Reviews

The Soldiers of Fear by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

gingerreader99's review against another edition

3.0

This felt like an unfortunate step down from the first issue in the series. Aside from feeling wholly too short, this entry in the 4-part series was not nearly as epic. I did not get to know Sam Redbay as well as he deserved and the length of the novel meant that the Furies themselves got a pitiful amount of stage time when compared to the first installment.

I think 3 stars is generous here and the relatively exciting battle sequences push it there but otherwise I'm thinking 2.5ish.

ladyvictoriadiana's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dina_s's review against another edition

3.0

Tng isn't my favourite star trek series by far. I feel like this book captured the feeling of tng very well as did the original series one. However that is why I didn't much like this book and loved the last one. I am very much looking forward to the next one! 

erin_99's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

amyz001's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed this one - gripping and engrossing, a great story with the Furies. Ending was slightly predictable - doing a classic Star Trek in which you meet some random new character to make the sacrifice to save the day. But that made it feel more Trek.

octavia_cade's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

3.0

I have a sneaking suspicion that he'll turn up in one of the subsequent books of this little mini-series, but for this one Redbay might as well have been called Redshirt, because his role was blindingly clear.

I know that, due to desperate reliance on the reset button, Trek rarely, if ever, loses one of its main characters, and while large parts of me are glad for that, it does tend to undermine stories like this, which aim for epic but have their sense of threat undercut because everyone we care about is going to survive no matter what. Because of this, for me, the stories Trek does best are the ones about more than just battles. The Soldiers of Fear has some interesting things to say about fear, but at bottom this is a book about a big fight where victory is won through military force alone. There's some lip service giving to the idea of reaching out to the other and attempting negotiation with them, but First Strike did that much better. This is still an enjoyable read, however, and I zipped through it easily enough. The pacing, especially, worked well for me - part of the reason I never really warm to fight scenes is because I often find them an elongated drag, and that didn't happen here. Much more focus was given to the preparation for the fight, which is more interesting to me and has more opportunity for character work, as opposed to explosion. 

bdplume's review

4.0

I didn't hate this series, but it wasn't one of my favorites, either. I think they tried to answer too many questions of history at once, some of which already had answers in the ST universe. They just didn't achieve what was needed for the lofty scope they were trying to capture.

havelock's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

nicklawrence83's review

3.0

100 years ago, a mysterious alien race known as the Furies, attempted to regain control of the Alpha Quadrant that they claim they were exiled from thousands of years ago. The Federation were able to repel the invasion neutralising the alien threat. However, the Furies are back! Although their ships and armoury are more advanced than before, their main weapon is the ability to project fear into the minds of their enemies. The crew of the USS Enterprise must conquer their innermost fears and darkest terrors that have been conjured up in their unconscious minds.

It’s a good story. Not great, but worth reading if you’ve read the first instalment.