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Star Trek: The Genesis Wave #3
The Genesis Wave, Book Three
"As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create." -- Spock, The Wrath of Khan Sweeping across the Alpha Quadrant at a terrifying speed, a wave of Genesis energy has wiped out whole populations of entire planets, rearranging matter on a molecular level to create bizarre new landscapes and life-forms. The U.S.S. Enterprise ™, commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, managed to counter the threat, halting the wave in its tracks and stopping the alien race that had sent the wave crashing through the galaxy. In the process the crew saved trillions of souls and hundreds of inhabited planets from the mutagenic wave. Earth itself, as well as the Romulan Empire, was saved from obliteration. Now nothing is left to do but clean up the mess the Genesis Wave left behind. Or so it seems. Unknown to Picard and his crew, the use of the Genesis Wave on a galactic scale had weakened the walls between our dimension and one right next door, one that harbors a deadly threat to not only the survival of civilization throughout the galaxy, but the survival of reality itself. The Genesis Wave, Book Three, is the final volume of an apocalyptic adventure that pits the desperate crew of the Starship Enterprise against a disaster of universal proportions.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 11, 2020
Wasn’t really needed. The story ended in the second book. But I listened to the Audiobook with Tim Russ so 4 stars.
April 27, 2019
A rather perfunctory third wheel in a series which should have been confined to two books, "The Genesis Wave Book 3" has little to offer the continuity of the first two books.
Investigating a series of incidents along the swathe cut out by the Genesis Wave, the Enterprise discovers a rift between universes which imperils any ships in the vicinity. Of more concern: the rift is in danger of widening thanks to a Bajoran ex-vedek's quest to replicate the Genesis Device in a portable form.
I mistakenly thought that Book 3 of this saga would be dealing with the clean-up efforts necessary after the large scale destruction wrought by the Genesis Wave. On looking ahead, that seems to be the subject for the standalone novel "The Genesis Force", also written by John Vornholt. What I found in Book 3 was largely isolated from the story established in the first two books. Unfortunately, serious issues with pacing, poor character voicing, and a head-scratching Deus Ex Machina ending all left me lamenting the fact that I'm a completist and simply must finish the trilogy.
Enter: Yorka; a somewhat narcissistic Bajoran clergyman who fancies himself as a man with a role to play in Bajor's spiritual future. When one of the surviving moss creatures who unleashed the Genesis Wave entrusts Yorka with a miniaturized Genesis device, he must escape the mining colony of Torga IV before Romulan agents seize the device. These scenes are all rather fun, and I enjoyed the early pacing and action of this strata of the novel. Sadly, I felt that after a promising start, the Yorka storyline was largely forgotten in the middle section of the novel, only to return in a rushed conclusion when Vornholt tried to clumsily dovetail it with the other main plotline concerning Nechayev, Picard and the Romulans. While a lot of the character writing is somewhat slapdash (Chellac the Ferengi is distinctly uninteresting, and Yorka's other associates are simple sketches rather than fleshed out personalities), I do feel that this plotline held more interest for me than what happened with the Enterprise and Nechayev.
In a seemingly unrelated plot, the Enterprise is investigating a spatial anomaly which has resulted in the death of the majority of the crew of the U.S.S. Barcelona. I had real issues with this element of the story, as Vornholt doesn't seem to know where he wants to go with it and a lot of it smacks as random ideas glued together in an unconvincing end-product. The "monsters" the away team encounter on the Barcelona are never seen again, making the deaths of the crew somewhat meaningless. By the time the Romulans show up, the story becomes increasingly uneven, largely due to poorly written dialogue and out-of-character scenes which don't ring true to our heroes. Picard is quickly seduced by the Romulan commander (apparently due to some nifty cosmetic surgery and Elasian biochemical mind control), leading Crusher into a snarky jealousy-filled moodiness which permeates every scene she's in for the remainder of the book. Riker and the rest of the command crew come off as incompetent as they struggle to react to Picard's out of character behaviour. As a fan who is au fait with the series, it's painful to read novels when the author makes the primary characters act foolishly unintelligent and unprepared.
The third strand of the book comes in the way of Nechayev's new command, the U.S.S. Sequoia. She has with her a Vulcan "priestess", Teska, and is on a mission to uncover the Romulans' true motives after the Genesis Wave incident. Nechayev is lots of fun as a character, and Vornholt does a pretty good job of writing for her. Her casual ethics are on full display in a great scene where she plays two Romulan prisoners against each other and then convinces Teska to talk one of them into a revealing mind-meld. There was a lot of potential in this aspect of the storyline, but every time things seemed to get interesting, Vornholt cut away to some stupidity on the Enterprise and squandered any momentum he had built.
If I can communicate anything in this review it's a message of extreme unevenness and poor pacing. By the latter third of the book, the author is clearly struggling to tie plots together and as a result accelerates the pace in a progression of events which make less and less sense. We have scenes such as Troi heading out on a space walk to communicate with alien life forms in another universe, sensing they're in pain, starting to cry, and then heading back two minutes later. Just a little silly, in my opinion, and the breakneck speed at which these events happen really took me out of any believability I'd previously built up. Similarly, the character of Raynr Sleven (an Antosian survivor from the Barcelona who, after medical treatment, becomes a shapeshifter), is poorly written. He is seemingly infatuated with Beverly, lets her know it in increasingly cloying dialogue, and simultaneously creeps Alyssa Ogawa out by impersonating her lost-in-action husband to her six-year old daughter. It's a bizarre storyline which has no resolution, and clearly inserted simply so Vornholt can throw in a shapeshifter to the away-team in the final action sequence of the book.
Other reviewers have already commented about the Deus Ex Machina "wave of purity" ending. Give me a break. At this point, a two-star rating started to feel generous. If Vornholt's prose is to be believed, by Data reversing the current in a Genesis Device, a rift between universes can be sealed and every single lifeform in the galaxy can undergo a moment of pure happiness and peace, leading to prisoners being freed and wars ending. Ugh. Lazy, horrible writing.
Book 3 is a clear disappointment for me. With squandered opportunity in several storylines which should have been better developed.
Investigating a series of incidents along the swathe cut out by the Genesis Wave, the Enterprise discovers a rift between universes which imperils any ships in the vicinity. Of more concern: the rift is in danger of widening thanks to a Bajoran ex-vedek's quest to replicate the Genesis Device in a portable form.
I mistakenly thought that Book 3 of this saga would be dealing with the clean-up efforts necessary after the large scale destruction wrought by the Genesis Wave. On looking ahead, that seems to be the subject for the standalone novel "The Genesis Force", also written by John Vornholt. What I found in Book 3 was largely isolated from the story established in the first two books. Unfortunately, serious issues with pacing, poor character voicing, and a head-scratching Deus Ex Machina ending all left me lamenting the fact that I'm a completist and simply must finish the trilogy.
Enter: Yorka; a somewhat narcissistic Bajoran clergyman who fancies himself as a man with a role to play in Bajor's spiritual future. When one of the surviving moss creatures who unleashed the Genesis Wave entrusts Yorka with a miniaturized Genesis device, he must escape the mining colony of Torga IV before Romulan agents seize the device. These scenes are all rather fun, and I enjoyed the early pacing and action of this strata of the novel. Sadly, I felt that after a promising start, the Yorka storyline was largely forgotten in the middle section of the novel, only to return in a rushed conclusion when Vornholt tried to clumsily dovetail it with the other main plotline concerning Nechayev, Picard and the Romulans. While a lot of the character writing is somewhat slapdash (Chellac the Ferengi is distinctly uninteresting, and Yorka's other associates are simple sketches rather than fleshed out personalities), I do feel that this plotline held more interest for me than what happened with the Enterprise and Nechayev.
In a seemingly unrelated plot, the Enterprise is investigating a spatial anomaly which has resulted in the death of the majority of the crew of the U.S.S. Barcelona. I had real issues with this element of the story, as Vornholt doesn't seem to know where he wants to go with it and a lot of it smacks as random ideas glued together in an unconvincing end-product. The "monsters" the away team encounter on the Barcelona are never seen again, making the deaths of the crew somewhat meaningless. By the time the Romulans show up, the story becomes increasingly uneven, largely due to poorly written dialogue and out-of-character scenes which don't ring true to our heroes. Picard is quickly seduced by the Romulan commander (apparently due to some nifty cosmetic surgery and Elasian biochemical mind control), leading Crusher into a snarky jealousy-filled moodiness which permeates every scene she's in for the remainder of the book. Riker and the rest of the command crew come off as incompetent as they struggle to react to Picard's out of character behaviour. As a fan who is au fait with the series, it's painful to read novels when the author makes the primary characters act foolishly unintelligent and unprepared.
The third strand of the book comes in the way of Nechayev's new command, the U.S.S. Sequoia. She has with her a Vulcan "priestess", Teska, and is on a mission to uncover the Romulans' true motives after the Genesis Wave incident. Nechayev is lots of fun as a character, and Vornholt does a pretty good job of writing for her. Her casual ethics are on full display in a great scene where she plays two Romulan prisoners against each other and then convinces Teska to talk one of them into a revealing mind-meld. There was a lot of potential in this aspect of the storyline, but every time things seemed to get interesting, Vornholt cut away to some stupidity on the Enterprise and squandered any momentum he had built.
If I can communicate anything in this review it's a message of extreme unevenness and poor pacing. By the latter third of the book, the author is clearly struggling to tie plots together and as a result accelerates the pace in a progression of events which make less and less sense. We have scenes such as Troi heading out on a space walk to communicate with alien life forms in another universe, sensing they're in pain, starting to cry, and then heading back two minutes later. Just a little silly, in my opinion, and the breakneck speed at which these events happen really took me out of any believability I'd previously built up. Similarly, the character of Raynr Sleven (an Antosian survivor from the Barcelona who, after medical treatment, becomes a shapeshifter), is poorly written. He is seemingly infatuated with Beverly, lets her know it in increasingly cloying dialogue, and simultaneously creeps Alyssa Ogawa out by impersonating her lost-in-action husband to her six-year old daughter. It's a bizarre storyline which has no resolution, and clearly inserted simply so Vornholt can throw in a shapeshifter to the away-team in the final action sequence of the book.
Other reviewers have already commented about the Deus Ex Machina "wave of purity" ending. Give me a break. At this point, a two-star rating started to feel generous. If Vornholt's prose is to be believed, by Data reversing the current in a Genesis Device, a rift between universes can be sealed and every single lifeform in the galaxy can undergo a moment of pure happiness and peace, leading to prisoners being freed and wars ending. Ugh. Lazy, horrible writing.
Book 3 is a clear disappointment for me. With squandered opportunity in several storylines which should have been better developed.
July 6, 2015
Genesis Wave, Book Three was a standard entry into the pantheon of average Star Trek novels, until it ended. Badly.
Following the events of the 2 preceeding books (book 2 which had wrapped things up pretty fully) book 3 starts by re-muddying the waters. The new threat, a portable device capable of visiting terrible horror and it can fit in a suitcase.
Tim Russ' narration is done quite well and production on the audio book is quite high with music, special effects, etc. Mr Vornholt also does well to attempt to integrate many existing locations and events. You'll notice I said 'attempt'.
First: Solossos III.
This is the planet that Captain Benjamin Sisko poisoned during the DS9 episode "For the Uniform". In this book they say it's poisoned because of an 'experiment'. I find this annoying to a fan that knows the difference. Then it's uninhabited when the episode clearly said Cardassians were colonizing it to make up for planets they lost to he Maquis.
Second: the 'moment of peace'
Deus Ex Machina at the worst. Nothing is so bad as a sci-fi writer telling me that everyone in the galaxy was experiencing pure happiness, even when dying and to the point where even the Romulans voluntarily gave up a powerful weapon. That right there. As I wrote it down I went from 2 stars to 1 it was that poor.
The book was an unnecessary sequel that only subtracted from the first 2 novels. I strongly urge folks to read Genesis Force instead as I am doing. It feels the superior 3rd story.
Following the events of the 2 preceeding books (book 2 which had wrapped things up pretty fully) book 3 starts by re-muddying the waters. The new threat, a portable device capable of visiting terrible horror and it can fit in a suitcase.
Tim Russ' narration is done quite well and production on the audio book is quite high with music, special effects, etc. Mr Vornholt also does well to attempt to integrate many existing locations and events. You'll notice I said 'attempt'.
First: Solossos III.
This is the planet that Captain Benjamin Sisko poisoned during the DS9 episode "For the Uniform". In this book they say it's poisoned because of an 'experiment'. I find this annoying to a fan that knows the difference. Then it's uninhabited when the episode clearly said Cardassians were colonizing it to make up for planets they lost to he Maquis.
Second: the 'moment of peace'
Deus Ex Machina at the worst. Nothing is so bad as a sci-fi writer telling me that everyone in the galaxy was experiencing pure happiness, even when dying and to the point where even the Romulans voluntarily gave up a powerful weapon. That right there. As I wrote it down I went from 2 stars to 1 it was that poor.
The book was an unnecessary sequel that only subtracted from the first 2 novels. I strongly urge folks to read Genesis Force instead as I am doing. It feels the superior 3rd story.
June 30, 2018
Ridiculous. Book 1 was alright, book 2 was better. This conclusion feels largely unrelated to the primary conflict in the first two books, largely a manufactured bookend for the purpose of there being a trilogy, because trilogies.
Continuation of stupid male/female relationships while on the job, and even an even more ridiculous femme fatale trope fail. More characters saying lines they would never say; poor dialogue with bad grammar. Nonsensical new subplot that seems more related to some other previous story than anything discussed in Genesis Wave parts 1 or 2.
The only impressive character performance is from Admiral Necheyev, which is funny because we usually love to hate her. But while she’s always been a smart cookie, she and Troy are the only ones with a brain in this book. It’s almost nice enough to see them take over from the befuddled, bewitched, and be-useless men in this story as to redeem all the horrible writing of women in the rest of the trilogy. But not quite. Leah Brahms is still far too understanding, Beverley is still unbelievably trigger-shy, the Romulan actress/courtesan/what-have-you is still tropey af.
Pointless addendum to parts 1 and 2. At least it was short. Surprisingly, however, Tim Russ plays a really good Ferengi. Didn’t see that one coming.
Why am I such a completionist.
Continuation of stupid male/female relationships while on the job, and even an even more ridiculous femme fatale trope fail. More characters saying lines they would never say; poor dialogue with bad grammar. Nonsensical new subplot that seems more related to some other previous story than anything discussed in Genesis Wave parts 1 or 2.
The only impressive character performance is from Admiral Necheyev, which is funny because we usually love to hate her. But while she’s always been a smart cookie, she and Troy are the only ones with a brain in this book. It’s almost nice enough to see them take over from the befuddled, bewitched, and be-useless men in this story as to redeem all the horrible writing of women in the rest of the trilogy. But not quite. Leah Brahms is still far too understanding, Beverley is still unbelievably trigger-shy, the Romulan actress/courtesan/what-have-you is still tropey af.
Pointless addendum to parts 1 and 2. At least it was short. Surprisingly, however, Tim Russ plays a really good Ferengi. Didn’t see that one coming.
Why am I such a completionist.
January 6, 2018
This would have been a middle of the pack rated episode in the Next Generation TV series. Not awful, but easily predictable as seen by Troi & LaForge going in space suits to an event horizon that looked a lot like a black hole. You just knew that, regardless of how dumb it was to put your top tier officers on a suicide mission, you just knew nothing bad would happen based on the Star Trek writer's Prime Directive "DO NOT KILL OFF THE MAIN CHARACTERS" (or the secondary for the original series "Red Shirts (except for Scotty) are disposable characters").
In defense of the author, the story line closes out the trilogy of the Genesis Wave books. I did the audio of book 1 and read book 2 as well. If you are a fan of the Star Trek books, do yourself a favor and read the books. The audio narration of Tim Russ does not help the story at all. Very flat and monotone (very Tuvok) - no attempt at adding voices to the crew.
In defense of the author, the story line closes out the trilogy of the Genesis Wave books. I did the audio of book 1 and read book 2 as well. If you are a fan of the Star Trek books, do yourself a favor and read the books. The audio narration of Tim Russ does not help the story at all. Very flat and monotone (very Tuvok) - no attempt at adding voices to the crew.
December 18, 2017
Genesis Wave Book 3 follows the events of the first two books without Leah Brahms. Instead, we get a different threats - a portable Genesis device that exists in a suitcase and space anomalies that are destroying ships.
There was plenty to like about this book. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Cassie Jackson, the Ferengi Chellac, and Teska. I had felt that book 2 really wrapped things up really well so book 3 didn't quite measure up to the first two.
Still worth reading the whole trilogy though.
There was plenty to like about this book. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Cassie Jackson, the Ferengi Chellac, and Teska. I had felt that book 2 really wrapped things up really well so book 3 didn't quite measure up to the first two.
Still worth reading the whole trilogy though.
February 19, 2019
This was seriously not needed. While not everything was (at least via the audiobook) was very neatly tidied up in book 2, it mostly was - this was just to try to extend the series, it felt like. Basically a pointless addition that you might want to read just to say you did, but not missing anything with the rest of the Genesis series.
May 24, 2019
Books 1 & 2 were just one story split into two parts, but book three is another story altogether, I liked the first two books more than the third book but it was still a Good Read.
June 6, 2021
Unlike book 2, book 3 doesn't start exactly where its predecessor left off. Instead we're seeing events from a new perspective and watching events unfold in a location that the series hadn't previously focused on. This new direction was a fun one and I personally think that it lifted up the series at a point when it could have started to drag.
That said, book 3 did actually drag for me, but not because the story had lost appeal. It started off really strong and finished ok but everything in the middle was the churn (to steal and break a quote from another scifi franchise).
When I began to write this review I had actually written up a list of bones I wanted to pick, but I've scrapped that list because I think that my mounting qualms arose from a single point. The love-is-in-the-air vibe was ridiculous! It's only barely exaggerating to say that every character had a scene of confused romance in this book. I think my frustration with this element had me issuing a harsher judgement of inconsistencies with the story overall.
A piece of personal indulgence on the author's behalf, Vornholt used Teska in this story, a character he had created a few years earlier in his TOS novel 'Mind Meld'. I'm ok with a bit of that and it did have me considering genealogy trees for a few moments as a bonus. Then to no noone's surprise a few chapters later he threw in a reference to his TNG duology 'Gemworld' as well. I haven't read either of those other referenced works yet.
I think the Genesis Wave concept was underused in the end but I enjoyed most of the main series and I'm looking forward to the supplementary 'Genesis Force'. There remain a lot of unanswered questions.
That said, book 3 did actually drag for me, but not because the story had lost appeal. It started off really strong and finished ok but everything in the middle was the churn (to steal and break a quote from another scifi franchise).
When I began to write this review I had actually written up a list of bones I wanted to pick, but I've scrapped that list because I think that my mounting qualms arose from a single point. The love-is-in-the-air vibe was ridiculous! It's only barely exaggerating to say that every character had a scene of confused romance in this book. I think my frustration with this element had me issuing a harsher judgement of inconsistencies with the story overall.
A piece of personal indulgence on the author's behalf, Vornholt used Teska in this story, a character he had created a few years earlier in his TOS novel 'Mind Meld'. I'm ok with a bit of that and it did have me considering genealogy trees for a few moments as a bonus. Then to no noone's surprise a few chapters later he threw in a reference to his TNG duology 'Gemworld' as well. I haven't read either of those other referenced works yet.
I think the Genesis Wave concept was underused in the end but I enjoyed most of the main series and I'm looking forward to the supplementary 'Genesis Force'. There remain a lot of unanswered questions.
August 29, 2020
If you ever need a sub standard Star Trek... and I don't know why you would... it is hard to do worse than Vornholt. Unless you can tack down a first print of The Killing Time.
This trilogy started with a strong concept.
But fails because... well... each book in the trilogy has Vornholt bending over backward to have at least one main character act like a love sick high school student. At least he find a small (and incredibly ham fisted) way to do it with Picard here but he introduces the excuse AFTER he had been writing Picard so out of character that he seems like Zapp Brannigan for almost 150 pages.
And look, I'm one of the those people who didn't like the Richard Arnold rule about Star Trek books having to focus on existing characters. However, it only works if the new characters have any real meat on their bones. Only one of them does.
Of these new characters, Chellac is probably the worst since it is very, very, very clear that Vornholt wished he could be writing Quark or maybe Cousin Gala but wasn't allowed to.
I mean, this isn't the worst Star Trek book I've ever read. But I've been reading Trek books off and on for 28. I've probably read hundreds of them. I wouldn't recommend this book to anymore. Unless they wanted to hate read it... which is what I've been doing with the Genesis Wave series since Genesis Wave Book Two.
This trilogy started with a strong concept.
But fails because... well... each book in the trilogy has Vornholt bending over backward to have at least one main character act like a love sick high school student. At least he find a small (and incredibly ham fisted) way to do it with Picard here but he introduces the excuse AFTER he had been writing Picard so out of character that he seems like Zapp Brannigan for almost 150 pages.
And look, I'm one of the those people who didn't like the Richard Arnold rule about Star Trek books having to focus on existing characters. However, it only works if the new characters have any real meat on their bones. Only one of them does.
Of these new characters, Chellac is probably the worst since it is very, very, very clear that Vornholt wished he could be writing Quark or maybe Cousin Gala but wasn't allowed to.
I mean, this isn't the worst Star Trek book I've ever read. But I've been reading Trek books off and on for 28. I've probably read hundreds of them. I wouldn't recommend this book to anymore. Unless they wanted to hate read it... which is what I've been doing with the Genesis Wave series since Genesis Wave Book Two.
October 21, 2018
This is the final book in the Genesis Wave trilogy. It did feel like the problem was solved in book 2, and that there was no where to go, but the author decided to explore the after effects of the wave in book 3.
I felt that the characters we had been following and interested in had their arcs end in the last book, so this one felt like the author just wanted to play with some connected ideas and tie up loose ends that coukd have been left. The pacing of the book was odd, things were drawn out for so long and then very quickly brought to a close. This made the ending feel unfinished and unfulfilled. It also felt like the author suddenly wanted to be playing with Deep Space Nine rules instead of The Next Generation rules. Related though they are, they are not the same show and it felt wrong for the tone of the last two books. When we had been following a Klingon, the crew of the Enterprise, Leah Brahms, and some others, we are now following a Romulan, a Ferengi, a Vulcan, and a Bajoran. The crew of the Enterprise feel off, not quite in character. Also, a rescued Starfleet crewman is more than a little bit of a creep in this. Everything about him is repulsive but the author wants us to have sympathy with him. It doesn't work.
I felt that the characters we had been following and interested in had their arcs end in the last book, so this one felt like the author just wanted to play with some connected ideas and tie up loose ends that coukd have been left. The pacing of the book was odd, things were drawn out for so long and then very quickly brought to a close. This made the ending feel unfinished and unfulfilled. It also felt like the author suddenly wanted to be playing with Deep Space Nine rules instead of The Next Generation rules. Related though they are, they are not the same show and it felt wrong for the tone of the last two books. When we had been following a Klingon, the crew of the Enterprise, Leah Brahms, and some others, we are now following a Romulan, a Ferengi, a Vulcan, and a Bajoran. The crew of the Enterprise feel off, not quite in character. Also, a rescued Starfleet crewman is more than a little bit of a creep in this. Everything about him is repulsive but the author wants us to have sympathy with him. It doesn't work.
July 26, 2023
I picked this up at a yard sale for a dollar and didn't expect much. It's both genre fiction and franchise fiction, which are not known for their quality. Overall, this book was okay. It had a great mix of characters and an interesting story. I particularly liked seeing Leah Brahms, Maltz (Search for Spock) and Carol Marcus (The Wrath of Kahn) again.
Unfortunately the bad in this book does bring it down a lot. The prose is sometimes downright awful. John Vornholt adds a lot unnecessary and repetitive details and seems like he's just padding to make the book longer. The emotions of the characters are described in excruciating detail at times when far fewer words would get the point across better and be more impactful. He also wasn't great and writing Data and Picard. They often said things that had me thinking 'no, they would never say that' in my head.
I may explore more Star Trek books but I am not likely to stick with this author. Still though, for a yard sale find it was a decent enough way to pass the time, and the story and sci-fi aspects were interesting.
Unfortunately the bad in this book does bring it down a lot. The prose is sometimes downright awful. John Vornholt adds a lot unnecessary and repetitive details and seems like he's just padding to make the book longer. The emotions of the characters are described in excruciating detail at times when far fewer words would get the point across better and be more impactful. He also wasn't great and writing Data and Picard. They often said things that had me thinking 'no, they would never say that' in my head.
I may explore more Star Trek books but I am not likely to stick with this author. Still though, for a yard sale find it was a decent enough way to pass the time, and the story and sci-fi aspects were interesting.
December 16, 2023
Ugh, this one is a mess. Some parts were enjoyable enough but as a sequel to the first two books in the Genesis Wave series, this one felt more like a sequel to the Gemworld books than the Genesis Wave ones which, for me, came out of nowhere. I liked some of the new characters like Teska (although I had a hard time not mentally visualizing her as Seska), Chellac and Regibol. But didn't care for much of the others and was not following their plans anyway. I think another rewrite to smooth out some parts would have been a good idea (especially since one section referred to an event which had not happened yet in the book) so a fail to the editor. For the most part I enjoyed this series but for me it was a stretch...and I haven't even talked about how it ended.
April 25, 2023
Just gobbling these things up!
Ah, I couldn't hold off to have this for dessert after I finished a more intellectual book. I needed to consume it quickly before I forgot the thread of the previous two.
Once again, enjoyable for mild entertainment. This book didn't re-introduce a minor character as such as much as it did a minor species - the Elaysians (you know, the original series chick with the tears that made men fall in love with her? Alas, aren't they all like that?)
Anyway, I still think the whole series - 9 chapters in 3 books - should be one book. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable.
Ah, I couldn't hold off to have this for dessert after I finished a more intellectual book. I needed to consume it quickly before I forgot the thread of the previous two.
Once again, enjoyable for mild entertainment. This book didn't re-introduce a minor character as such as much as it did a minor species - the Elaysians (you know, the original series chick with the tears that made men fall in love with her? Alas, aren't they all like that?)
Anyway, I still think the whole series - 9 chapters in 3 books - should be one book. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable.
November 14, 2019
Maybe the book is okay, but this abridged audio is completely un-comprehensible.
Plot threads jump into it that you have to guess how they started. I've read almost every one of the pocketbook series Trek novels, and heard all the audios. I understand why things had to be adbridged back in the day when tapes and CDs were expensive (heck, I bought most of these on cassette when they first came out).... but, this is hands down the worst one I've ever encountered.
Plot threads jump into it that you have to guess how they started. I've read almost every one of the pocketbook series Trek novels, and heard all the audios. I understand why things had to be adbridged back in the day when tapes and CDs were expensive (heck, I bought most of these on cassette when they first came out).... but, this is hands down the worst one I've ever encountered.
May 27, 2021
Den här bokserien skulle ha slutat efter andra boken. Det behövdes inte en tredje bok. Jag upplever att författaren tar tag i många nya trådar, för att i ett desperat försök skapa en ny spännande berättelse, men till skillnad från de första två böckerna i trilogin känns inte berättelsen i denna bok särskilt trovärdig. Vare sig om man tittar på enskilda karaktärers hantering av situationen eller om man tittar på grundberättelsen med en ny och mycket farlig fiende.
April 26, 2023
I barely finished it to be honest. It doesn't play out as smoothly as the first two books in the series do and it fails to really hold your attention through the whole way. Has too many things going on at once without really fleshing any of them out, and it seem they just keep pulling new things out of the hat as a means of keeping the book moving. Squanders an opportunity to tie in stuff from DS9 with the Bajor related elements.
May 22, 2024
Too.many plot lines
This story started out well; however, the addition of more plotlines made the story more muddled. While the characters were well-written, the stories overwhelmed the characters.
There were elements in the plotlines that would have made several stand-alone novels. The story did not have verve or energy of the previous books in the Genesis Wave series. I cannot recommend this novel.
This story started out well; however, the addition of more plotlines made the story more muddled. While the characters were well-written, the stories overwhelmed the characters.
There were elements in the plotlines that would have made several stand-alone novels. The story did not have verve or energy of the previous books in the Genesis Wave series. I cannot recommend this novel.
September 10, 2020
Decent book with an anticlimactic finish
After the first two books of this trilogy, I was excited to see where this book would go, but was disappointed with the cadence of the book, and the anticlimatic, finish, that felt rushed. Overall, I enjoyed the trilogy, but this one really could have ended after the first two books.
After the first two books of this trilogy, I was excited to see where this book would go, but was disappointed with the cadence of the book, and the anticlimatic, finish, that felt rushed. Overall, I enjoyed the trilogy, but this one really could have ended after the first two books.
September 15, 2025
This was very difficult to follow. I’m new to Star Trek literature having been a tremendous fan of the televised versions. I have a new appreciation for the quantity and diversity of characters that made this 3rd book particularly confusing. I really enjoyed the story of books 1&2, but having to remember all the characters plus a few extra was challenging.
January 17, 2022
Mostly satisfying but again Vornholt is too busy tying it to his previous books and outdated views of the crew of the Enterprise D to really make this as good as it could have been.
March 2, 2024
This third chapter, like the trilogy it’s part of, was a real slog to get through. Least enjoyable of the three for me.
November 3, 2024
Not the best, but I do love a good Vulcan and Romulan love connection. Beaucoup Romulan-ish action here.
August 13, 2013
After the last book in the series felt like the end of the story, this third book was a bit of a surprise. The genesis wave had made some anomalies in space that were destroying ships, the Romulans want their technology and a Vedek has a portable genesis device. A decent story but its not in the same league as the first 2 books.
March 3, 2009
This series of books is a typical Star Trek tale. The series provided a mediocre experience containing the same old song and dance. I was disappointed. I will start the Titan series next. I hope it is a little more exciting.
June 28, 2008
The best series of all the Star Trek books I have read so far, I took it to Cancun with me and couldn't put it down.
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March 13, 2009My notes: http://www.ordinarydream.net/startrek...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2015
great story
June 21, 2017
Not a compelling follow up to the other two, IMHO.
January 1, 2018
Eh. Kinda continued some stuff from the previous two books, but completely ignored loose ends and referenced an event that I don’t recall at all from those books (and I read them this week). Poor characterization of the TNG crew and none of the interesting plot points were really explored.
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