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vingilot's review
5.0
Another fantastic omnibus in a fantastic series of technological mystery stories.
This book contains 4 more excellent stories, the first is the mystery of an outpost literally riddled with holes as if it were Swiss cheese, first it seems like an attack but there might be something else going on. Second, a rather wacky offbeat monster hunting adventure where once again all is not what it seems, and appearances show to be deceiving. This is an epilogue to the Gateway series which I have yet to read. The third is the first prolonged combat story, and we get to see our crew improvise under pressure not just to save their lives, but the lives of an outpost, and the Horta race as well. Finally we have a small adventure of the resident linguist, computer specialist, and Cultural specialist. I really like the characters of Bart Faulwell and Soloman so naturally I enjoyed this too. As they scramble to save a planet.
I enjoyed all three stories, but winner has to be the first one this time. Not because it is the most thrilling, not because it is the most action pact, because it truly has none. I liked it so much this time around because it encapsulates why I enjoy this series so much. How they can tell interesting stories, with limited, or in this case non existent conflict. This is truly an engineering puzzle story, they need to figure out what happened, and basically can take as long as they need.
We don't see stories like that so often, and that is what struck me while reading. the only place we get this often is mystery novels, oh sure sometimes there might be a scary confrontation with the murderer, but that is rarely the focus. Just like it is fun to see a good detective do his job well, it can also be fun to see good engineers do theirs. I have heard this refereed to as competency porn, a phrase that works as well as any other I suppose.
On a side note I am really enjoying the build up of the longer story lines like the Romance between Duffy and Gomez, but also the more concerning story of Lens and her over reliance on the EMH. That particular story will be coming to ahead in the next omnibus, so if you want more on that read that review when it comes out!
The SCE is right now holding up to my memory of it, and that is saying a lot. Any star trek fan should read these!
This book contains 4 more excellent stories, the first is the mystery of an outpost literally riddled with holes as if it were Swiss cheese, first it seems like an attack but there might be something else going on. Second, a rather wacky offbeat monster hunting adventure where once again all is not what it seems, and appearances show to be deceiving. This is an epilogue to the Gateway series which I have yet to read. The third is the first prolonged combat story, and we get to see our crew improvise under pressure not just to save their lives, but the lives of an outpost, and the Horta race as well. Finally we have a small adventure of the resident linguist, computer specialist, and Cultural specialist. I really like the characters of Bart Faulwell and Soloman so naturally I enjoyed this too. As they scramble to save a planet.
I enjoyed all three stories, but winner has to be the first one this time. Not because it is the most thrilling, not because it is the most action pact, because it truly has none. I liked it so much this time around because it encapsulates why I enjoy this series so much. How they can tell interesting stories, with limited, or in this case non existent conflict. This is truly an engineering puzzle story, they need to figure out what happened, and basically can take as long as they need.
We don't see stories like that so often, and that is what struck me while reading. the only place we get this often is mystery novels, oh sure sometimes there might be a scary confrontation with the murderer, but that is rarely the focus. Just like it is fun to see a good detective do his job well, it can also be fun to see good engineers do theirs. I have heard this refereed to as competency porn, a phrase that works as well as any other I suppose.
On a side note I am really enjoying the build up of the longer story lines like the Romance between Duffy and Gomez, but also the more concerning story of Lens and her over reliance on the EMH. That particular story will be coming to ahead in the next omnibus, so if you want more on that read that review when it comes out!
The SCE is right now holding up to my memory of it, and that is saying a lot. Any star trek fan should read these!
mousie_books's review
2.0
The stories were quick to read, but they didn't really have any substance. There was little character development even though each one starts roughly where the last one leaves off, and the situations and resolutions seemed forced.
I thought 'Ambush' was cute. The plot wasn't that believable, but I felt more connected with the crew and the one off characters.
I thought 'Ambush' was cute. The plot wasn't that believable, but I felt more connected with the crew and the one off characters.
thomcat's review
4.0
Four more light stories, with continuity from the previous book and other semi-canon trek incidents. These are fun stories, I'll definitely read more.
lefthandedmatt's review
2.0
I'm kind of just skimming through these now. They have so little substance to them, and the characters have only the vaguest of personalities (plus, they feel like different people in each story thanks to all the different authors). The overly dramatic adventures they keep having are getting in the way of giving these characters any growth.
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