No Limits (Star Trek) [Paperback]

 

 

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I haven't been keeping up on my New Frontier reading, the series of Star Trek books by Peter David about Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and his crew of the starship Excalibur (which has recently been split up into two ships, I understand). Nevertheless, I decided to ask my library to get a copy of the New Frontier short story anthology, No Limits. The series is exclusively written by Peter David, so it was interesting to see how these characters would be handled by other writers (though edited by David).

Perhaps I expected to be able to catch up before it came in to the library, I don't know. But it didn't, and I realize after finishing the book that it may have been a mistake to read this book first. It doesn't contain many spoilers for the book series (except for the New Frontier timeline at the back of the book), but it tells some of the back story of a lot of the New Frontier characters, some of whom I haven't met yet. These stories also give us history to some of the conflicts that are currently taking place in the series, such as that between Kat Mueller and Cray, the Andorian. Of course, I haven't encountered either one of these characters before, so the story ("Performance Appraisal," by Allyn Gibson) lost a lot of its impact. It's still a well-told story, and I did enjoy it, but the nuances were completely missed.

That being said, the anthology was a hit and miss affair, but most of the stories were at least entertaining. In the aforementioned "Performance Appraisal," we get the story of Kat Mueller when she was still an assistant chief engineer on the Grissom as she vies for the position of "nightside" commander. She has developed a new method of detecting cloaked Romulan warships that they are testing near the Neutral Zone. Unfortunately, they come upon a Romulan ship that claims they have crossed the border and threatens to blow them to pieces. It will take quick thinking from Mueller to save the ship and prevent the Romulans from figuring out exactly why they were there in the first place. Even without knowing the characters, the story is still extremely well-written and fun (especially seeing the Romulan commander, Tomalok, again). Cray's malevolence is palpable, especially in the final scene which obviously leads up to what's happening in the book series now.

Another good story is the first one, "Loose Ends," by Dayton Ward. This tells the story of an intelligence mission when Calhoun was working for Starfleet Intelligence, involving the aftermath to the "Next Generation" episode, "The Pegasus." Picard has agreed to turn over the illegal Federation cloaking device that as on the Pegasus. Calhoun has been tasked with infiltrating the Romulan ship and destroying it. The way he does so is quite ingenious, and Ward's story is definitely a great way to kick of the anthology. The story has an energy and a wit that is very much in the vein of Peter David, though it doesn't sink into silliness as David's work sometimes can. I did think that Calhoun succeeded a little too easily in his task, but that would be the only fault I can think of. The writing is crisp, the story moves quickly, and Ward packs a lot into a few pages, showcasing Calhouns sense of loyalty (to Picard, who sponsored him for Starfleet).

The best story in the anthology, though, is David Mack's "Waiting for G'Doh," or "How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People." This is an early story in Zak Kebron's life. Zak is a Brikar, huge and rock-like, with a wicked sense of humour (though it's not really in evidence in this story). He's assigned a mission of staking out a park on the planet Iban, where a Federation bureaucrat named G'Doh is meeting some Cardassian agents to pass on some secrets. Zak, being rather conspicuous, is going to be beamed inside a statue in the park, where he will have to remain motionless until the meeting takes place. His only point of contact with the outside world is Sotak, the Intelligence agent who communicates with him about the constant delays in the meeting. Poor Zak suffers all the indignities, including having a bird do its business on him, all of which he has to suffer silently. This leaves nothing but his thoughts, and those are hilarious as told by Mack. This is one of the few stories in the book that really seems to capture the Peter David humour. From the title of the story to all of the jokes inside, to the seemingly never-ending wait for the arrival of the G'Doh, this story doesn't miss a beat. Even more surprising, since nothing actually happens in the story until the end (which, I guess is probably more than happens in the original play). I couldn't stop laughing while reading this story.

The rest of the stories in No Limits are range from fairly good to pretty good. Some of the stories seem quite inconsequential while others obviously set up parts of the book series. For me, the least interesting stories were "Redemption," about the origins of the god of the Redeemers, Xant, and Terri Osborne's "Q'uandry," where Dr. Selar meets the female Q entity from the Voyager television series. Osborne's writing was fine, and tried to salvage the story, but it used one of my least favourite episodes from the series (the Q civil war) and was based on the in-joke that Selar and the female Q were played by the same person. It just didn't grab me. Xant's story might have if I were more familiar with the Redeemers.

Ultimately, I am glad that I read No Limits. I may have to reread it once I have caught up on the books, to see if it resonates a little more with me. On the other hand, I was gifted with being able to read some good stories by a lot of the current crop of Trek writers, in addition to a few I had never known before. If you're a New Frontier fan, you definitely have to pick this up.

David Roy

I'd like it noted that I didn’t read this book until now as the Amazon review said it was a compilation of the first eight Star Trek New Frontier books so it wasn’t until I read a review from SimonSays that I realised what I was missing out on. It first occurred to me that more authors and you get more books, then like anyone else I think that another author not to mention 17 or so others will dilute and destroy my favourite Star Trek New Frontier. Not to mention the best Star Trek Author ever to walk the Planet… that’s Peter David to mere mortals. So with all these new authors here in my opinion which should keep writing and which should… well might not think about trying to copy a great and set out on their own. So here goes:
Dayton Ward – Well done, a good partial of Calhoun, the writer seems to try and understand the character and is successful if only he know about the early events in Stone and Anvil as it might be worth building on those events.
Loren L. Colman – an insight to Shelby but still keeping into character established therefore a very good storey. Also new potential characters with interesting backgrounds also introduced.
David Mack – HURAY third one in and you have to check its not Peter David himself writing – witty and imaginative with a good understanding of the character.
Robert Greenberger – not bad, not bad, this is well written, Lefler is keeping with the character, nicely done although I’ve only read Greenberger in the first person perspective so if he writes more you ask if he can denote the whole situation.
Ilsa J. Bick – em, I’m sorry but although Morgan’s character’s is always going to be a mystery I don’t think she goes round telling all ensundary especially the councillor who has the power to commit her. Perhaps if she was working on her own characters it might be very good.
Keith R.A. DeCandido – he may be described as the next Peter David (say that after he’s written almost thirty books and not before) has a good understanding of the Starfleet Academy characters and I’m glad that Soleta’s parentage is tackled by a decent author and Tobias was well written. Can I just say that I hope he continues with has own books. He is very good but he doesn't weave the intricate web that Peter David has done more completely then all of the other writers combined (with the possible exception of SD Perry who I'd defiantly think as a Peter David competition).
Josepha Sherman – nice, very well done, a insight in to Si Cwan but what can you expect from 50% of a best selling team who have practically written the Spock character over again since leaving the Star Trek universe (congratulations on the Wedding to Savvik, very well done!).
Terri Osborne –Including three characters played by the same actress is very in line with Peter David’s style but is so far from the known universe that you can’t comment on its relevancy. Not bad and I look forward to seeing more.
Robert T. Jeschonek – this author knows nothing of the characters he is writing about Burgoyne trusts and respects till proven otherwise and is not the compulsive savage as displayed, s/he is completely different when Peter David writes about hir, in particular in Martyr, Dark Allies and any seen between hir and Selar. Sorry but you just didn’t do it right.
Christina F. York – again not bad but not the best – its an excellent short story in its self but doesn’t seem aware of the surrounding world, perhaps with more development future novels will be more exploitative.
Kevin Dilmore – the good thing about new authors is that they use species and understandings so they don’t need to develop new species every twenty pages. While this was very well done the sense that he didn’t know the character completely before starting kept nagging as if the author didn’t know what their character would do next. Keep working on it maybe developing Mulder… Huh, oh sorry Dulmer
Peg Robinson – authors who develop species and planets from a few pages of text here and there and able to create this deserves great congratulations. Just a pity she chose not to develop Calhoun as she clearly has a clear understanding of what his culture was like.
Mary Scott-Wiececk – based on a character in Vendetta we have a very good perception suggesting the possibility to understand her character, giving Kosmo’s opinion I'd be interested in her view of Picard.
Allyn Gibson – this focus is on Kat Mueller a truly remarkable character who defiantly needed some development, congratulations.
Glean Hauman & Lisa Sullivan – this is so far out of step from Star Trek New Frontier however it shows a cultural understanding offering a new perspective.
Susan Shwartz – one other author who has created such a more detailed universe has now entered the “Present” here is hoping that more crossovers are written, shows great understanding and in a witty compelling way.
Susan Wright – is another author who has tried to link different aspects of trek, this is another look at Burgoyne and while not in the style of Star Trek New Frontier is still an interesting read.
And finally Peter David tells the storey of the Calhoun Shelby honeymoon and I won’t say anything more.

Well that’s it the new authors have now made their mark on the universe weather they’ll continue or inspire new writers is up to a power more great then Xant himself, THE EDITORS. – Whatever happens may it stay linked like the new Deep Space Nines and not have “come to a planet, save a planet, leave a planet” stories which Peter David tries so hard to avoid. Some have defiantly taken up the banner, but please don’t let me decide:
BUY AND READ THIS BOOK – three of these stories are worth the price and you have 18 attempts.

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