Reviews

The Children of Kings by David Stern

duparker's review against another edition

3.0

This churns like butter. Really it has the same qualities of a Star Trek episode, some charm, some intelligence, some intruqie, but not the most complexly written scifi you've had the benefit of enjoying.

abbeybreeding's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

gingerreader99's review

4.0

This was a good one. Of course for me a Captain Pike fan it was delightful (needs more Pike though he has great moments.) I really liked the conflict between the Klingons, Federation and Orion's it set the tone very well for what era this is set in and honestly despite the fact the author wrote this with the mindset of it being a prequel to 2009s Star Trek film I think it fits fairly well as a prequel to the upcoming Strange New World's show. Aside from what I might call a slightly off characterization of Pike compared to how Anson Mount plays him. All said and done this was delightful.

cocoawolf29's review

4.0

I thought it was very well written. It also stuck to what I thought about Spock and kept him as a logical, awesome charecter. There is also captain Pike, but other than that, they are all new charecters. All very good, with a very good plot. It fits together very well, and it is a recommeded read for any Star Trek Fans, escpecially if they are fans of Spock.

djwudi's review

3.0

A pre-TOS adventure with Captain Pike just a few months into his captaincy of the Enterprise with Spock and Number One under his command. A Klingon/Orion/Starfleet dustup gets a little confusing trying to keep track of the players and motivations, with a somewhat out-of-left-field twist at the end that seemed a little too convenient for my tastes.

One amusing bit: The author's endnote indicates that he thought of this as something of a prequel to the 2009 Star Trek rebook (so still in the Prime universe), though he still pictured Jeffrey Hunter as Pike rather than Bruce Greenwood; meanwhile, having recently enjoyed the first season of Strange New Worlds, I found myself more often picturing Anson Mount as Pike. The more actors we have inhabiting key roles, the more the mental visualizations start to shift as you read, I guess.

judenoseinabook's review

4.0

Once it got going a good action packed read. Interesting background story of one of Captain Pike's earlier adventures.

birdmanseven's review against another edition

3.0

I was hoping for a little insight into Pike and a young Spock, instead they just played supporting roles in an ensemble story. Still, not a bad Trek novel. I like Dr. Boyce, so it was fun to see him in the spotlight. The author states this was set in the 2009 reboot universe. If that's so, I think more could have done to highlight that. And why put Hunter and Nimoy on the cover instead of Greenwood & Quinto? I probably wouldn't have picked it up if that were the case, so I suppose I've answered my own question.

zombiemaster's review against another edition

3.0

Meh. It was ok but nothing to write home about.

linwearcamenel's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this more than I expected, since a Star Trek book without Kirk is usually not my thing. But I had no trouble picturing Captain Pike or Doctor Boyce, which is impressive since they had so little screentime to work with. Spock was spot-on, though I never did manage to match Number One in this book to her onscreen counterpart. The story was well done and shed some light on the pre-Kirk years. My one little quibble was that everyone kept referring to Klingon ships as Warbirds, which are Romulan ships. Klingon ships are Birds of Prey. But that's a small nitpick for an otherwise strong Trek novel.