Product Description
Long before Captain Jean-Luc Picard took command of the Starship Enterprise,™ he fell deeply and hopelessly in love with Doctor Beverly Crusher. Picard never acted on his feelings, yet he found a measure of contentment as Beverly's close friend, colleague, and daily breakfast partner.

When Doctor Crusher leaves to become the chief medical officer of Starfleet, the brightest light in Picard's life is taken from him. He has barely resigned himself to his loss when he learns that Beverly has been declared missing in action -- and presumed dead.

Kevratas is a bleak, frozen world on the far side of the Romulan Neutral Zone where the Federation has become the plague-ravaged natives' only real hope. Starfleet has no recourse but to send in another team -- and Picard is the natural choice. Critical to the mission are two colleagues from his former command, the Starship Stargazer: Pug Joseph and Doctor Carter Greyhorse. Joseph is a man with a past to live down, and Greyhorse has served time for attempted murder. They are determined to succeed where the doctor failed.

On the Romulan homeworld, meanwhile, the political vacuum created by the demise of Praetor Shinzon has been filled by Senator Tal'aura. But there are those who oppose her, including Commander Donatra and the warbirds under her command.

So begins a desperate struggle -- not only for the freedom of the long-oppressed Kevrata but also for the soul of the Romulan Star Empire. Before it's over, destinies will be forged and shattered, the Empire will be shaken to its ancient foundations, and Jean-Luc Picard's life will be changed...forever.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 34 reviews)

Alive in Summer

I read this book immediately after Resistance, which actually comes after this one, so I read them backwards. But this was a really great read, I liked Resistance and I liked this one about the same.

This book picks up right after the Nemesis movie, and with the exception of the Titan people, has just about everyone in it that the movie did, plus a few more from previous episodes of TNG. I thought the pace was quite well and the storyline fit into what we are used to seeing from a TNG episode. I am looking forward to continuing this series with the next book, Q&A.
October 15, 2008

Could have been told in 20 pages or less. Nothing to see here, folks.

I LOVED all the JMF Stargazer books, and his other work, but this "story", not only could have been a subplot barely worth attention in some other endeavor worth reading, but 200 pages into this 355 page drag, I had to ask when something, ANYTHING of substance was going to happen at all! It started off great, giving the reader a sense of excitement over what the next page may hold, but then, surely but gradually... pffffft. It goes nowhere, into a Geordi/Worf rescue subplot that has promise, then literally falls into an abyss of nonexistance, with no rhyme or reason. The story plods, the romulans suck, Beverly is captured, escapes, gets rescued, blah blah blah, and IN THE END PICARD AND CRUSHER CONFESS THEIR LOVE AND FINALLY KISS! AND IN THE LAST, PREDICTABLE PARAGRAPH! THE END! Don't bother with this junk, if this was a script for the show, it would have been rejected along the lines of "been there, done that, 17 times". Michael Jan Friedman, be ashamed enough to give the money back to the publisher.
September 21, 2008

please try harder

I know there is a significant built-in market for Star Trek books, so as long as they don't break continuity with the franchise, they will sell.

But, this book reads like an exercise. It feels like a plot outline to get from point A to B, in a specified number of pages, and was never fully fleshed out. One of the basics is: "show don't tell". Instead, the characters' internal motivations are apparent to us only because the author tells us "X was angry". Yes, but the reader cannot share in those feelings in any way. Isn't this basic?

Even when dialogue is used (there is far too little, most things are just described in the 3rd person like a book report), it doesn't feel like phrasing that the characters would use (based on STTNG TV) and their emotional responses just don't seem to match this book.

Inexplicably, there are long reprises of STTNG episodes. Chances are, if you've bought this book, you remember them. If you haven't, the descriptions aren't sufficiently compelling, nor do they motivate the core plot. Finally, there are a host of minor characters that are never developed but provide names to attach to those on the wrong end of a Romulan disruptor. We can call them "red shirts" and be done with it. Better, spend the time to create a character that is somehow changed by the incredible experience of surviving a plague and revolt in the Romulan empire.
September 20, 2008

What About Star Trek?

Hey, this book was supposed to take the story forward for the Star Trek Team, and, if nothing else, the Enterprise was supposed to feature in it. And, even if not that, at least the crew.

This book is, to be honest with you, just the story of Jean-Luc, and Beverly, along with three other characters from some long-gone-by stories, and a Romulan conspiracy, that's complicated enough to make Bond have territory fear.

The plot involves Beverly Crusher, who's now Chief Medical Officer of Starfleet, going on a remote planet on the fringe of the Romulan Empire, but subsequently declared MIA, probably dead. Picard is given the onerous responsibility of trying to continue Dr. Crusher's mission in her absence, but with clear instructions to abstain from trying to locate her, as that might jeopardize the mission.

Mr. Friedman has constructed a belieavable story, involving complexities from both Humans and Romulans. The emotional play is handled well, and the story is satisfying, both in content and climax.

My only complaint: where's the Star Trek look & feel? Only two crew members from the Ent-D make a rather brief appearance, and the Ship itself is out of action, undergoing repairs. Sadly, while the premise of the story is correct, to me the story itself doesn't further the Star Trek TNG saga, except the personal canonical stories of Picard and Crusher - however satisfying that might be.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5
September 07, 2008

Another Great Friedman Story...

The novel takes place right after the events of Nemesis and the Enterprise is back to get repairs before it heads out again. Picard looks at the crew and realizes that a lot of the crew members that he has known over years are gone. Riker and Troi have gone to the Titan, Data was destroyed, and many others have gone. Of course what is on Picard's mind more than anything else is the fact that Beverly Crusher has also left the Enterprise and taken a position with Starfleet medical. Little did Picard know that Beverly Crusher was a mission for Starfleet to find a cure for awful disease on the planet Kevratas. The problem is Kevratas is on the other side of the neutral zone. More importantly Romulan space! When Starfleet medical doesn't hear from Dr. Crusher they assume that she has been kidnapped. There assumption is correct, and she has been taken captive by Romulans.

While Crusher is fighting for survival the Federation sends Captain Picard to investigate her disappearance and to get a cure to the innocent people on Kevratas. They know that Picard and Crusher are old friends, and also because no one knows the Romulans like Jean Luc Picard. He ends up hitching a ride on a civilian vessel named the Annabel Lee whose Captain was none other than Picard's old Chief of Security aboard the Stargazer Peter "Pug" Joseph. However, there is one other member of the group that they must pick up. They need another doctor to replace Crusher but that also knows enough to cure the virus that is on Kevratas. Apparently the only other person that knows the virus is Crusher's former coworker at Starfleet Medical, a Dr. Carter Greyhorse. Greyhorse has spent the last 14 years in a Federation Rehabilitation for his past crimes and is not exactly trusted by his peers. However, he is the only other doctor that knows enough about this disease to help in their mission.

Another side story was there was a group of Romulans attempting to take over the position that Praetor Tal'Aura had. An individual named Admiral Braeg was becoming a quick enemy of the Praetor. Braeg had also had a long affair with Donatra who was also one of his primary allies in his battle against Tal'Aura.

The story with Picard trying to find a cure for the virus and trying to find Beverly is a very fast paced and interesting story. There are some flashbacks and of course members of the Stargazer along for the ride, but overall a very good story. The Romulan Civil War has a great climax but drags a little in the middle. I wish that Friedman would have wrote a seperate book about that event, and maybe made a little more time for Geordi, Worf and Admiral Janeway in this book who are in it very little. I also had a hard time believing that the Greyhorse character had to be used. First of all, he is not exactly a member of Starfleet anymore, plus only two doctors in all of Starfleet have any history with this virus? I think they could have found another doctor that wasn't serving time... oh and why was he serving time? Attempted murder. On who? The commander officer of the mission. Giving the fact that Greyhorse, Pug and Asmund(just a quick cameo) are in the novel you might want to have read one of Friedman's Stargazer novels or "Reunion" to get a good grasp of the characters. I suggest reading "Reunion" before this novel. First of all it will give you the background you would need. Second, because it is just a great novel.

Botton line, you will not been disappointed if you are a fan of the Picard and Beverly story line that needed and ending. Overall this a great novel and I highly recommend it.

July 13, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Resistance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by J.M. Dillard

Before Dishonor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by Peter David

Q&A (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by Keith R. A. DeCandido

The Buried Age (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by Christopher L. Bennett

Sword of Damocles (Star Trek: Titan, Book 4)
by Geoffrey Thorne