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A Time to Sow (Star Trek The Next Generation)
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Manufacturer: Star Trek
Author: Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
Publisher: Star Trek
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Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Star Trek
Author: Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
Publisher: Star Trek
Average Customer Rating:
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A Time to Sow (Star Trek The Next Generation) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743482998
ISBN: 0743482999
Label: Star Trek
Manufacturer: Star Trek
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2004-03-30
Publisher: Star Trek
Studio: Star Trek
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743482998
ISBN: 0743482999
Label: Star Trek
Manufacturer: Star Trek
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2004-03-30
Publisher: Star Trek
Studio: Star Trek
Editorial Review of A Time to Sow (Star Trek The Next Generation)
On the cusp of their epic battle with Shinzon, many of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's long-time crew were heading for new assignments and new challenges. Among the changes were William Riker's promotion to captain and his new command, Riker's marriage to Counselor Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher's new career at Starfleet Medical. But the story of what set them on a path away from the Starship Enterprise has never been told.
Until now.
More than two centuries ago, the Dokaalan sent an unmanned probe into the void, bearing a distress call for anyone who could save their doomed world. But the message reached Federation space too late to save the planet or its people.
Or so it was believed....
Generations later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E are stunned to discover the last of the Dokaalan -- now only a colony fighting to stay alive in a decrepit asteroid mining complex. Although their home planet was destroyed long ago, the survivors hope to someday transform a nearby planet into a new home for their people. But bitter divisions exist among the Dokaalan, sowing the seeds of sabotage and terrorism -- and placing Picard and the Enterprise in the middle of an escalating crisis that can only lead to total destruction!
Customer Reviews of A Time to Sow (Star Trek The Next Generation)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Enterprise crew finds mystery and danger in out-of-the-way place.
Review: This is the 3rd in a series of 9 books that fill the time between Insurrection and Nemesis. The Dokaalans planet died of natural causes nearly two hundred years ago. This hardy race survived in asteroids and other, smaller bodies within their solar system and managed to send beacons with requests for rescue. One such beacon was discovered by Archer's Enterprise, but no action was taken due to the great travel time to Dokaal. At the direction of Admiral Nechayev, Picard takes the Enterprise on what he feels to be a long, wasteful and rather uninteresting mission.
The crew makes first contact with the Dokaalan and begins to earn their trust. They also lend a lot of technical and engineering assistance to the teraforming effort. When it looks like things are going pretty smoothly, however, "accidents" begin to happen at an alarming frequency and threaten the success of the mission and even the survival of some of the Enterprise crew.
This well-written story contains plenty of action, and yes, a lot of introspection and self-recrimination, but also a good deal of mystery. Who is out to get Data? And why? Who is sabotaging the Dokaalans effort convert a neighbor planet into a new home for themselves?
The cliff-hanger ending will make you look for and read `A Time to Harvest'.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Even Worse than "Harvest"
Review:
This Book has to many repeatitive things going on. It takes to long to even get to the meat, or in other words the things you want to know about. And it ends really bad! ! !
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: You won't find a good story in your navel
Review: With the first two books in the Time to... series out of the way, would two different authors be able to turn things around? In a way they do, but there is one major strike against it.
Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise are still dealing with the political fallout from the last two books, and are sent on a mission to get them out of the way for a while. It's a bit of a milkrun, really. Many years ago, a probe dispatched from a distant area of the galaxy was found, but Starfleet, still in its infancy, didn't have the time or resources to do anything about it. Now, another probe has been found. Both probes speak of a civilization on a dying planet, and it was figured that getting there would take too long to rescue any survivors (since the probe took years to get to where the Vulcans found it to begin with). The Enterprise is sent to investigate what happened and see if they can find out what happened all those years ago. When they get there, they discover an asteroid field and radiation that wreaks havoc on their systems. They also find the remnants of survivors of the planet Dokaal, scraping out an existence among the asteroids on constructed mining colonies, alone for several hundred years. The survivors hope to terraform a planet further out in the system so that they can one day walk on solid ground again. The Enterprise offers whatever help they can, but dissension is threatening to tear the Dokaalan apart before anything can be done.
A Time to Sow is actually a lot better than I thought it was, once I get past the main fault (so I'll get it out of the way first). It is extremely overwritten. Long, very tedious introspection is the norm in this book, with Picard brooding about what happened in the first two books, Crusher brooding about not being able to save some of the Dokaalans killed in the explosion that brings the Enterprise to the mining colony, Picard again brooding about his decision to emergency transport some of the people who end up floating in space and how they ended up dying anyway. He does this despite the fact that the Picard I know would realize if he hadn't done it, they were dead anyway. What makes this particular brooding worse is that Picard *acknowledges* that they would have died anyway, but still keeps wondering if he made the right decision. I think that's my problem with the whole series, so far. They've turned Picard into this pod person who's awash in insecurities that I don't believe he would have. However, since that ties into the whole series, I'll ignore that part for now.
Excessive introspection is not the only way the book is overwritten, though. A Time to Sow is very heavy in Trek continuity references, and the authors feel they have to go into great gory detail about every single one of them to explain the reference to the (one or two?) non-Trek fans who are reading the book. Ok, I exaggerate a little, but I think there is a way to more concisely explain the reference than Dayton and Ward use here. Of course, there's an easier solution: DON'T USE SO MANY REFERENCES!! A few references, even explained in a couple of paragraphs, don't bog a book down. When they are excessive, though, that means there are a lot of paragraphs used for explanation when they could be used for storytelling. This is not good.
The writing is so heavy-handed that it outweighs a lot of the good points of the novel. The characters are, for the most part, well-written (even Picard is when he's not examining his situation for the one hundredth time) and the authors have created some interesting aliens in the Dokaalans. The journal entries by the First Minister, Hjatyn, give us the history of the planet in a very interesting way that doesn't feel like an infodump (unlike the continuity references). There are a wide variety of characters among the Dokaalans (though some who are more than they appear to be, to be revealed in the next book). The plot elements are tense and there are some good action scenes, especially the ending with Geordi and Taurik. The romantic elements between Troi and Riker, which were a small part of the problem with Vornholt's books, are virtually non-existent in this one. You can tell that they are together, but they act professionally when they are on the bridge together. Everything regarding plot and characterization is done very well.
Unfortunately, every time there gets to be a little tension, or something interesting starts to happen, the authors give us some interminable description or a lengthy monologue of a character's thoughts intrudes on the whole thing and brings the book to a screeching halt. I love learning about characters through their thoughts, but sometimes too much is too much. Introspection is a good thing. Navel-gazing isn't, and that's what we get a little too often in this book. Since it's pervasive throughout the entire book, neither author can be blamed for it. They're both like that. I've only read one other Ward book (his debut, In the Name of Honor, and it's a problem he's had since the beginning (at least the continuity reference problem).
All in all, this isn't that bad of a book, it just gets tedious at times. It splits the difference between Vornholt's two books, but it doesn't bode well for this whole series if the first three books are iffy at best. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for book four.
David Roy
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An Intriguing Mystery in the "A Time To" series
Review: Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore have contributed a fascinating mystery as the third installment in the "Star Trek: A Time To" series, taking readers up to the epic battle with Shinzon and his Reman allies depicted in the latest "Star Trek" film. The book opens with a discovery of a probe - a distress signal sent by the ruler of a dying planet - retrieved by a Vulcan starship which is monitoring the activities of Captain Jonathan Archer's Enterprise. Then it jumps two centuries later as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC 1701-E) are ordered to investigate the origins of a second probe sent from an uncharted region of space; the twin of the one retrieved by the Vulcan starship.
Not only does Enterprise reach the probe's point of origin, but makes first contact with the surviving Dokaalans living in their solar system's asteroid belt. The authors do a fine job showing tension amongst the Dokaalans as they cope with their benevolent alien visitors from the United Federation of Planets. They also excel in developing some of the minor characters, most notably Engineering Lieutenant Taurik and Lieutenant Christine Vale, the head of security. Picard and Riker and the rest of the crew must contend with several fatal accidents - which may or not may not be accidental - and a serious injury to Data by the novel's end. Without question, this novel will be appealing to diehard "Star Trek" fans, especially those who are fans of the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation".
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: very good book
Review: whn a probe is discovered carrying a distress signal that is over 200 years old, the enterprise is ordered to the area to see what finally became of the planet. they are very surprised to find that some of the inhabitants did survive. but as the enterprise makes first contact, they find that their is a lot of dissention and rebellion among the ranks of the people. all of them do not want the enterprise's help and will go to any extreme to keep that from happening.
Review Summary: The Enterprise crew finds mystery and danger in out-of-the-way place.
Review: This is the 3rd in a series of 9 books that fill the time between Insurrection and Nemesis. The Dokaalans planet died of natural causes nearly two hundred years ago. This hardy race survived in asteroids and other, smaller bodies within their solar system and managed to send beacons with requests for rescue. One such beacon was discovered by Archer's Enterprise, but no action was taken due to the great travel time to Dokaal. At the direction of Admiral Nechayev, Picard takes the Enterprise on what he feels to be a long, wasteful and rather uninteresting mission.
The crew makes first contact with the Dokaalan and begins to earn their trust. They also lend a lot of technical and engineering assistance to the teraforming effort. When it looks like things are going pretty smoothly, however, "accidents" begin to happen at an alarming frequency and threaten the success of the mission and even the survival of some of the Enterprise crew.
This well-written story contains plenty of action, and yes, a lot of introspection and self-recrimination, but also a good deal of mystery. Who is out to get Data? And why? Who is sabotaging the Dokaalans effort convert a neighbor planet into a new home for themselves?
The cliff-hanger ending will make you look for and read `A Time to Harvest'.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Even Worse than "Harvest"
Review:
This Book has to many repeatitive things going on. It takes to long to even get to the meat, or in other words the things you want to know about. And it ends really bad! ! !
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: You won't find a good story in your navel
Review: With the first two books in the Time to... series out of the way, would two different authors be able to turn things around? In a way they do, but there is one major strike against it.
Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise are still dealing with the political fallout from the last two books, and are sent on a mission to get them out of the way for a while. It's a bit of a milkrun, really. Many years ago, a probe dispatched from a distant area of the galaxy was found, but Starfleet, still in its infancy, didn't have the time or resources to do anything about it. Now, another probe has been found. Both probes speak of a civilization on a dying planet, and it was figured that getting there would take too long to rescue any survivors (since the probe took years to get to where the Vulcans found it to begin with). The Enterprise is sent to investigate what happened and see if they can find out what happened all those years ago. When they get there, they discover an asteroid field and radiation that wreaks havoc on their systems. They also find the remnants of survivors of the planet Dokaal, scraping out an existence among the asteroids on constructed mining colonies, alone for several hundred years. The survivors hope to terraform a planet further out in the system so that they can one day walk on solid ground again. The Enterprise offers whatever help they can, but dissension is threatening to tear the Dokaalan apart before anything can be done.
A Time to Sow is actually a lot better than I thought it was, once I get past the main fault (so I'll get it out of the way first). It is extremely overwritten. Long, very tedious introspection is the norm in this book, with Picard brooding about what happened in the first two books, Crusher brooding about not being able to save some of the Dokaalans killed in the explosion that brings the Enterprise to the mining colony, Picard again brooding about his decision to emergency transport some of the people who end up floating in space and how they ended up dying anyway. He does this despite the fact that the Picard I know would realize if he hadn't done it, they were dead anyway. What makes this particular brooding worse is that Picard *acknowledges* that they would have died anyway, but still keeps wondering if he made the right decision. I think that's my problem with the whole series, so far. They've turned Picard into this pod person who's awash in insecurities that I don't believe he would have. However, since that ties into the whole series, I'll ignore that part for now.
Excessive introspection is not the only way the book is overwritten, though. A Time to Sow is very heavy in Trek continuity references, and the authors feel they have to go into great gory detail about every single one of them to explain the reference to the (one or two?) non-Trek fans who are reading the book. Ok, I exaggerate a little, but I think there is a way to more concisely explain the reference than Dayton and Ward use here. Of course, there's an easier solution: DON'T USE SO MANY REFERENCES!! A few references, even explained in a couple of paragraphs, don't bog a book down. When they are excessive, though, that means there are a lot of paragraphs used for explanation when they could be used for storytelling. This is not good.
The writing is so heavy-handed that it outweighs a lot of the good points of the novel. The characters are, for the most part, well-written (even Picard is when he's not examining his situation for the one hundredth time) and the authors have created some interesting aliens in the Dokaalans. The journal entries by the First Minister, Hjatyn, give us the history of the planet in a very interesting way that doesn't feel like an infodump (unlike the continuity references). There are a wide variety of characters among the Dokaalans (though some who are more than they appear to be, to be revealed in the next book). The plot elements are tense and there are some good action scenes, especially the ending with Geordi and Taurik. The romantic elements between Troi and Riker, which were a small part of the problem with Vornholt's books, are virtually non-existent in this one. You can tell that they are together, but they act professionally when they are on the bridge together. Everything regarding plot and characterization is done very well.
Unfortunately, every time there gets to be a little tension, or something interesting starts to happen, the authors give us some interminable description or a lengthy monologue of a character's thoughts intrudes on the whole thing and brings the book to a screeching halt. I love learning about characters through their thoughts, but sometimes too much is too much. Introspection is a good thing. Navel-gazing isn't, and that's what we get a little too often in this book. Since it's pervasive throughout the entire book, neither author can be blamed for it. They're both like that. I've only read one other Ward book (his debut, In the Name of Honor, and it's a problem he's had since the beginning (at least the continuity reference problem).
All in all, this isn't that bad of a book, it just gets tedious at times. It splits the difference between Vornholt's two books, but it doesn't bode well for this whole series if the first three books are iffy at best. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for book four.
David Roy
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An Intriguing Mystery in the "A Time To" series
Review: Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore have contributed a fascinating mystery as the third installment in the "Star Trek: A Time To" series, taking readers up to the epic battle with Shinzon and his Reman allies depicted in the latest "Star Trek" film. The book opens with a discovery of a probe - a distress signal sent by the ruler of a dying planet - retrieved by a Vulcan starship which is monitoring the activities of Captain Jonathan Archer's Enterprise. Then it jumps two centuries later as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC 1701-E) are ordered to investigate the origins of a second probe sent from an uncharted region of space; the twin of the one retrieved by the Vulcan starship.
Not only does Enterprise reach the probe's point of origin, but makes first contact with the surviving Dokaalans living in their solar system's asteroid belt. The authors do a fine job showing tension amongst the Dokaalans as they cope with their benevolent alien visitors from the United Federation of Planets. They also excel in developing some of the minor characters, most notably Engineering Lieutenant Taurik and Lieutenant Christine Vale, the head of security. Picard and Riker and the rest of the crew must contend with several fatal accidents - which may or not may not be accidental - and a serious injury to Data by the novel's end. Without question, this novel will be appealing to diehard "Star Trek" fans, especially those who are fans of the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation".
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: very good book
Review: whn a probe is discovered carrying a distress signal that is over 200 years old, the enterprise is ordered to the area to see what finally became of the planet. they are very surprised to find that some of the inhabitants did survive. but as the enterprise makes first contact, they find that their is a lot of dissention and rebellion among the ranks of the people. all of them do not want the enterprise's help and will go to any extreme to keep that from happening.
the book dragged some but the story was basically very well written and definitely better than the first book in the series.