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Star Trek: New Earth #6
Challenger
Far from the reaches of the Federation, the starship Enterprise has been guiding the development of a once obscure planet upon whose fate the future of the galaxy may now depend. The Enterprise has been the sole representative of the Federation, fighting a constant battle to protect the colonists from enemy aliens and standing alone against all those who have their own designs on the colony world.
But all adventure come to an end. It is time for Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to turn over the guardianship of the colony to another ship and crew. The new ship arrives in the midst of a deadly attack on the colony -- and is destroyed. With the Enterprise off fighting a new and powerful enemy that threatens the colony as well as its enemies, Commander Nick Keller, first officer and ranking survivor of the decimated crew, is marooned and at first alone -- but he must find a way to complete his original mission and come to the aid of the Enterprise in what might be its most desperate hour.
But all adventure come to an end. It is time for Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to turn over the guardianship of the colony to another ship and crew. The new ship arrives in the midst of a deadly attack on the colony -- and is destroyed. With the Enterprise off fighting a new and powerful enemy that threatens the colony as well as its enemies, Commander Nick Keller, first officer and ranking survivor of the decimated crew, is marooned and at first alone -- but he must find a way to complete his original mission and come to the aid of the Enterprise in what might be its most desperate hour.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2000
24 people are currently reading
358 people want to read
About the author
Diane Carey
80 books122 followersDiane Carey also wrote the Distress Call 911 young adult series under the name D.L. Carey.
Diane Carey is primarily a science fiction author best known for her work in the Star Trek franchise. She has been the lead-off writer for two Star Trek spin-off book series: Star Trek The Next Generation with Star Trek: Ghost Ship, and the novelization of the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, Broken Bow.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Carey
Diane Carey is primarily a science fiction author best known for her work in the Star Trek franchise. She has been the lead-off writer for two Star Trek spin-off book series: Star Trek The Next Generation with Star Trek: Ghost Ship, and the novelization of the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, Broken Bow.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Carey
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 31, 2019
Challenger is an excellent conclusion to a series that has been frustratingly hit-or-miss, and mostly miss. The series overall could have used a big dose of cohesiveness, with each book flowing better into the next one. Instead, the series is very disjointed, but Challenger manages to bring everything to a satisfying close. There is a line on page 247 about how the space shuttle Challenger was the only shuttle that NASA lost, which has sadly not aged well. If only that prediction had come true! Overall, the novel was a fun read, with only a bit of a digression into a libertarian screed that kind of pulled me out of the story. Other than that, though, Challenger beat my expectations quite handily!
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/07/chall...
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/07/chall...
December 28, 2020
I've complained a lot about the New Earth series, but this was a solid conclusion. I can take or leave the TOS-focused stuff; the plot with the Peleliu/Challenger crew was great, though, and reminded me of the best bits of the DS9 Relaunch. This novel works well as a kind of backdoor pilot for more Challenger adventures, so it's a shame that series never worked out.
And, of course, Diane Carey finds time to complain about the uniforms from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. And who can blame her?
And, of course, Diane Carey finds time to complain about the uniforms from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. And who can blame her?
March 9, 2010
In all, this was a very enjoyable book. Seeing as how Diane Carey wrote the first book of this series, it was nice to return to that same writing style for the last book.
It helped that this was a very exciting book. A lot of people who write Star Trek tend to forget that complete lack of character conflict can get boring. The story of Nick Keller and how he got to be captain was gripping. And it was handled way better than I was expecting it to be. When his captain starts to go crazy, I was expecting it to be resolved fairly quickly. However, sometimes you forget that characters should behave like real people, and a real person wouldn't be so quick to overthrow their captain. Like I said, it was handled very well, very realistic, and very enjoyably.
Carey doesn't have a normal character. She always adds something that makes a character unique, that makes them stand out. I liked the characters in this book for the most part.
Also, it was nice to see plot threads from the first book that were completely forgotten picked back up here. In book 1, it's revealed that the Kauld are all dying because of an accident that poisoned all their military men. This was immediately forgotten when book 4 made the Kauld mustache twirling villains. Like I said in my review of that book, it would have been nice it the author had read the books before it.
The only real problem I have with this book is the ending. I'll buy the fact that you can build a starship in 16 days, but go and do something with it. The book ended rather abruptly, with Kirk saving the day magically. I was really looking forward to Keller proving himself and his new ship, but all he did was almost die and then get saved.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. Carey's writing style takes some getting use to. The only bad thing about this book was the forced ending, and the fact that you have to get through 3 mediocre to bad books to get to this one (I really liked books 1 and 2).
It helped that this was a very exciting book. A lot of people who write Star Trek tend to forget that complete lack of character conflict can get boring. The story of Nick Keller and how he got to be captain was gripping. And it was handled way better than I was expecting it to be. When his captain starts to go crazy, I was expecting it to be resolved fairly quickly. However, sometimes you forget that characters should behave like real people, and a real person wouldn't be so quick to overthrow their captain. Like I said, it was handled very well, very realistic, and very enjoyably.
Carey doesn't have a normal character. She always adds something that makes a character unique, that makes them stand out. I liked the characters in this book for the most part.
Also, it was nice to see plot threads from the first book that were completely forgotten picked back up here. In book 1, it's revealed that the Kauld are all dying because of an accident that poisoned all their military men. This was immediately forgotten when book 4 made the Kauld mustache twirling villains. Like I said in my review of that book, it would have been nice it the author had read the books before it.
The only real problem I have with this book is the ending. I'll buy the fact that you can build a starship in 16 days, but go and do something with it. The book ended rather abruptly, with Kirk saving the day magically. I was really looking forward to Keller proving himself and his new ship, but all he did was almost die and then get saved.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. Carey's writing style takes some getting use to. The only bad thing about this book was the forced ending, and the fact that you have to get through 3 mediocre to bad books to get to this one (I really liked books 1 and 2).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2019
A mostly enjoyable end to this particular sub-series; together with volume #5 it's the best of the bunch. Although the Enterprise crew isn't the real focus here, the characterisation, when they do show up, is excellent. Scotty shepherding a new commander through a disaster, Uhura completely outwitting a charismatic criminal, and Spock falling into difficulties without the presence of Dr. McCoy to balance out his tendency to excess. The characterisation in the main story is also good. Frustrating, but I think it's meant to be frustrating - up to a point at least. First officer Keller, of a new ship assigned to Belle Terre, has an insane captain, and he needs to get over his loyalty to the man long enough to mutiny.
Reader, I want to smack him. Captain Lake is clearly off his rocker, and the entire crew knows it. It's not Lake's fault - he's was exposed to a chemical that affected his neurology. But the why doesn't matter, as he's putting his crew in constant danger through a series of dreadful decisions, and more than one of the officers essentially beg Keller to take over. But for ages, for far more time than is credible, he minces and whines and angsts, and the upshot of his whole stupid prevarication is that the crew is pretty much slaughtered and the ship destroyed. And you know, for a very short while there I forgave the angst. Primarily because although Keller fucked up majorly, he knows it, and for a few pages the text knows it too... then he picks himself up and dusts himself off for the hero finish, at which point he's rewarded with a field promotion and command and all I can think is What the fucking fuck? How about promoting one of those officers who did realise trouble and was ready to act at the time, instead of the man whose inaction, both at the time Lake was contaminated and at the time he was insane, condemned an entire ship to horrible death. I think I'm supposed to be glad that the lesson paid by others was finally pounded into Keller's thick bloody head, but I'm pretty unconvinced by this apparent lightning redemption. Why does everyone keep trusting this moron? He failed pitifully as first officer, and suddenly he's failing up. He doesn't need a promotion, he needs a court martial for sheer incompetence. For someone who keeps dropping twentieth century references, "just following orders" is the one reference he absolutely fails to acknowledge.
I wonder, though, if my reaction is due in part to the pacing. It's off in more than this storyline - too much time on Keller's refusal to act, too little on earning trust back. The most egregious example is the ending of the book proper, which is almost entirely deus ex machina, after a powerful alien race comes along to set things almost instantly to rights. That's not a trope that delights many, and I'm one of the many. Still, for all my paragraphs of rant here, this was still a likeable enough read and, as I said, one of the two best books of the New Earth series.
Reader, I want to smack him. Captain Lake is clearly off his rocker, and the entire crew knows it. It's not Lake's fault - he's was exposed to a chemical that affected his neurology. But the why doesn't matter, as he's putting his crew in constant danger through a series of dreadful decisions, and more than one of the officers essentially beg Keller to take over. But for ages, for far more time than is credible, he minces and whines and angsts, and the upshot of his whole stupid prevarication is that the crew is pretty much slaughtered and the ship destroyed. And you know, for a very short while there I forgave the angst. Primarily because although Keller fucked up majorly, he knows it, and for a few pages the text knows it too... then he picks himself up and dusts himself off for the hero finish, at which point he's rewarded with a field promotion and command and all I can think is What the fucking fuck? How about promoting one of those officers who did realise trouble and was ready to act at the time, instead of the man whose inaction, both at the time Lake was contaminated and at the time he was insane, condemned an entire ship to horrible death. I think I'm supposed to be glad that the lesson paid by others was finally pounded into Keller's thick bloody head, but I'm pretty unconvinced by this apparent lightning redemption. Why does everyone keep trusting this moron? He failed pitifully as first officer, and suddenly he's failing up. He doesn't need a promotion, he needs a court martial for sheer incompetence. For someone who keeps dropping twentieth century references, "just following orders" is the one reference he absolutely fails to acknowledge.
I wonder, though, if my reaction is due in part to the pacing. It's off in more than this storyline - too much time on Keller's refusal to act, too little on earning trust back. The most egregious example is the ending of the book proper, which is almost entirely deus ex machina, after a powerful alien race comes along to set things almost instantly to rights. That's not a trope that delights many, and I'm one of the many. Still, for all my paragraphs of rant here, this was still a likeable enough read and, as I said, one of the two best books of the New Earth series.
November 3, 2020
I haven’t read the previous books of this series, the reasons for which I will explain shortly, but I feel that if I had been following the story of James T Kirk and his crew, through five whole books, that I would be incredibly disappointed with the climax and peed off by the introduction of a completely new crew from absolutely nowhere that took over the focus entirely.
I only read this book, because in order to understand book two of another series (Gateways- Chainmail), which funnily enough is also by Diane Carey, I needed to find out who this new crew was and where this “Composite Frigate” Challenger had come from, having been thrown right in it with no foreword to advise how they’d got there in the first place or any other background being provided. AND I’m only reading that series to find out what happens in the books that follow the Deep Space 9 TV series which tie in with it.
Having read this one, I still don’t feel like I know where all of the crew of the new ship, cobbled together by Keller, have come from or why they are there. Carey is obviously trying to start a new branch of Trek and gather together a random crew in an attempt to make it interesting, but failing as they’re not that likeable and some are too complicated.
This book does not work as a stand alone story and is more evidence that the publishers and Diane Carey will do anything to drag out a series in order to make more money. I’m sure Kirk and his crews adventures in this book could have been tagged on to the end of book 5 of New Earth and the story of the Pelileu could have been summarised at the beginning of the “Gateways” book “Chainmail”, but then we would have books that were 100 pages longer and wouldn’t have the expense of this one and they’d be out of pocket.
Based on what I read of the New Earth story here and certainly the terrible, convenient and almost silly ending, I would not be inclined to rush back and find out what happens in the other five. It’s all a bit of course and out of character for the Enterprise and her bridge officers, although it was nice to have Uhura’s role expanded.
There are lots of proof reading errors and sometimes it seems like the writing is in a casual slang or language that doesn’t flow like the English I know.
I’m probably being picky, but you can also see where she’s written something and then gone back over and added a sentence to explain why it’s different all of a sudden, having been explained in another way in a previous chapter.
With a bit more care and a paragraph here or there, we could also have had summaries to explain the situations as they are at the start of the book so that it could be read without such a need to buy and read the first five.
The story isn’t particularly good, but the traditional characters are easy to recognise. This book will not be going on eBay, despite its poor score, in case I need to reference it again, but I have come to expect better from the Star Trek Universe.
I only read this book, because in order to understand book two of another series (Gateways- Chainmail), which funnily enough is also by Diane Carey, I needed to find out who this new crew was and where this “Composite Frigate” Challenger had come from, having been thrown right in it with no foreword to advise how they’d got there in the first place or any other background being provided. AND I’m only reading that series to find out what happens in the books that follow the Deep Space 9 TV series which tie in with it.
Having read this one, I still don’t feel like I know where all of the crew of the new ship, cobbled together by Keller, have come from or why they are there. Carey is obviously trying to start a new branch of Trek and gather together a random crew in an attempt to make it interesting, but failing as they’re not that likeable and some are too complicated.
This book does not work as a stand alone story and is more evidence that the publishers and Diane Carey will do anything to drag out a series in order to make more money. I’m sure Kirk and his crews adventures in this book could have been tagged on to the end of book 5 of New Earth and the story of the Pelileu could have been summarised at the beginning of the “Gateways” book “Chainmail”, but then we would have books that were 100 pages longer and wouldn’t have the expense of this one and they’d be out of pocket.
Based on what I read of the New Earth story here and certainly the terrible, convenient and almost silly ending, I would not be inclined to rush back and find out what happens in the other five. It’s all a bit of course and out of character for the Enterprise and her bridge officers, although it was nice to have Uhura’s role expanded.
There are lots of proof reading errors and sometimes it seems like the writing is in a casual slang or language that doesn’t flow like the English I know.
I’m probably being picky, but you can also see where she’s written something and then gone back over and added a sentence to explain why it’s different all of a sudden, having been explained in another way in a previous chapter.
With a bit more care and a paragraph here or there, we could also have had summaries to explain the situations as they are at the start of the book so that it could be read without such a need to buy and read the first five.
The story isn’t particularly good, but the traditional characters are easy to recognise. This book will not be going on eBay, despite its poor score, in case I need to reference it again, but I have come to expect better from the Star Trek Universe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2022
I will need to break this review into 2 parts. The first part being for this book as a standalone and the second part as a wrap up for the entire set.
part 1 - as a standalone I liked this book. I did not think I was going to because most of the way through I found myself thinking there is no way they are going to wrap up everything they have been building over the course of these 6 books. However I found myself for the most part pleasantly surprised by the end. I enjoyed the introduction of the Peleliu and their crew which would become the Frigate Challanger under the command of Nick Keller. I enjoyed this characters development and growth at having to step into a command role he did not see himself ready for. While some of the other novels focused on details of the colony itself this book mainly focused on the bigger picture. We got a lot of the answers we were looking for. We know the source of the Olivium, we find out the source of what took out the Rattlesnake in book 2. This book did a good job tying up loose ends and seems like for the time being the colony on Belle Terre may finally get a moments peace to grow. They survived a lot over the course of 6 books. I would like to see continued novels on belle terre and the crew of the challanger.
part 2 - As an overall series I enjoyed this set a lot. 6 books and all brought something different and interesting. I always find myself wanting more and wanting to know what happened in the gaps between books. Probably the biggest between book one and 2. They went from on the way to just being there on the planet. I would have liked their actual arrival and first entry to the planet they worked so hard to get to to be part of one of the novels. Book 3 provided a much needed different perspective on a much smaller scale being the view of people on the planet and their struggles not just the overview. 4 and 5 saw big threats come and be thwarted and 6 tied it all up in a nice ending. It didn't answer everything and left room for follow up novels which I hope their are. It was a good blend of traditional well known characters and introduction of new characters. I want to read more about the colony of belle terre and the crew of the Frigate Challanger.
part 1 - as a standalone I liked this book. I did not think I was going to because most of the way through I found myself thinking there is no way they are going to wrap up everything they have been building over the course of these 6 books. However I found myself for the most part pleasantly surprised by the end. I enjoyed the introduction of the Peleliu and their crew which would become the Frigate Challanger under the command of Nick Keller. I enjoyed this characters development and growth at having to step into a command role he did not see himself ready for. While some of the other novels focused on details of the colony itself this book mainly focused on the bigger picture. We got a lot of the answers we were looking for. We know the source of the Olivium, we find out the source of what took out the Rattlesnake in book 2. This book did a good job tying up loose ends and seems like for the time being the colony on Belle Terre may finally get a moments peace to grow. They survived a lot over the course of 6 books. I would like to see continued novels on belle terre and the crew of the challanger.
part 2 - As an overall series I enjoyed this set a lot. 6 books and all brought something different and interesting. I always find myself wanting more and wanting to know what happened in the gaps between books. Probably the biggest between book one and 2. They went from on the way to just being there on the planet. I would have liked their actual arrival and first entry to the planet they worked so hard to get to to be part of one of the novels. Book 3 provided a much needed different perspective on a much smaller scale being the view of people on the planet and their struggles not just the overview. 4 and 5 saw big threats come and be thwarted and 6 tied it all up in a nice ending. It didn't answer everything and left room for follow up novels which I hope their are. It was a good blend of traditional well known characters and introduction of new characters. I want to read more about the colony of belle terre and the crew of the Frigate Challanger.
May 27, 2021
En mycket bra avslutning på bokserien. Jag har bara läst bok 1, 3 och 6, men kunde ändå hänga med mycket lätt i berättelsen. Även denna bok hade ett slut som inte var helt självklart och det är alltid roligare med sådana böcker. Arterna kauld och blood beskrivs bra , men som vanligt i böckerna skulle jag ha önskat en bild på hur de ser ut - det är alltid mycket lättare att få en bild av olika arter i ett TV-avsnitt, av någon anledning...
October 2, 2024
Probably the worst ST book I've read and the worst in this really rather poor series. I know it's a wagon train to the stars, but the characters feel wooden and like they've just been plucked from cowboy films. Everyone is American, their dialog so dated and the baddies easily subdued. It's very very poor.
May 26, 2024
Peleius , a ships crew that quips and complains decades before Discovery.
This series should have been a 3 book cycle.
This series should have been a 3 book cycle.
January 30, 2025
Nice ending to the series of six books. I could have used more Kirk Spock etc. neat how they threw together a ship from many parts at the end. Great series.
March 30, 2021
Commander Nick Keller and his crew take over the guardianship of Belle Terre over from Kirk and the Enterprise. This final book in the 6 book series, has some good and some bad. I found myself a little bored in parts, I know I shouldn't have, because I really love the original Trek series such as New Frontier and SCE, but Challenger isn't up to those series' quality.
February 15, 2011
Characterizations were well done, and although the concept of building a ship out of scrap left over from tens of non-compatible ships is a bit far-fetched, by the end I was believing it. Would have been nice if they could have found the 'missing ship' from book 2, but otherwise a decent ending to the series.
September 9, 2016
A heroic conclusion of a great series. The only regret i have is that there is so much action and information packed in this book, it is overwhelming. It should be distributed over 2 volumes so some remaining questions could be answered and more light could be thrown on the further evolution of Belle Terre. But, up to new adventures.
June 22, 2017
Having read the Gateways book first, I expected Challenger to be there from the start of the New Earth series. I'm kind of glad for the long wait, though, because it made me really appreciate this book.
June 15, 2012
I read the "Gateways" set before this one (I had to special order these, actually) so I kind of knew where Keller and co. would end up. But that didn't make the story any less fun! I really, really wish they would write more about the Challenger and her crew.
December 10, 2009
An all-too-convenient ending prevented this book from being really outstanding. A gripping read otherwise though.
February 18, 2016
disjointed and jumps around a lot
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews