Uncounted centuries ago, an unknown race from beyond our galaxy created a series of interstellar gates -- shortcuts across our universe -- and then disappeared, leaving behind no clues to their fate, or the operation of their system. Twice before, the Enterprise has used the system to traverse the galaxy, and returned each time no wiser to the gates' operation. Now it is imperative that they find out. For the gates are breaking down, taking the very stars in the sky with them. The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of the Enterprise crew, and their ability to communicate not only with creatures from another world -- but from another universe as well.
(Unfortunately?) the star of this story is Lt. Commander Esther Ansfield who is the oldest human Starfleet Academy graduate, and Science Officer of the Cochise. She has latent psychic abilities that come to fruition during an interaction with a violent alien force. Consequently, the Enterprise takes her with them when they are called upon to solve this mystery of gates spontaneously appearing in well-travelled space ways.
Of course, Spock, McCoy, and Kirk are there, but because Ansfield is such a strong character, they kind of seem like the ensemble cast of a murder mystery, fading into the background until ready to deliver a line that propels the narrative forward. Ordinarily, I would be annoyed by the upstaging of the regulars, but I didn't mind because they all have input and Ansfield is so damn intriguing, I wanted more of her.
The Final Nexus is a Star Trek: The Original Series Pocket book #43 written by Gene DeWeese. It also happens to be the third part of a trilogy of Trek novels (The Abode of Life #6 and Chain of Attack #32). As the closing chapter of the trilogy, IMHO it provides sufficient closure to this on-going problem of spontaneous gates. The story was fast-paced and fits well within what I consider canon. Clearly, I enjoyed it, and that's all that can be expected of a novel.
A page turner from the beginning. This is my favorite kind of Trek story - the crew facing something completely unknown. A series of interstellar gates have been discovered that link far flung reaches of the universe. Created thousands of years ago by an unknown race these gates hold the potential for vast expansion of knowledge and exploration but, it seems that they are breaking down and may take the galaxy and universe with them. The USS Enterprise and her crew may be the universe’s only hope for survival if they can learn the secrets of the gates before it is too late.
I enjoyed this fast paced adventure. I read the Star Trek novels on random impulse and picked this one up off a shared bookshelf. This story is a follow-up to "Chain of Attack" (TOS 32), but I read this book as a stand alone and it was just fine as such. The book does mention the previous story just for clarification but it doesn’t lean on it or lack due to the first books absence.
Characters were really quite separate from each other - all interactions between them were very clinical and scripted. I would have liked to have seen more of the camaraderie and character dynamics that I've grown to expect from these books and from Star Trek as a whole.
Nothing fantastic, but a nice little adventure with some plot-based intrigue. Homey and comfortable in a way only Star Trek can be.
To some extent this book is a great example of what every Trek Novel should be: Exciting... Ambitious... Fast Paced... even Terrifying at times. Even if it does spend a little too much time with characters the reader hasn't opened this book to follow, however well drawn they might be.
This novel, the third volume in what might just be the original Trek Book trilogy, follows up where The Abode of Life and Chain of Attack left off. The Enterprise, once again called in to investigate a series of malfunctions involving an ancient and mysterious series of space bound Stargates which threaten to tear the galaxy apart.
Even with the large amount of narration and exposition in the book (more in league with TNG story-telling) this story was, in every way, the best of the Stargate Nexus series.
The regular Trek suspects are all assembled and, while a little wooden, were characterized correctly [especially Spock and McCoy]. DeWeese, unlike many other writers who've penned a novel in this franchise, doesn't take the usual shortcut of bending established characters into actions needed to expand the plot. She (rightfully, I feel) introduced a character to take those actions Kirk & Co wouldn't be right for.
And Lt. Cdr. Esther Ansfield, oldest Starfleet Academy graduate and Science Officer of the USS Cochise, is a strong and clever one indeed. Her mental abilities are even somehow rival to Mr. Spock's. Though this seems to have been a cause for some to disparage this tale it isn't unheard of in the Trek-verse that a human demonstrates a strong, untapped, telepathic abilities (ex. Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, Cdr. Gary Mitchell, Lt. Mira Romaine and even Dr. Miranda Jones).
So come join the crews of the USS Enterprise, Cochise, Devlin and Eddington as well as cyborg Kremastor, several dead alien races and a space entity as finally the mystery of the Stargate Nexus is solved in a very interesting and intelligent way... NO SPOILERS!
Recommended to any Trek fanatic interested in a neat SF tale of discovery!
While there is a bit too much narration and exposition in the book, this was an enjoyable read. The regular Trek crew were all pretty wooden and rote in terms of characterization (especially Spock and McCoy) but the new character of Lt. Ansfield is a strong and unique one, and I hope to see her in other books. Older folks wanting adventure in the 23rd century is not something that has been adequately explored in the Trek Universe.
Also, be forewarned that this is a continuation of another novel subset (Chain of Attack), in which the concept of the Nexus and the gates were introduced. You don't really need to read those, but I think if I had, perhaps the gravitas of the situation would've been a bit more telling.
4 solid stars. I really enjoyed this one! It's an easy, fast-paced read, with lots of excitement, danger, and sci-fi weirdness.
While our crew is in character, it is really only Spock who gets to shine, and there isn't much crew interaction. An original character is the other star in the novel, and though I found certain bits of her characterization a little difficult to believe, she was ultimately well-rounded and inoffensive. It was especially refreshing that she wasn't trying to romance anyone.
There are a few things that could have been done better that lose a star for me:
There are 2 glaring instances, very close together, and both near the end, when an oration is about to be given that will explain some important background that our crew has been trying to figure out for some time. Then, instead of the expected oration, peppered with the reactions or comments of our crew, the speaker is cut off and instead some prose comes along to summarize everything they were about to say. With both of these instances happening so near the end, it felt like the author was running out of time to finish the book and just turned existing notes into paragraphs to get the point across and move on. The first instance, I could have let pass, but the second was particularly egregious. It was disappointing not to get to listen to the actual words of the speakers in question.
There is also an instance of someone spending literal millennia dealing with one problem, with full computer access, and just... never deciding to analyze some fully available data that might elucidate the situation. Seems a bit odd if you ask me.
But never let it be said that I'm not willing to accept the occasional literary contrivance in service to a good story, and while these bits were a tad annoying, I found the overall experience of the novel to be exciting, engaging, and fascinating, with a satisfying and very final conclusion to the arc.
If you can get past its few quirks, this is one I'd recommend to a Star Trek fan, and maybe even just a sci-fi fan. I might read this one again some day... perhaps all 3 connected novels, but back-to-back next time.
The sequel to DeWeese's "Chain of Attack," The Final Nexus finds the Enterprise on a mission to study the system of "gates" that had sent them to another galaxy in the prior novel. Meanwhile, across the Federation, a series of tears in space-time similar in appearance to the gates have begun to spread, threatening Star Fleet headquarters and Earth itself. It's up to the Enterprise as usual to save the day.
Along with the now-malfunctioning gates, the Enterprise crew discovers an entity of pure terror which may explain the ultimate cause of the tens-of-thousands of years long war from "Chain of Attack." Guest starring the "oldest ensign in Star Fleet" in the original character of Commander Ansfield (science officer on the Cochise, a starship which falls victim to the terror-entity while near one of the space-time rips), the story makes several intuitive leaps (contrasting Ansfield's human style to Spock's cold logic) before uncovering the origin of the gates and the solution to shutting down the final nexus before it can destroy the galaxy.
Overall, The Final Nexus is a much-better read than Chain of Attack, even with some of the eyebrow-raising leaps needed to move the plot along. I'd give it 3.4 stars, rounded down with the limitation of Goodreads' whole-star ratings. It's definitely better than a good chunk of the original Pocket Star Trek entries, and the nexus and gates are plausibly-written phenomena along with the source of the entity of sheer terror, but it also seems to end up just shy of a deus ex machina resolution.
Now, this book is a major step up from the previous one. This one is the third of a trilogy, consisting of Abode of Life, Chain of Attack and now the Final Nexus. Kirk and crew were sent through a mysterious “gate” which sent them billions of light years into an unknown galaxy where a never ending interstellar war was taking place in the previous book.
This book primarily deals with the gates themselves and the system they’re made of, called the Nexus. This was a really good book. It goes off the rails very quickly in a fun way and then exploring the world and universe inside the Nexus was very fun to read. Dealing with different universes and different laws of physics really really felt like they were pushing the envelope of exploring Strange New Worlds. This book felt like Star Trek and the weirdness that comes with it and it pushed it to the envelope. I really liked the parts with Spock dealing with the entities and the crew changing colour because of them shifting to another universe.
The reveal of who created the gates and the Nexus was a little underwhelming as it only lasted 5 pages, and most of the book was dedicated to dealing with the entity inside the Nexus. Overall, a massive step up from the previous book and I enjoyed it very much.
The Final Nexus by Gene DeWeese - 43rd book within the Star Trek: TOS era
Adventurous, challenging, informative, mysterious, reflective, sad, and tense.
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix Strong character development? It's complicated Loveable characters? Yes Diverse cast of characters? Yes Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5 Stars
There were so many great ideas, but for some reason, it just didn't fulfill the buildup.
Loved the idea of the Nexus and the different portals/nexus that went to different universes and times, but the mysterious entity that inhabits different characters just wasn't as developed (for me) when the ultimate story was revealed.
Obviously, I loved the cast of the Enterprise, and the author wrote them well. The one character that was practically absent (which seemed glaringly obvious) was Dr. McCoy.
The banter was missing...and it was felt in the story, at least for me.
Overall, it was a good story. I thought the ending was a bit clipped, but what can you say?
Nach 114 Seiten abgebrochen. Der Autor hat sich leider für eine der einfallslosesten Handlungsideen entschieden, die das Star-Trek-Universum zu bieten hat: Eine unbekannte Macht treibt Besatzungsmitglieder in den Wahnsinn, die dadurch zur Gefahr für sich oder andere werden. Wie ein schlechtes Drehbuch der dritten Staffel der klassischen TV-Serie, kann auch Gene DeWeese in seinem Buch dieser Idee keine neuen, geschweige denn spannenden Aspekte abgewinnen. Mehr als ein Drittel des Romans lässt der Autor die Figuren im Dunkeln herumtappen. Unterhaltsam ist hier leider nichts. Die Figuren kommen recht blutleer daher, aber zumindest sind die bekannten Protagonisten erkennbar getroffen. Der Erzählstil ist insgesamt lesbar, aber – wie gesagt – Spaß macht das Werk keinen.
I have to admit that I ended up DNFing this book at about the halfway mark. I just couldn't get into it. I didn't find it very compelling, and I found much of it to simply be weird (and I say this as a person who loves Star Trek).
This may be someone's favorite, but it certainly wasn't mine. I did read some reviews, when I decided to DNF it, to see if someone might tell me that it got better and turned out to be the greatest book of all. Sadly, it seemed like many people agreed with me and, in fact, stated that things only went downhill from the middle. That was enough to let me know that I could move on to one of the many other books that I'd rather read instead of struggling through this one.
3.5 and rounding up again. After Bloodthirst and Demons I was admittedly expecting another round of "hunt the serial killer" and put off reading it, but I ended up liking the story a good deal. Different interlocking messes, lots of answers that only opened up more questions... I'm a sucker for puzzles. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but I can see it making sense off the characters involved. Not sure I'll reread, but it felt like a solid read to me.
Millennia ago, a vast alien intelligence created a series of portals to transport people instantaneously from one point in space to another.
Twice before, the 'Enterprise' has used them to traverse the universe. But now the ancient network is decaying and the imminent destruction threatens the very fabric of space.
De Weese has written a good adventure in the 'Star Trek' series, which builds on previous novels and clarifies the science behind the gateways.
I wouldn't say this one was as good as the first. It definitely had some great tension throughout but I always find it tricky when you have these novels that have these characters based off a friend of theirs (or themselves) and they end up saving the day. It wasn't overdone here too much but it was borderline. Overall, I did enjoy it but I liked the first one better.
A good premise with some interesting ideas however these ideas are not entirely developed or realized. Characterisation is generally good and the plot has minimal originality.
I am just not feeling invested in the story, and I want to move on to something else. Chain of Attack was a little better than this one, and Engines of Destiny blows it out of the water.
Bisschen zu abstrakt in seinen physikalischen Gesetzen (Raum zwischen den Universen, aber gleich verschiedene, die irgendwie nicht an einander hängen, ...), ansonsten spannend.
Again the crew of the Enterprise tackle a disembodied entity from another universe. Don't panic, Spock has it covered. Well... Eventually. Another good read.
The gates have appeared again and something has come through and threatens the Federation and the Universe. Can the crew of the Enterprise solve the situation. An enjoyable re-read.
Overall, *much* better than Victor Milan's From the Depths (1993). All of the characters were much better drawn by DeWeese. A few stereotypical incidents in which Captain Kirk does his own thing instead of obeying direct orders from Starfleet, but this story is also heavily driven by Spock and the other characters.
Part of the suspense is of the, "How will the Enterprise get out of *this* situation?" ilk, but fortunately, DeWeese keeps the characters at the forefront of the story. The Final Nexus (1988) qualifies as meaty Trek for the reader to sink his or her teeth -- and imagination -- into.
Good bus reading with little to complain about. Nice escapist fiction. Universe interconnecting transport system was brought into existence by a serendipitous discovery. The initial worm holes where made by an ancient alien race. Sadly it destroyed them and several other races. Now it is impinging on the Federation. The part I liked was the inclusion of another strong female role; Science officer Ansfield from the ship Cochise. She was both intriguing and inscrutable, like Spock, but human.