In the Heart of Chaos

Star Trek - Prometheus #3

by Bernd Perplies, Christian Humberg

Die fantastische Trilogie zum Jubiläum! Erstmals in der 50-jährigen Geschichte der großen Science-Fiction-Kultsaga erscheinen von deutschen Autoren verfasste Romane.

Die Lage im Lembatta-Cluster spitzt sich zu! Während Flotten der Föderation und des Klingonischen Reichs an den Grenzen in Position gehen und die Vorgänge in der Tiefe der Sternenballung argwöhnisch beobachten, liefern sich die Mannschaften der U.S.S. Prometheus und der I.K.S. Bortas ein Wettrennen gegen die Zeit, um die Spirale der Gewalt zu durchbrechen, die sich mehr und mehr ausbreitet.
In einem schicksalhaften Verzweiflungsakt machen sich Captain Richard Adams und Captain Kromm auf die Spur einer geheimen Waffenfabrik. Doch sie finden einen Gegner aus den Tiefen der Vergangenheit, der unbezwingbar scheint. Nur gemeinsam haben die ungleichen Kommandanten vielleicht noch die Chance, Antworten auf ihre Fragen zu finden. Gelingt es ihnen rechtzeitig - oder geht die Galaxis einmal mehr in Flammen auf?

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2016

About the author

Bernd Perplies, geboren 1977 in Wiesbaden, studierte Filmwissenschaft und Germanistik in Mainz. Parallel zu einer Anstellung beim Deutschen Filminstitut (DIF) in Frankfurt am Main, wandte er sich nach dem Studium dem professionellen Schreiben zu. Heute ist er in Vollzeit als Schriftsteller und Übersetzer tätig. Seine Werke - darunter die "Magierdämmerung"- und die "Carya"-Trilogie - sind mehrfach preisgekrönt. Zuletzt ist von ihm "Nachtmeisters Erben" erschienen, ein Dark-Future-Roman im "Shadowrun"-Rollenspiel-Setting, der von einer gefährlichen Überlandtour zweier abgebrühter Transportfahrer handelt. Außerdem verfasste er unter dem Pseudonym Wes Andrews die Space-Western-Reihe "Frontiersmen". Bernd Perplies lebt mit seiner Familie in der Nähe von Stuttgart.

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Bernd Perplies was born in Wiesbaden/Germany in 1977. After graduating in Movie Sciences and German Literature he started working at the Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main. At the same time he became a freelance journalist and translator, writing for movie magazines as well as science fiction and fantasy publishers. His first novel was published in 2008. Since then he has penned more than 30 science fiction, fantasy and steampunk novels, earning him about a dozen nominations for prestigious German genre awards. He won the RPC Fantasy Jury Award in 2010 and was awarded the Deutsche Phantastik Preis twice (2013 and 2015). Bernd Perplies lives with his family near Stuttgart.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Heart of Chaos and the entire Star Trek: Prometheus trilogy are worthy additions to the Star Trek universe. Humberg and Perplies have put together a fun crew with a lot of potential, and I'm genuinely sad that we may not see them again. I can only hope that the voyages of the U.S.S. Prometheus might continue in some way, shape, or form in the future. It was certainly an interesting take on the novelverse, and I'm sure the authors have some ideas about where to take things from here. If you're interested in hearing from one of the authors, please listen to episode 253 of the Literary Treks podcast, in which Bruce Gibson and I spoke with author Christian Humberg about this novel and the trilogy as a whole. Find the link below!

Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/04/ItHoC...
Literary Treks episode: http://www.trek.fm/literary-treks/253

[Michael]

A very solid series, go get them.

[reherrma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es ist vollbracht, der letzte Teil der "Prometheus-Trilogie" ist erschienen und schließt die Geschichte in einer nachvollziehbaren Weise ab, ein Happy-End, das den Star Trek-Kanon einige schöne Seiten erweitert hat (das Volk der Renao im Lemetta-Cluster, die Besatzung der Prometheus und die erste Bewährungsprobe der neuen Förderationspräsidentin zh'Tarasch in einem interstellaren Konflikt.
Perplies und Humberg haben die Aufgabe hervorragend gelöst, die schriftstellerische Qualität und das Setting im Star Trek-Kanon stehe dem der amerikanischen Kollegen in nichts nach.
Ich hoffe, dass diese Trilogie auch die Star Trek-Fans außerhalb Deutschlands zu lesen bekommen, insbesondere wäre ich sehr gespannt, wie die Trilogie in den USA ankommen würde.
Auf jeden Fall war das ein Experiment, das dringend fortgesetzt gehört, beide Autoren sind m.E. hervorragende Star Trek-Autoren (die sich ja auch bereits im Perryversum ausgetobt haben), auf die man nicht mehr verzichten will...

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine tolle Trilogie neigt sich mit diesem Band dem Ende zu und das Niveau wird erfreulicherweise gehalten. Zwar empfinde ich auch den dritten Band als einen Tick zu lang, aber insgesamt liefern die Autoren ein gut geschriebenes Abenteuer ab, dessen Lösung Sinn ergibt.

Mittlerweile bin ich der Ansicht, dass Hollywood lieber die Star-Trek-Bücher verfilmen sollte als überteuerten Murks wie Star Trek: Beyond in die Kinos zu bringen.

[Michelle Winchester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive and kinda racist. I made it into a drinking game: every time a character's hair is described as 'jet black' DRINK! Every time someone's eyes glow DRINK! Every time someone pounds their fist on a surface in frustration DRINK! Every time a notable canon event is referenced DRINK! Every time a racist comment is made DRINK! And every time a character is referred to by full name after their introduction DRINK! You'll be more than tipsy and the book will be rather enjoyable.

[Ceremony · Rating 5 out of 5]

since destiny the absolute best trilogie i've ever read in the star trek universe ! absolut geil !!!

[Idamus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, this story didn’t need three books to be told, didn’t like how the characters were written either, they didn’t fit the Trek verse in my opinion.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having gotten a handle on what's causing the uprising in the Lambada Cluster and what's behind the purifying flame, the Promethius and the Bortas find themselves in a race against to solve the problem and avert war. Their big challenge is stopping the deadly forces behind this from ripping them apart.

This moves at a very solid pace, particularly compared to its slower-paced predecessors. It really does provide a satisfying dose of action after all the setup. There are some great scenes and turns for the crew of the Bortas and for at least one member of the Prometheus crew. The resolution does resolve any dangling threats and bring about a good conclusion.

There are two big flaws in the book. The first is there are still plots around that just aren't worth caring about. One is the main romantic plot of the series, which features characters who are tangential to the main plot and we have to take time out from the plot as it moves to its climax in order to explain one of the character's back stories. The other is that for a novel, this series and this final book dips far too often into the well of continuity in order to solve problems. Bringing back a one-off character from Star Trek: TNG and one final regular cast member cameo to provide the key clue. While it can be nice for someone who writes Star Trek to leverage continuity, it's overused and derivative at times.

still, this was an entertaining novel more often than not and a good conclusion to the series.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was one of the ones I picked up at a library book sale. I've not read any other Star Trek Prometheus titles and was concerned I would be lost or that I wouldn't care about these ST characters. I was surprised to find quite a few references to ST characters I did know--Ambassador Spock plays a key role as does Alexander Rozshenko, Kosinski and Wesley Crusher have minor but important roles, Picard is mentioned.

The book plays off of an Original Series episode where an entity creates hatred and encourages the humans and Klingons to fight each other. As best I can tell this is a different entity but has similar traits. The book mentions that Picard faced a similar entity, but I haven't been able to identify if that was from a Next Generation episode or in a book or just written into this storyline as a way to discuss a known character from the ST universe.

The plot is a bit plodding at times as they (Federation and Klingons) try to unravel the mystery. I wish Raspin had been put into the escape pod too. I was glad the vessel of the white guardian survived--though I suspected he would before it was revealed.

All-in-all, I was pleasantly surprised.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.6 stars, actually. Better than mediocre, this book is a pretty good conclusion to a series. Problem is, it isn't really identified adequately as such; yes, in SOME places on the Amazon listing, it lists as "book 3 of 3", and the back cover has a plug for the two books that precede it (but doesn't really make it plain that this is the last, rather than the first, of the series.) But the blurb on the back cover doesn't make it clear at all, and nowhere on the book cover itself does it actually even say that it's part of a series, much less the 3rd in the series. So it was a bit baffling to come in in the middle of the story, but that being said the story was written well enough that it wasn't impossible to follow in spite of that. Probably, if I'd read the preceding entries in the series first, I'd have rated it a solid 4 stars, possibly even 5. But really, how hard could it be to put "Book 3 of 3" below the title on the cover?

[Paul Lunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

With "In the Heart of Chaos", Bernd Perplies & Christian Humberg complete the saga of "Star Trek: Prometheus" in a way that makes sense for this mini-series to be finished. The book itself continues the decent storytelling as well as wrapping up the crisis in the Lembatta Cluster by staying true to what made the prior 2 books int his series as good as this one was with the characters aboard the Bortas as well as the Prometheus & does a nice job staying w/in the confines of the universe which the authors have created. The use of Wesley Crusher was a pleasant surprise in this book as well which wraps things up nicely & neatly. Whether or not these 2 German authors will get the chance to expand this world in which they created remains to be seen, but this book along w/ the other 2 in the Prometheus series fit nicely into the Star Trek universe we the reader all know & love.

[Nabil Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and Marvellous!!

This book was a terrific end to a wonderful, glorious and thoroughly entertaining trilogy of magnificent Sci Fi action and drama. The book was well written and kept the reader engaged in the storyline. It was an excellent trilogy which was was well thought out and never lacked in intensity and excitement. It is one of the rare Star trek trilogies which have proved to be a worthy addition to anyone's book collection. It was well worth the price paid for all 3 books. I loved every minute in reading this trilogy. Simply astounding!!

[David Hamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It lacked the intensity and cohesiveness of the first two books in the trilogy. The plot meandered painfully slowly in spots. But, the idea of the story was interesting. The Klingons were awesome. The far too numerous inclusions of Picard, DS9 references... even an obscure quote from The Guardian of Time TOS episode ("Let me help") grated on my nerves after a while. I'm like "enough already... I get it... you're a trekkie". So all in all the final instalment fell a bit flat for me.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't completely thrilled with the first two books in the Prometheus series, but I felt the need to finish. I'm glad I did. This trilogy finished strong. "In the Heart of Chaos" isn't the best Star Trek book I've ever read, but it was pretty good. Well done, with a good plot and solid writing that kept me turning the pages. I found the plot sensible, and it had a satisfying ending that tied everything together well.

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I read this year was the beginning of this trilogy so it seems appropriate that my last book of the year finishes the trilogy! This entry vastly improves over book two. I quite enjoyed it.

The author does a good job of exploring crew dynamics on a Klingon ship, and the crew of the Prometheus remains interesting as well. I would happily read more books in this series.

[Vicky Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story worth paying for.

Excellent Trek with a few characters that we all know and love thrown in. I read this quite fast which I regret but I don't think I would have been able to slow it down. If you can't borrow it, buy it.

[Pavlin Angelov · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of an expected ending and too happy for my taste. Everyone got their perfect resolution even Krom and the Red son...

O well, good I wasn't expecting much more

Still nice Trek book, bring me back into the universe

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

This was a great series about a ship we’ve only heard in other books and on tv. I hope there are more books about the crew of the Prometheus.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Prometheus and the kligons try to defuse the anger going around.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just can't with these Prometheus books. I wanted so much to like them...

For full(er) review, please visit my blog: https://hergraceslibrary.com/2019/12/...

[Vladimir Ghinculov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book of a good old Star Trek adventure. Fast paced sci-fi.

[Lisianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the 1st, but I still like the original story idea.

[Judith Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the Star Trek stable. I've enjoyed the trophy and hope.we get more of Prometheus.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping the third book would really bring it home, but by the end I'm not even sure they remember where it lives.

[Tom Scharf · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, Fantastic finale to a really solid Star Trek trilogy, must read if fan of TNG, DS9 and VOY

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Enjoyable.

[Danny]

3.75, better than the first two entries and a decent resolution. They still don't have Spock's voice down but....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'd consider this the best of the Prometheus trilogy. Was surprised by the appearance of a certain TNG character.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally, well written intriguing story. I've fortunately read it out of sequence but it was still well written enough to that I could follow the story without even noticing until I got to the end.

[Apostolos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, not a bad story. The crew is likable and they could easily be an on-screen crew if this story is adapted for television. I wish we saw more of the EMH in this story. My only critique is that the plot feels like something that was done in Prey. Not the same details, but the overall plot.