The Quiet Place (Star Trek: New Frontier) [Mass Market Paperback]

What makes this a great book, is that the story is truly that of Star Trek lore: New species, new civilations, places where man has not been before. There is also wonderful chracter development, an introduction to a few new characters (handled expertly), and some reminders of a few past characters. This book did have a plot and made a great journey towards its end.

And as always the humor between Si Cwan and Kebron is always fun, as is the new wit of chracter 'Xyon'.

The bad: Well, if you're looking for all your dangling plot lines from the previous 6 books, they aren't addressed here. This book really centers on two chracters who aren't in the previous 6, or even in Star Fleet. If you want to see Capt. Calhoun, the Excalibur and her crew, you're not gonna find it here.

Also, though there was some action spots, for those that are used to that big climatic Starfleet or ship face off with blasters firing away, this book is a bit shy on that typ eof action.

However this is an excellent read that reminds me more or less of those individual 'filler' episodes you see once in a while....a refreshing change, but still longing for the whole crew.

After the two previous efforts that were extremely Calhoune heavy, it's nice to get to see other members of the crew get to shine. David also provides a diverse, interesting supporting cast that is caught up in a race against time....At stake: the Quiet Place, the Thallonian's version of heaven.

David blends his usual humor and quick plotting along with strong characters for an enjoyable, if quick read. The Excaliber crew plays a side role to some of the new characters we meet in this book (Xyon for one, the Dogs of War for another) and we can only hope that this development pays off in future books.

Personally, I recommend this entire series. It's a series that is willing to take chances and these are the Trek novels I always look forward to.

We also meet Xyon who is an adventurous young man, who in his first chapter, is in a very dire situation. He's about to be put to death. As you read about Xyon, you almost get the impression you're reading about Captain Calhoun. We're then introduced to the Dogs of War. Only Peter David can convincingly create this warrior race of genetically engineered dogs and write them into a story so well. Throw in the Redeemers and what we have here is not only one of the best New Frontier novels written, this one falls into the category of one of the best Star Trek books ever written. As is usual with this wonderful series, it ends with the big bold To Be Continued..... This was of course preceded by a shocking discovery. Thank you very much to Peter David for this excellent addition to the New Frontier Series.

MINOR SPOILER - One note of interest, in past New Frontier novels, Peter David fairly well detailed the Redeemers as far as skin color, facial features and general demeanor. If I remember correctly, he had not talked much about their height. Somehow, I never figured the Redeemers to be somewhat similar to Star Wars Jawas, in height at least. It almost makes them sort of comical, whereas my previous impression of them had been of average to large bad guys. This almost makes them funny except that they have some personal abilities that more or less takes the humor right out of these little villains