Tooth and Claw

Star Trek: The Next Generation #60

by Doranna Durgin

Ntignano was a populated world with a perfect sun -- until the right technology fell into the wrong hands. Now the sun is failing quickly, and the Starship USS Enterprise-D has just one chance to evacuate the fleeing refugees. Captain Jean-Luc Picard must succeed in delicate negotiations with the only people who can help them: a prickly neighboring species known as the Tsorans.

To assist in that effort, Commander Will Riker was assigned a very different diplomatic task. As a polite formality and show of good faith, he accompanied a young Tsoran prince to an exclusive hunting preserve. There, technology-damping fields and some of the galaxy's deadliest predators were supposed to test the untried noble's ability in the kaphoora – the hunt. But the shuttlecraft didn't land on Fandre; it crashed.

Now, cut off from Tsora and the Enterprise, the survivors of the disaster face the ultimate struggle for survival. Without the aid of tricorders or phasers, Riker, his royal charge, and their would-be rescuers must fight for their lives with the only weapons they can muster – spears and bat'leth, tooth and claw.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek The Next Generation, Fiction, Ebooks, Novels, Science Fiction Fantasy

246 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Doranna Durgin is an award-winning author (the Compton Crook for Best First SF/F/H novel) whose quirky spirit has led to an extensive and eclectic publishing journey across genres, publishers, and publishing lines. Beyond that, she hangs around outside her Southwest mountain home with horse and highly accomplished competition dogs. She doesn't believe in mastering the beast within, but in channeling its power--for good or bad has yet to be decided! She says, “My books are SF/F, mystery, paranormal romance, & romantic suspense. My world is the Southwest, and my dogs are Beagles!”

Doranna’s most recent releases encompass the three books of the Reckoners trilogy--a powerful ghostbuster raised by a spirit, her brilliantly eccentric backup team, a cat who isn't a cat, and a fiercely driven bounty hunter from a different dimension who brings them together when worlds collide.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't do much for me.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the survive-the-jungle part of the plot feels old hat, the rest of the novel is spiced up by a superb command of the TNG characters, a neat twist on an honour-based society, and an interesting conundrum that explains the survive-the-jungle plot. This is a novel that feels like an authentic missing TNG episode, complete with Data's linguistic gags and Worf's deadpan humour. I really enjoyed this book.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, wow, this is the last of the TNG that I inherited from my brother, and now I'm sad. It's the best of all the one that I read; I even have book-darted passages! It's interesting enough to discuss in a book club even. I may have to look into more by the author.

I like that there was exciting adventure, political intrigue, challenging diplomacy, techno-babble, and humor too. Riker, when written well, does know how to make the wry observation or offer the comic relief:

"'Definitely [I've been] spending too much time in Worf's holodeck calisthenics.' Or rather, in a toned-down version for humans. Worf Lite."

And Worf gets a chance to show us that he has a sense of humor, too. Riker is mocking the two of them, complaining that Worf is going to come out of this looking much less messed up than his commanding officer. Worf replies that he should spend an extra day in the jungle... . "Worf, you're patronizing me."
"Yes sir."
"Well stop it. You're bad at it."
"Yes sir."
(Can't you just hear the actors making that exchange? Delightful.)

There's also a fairly substantive sub-thread about Data experimenting with colloquialisms again. La Forge tries to warn him off, but he persists for most of the book, and uses them mostly *almost* appropriately.

But the main thematic plot is how the exposure to Federation members, with their perspectives, helps the Tsoran prince see his own culture in a new light. It starts with a small epiphanic question: "What is more important, saving daleura or being prepared for danger?" And there's a bit of an exchange the other way, of course, too. After all, it is the mission of the Enterprise to "seek out new life" and learn about, and from, it.

The main adventure plot could stand alone, I think, if one wanted to read this book on that level. But there's so much more going on, I really enjoyed savoring this special entry in the series.

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to catch up on my Star Trek reading. If you notice, this one came out in 2001, so I'm WAY far behind. *grin*

The basic premise here is that one planet has screwed up their sun and it's going to go supernova. But the evacuation can't happen because there are spatial anomalies in the region and Starfleet doesn't have maps of the safe passages through that area. However, another close planet does, and Starfleet doesn't have time to safely map the region and save the evacuees. So the Captain Jean Luc and the Enterprise crew is sent in to talk to the culture (not part of Starfleet) into sharing the maps of that area. Part of the deal is that Riker will escort the local ruler's son on his quest for "daluera" by shuttling him into a hunting preserve where technology is dampened so he can hunt and collect a trophy.

Of course, the shuttle crashes, leaving Riker, the ruler's son, and their escort exposed to the incredibly dangerous wildlife far from the exit point. Geordi works hard to get communications into the wildlife preserve, as well as get a shuttle fixed so that it won't crash like the last so that Worf can go in and save everyone. Meanwhile, Picard is getting fed up with the ruler's refusal to give over the charts, the refugees dying in droves as the supernova escalates far faster than predicted.

I enjoyed the story. It was well-written and the plot twists into something more complicated than what I described above. I also like how the diplomacy essentially fails and so Picard is forced to do something more drastic to get the ruler's attention and help. Too often in Star Trek, diplomacy saves the day at every turn, and we all know that diplomacy doesn't always work (look at the mideast for example). So a good fun read altogether.

[SamB · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picked up in the last 50 pages or so, but until then it was a bit of a slog. The Tsoran culture is painfully contrived, and their honor-based values system comes along with a hard-headed, stubborn nature that repeatedly stalls any narrative progress. (A note to authors: if your protagonists are frustrated by all the obstacles put in front of them and the lack of forward motion as a result, odds are the reader will be too). Add to this the fact that this culture seemingly also includes a tradition where everyone's names and titles are really similar (the ReynTa, the ReynSa and the ReynKa; Atann, Akarr and Takar; Pavar and Gavare), and it was a real struggle to engage with this one.

Oh, and the tiresome 'Data decides to try and use colloqualisms' trope is here too - it seemed like nearly every author of the TNG numbered books tried this, and it's as uninteresting here as it is in all the other novels where it's done.

Two stars because some of the other character work is pretty decent - Riker's inner voice is particularly well done, I enjoyed Worf, and the use of Picard as he finally loses patience with this obstinate alien species is excellent and totally in character. The pace picks up towards the end, though not helped by the fact that any half-conscious reader is miles ahead of the characters in picking up on the twist.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 60th TNG novel.
To secure navigation routes which will help the Federation rescue a doomed civilisation, Captain Picard enters into negotiations with Tsorans, whose strict code of prestige makes them highly intractable. Meanwhile, Riker, Worf and La Forge are sent along with a Tsoran ritual hunting party into a game reserve filled with deadly predators.

I'll grant that the story in this book does feel like an episode of TNG. Unfortunately, it feels like one of the filler episodes that no-one ever talks about because it adds nothing to series or the characters. Above and beyond everything else, however, this book was just very boring.

The author does a very good job of establishing how frustrated the Enterprise crew are with the obstructive nature of the Tsoran 'daelura' (their system of honour/prestige) but she does it by making us, the reader, every bit as frustrated. Apart from this preventing the plot from advancing at any number of points throughout the book, there is very little here that you won't see coming a mile off. The culprit behind the sabotage was the least shocking revelation I've seen in a long time.

Overall, this book is pretty tedious and fairly obvious.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this one was more in the 3.25-3.5 range but I will round down. I liked how each character was used in this book to Geordi solving problems to Data doing the science and being second in command with Riker being off on the planet Fandre. Picard and Troi doing the diplomatic thing and her guiding him in just the right way was classic TNG. This really did feel like an episode of the show to the book's credit. I was lost a bit on the Tsoran characters though and it was a little tricky for me to keep them straight in my head. The cover kind of spoils the later events in the book so that's a bummer but I did enjoy it - it just seemed to lack something to raise it above the rest.

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

TNG #60: Tooth and Claw by Doranna Durgin

This book didn’t really do it for me. I wasn’t big on the whole jungle plot and I far more enjoyed the Picard stuff as Durgin did a great job of capturing his character. This book was honestly a snooze fest for me and I’ve forgotten about most of it.
5/10

[Rob Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book, the characterisation of the main cast didn't seem accurate and this put me off from the start.

On the flipside, Riker and Worf's images on the cover are spot on and I love that they are wearing the Generations mix of uniforms.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t really do much for me. The most I got out of it was learning that the word “okay” is apparently derived from “oll korrect,” a humorous corruption of “all correct.”

[M.A. Kropp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Star Trek fan. I'll just admit that now. And The Next Generation is still a favorite of all the spin-offs from the original series. And I know Doranna Durgin can write a pretty darned good story. So, I was not surprised when I enjoyed this one.

It's a fairly familiar set-up: the Enterprise is sent on a mission to save an alien race (this time because their sun is about to go nova) and the mission is complicated by a stubborn and hostile neighbor that controls the only route that will be quick enough. And the neighbor race demands that the Enterprise participate in a ritual hunt to prove the worthiness of the ruler's son. The catches? For one, the hunt will take place in a domed preserve of sorts that blocks technology, so no phasers, communicators, etc. Even the shuttlecraft is affected and crashes, leaving Riker, Worf, and the hunting party to face deadly predators with only primitive defenses. Add in some political intrigue and the insufferable son-to-be-proven, and the story is off and running.

It's faithful to the TNG universe, characters are nicely portrayed and true to what we know from the series, and the setting is good. The Tsorans (the ones controlling the escape route) might be a bit stiff and lack a bit of dimension, but it works for a race that relies on an ancient rite of passage to prove a person's worth. The son is, at first, rather demanding and uncooperative. He's fully set on completing his hunt and no amount of danger, death, or coercion is going to sway him. To say he frustrates Riker is an understatement of galactic proportion. But, as with so much in the Star Trek universe, our heroes prove right in the end and, after all the dangers and politics are faced down, win the day.

Was it the best action story? Probably not. Was it Star Trek? Through and through. It was also a good read and held my interest right to the end. Star Trek, and particularly TNG, fans will likely enjoy this one.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy Star Trek books, you'll probably enjoy this one. It did a better-than-fair job of portraying the established characters, puts them in a situation that is novel and moderately interesting, and has them interact with a fairly interesting and well-thought-out alien culture. And if I could have done without Data being an annoying twit, that's pretty much par for the course; he was no worse here than he was in many of the TV episodes, especially the early ones. Still, somehow despite all of the positives that I have to say about it, it just didn't grab me enough to rate a five-star review; on a purely subjective basis, I drop it a star. Still, it was a pretty fair read.

Of course, if you don't like Star Trek stories in particular or genre fiction in general, you won't want to read this. But you already knew that before I weighed in with my opinion.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Enterprise has to get some star charts to save millions. Picard negotiates with the person who has them, while Riker goes on a hunt with the representative's son. This is a lot of fun, and you can easily imagine it being a tv episode. It is mainly a Riker story, but does not lose anything because of this. Riker teaching a young man about what leadership is while fighting monsters is always good. A good read.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book that fans will enjoy. The characters are perfect! The situation is exciting. It is everything a Trek adventure should be. Ms. Durgin has captured the Trek formula with stellar results. This book would make and excellent TV episode. It is lots of fun, and I truly hope Ms. Durgin will write more Next Generation novels

[Brutally Honest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, and Imzadi, is when I fell head over heels in love with Riker.

Also I may or may not have copied a huge section of this book by hand into a notebook I kept under my bed. X3

[Steven Keith]

average

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

[Melvin Lance]

Ok book