Power Hungry

Star Trek: The Next Generation #6

by Howard Weinstein

Vintage paperback

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

273 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Power Hungry is one of the better early Star Trek: The Next Generation novels, #6 in the Pocket Books series. Howard Weinstein has a clear grasp of the characters, has placed them in a difficult situation, and has them demonstrate Starfleet Federation educated negotiation skills to navigate that situation. The narrative incorporates a world on the brink of ecological disaster, the affluent governmental administrators who refuse to confront the vicissitudes of their actions, and the revolutionary “have nots” that believe they have been compelled to act for the good of their world because the affluent are contented and validated by the status quo. The theme is overtly moralistic, bordering on preachy, but again a really good ST:TNG story. The better Star Trek stories are usually futuristic stories that take a current issue and age it out into the future, exponentially multiplying it out and asking the what if question with an eye toward compelling an answer / resolution.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and fun.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was better than the other early TNG novels that I have read up to this point, but that's not necessarily saying much considering...

In regards to the cover art, I really have no idea why Troi is there. This is a story involving Riker, Picard, Data, and some random Ambassador (along with the characters on the alien planet involved in this episode, uh, I mean novel). Troi maybe shows up three of four times to say "that person's lying" or "that person's not lying"...and that's about it. Hell, I think Dr. Pulaski shows up here more than Troi.

The author wrote a foreword about Time Magazine's naming the Earth itself as "Person of the Year" in 1989, and with that and his renewed optimism about a new President (although I'm not sure why he was enthusiastic about George Bush the First) and how it could be a new leaf for environmentalism on the Earth (which just so happens to be the running theme of this book)...and, well looking back with 2021-eyes, yah, no, sorry. The Earth is worse, getting more worse, and no one's doing enough to change anything. It's already too late...incremental change isn't enough anymore (hell, it wasn't enough by like the 1960s/1970s)...this isn't our grandchildren's problem...this was our grandparent's problem, and they done fucked it up...

Anyway, the story is okay...there's a kind of tyrannical "bad guy"...some kind of fanatical "good guys"...and a distant alien empire which pretty much amounts to nothing. In the end, the Federation sort of washes their hand of the whole situation, wishes them the best, and leaves the situation...which I get in a sort of Prime Directive sort of sense, but also seems rather callous and cruel. This novel seems to still straddle the line between what the Prime Directive actually means. In later seasons of TNG, it always comes across as there being a definitive line between pre-Warp civilizations and post-Warp ones. Pre-Warp ones are left completely alone, isolated, and protected, whereas post-Warp ones are open game for anything...however, TOS and this novel seem to indicate that any civilization can be contacted and even traded with to some limited extent, but we don't give them technology or overthrow their governments or make them conform to certain laws...which seems to violate the very ideal of the Prime Directive, as I understand it.

If we suddenly find out that there's a gigantic multi-planet super-nation with wondrous technologies we're going to be irreparably altered as a society and probably grow resentful of these self-righteous aliens, especially if they'll only give us food and basic commercial goods, while refusing anything else, denying us those things which could solve our problems (leaving the door wide open for the Klingons and/or Romulans - or others - to swoop in and give us those things in exchange for allegiance). This is why I find the later Prime Directive to make far more sense - "Ah, you found warp drive - awesome! Come join the party!"

But, I digress, this doesn't have much to do with the actual story. Apparently, the tyrant-leader has two close advisors, one governmental, and one who's apparently a fortune-telling psychic, I guess, who is viewed as valid and practical...no real discussion about the ridiculousness of her powers in this essentially late 20th-early 21st century society. Their society is both depicted as overly industrialized and up-and-coming whilst also shown to be decaying with buildings in poor condition and falling apart. Oh, they also were formerly subjects of this other alien empire who strip-mined the planet, but were somehow overthrown, so this begs a bigger question about the Prime Directive. If a society has already been irrevocably changed by another alien empire, is it still non-interference if the Federation "leaves them to their own devices"?? I'm also not sure how these people got rid of the alien empire. They say they did, but no real details - unless I missed it. They have no space defenses to speak of, yet, somehow they are free from this warp-capable alien empire...?? Also, the Ferengi remain a distant threat...somehow...

What else? Oh, the alien camel-hippo-horses were called ealixes - which I kept reading as exiles. Oh, and these camel-like animals are used as mounts by a devoutly religious people living in a hot, dry, dusty desert region near the Abraian Mountains - I just can't put my finger on what they could possibly be modeled after...oh, Wesley has another crush-of-the-week...heh, a "crusher" as it were. :) Gates McFadden can have a guest-star credit as Wesley calls home at one point. The aliens seemed to be pretty much Human-like, but they had whiskers, so my brain turned 'em all into cat-people.

What was good? Picard was so Picard in this book, I got tingles!

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I may pick this one up later to finish. The beginning was really good then I felt towards the middle it got bogged down a lot and I found myself wanting to either skim to finish or put it down. So, I decided to put it down and hope that when I pick it up I'll either be more in the mood for it or the last third will pick up considerably.

2/24 - OK, so the story did pick up a bit and I enjoyed it for the most part. While this isn't my favorite Star Trek book (so far), it was a pretty good escape from reality one.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow missed this when these novels were originally release but I went back and filled the gap. This one seemed to lack some of the appeal of the series with most of the action taking place on an ecologically challenged planet with two warring factions. It easily reached the level of good science fiction but didn't rise to the level of brilliant or even inspired.

None of the characters revealed any new quirks or traits and it presented no truly new ideas.

Still, the prose was workmanlike and it was a speedy read. I'm glad to have finally filled the gap.

[Camille · Rating 1 out of 5]

Power Hungry plays out as a subpar Star Trek The Next Generation episode. If you are on a quest to read all the TNG novels (like myself), feel free to skip this one without any guilt.

Another note: Riker and Deanna Troi are featured on the cover of the book, but Deanna Troi appears perhaps three times in the novel, which I found odd.

[Martijn Hartman-maatman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enough with the environmental crap already, that's not what I want in a scifi novel....

[Fey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Enterprise is called to deliver aid to Thiopia, a planet struggling with famine and ecological disaster. Before transferring the food supplies, Picard and his bridge crew are invited to a great banquet hosted by the planet's government, complete with a very marie-antoinette 'let them eat cake' speech, which leads them to question who needs the aid?

An interesting young scientist seems to have answers to the ecological disaster, proposing an innovating climate control system. Data immediately takes an interest in her research. And Riker is sent out inspect the warehouses (that will store the food aid), where he promptly gets caught in the middle of dissident terrorist attacks, and ends up captured.

I found this to be one of the least memborable TNG books so far. It was hard to dredge anything up out of my memory banks to write this review. It's not that it lacks a plot, but just that it's fairly predictable. The characterisation is fine. There simply isn't a whole lot to get excited about, either in a bad way or a good way.

The amount of tng plots (in the books and the tv series) concerning dissident political factions does make it a little repetitive after a while. But at least the Enterprise crew don't dismiss the dissidents as mere terrorists like in a certain of the episodes I could think of! Like the old saying goes "One man's terrorist, is another man's freedom fighter". And I'm glad for a moment they can actually see that.

As another reviewer notes, the book cover is misleading because this is not a plot about Riker and Troi. She is barely in it. They would have done better to put Riker, Data, and maybe Picard, as the main characters in this novel.

Not amazing, not terrible. It was just an okay novel.


See my other reviews of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novels:
← #5 Strike Zone | #7 Masks →

[Rebekah Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, classic Star trek. Felt like I watched an episode. Was an interesting story, not super action packed but enough to keep reading.

[Jennifer Alexandrovna · Rating 3 out of 5]

lmao goodreads reviews once again proving that people absolutely refuse to engage w anything that seems even vaguely "political". All the star trek series have loads of episodes that deal heavily in allegory, hell exploring "real life" social and political issues thru alien worlds and scenarios you could go as far as to say is basically THE point of most star trek.

which is to say, that although heavy handed and lacking in a lot of insights as to the real world subject it focuses on (too many characters ho humming, blaming climate change on humans' supposed lack of ability to know whats in their self interest, instead of y'know. the actual things continuing industrial production and resource extraction) there's no real reason why when i sort review score low-to-high this shows up at almost the very bottom. worse for trek novels than "price of the pheonix", shockingly, proving once again that the GR hivemind are a bunch of goddanmn idiots

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek meets Dune. Right up my alley.

[Paulo Goulart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bom, é FC (tem naves 😁). É Star trek. Prontos, isso vale 4 estrelas. Contudo, o tema é muito muito terreno e tal pouco a ver com FC.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Typical Star Trek fare. =)

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the last one. While the environmental themes are pretty heavy-handed, it’s nice to find a Trek novel where everything isn’t wrapped up neatly with a bow by the end.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so there were some real gems in this book.

The scenes that included members of the Enterprise crew were so vividly accurate to the show, it was amazing. It was so enjoyable to read the way the author wrote Data, Guinan, even Picard, as they were almost EXACTLY the way we see them in the show. I found myself looking forward to those scenes the most, even the ones with Wesley!

I've just come off a 5-book Dune reading spree so perhaps I was not in the mind space for more planetary lore, but there was a big ol lore dump a few chapters in that I was NOT ready for. While fully developed and quite deep, a ton of alien lore to keep track of isn't always what I am looking for in a quick Star Trek read, but it did give this story much more gravitas.

The skirting of the Prime Directive was so well done, it was classic Picard and Riker. Also the way Riker's relationship with Mori flowed was also excellent, starting as captor and ending as friend.

All around an awesome, surprisingly engaging Star Trek TNG read.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story takes places during the second season of TNG, so it was nice to get a bit of Dr. Pulaski appearances (though, we amazingly get a Dr. Crusher appearance!). All in all, I'd say this was a good TNG story -- good characterizations and an appropriate story for early TNG. I won't spoil anything, but I was a bit surprised at the ending. Not that every story has to end in the same way, but I was surprised with how everything was left. A bit realistic, so I can't argue with anything. But still.

There are probably better Star Trek books out there, but if you're looking for a TNG read that won't tax you much, this one isn't bad.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

My overriding memory of this book is Picard, sniffing at a pretentious dictator's speech, and saying "Let them eat cake". A run of the mill, overthrow-the-bad-guys Star Trek story, made bearable by Mr. Weinstein's easy handling of the TNG crew.

[Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easily the worst of these early Next Generation novels. This book was all about preaching the way we endanger our planet just set on a different world. Lets get back to exploration and character development and step away from the soapbox.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another disaster relief novel. I found it kinda boring and a slog, nothing really to draw you in and invest you in the plot.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most Star Trek episodes, the themes are as relevant when they were written as to now. The author gives us a preface before the book begins about the dangers of climate change. NGL, it hurt my heart a little to read the hope that he has for the future. In fact, this book dealt with topics that have been appearing in the 2025 news hellscape more than I wish it would, covering topics of pollution, fossil fuels, despotic dictators, and genocide.

The Enterprise is on a mission to deliver aid supplies to Thiopia, not yet in the Federation, but who has requested assistance for a famine devastating the planet, which has been destroyed by years of straining natural resources. But in true Trek fashion, not all is as it seems. The Thiopans have lived under a 40-year dictatorship, and a group of rebels called the Sojourners are fighting against the forced government assimilation of Fusion. Under the Prime Directive, the Enterprise cannot change the course of this planet's history, but that doesn't mean that the Thiopans will let them leave.

Although this book places Deanna front and center, she is barely in this story. Instead it's more of a Riker and Picard, commanding officers vibe. Picard, along with Deanna and Data, are tasked with dealing with the difficult Leader Stross in determining the future of Thiopia and if it is ready to join the Federation. Meanwhile Riker is joined by Ambassador Undrun, a short and "vexatious" alien who is in charge of delivering and implementing the famine relief to the planet. He is a fun addition to the cast and I did feel bad that literally everyone hated him. Sidenote, this is an early novel so Dr. Pulanski has replaced Crusher - but she does get a brief cameo.

This book follows a Trek novel format that when this was published perhaps was not yet trite. The ol' one main character gets kidnapped and the other crew members play coy as to if they'll be rescued or not. In this case, Riker is taken hostage by the Sojourners as a way to leverage talks with the Federation to get them to overthrow Stross' government. Obviously, the Federation doesn't play that way, but that doesn't stop everyone from kidnapping poor Riker anyway, multiple times. A side character of the Sojourners is introduced, Mori, whose father revitalized the movement to live life in harmony with the planet. She is especially drawn to Riker because she seems him as a way to determine if her father was really dead after being imprisoned, like the government claims, or is somehow alive and being hidden.
Picard's exploration of the capital reveals that the suffering of Thiopia is so far only regulated to the far reaches of the planet where the Sojourners live. Although they requested aid for a famine, they throw a giant feast for Picard, Deanna, and Data to enjoy, as well as an occasion to introduce what will be the saving grace of the planet - a weather-altering machine that will reverse the effects of climate change and save them from extinction. Data immediately realizes this is basically impossible and meets with the head scientist to discover her reasoning.
Meanwhile, Riker's kidnapping is done during a tour of the government's storehouses, where guards in disguise knock out Riker and Undrun. Undrun is so distraught that he allowed Riker to be kidnapped he decides that he needs to stop being the annoying, by-the-book Federation employee that everyone hates (except Data, because he literally can't), and become someone like Picard, who knows instinctively when to bend the rules. He secretly beams down to the Sojourner's base and is captured as well, but his interruption captures the attention of the leader of the organization, and Picard is able to convince her that they are here to help their sick and hungry.
Riker is released after Picard beams down a supply of the aid, and they are able to get Stross and Leassandra to talk, but it doesn't go well. Data had discovered that there was no plan to alleviate the death of Thiopia, and that the head scientist was lying to everyone to get as much research money as possible. Picard warns the two groups what will happen if they can't find a way to work together, but they're stuck in their ways. As the planet fades from view, Riker remarks that this planet is definitely not ready for the Federation, or to be an ally on this side of space.

I enjoyed this book. It got a little too real for a book that was written almost 30 years ago. Like why are we still doing this. But the plot was juicy, Riker getting kidnapped not so much, but I enjoyed the side characters introduced more than usual, and I'm glad that Howard got his point across, go green, save the Earth, and stop killing people who refuse to join your weird fusionnnnnn.

[Reesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever said this about a book before, but it would have done this story a world of good to have the Author's Notes at the end instead of before the beginning.

The Author's Notes made such stringent points about conservation that the novel offered little mystery, as the author had already steadily banged the environmental drum, making it crystal clear what he was planning to say with this book before even the first sentence of the story had been read.

I wish I could know what I would have thought of the novel if I hadn't been presented with those Author's Notes first. I suspect I might have been more invested in where it might be going and might have rated it higher in the end.

As it is, the novel is a very typical science fiction allegory about how if we don't get ourselves together, we're going to burn up the planet and be breathing soup soon enough. It's all quite on the nose, no subtlety, no twists or surprises.

However, I quite liked the complications in the original character, an Ambassador named Undrun. Ambassadors usually get the short stick in Star Trek, played for laughs, shown to be haughty, out-of-touch egomaniacs, despised by the crew to varying degrees, but this one had real depth. We even got some scenes from his POV, which was a breath of fresh air in my opinion. I would have liked to spend more time with him.

The rest of the original characters felt a little flat to me, with some interesting possibilities introduced that then weren't investigated. It might have been better to have fewer characters in order to flesh the best of them out some more.

I also liked the ending. Many of my favourite science fiction endings are the ones that aren't cut-and-dry, easy fixes.

In the end, this one was middle of the road for me. It's not that it's bad, I just couldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this, thinly veiled polemic as it was. The Enterprise has been tasked with distributing famine relief to a non-aligned planet suffering heavily from industrial pollution and exploitative environmental practices. This, combined with a changing climate, is going to lead to mass starvation and ecological collapse within fifty years. On top of that, there's essentially a civil war going on between the polluters and a splinter group of religious fanatics who, while caring primarily for the environment, are so wedded to dogma that they're largely as unwilling to compromise as the first lot.

As the book wound down, and I was getting to twenty pages or so from the end, I was thinking "Picard's going to have to come up with something pretty quick to solve this!" because that's what he does, generally. Not just him, but Starfleet captains in general. Trek tends towards optimism, so I expected a quick if not particularly credible fix. There wasn't one. Picard gets all sides to listen to his presentation on just how fucked they are... and it doesn't make a difference. On the one hand, that's quite a brave move by Weinstein, within the context of Star Trek, anyway. On the other, as I said, it's a very thin warning about what we're doing to our own planet, and if science fiction is often used as application and metaphor, well, sometimes I want a little more than that. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this quite a lot - I nearly gave it four stars, and tie-in novels don't get that often from me. It needed a little more character work for that, though, I think.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I've often complained about Weinstein's overuse of "factions fighting on planets we've never heard of" in his comics, it's because I was already familiar with his novels which did the same. Power Hungry (and later, Exiles) does just that. It's Dune Lite, an ecological fable set in a Middle Eastern-ish culture, Fremen and all, and I don't dispute that he presents an intriguing culture. The dialogue is good, the characters well drawn, and I appreciate such things as Wesley getting a call from his mom and the basically atheistic TNG crew manifesting some spirituality. However, there's entirely too much exposition, sometimes because the novel cut away from action it might have described directly, and too great a focus on one-off characters, with whole chapters going by without a TNG appearance. It's a failed mission, which is unusual and realistic, but also leaves you feeling like you just read 273 pages of environmental polemic without a satisfying resolution. Frid Undrun remains the only memorable thing about the book, and he's so atypically built, he's hard to cast in your head, so ultimately a distracting element.

[SamB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this all the way through, but was the left dissatisfied by the ending. I was disappointed by how things were simultaneously both neatly wrapped up and just totally left unresolved - which is probably realistic for a situation such as that portrayed, but ultimately not hugely satisfying. There was also the plot thread of the Nuaran attacks that just disappeared from the book after halfway and never amounted to anything and mentions of a Ferengi threat that never emerged. Almost felt like the first half of a much longer novel, or one that would be returned to in a sequel.

Actually recommended, despite that - it's an entertaining read throughout, with a plot that progresses briskly with a number of realistic-feeling twists and turns, and containing good character work among both the regular and guest casts.

[José Ernesto · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro me gusto a secas, este es un libro de contrastes, el tema, el prólogo, tng siempre me entusiasman, pero esta vez no fue en su totalidad así.

En la portada salen riker y la consejera troi y troi sale en como 3 escenas y dice como 4 frases en todo el libro, creo que un tipo de falta al personaje que aparezca tan poco o al menos quítala de la portada xd.

El tema y el setting de la historia me parecen que son muy buenos, pero todavía no logro entender por qué medio libro fue más aburrido de llevar, tal vez los personajes siento que no son tan interesantes, la científica no le encuentro sentido más allá de decir que la verdad no siempre es suficiente para mover voluntades políticas.

En general es un buen libro con buena temática, buen setting pero personajes un poco olvidables.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Power Hungry (Star Trek: The Next Generation, #6) by Howard Weinstein.

Unfortunately, just another middle of the road early Star Trek: The Next Generation book. Although the main storyline wasn't too bad, it did wrap up too quickly at the end and was a bit on the preachy side.

I'm hoping sooner than later the various writers of these Next Generation books hone in on the voices of the main TNG characters; still somewhat out of character dialogue. I will say that Picard is written well in this one.

Also, again the cover art isn't the greatest. This one has Riker (a main character in the storyline) and Troi (very, very minor) on the cover. The planet itself is represented as written.

I gave this 3 stars.

[Solitudes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not terrible. Somehow a really trek novel with less emphasis on space battles and more on human choices and how to break the Prime Directive without totally breaking it (or at least pretending you care enough of it so you can save the appearances). The plot is revolving around some ecological stuff where a planet is almost dying and the good guys are not so good and the bad guys are not totally bad and Enterprise is caught in the middle and Picard has to make some choices. I can't say it's a bad novel but i was not really impressed so it's good for a quick reading while you wait for other more interesting stuff to happen ( like grass to grow or smth )

[Vorik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die ersten Zweidrittel des Romans punkten mit gut getroffenen Charakteren und meist gelungenem Humor, was zusammen für schönes TNG-Feeling sorgt. Dabei kann ich auch die mehr als durchschnittliche Handlung verschmerzen, die aus oft bewährten Handlungselementen der TV-Serie zusammengesetzt ist. Leider verpasst es Howard Weinstein im letzten Drittel das Tempo anzuziehen und etwas Action einzubauen. So muss man ein ziemlich seichtes Finale hinnehmen, dass dazu mit vermeidbaren Logikfehlern und Fehlgriffen bei den Figuren belastet ist. Unterm Strich findet man hier einen mittelmäßigen Star-Trek-Roman zwischen den Buchdeckeln.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea how long it's been since I read an early TNG novel, but here we are. This one is a high-handed climate change sermon which sees the Enterprise travel to a planet on the brink of environmental and ecological catastrophe to deliver crucial supplies.
Is it any good? I guess so. It reads kind of like an early TNG episode. Not much depth to the characters, samey dialogue, and an alien race that doesn't really seem all that unique. The Thiopans by sheer coincidence have all the metaphors and figures of speech as humans which is cool but not very exciting.
Decent little quick-and-dirty read but don't expect to be dazzled.