edward Jellico from the sixth season two-part episode, Chain of Command when he took command of the Enterprise-D for a brief time while Picard was on a special operations mission, and the other being Elizabeth Shelby from the season three two-part episode Best of Both Worlds where she became first officer for Riker while Picard was under the influence of the Borg.  Thanks to the author of The Returned, both of these characters have been given personalities that are extensions of their canon counterparts on the series. Neither of these characters in the series (in my opinion) were very likable.  In this book, they do retain their on-screen personalities, but are also given human faces. Really, their characters are very well developed through the entire New Frontier series of books.

Retuned, Part 1 is not a stand alone book. I think it is essential to go back and read at least some of the New Frontier books to get the background needed to understand the events that are taking place. The author does provide some of the background that will help with understanding, but to get the full flavor, the previous volumes are better.

This story ends with a pretty good cliffhanger of an ending and I am looking forward to reading the next of this three part story.

Speaking of that, while I was looking at other reviews, I noticed that was some animosity toward the author and/or the publisher that they chose to release this as three smaller novels as opposed to one larger volume. As those who have read all three parts know, one was released in July, the second in August, and the third in September. Personally, I do not have a problem with this and feel that whomever made the decision to release it in three parts is completely free to do as they wish. I kind of like the idea that I can read other material in between parts and anticipate what will come next. It isn’t as though either the publisher or author is going to make any more money as the price for the book is $2.99 and is the same for the following two parts. It should also be noted that this is an E-Book series exclusively.

Peter David

At any rate, I think that if you have enjoyed the previous installments of the New Frontier books, this one is an excellent re-introduction to the series. It is my hope that there are many more on the way.

Well, there it is…

Q’aplah!

Favorite Episode of Firefly...

If you have never seen Firefly, you cannot know what your are missing.  What a series, even though it was short-lived.  Firefly is a sci-fi show that is set in the future, about 500 years distant, and depicts events that might take place once the people of the Earth begin to populate the known galaxy, or as the characters in the show put it, "the 'verse," Short for universe.  As humans move into the frontier of space, Firefly's people begin to take up cowboy types of personalities in many cases. 

The series aired in 2002 and it was a huge disappointment to fans when the Fox network decided to cancel it.

My favorite episode was entitled, "Out of Gas," the eighth episode of the series.  Now notice I said 'my favorite' and not the best.  Actually, in my humble opinion, there were no bad episodes of Firefly, all fourteen episodes are great and a testament to the show's creator, Joss Whedon.

Nathan Fillion as Mal

Firefly Class ship Serenity

"Out of Gas" opens with Serenty's captain, Malcom (Mal) Reynolds lying on the deck, bleeding from a stomach wound.  The ship has been abandoned by the rest of the crew because of a failed engine part that was important to the production of air on board.  The episode flashes back and forth between the past, showing how Mal acquired the ship, and how he chose his crew, and forward to show the circumstances leading to Mal's predicament.  When the show gets to the point where Mal is lying injured on the deck, it progresses forward showing his attempt to repair his ship so he can call his crew back.

The reason that this episode is my favorite is because of the back story that is revealed.  As with all episodes of Firefly, there are some very intense moments, and some very humorous ones.  If you have never seen this series and you are a sci-fi fan, or a fan of westerns, or both, this is a must see.  You can get the entire series on DVD or BluRay DVD for a very reasonable price and is widely available.

   Serenity crew: Front Zoe (first officer), Mal, and Kaylee (engineer),  Back: Shepherd Book, River, "Wash," Jayne, Simon, and Inara.  Book, River and Simon joined the crew in the first episode.

It is too bad that this show was cancelled by Fox before it had a chance to really get going, as with so many quality shows on Fox, it seems that if the profits from the show are not immediate, the show Peter is dropped prematurely.  This especially seems to happen with shows in the sci-fi genre.

My other favorite was an episode called "Jaynestown."  I'll save that one for another time.

Other Sci-Fi Activity I have been engaged in...

Along with my re-watch of Firefly, I have also been continuing to watch Fringe.  I am currently in the second season of Fringe and am loving it more than ever.  The second season seems to be revolving around Peter and his back-story.  There are some really great episodes that give a lot of insight to Walter, Peter, and Olivia, and the circumstances of how they came to be who they are.  Great series.

I have also gotten caught up in Continuum on Syfy.  This is a great high-tech look into the old theme of cops and robbers with some very interesting plot twists and turns.  So far, this show is proving to be quite unpredictable which is helping to keep my interest.  I was forced to miss the 5th episode doe to circumstances involving family obligations, but will be streaming it from Amazon as soon as I finish writing this blogpost.

The circumstances of which I speak afforded me the time to listen to several podcasts about Continuum, and I was also able to listen to several audiobooks during the long drive to Green Bay, Wisconsin, about twelve hours from here.  The audiobooks I listened to were all by Peter David, were also abridged, and not bad listening on the drive.  I will add these titles to my audiobook list on the right side of the page in a day or two.

I was also able to read a lot.  There was quite a bit of downtime for me so I finished reading Star Trek: New Frontier - Treason and Blind man's Bluff (read this in two days), both by Peter David.  This completes my reading of the New Frontier series until a new story is released.  Well worth the time.  I also read ST: DS9: Wrath of the Prophets (which I will blog about later) and am now in the middle of ST: Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances.  That last one is turning out to be one hell of a story that I have a hard time putting down (pardon the cliche) by Keith R.A. DiCandido, Peter David, and Sarah Shaw.  I will also blog about the latter at some future date.

I would also direct you to listen to the Scifi Diner Conversations episode 74.  Listen for my comments on a few subjects there, as well as some stimulating conversation between the hosts and other comments from listeners.

That about catches you up on what I have been up to lately.

So, there it is...

I remain,

Kahless

Q'aplaH!

Activity Update...

Podcasts:
There have been a couple of pocasts released that I have listened to and enjoyed since the last time I wrote on this blog.  Scott and Miles of the Scifi Diner Podcast released a Scifi Rewind of the movie, Galaxy Quest.  Scott describes this movie as a parody of Star Trek as opposed to being a satyr.  I did watch this film and sent in a comment.  At first, I thought that I wouldn't care for Galaxy Quest but ended up enjoying it.

If you haven't seen it, Galaxy quest is about a group of actors that starred in a television series that had been off the air for twenty years.  The actors were never really cast into new roles because they were stuck with the personas that they achieved while on that show.  So they were relegated to continually attending conventions to appease the cult following that their show created for them.  While at a convention, the "captain" of the cast, played by Tim Allen, was approached by what he thought were fans, but were actually members of an alien race who needed help in defeating an enemy.  The aliens had seen the broadcasts as they received them in their star system thinking they were actually historical accounts of factual events.  Before you know it, the entire cast is taken into space and do help the aliens defeat their nemesis.

Brea Grant

It really is a good movie and the Rewind is very good.  Scott and Miles are also joined for this Rewind by Colin of the Trek News and Views Podcast.  It is a great episode.

The Scifi Diner also released a Scifi Diner Classic episode which was their interview with Brea Grant of Dexter, Halloween II, Heroes, and We Will Bury You.  This is a great interview with and Grant is a good guest.

Speaking of Trek News and Views Colin is joined by Charlynn, Lorries, and Gwen in a review of the last episode of Star Trek the Original Series, Turnabout Intruder.  This is an episode where Kirk's personality is forcibly interchanged with a guest star who wants to be a Starfleet captain.  This is a very hilarious episode and I laughed all the way through it.  A fun listen.

Colin has also released another episode of Trek News that I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, and it is on the movie Star Trek: The Wrath Of Kahn.  Scott and Miles join him for this look at the iconic trek film.


Books and Television:
After Eleuthera, I went back to the ST: New Frontier series and read Missing in Action, the 16th book in the series by Peter David.and have since picked up with reading Edward of Planet Earth by Nicholas Eftimiades.  I am up to chapter five and have found this book quite amusing so far.  I will report back when I finish with this one.

I have also made it through about half of the old television series Earth 2, and continue to watch a second season episode of Fringe when I have a chance.

Well, that's about it for today.  In light of the Turnabout Intruder episode, a Twitter friend and fellow contributor to Colin's podcast, Renee,  pointed me to this video. It is from a 1991 short-lived Carol Burnette show and I have been laughing over this for a while.  Enjoy