Maximum Warp: Bk. 2 (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Mass Market Paperback)

Whether you agree that this 2 book tale is enjoyable will largely depend on how much familiarity you are willing to accept. The end is filled with phrases like, 10 dimensional type IV civilizations, base matter energy is inescapable, and the theory of oscillating universes. What made this jargon work for me was that it was information and theory that was primarily explored by Data and Mr. Spock, with Data exceeding Mr. Spock's ability for reasons that were interesting. It was a different spin on why Data is different, and not just for the obvious reasons.

I gave book #1 3 stars, and I have given this book 4. Together they are somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars, and again, how much of the material reminds you of another Trek episode may decide how much you like these books and how you would rate them. Many of the sub-plots of the book were hastily brought to conclusion, and many were very questionable as to why they were needed at all, but as the author introduced them in book #1 he had no choice but to either conclude them or leave them unfinished. The book closed with a great quote from Albert Einstein, People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

This is not a set I would start out with, but if you plan to work your way through the dozens of books in the Trek anthology, you will come across these eventually, and like others I have read they do recall and refer to other adventures of crews in the past.

This is the first TNG book I have read. It would be unfair to judge anything other than this partial book, and at present I am reading the second and final portion. This book is not only too brief at 203 pages, it is far too ambitious in its attempt to have a variety of storylines, multiple ships, captains, and species all swirling around in too small a space. The book does not have the room to do any of the individual tales and sub-plots justice, and makes a hash of the attempt.

Mr. Spock is one of my favorite characters in Star Trek and science fiction in general. He has an incredibly long history in the various series, and a long term relationship with Captain Picard as well. Fans will recall that it was through Picard's cooperation that Spock's father was able to complete his final ambassadorial assignment, and again through Picard that Spock and his father would come to learn about each other.

The book even drops bits about Admiral Quinn to fill space, brings Deep Space 9, and even Captain Janeway and Voyager in to this far too busy construct. Perhaps the author will in some manner bring this all together in the final book. If he does it will be a remarkable recovery. Based only on this book I would recommend that readers start with other series, specifically, "The Dominion War", as it is so prominently and repeatedly mentioned in this book.