Into the Void

Star Trek: New Frontier #2

by Peter David

Roll Call: The Crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur:
Captain Mackenzie Calhoun: An unorthodox, decisive young captain who loves his crew and his ship, and loves testing their limits even more.

Commander Shelby: A woman of strong opinions and strong values, Shelby never hesitated to tell her captains when she thought they were wrong, and Mackenzie Calhoun won't be any exception.

Burgoyne 172: The chief engineer of the Excalibur, with the decisiveness of Calhoun, the strength of Shelby, and the gender of both. Burgoyne is a Hermat, and when s/he sets his/her sights on you, s/he isn't an easy...person...to refuse.

As the Thallonian Empire succumbs to violence and insurrection, the U.S.S. Excalibur prepares to launch on her humanitarian mission of mercy. But her departure is destined to be a memorable one, as Calhoun contends with an unexpected stowaway, a stormy relationship with his crew, and -- light-years away -- frightened refugees aboard a dying ship.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Novella

151 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The USS Excalibur takes flight!


NEW FRONTIER, NEW CREW

The USS Excalibur begins its journey through a new frontier, the former Thallonian Empire, now known as Space Sector 221-G, in a mission of mercy, after the vast empire fell, leaving the whole sector in political instability .

The new crew is...

Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, the Commanding Officer.

Commander Elizabeth Shelby, the First Officer.

Doctor Selar, the Chief Medical Officer.

Lt. Cmdr. Burgoyne 172, the Chief Engineering Officer.

Lieutenant Zak Kebron, the Chief Security Officer.

Lt. Robin Lefler, the Chief Operations Officer.

Lt. Soleta, Chief Science Officer.

Lt. Mark McHenry, the Helmsman.

Si Cwan, Ambassador.

New Frontier, new threats, new adventures!

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

Same story as the previous book in the series: great story, great writing, lines missing in the e-book version I read.

EDIT: Thankfully, the print version I read today was much more readable.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quite short, yet competently written and entertaining story. The new crew assembles aboard the Excalibur and sets off on its primary missions, dealing with a few small crises along the way. Each crew member's role and background is explored.

[Dianah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I enjoyed the first book and couldn't wait to see how the cliffhanger would be resolved I was immediately struck with hesitation when I saw the cover of book #2. Shelby. On my list of least favorite Star Trek characters Shelby is very close to the top. I convinced myself there was some hope. Firstly, I had no choice if I was going to find out what happened to one of my favorite characters in House of Cards who was caught in the cliffhanger. Secondly, Peter David has previously turned a character I disliked in one I found sympathy for (Ro Laren in Wrath of the Prophets). Could he magically make Shelby into a character I wanted to read about?

Well, I'm still not a Shelby fan, but, so far, she hasn't annoyed me too much.

The half Vulcan/half Romulan character, Soleta I enjoyed in the first book did make it to the second. Actually, all the crew are interesting characters.

My favorite part was a brief exchange of dialogue/jab at Voyager:
"Goodwill ambassador. A connection to what once was in the hope of building that which will be. A guide through areas of space which are unfamiliar to you."
Calhoun snorted skeptically. "A guide? Why don't I just make you
ship's cook while I'm at it?" Ha! Well done!

Now quickly onto book #3!

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in the series completed. Again not much happened. The crew were gathered. Bickering occurred. The ship was sent towards and then into the collapsing empire. More bickering. Some anti-asexual words were causally tossed about. Book again, like last, ends on cliffhanger.

I rather suspect that this was something like a 1000 page book (or 40 page less) that got split into four parts. At least I hope so, because it's kind of .... fractured as it is. Kind of 'nothing happening' vibe going on. Though if you put all the parts together - a full book is there. I assume/hope. Well, just two more books to read before I see if I'm correct or not.

Oh - my status update reminded me of an issue - I don't like anyone on this ship. I'm sure there might be possible exceptions. But can't think of anyone at the moment. They seem quite unprofessional.

I would not wish to work for anyone on this spaceship. They seem to almost all motivate their underlings through fear.

So that's what Star Fleet has fallen to - ruling by fear. I thought that was a Mirror Universe thing. What the bloody hell would be a mirror universe version of this spaceship? Everyone's nice and gives each other pretty flowers?

Rating: 3

May 16 2017

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - and I'm just not rating it higher because it's just a quick, light read, exactly what it should be but not 4 stars. I found the first one a bit more intriguing. However, it appears that the first four books make a whole so they should all be considered together. The New Frontier series is a great ST read and should be picked up by any Trek lover missing the TV shows.

[Strix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, that's another episode of this Star Trek series! I am enjoying it, but I am not enjoying the constant cliffhanger endings.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek: New Frontier 02 Into the Void by Peter David

4.25 Stars

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense

Fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved this novella. Oh, there were so many times that I chuckles at something that one (or more) of the characters said. 

This is a collective of misfits...that serve on the USS Excaliber. Not in a bad way, for the captain...himself is a misfit, but that the right people are at the job, doing the best, that's needed for the situation.

I love how Captian Mackenzie Calhoun deals with situations. He's curt with most of the people he deals with. It is just a way that he communicates with others. He's smart and confident, but doesn't suffer fools gladly. He reads the room, but he also doesn't like to waste his time (or their's). He is brilliant, and believes in others, too.

I love the interactions that go back and forth with Commander Shelby, too. I hated her in the TNG episode with Commander Riker. In that episode, her boot prints were all over his back...in her "boot licking" way of getting his job. She wouldn't have it any other way, but it now looks like she's found the perfect situation...to work from. She knows the captain, has history (as they say), and knows that he's good at his job, but alsok knows that when she disagrees with him...he'll listen, and make the appropriate decision, with her goal in mind.

It was over too quick, if I'm being honest. 

Next up is: Star Trek: New Frontier 03 The Two-Front War by Peter David

[Steven Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's been a few times in my life where I've found myself in the toilet with neither book or phone to pass the time. In such situations I have ultimately had to go old school and resort to reading the back of the shampoo bottle. The spiel on the back of the bottle about glossy hair and which parts of the face you don't rub it on would ultimately be longer than Into the Void. It goes Into the void in the same way you go into the bath by first getting a towel ready.

It's a good book but it really must be read in quick tandem with the previous book, which it eludes to, and the next one which given how this book ends I can only imagine it starts immediately after.

It's filler. It feels like an after thought to be fair. Characters who didn't get any lines in the previous book get a bit of time here and it's.... good? Like I'm interested and given it's a long series I'm glad they're getting time to be explored somewhat but at the same time why is it a separate book. According to the back, it cost 4 dollars in 1997 which, adjusting for inflation is $7.78 in 2024 and I can't help but feel annoyed for people who paid full price. Not me, I got it for a quid off ebay but still I feel like I overpaid.

I'm moaning now. It's interesting book. The bridge crew, the main cast of any star trek show/book/whatever are padded out. They're all there, the cocky savant navigational officer, the hard ass, humourless security officer, the can build an iron man suit in a cave with a box of scraps chief engineer.

It's a good book, it's worth your time..... on the way to the other books in the series. It's just so small. The next book is bigger though... one page bigger... woo.

[Nicholas Heinjus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent story. The suspense is killing me

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

[One of my long-term reading projects is the 134 titles in Simon & Schuster’s “Star Trek Relaunch” series that ran from 2001 to 2021, in which the publishing company was given permission from Paramount to create a persistent “canon” universe for the books, where events have permanent repercussions and characters die for good without ever coming back. I’m reading them in the order they were originally released; here’s a Google Doc of the entire run, including links to all the reviews I’ve so far written.]

2026 reads, #23-27. We’ve reached the point of the Star Trek “Relaunch” history where the book-only series “New Frontier” is finally getting enfolded into this persistent storyline (which, to be specific, happened in September 2003 with book #13, Gods Above); but since I wasn’t familiar yet with this particular series, its characters, or its milieu, I thought I’d start by reading the very first book in the series, which is a little tricky because it was actually first released not as one big 600-page book (which is how it’s now sold) but rather as four 150-page novellas over the course of summer 1997, almost exactly one year after Stephen King briefly made this serial publishing format popular again with the six-part original release of The Green Mile. That’s why you’re seeing me do multiple posts of this review not only at that compilation’s book page, but at the book pages of all four original novellas as well.

“New Frontier” represents a fascinating moment in the history of Trek supplemental media, in that it’s a sneak preview of what the larger “Relaunch” series would become as well; originally envisioned about halfway through the run of television’s Deep Space Nine, the first show in Trek’s history to be written in a serial style instead of as interchangeable standalone episodes, it originally came about because of a frustration we’ve talked about here several times, of how unsatisfying it is amongst not only certain audience members but also certain writers that supplemental “non-canon” books like these essentially aren’t allowed to change the Star Trek universe whatsoever, meaning that the universe they’re set in is frozen in amber and the only adventures authors are allowed to add to it are ones that supposedly happened one week when the TV cameras weren’t around, or in other words are treated as supplemental episodes to the original series in which the status quo of the TV version is perfect and intact both before the story begins and after it ends.

The pre-“Relaunch” staff at Simon & Schuster, especially franchise head John J. Ordover, were feeling hemmed in by this back in the ‘90s when DS9 showed a fascinating new way to tell Trek stories; so they asked Paramount for, and received, permission to create a brand-new Trek series that exists only as books, the very first Trek series in history to not start life as a TV show, which ended up lasting a total of 23 books that were unusually all written by a single author, the late Peter David (who was actually better known in the comics world, and was also a staff writer on the similar serialized sci-fi show Babylon 5). The two set up a really interesting milieu for the series to take place -- it’s set in a sector of the Milky Way Galaxy that for centuries was ruled by an all-powerful empire, one that has recently fallen apart because of a violent revolution by one of their former colony worlds, and Starfleet has decided to add a permanent presence in the sector because of the chaos and anarchy that has erupted in the face of the massive power vacuum, guaranteeing an unending amount of opportunities for crazy action-packed stories.

Even more smartly, the captain of the USS Excalibur that Starfleet assigns to the sector is none other than the man who first fomented and then led the rebellion in his early twenties, a Xenexian whose “Earthified” name (long story) is Mackenzie Calhoun, who became disillusioned after the rebellion as he saw his countrymen become the exact corrupt elite they had been fighting against, and who joined Starfleet in order to regain a sense of purpose in life again. At the start of the series, he’s actually been out of commission for a while, with it being heavily hinted that he’s actually been working “off the books” for the controversial CIA dirty-tricks wing of Starfleet first invented by the writers of DS9 (expressly against the wishes of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry), the nefarious Section 31; needless to say, neither his compatriots nor the shattered ex-empire of their former oppressors are happy to see him put in charge of Starfleet’s first-ever permanent presence in the region, which opens up a tremendous amount of opportunities for story conflict (of which we see plenty in just this first book).

David and Ordover then fill out the rest of the cast with an intriguing series of brand-new races -- there are the Brikar, for example, a sort of humanoid version of thick-skinned, hulking rhinos or elephants, and there are also the Hermat, which in trendy ‘90s fashion is an entire race of gender-fluid individuals, impressively progressive in a pre-Woke age even if David gets a few of the details wrong. (Instead of using the special pronoun “ze” that most non-binary people now do, for example, David uses the pronoun “s/he,” pronounced out loud as “suh-he,” which seems kind of silly if the whole point is to avoid saying the word “he;” he also makes the race name uncomfortably similar to the outdated medical term “hermaphrodite,” and he unfortunately also makes the race’s main defining trait as being horny all the time and wanting to have sex with everyone they meet, a bad stereotype about trans people back in these ‘90s years.)

On the other hand, one thing Paramount insisted on was that the series incorporate a number of existing Trek characters, because they were convinced that audiences wouldn’t want to read a bunch of Trek novels featuring characters they’ve never heard of (they were ultimately wrong -- the original run of these books were in fact hugely popular); so that’s how it is that the Excalibur’s first officer is none other than Elizabeth Shelby from the infamous Next Generation Borg episodes, and their chief operations officer is Next Generation minor character Roblin Lefler (most famous now for being played in the TV show by a pre-famous teenaged Ashley Judd), among other familiar faces.

Ultimately none of this is much different than the other Star Trek novels -- the DS9 “Relaunch” books, for example, feature half a dozen new characters themselves -- but there’s something about it all being brand-new that simply hits differently here, or at least it did with me. Like its original ‘90s fans, I found something really exciting about this being a brand-new milieu that could go in literally any direction, without being saddled by seven years of “Data would never act that way” or “Worf only owns a bat’leth, not a d’k tahg too” narrative baggage. Befitting the genre veteran he is, David does an excellent job with it all, turning in an introductory volume here that both has a lot of expository moving parts and is also a fast-paced and exciting adventure, and by the end of the 600 pages these people were as real and concrete in my head as any Trek character seen on television, extra impressive because of there being no visual element to the story in this case.

In fact, I liked this debut so much, I’ve made a major new decision about this “Relaunch” reading project I’m in the middle of, and have decided to just burn through the other eight “New Frontier” novels that exist between this first one and book #13’s Gods Above. After all, the whole point of this project is merely to be entertained by Trek stories again, in a period of history where no more Roddenberry-era shows are being made, and where the newest round of Trek shows (the Woke-heavy “NuTrek” era) leave me cold and disappointed; so if I’m being entertained by the “New Frontier” books (and to be clear, I was highly entertained by this debut), I think the world can handle me taking a detour for a while into the rest of this series’ titles, before they finally catch up with the main “Relaunch” storyline I’m currently now 21 books into. (Just 113 more to go!) So, for the rest of this year you’re going to see me outputting lots of “New Frontier” titles, which I will try to get to in a more timely basis; coming next month, for example, will be 1998’s Martyr, the crew’s first “regular” adventure after this extra-long title setting everything up. I hope you’ll have a chance to join me here again then.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stars seems a bit harsh, although "ok" is a pretty accurate rating. I'm not sure why this story is separated into separate books, not enough happens in each so far, and they just end in the middle of whatever is going on. I guess it's to get you to buy another book at full price rather than getting a complete story in one novel. Anyway, the characters are mostly annoying with almost every scene and interaction having to have a snarky reply or cocky attitude for some reason. I'm all for humorous exchanges or interludes, but including it every time two or more characters interact is tiring. Anyway, I already have the books so I'll read them. I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone do the same.

[Azar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first one! Calhoun is more tolerable, thanks largely in part to the relationship between him and Commander Shelby, now that the cast is assembled we're getting to see some of our more minor characters shine, and the mission is starting to become interesting. I'm torn on the subject of Burgoyne, though--while the double-gendered pronouns drive me up the wall...I like the character well enough. In fact, God help me, I can't seem to stop picturing John Barrowman in the role! ;-)

[Paul Riches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek New Frontier Boldly Goes!!!!


Back in the 1997, the Star Trek books editors wanted to try something different.

They were tired of how the books couldn’t really change the characters, they were just allowed to tell what they considered routine adventures. Some fans, like me, were fine with that, but other fans, like me, wanted epic scale and massive changes all the time.

So the concept of Star Trek New Frontier was born, with editor John J. Ordover and writer Peter David being the proud parents.

New Frontier takes place in the time of Next Generation in the movies era after First Contact. The expansive dictatorial and secretive Thallonian Empire has collapsed and chaos seems to be thriving inside this far flung area. The Federation wants to help, but is not sure how to, so a decision is made to send a single Starship in to render aid and assess the situation internally. It is risky, but as one Captain stated, risk is our business.

Soon a ship, Captain and crew are picked and head out, and immediately run into issues galore in the once powerful Empire, subjects that tax their moral dilemmas. They also face numerous personal issues, that tax themselves and their relationships. This is just the sort of drama Peter David excels at, making this book series a perfect fit for him.

David populates the Excalibur with his own creation, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, a strong willed man who led a revolution as a teen on his planet and then was recruited into Starfleet by Captain Picard and his First Officer Jack Crusher. He becomes a Captain, faces trouble, does some dirty work for the Federation, and is now back in charge. Part of me thinks this was originally supposed to be Commander Quentin Stone from David’s A Rock And A Hard Place Next Gen novel.

The rest of the crew is a mix of characters David created in his excellent Starfleet Academy trilogy of Young Readers novels starring Cadet Worf. This includes Security Chief toughie Zak Kebron, Vulcan Science Officer Soleta, and odd genius Navigator Mark McHenry. Others are minor recurring characters from various Next Gen episodes, like Commander Shelby from the famous Best Of Both Worlds cliffhanger, the Vulcan Dr Selar, and Robin Lefler who quotes her own unique set of life rules. Completely new are Engineer Burgoyne 172, who is from a race of she/he beings who are unafraid to explore their sexuality, which leads to David really getting into gender issues and language amongst other topics, and also new is Prince Si Cwan from the former Empire. He knew it was troubled and tried to reform it but to no avail, so now he serves as “Ambassador” and guide while he searches for his sister.

With this cast, David explores a zillion subplots, including the previous romantic relationship between Calhoun and Shelby, the purely sexual dating of McHenry and Burgoyne 172, Dr Selar having PTSD because her husband died during wedding night Pon Farr, Dr Selar’s hormones sending signals to Burgoyne 172, and Soleta dealing with a shocking family secret. As you can tell, David does not shy away from tackling controversial stories, and with the premise of New Frontier being that things can evolve, you can tell things are going to move forward in very fascinating ways. Which, by the way, they do. New Frontier goes on with twenty something books, and I know that characters get married and have children and leave the ship, and alot of not so nice things happen as well.

The setup for New Frontier is spread over four slim paperbacks, which I think were originally designed to be a hardcover. The scope of the story is big enough, and the richness of the crew personalities, do warrant this. And besides Picard and Crusher, we also get cameos from Riker, now Admiral Jellico who is still an ass, and the awesome Ambassador Spock! At one point, a certain Engineer from Kirk’s Enterprise is maybe possibly mentioned. Was he supposed to be a part of this as well?

David is creating a great tapestry in New Frontier, one worthy of a modern day streaming service and would be definitely be an award-winning hit. That would be awesome.

Scoopriches

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Same Review for the first 4 Serialized Books..)

We need to get back into the wayback machine to talk about these books and why I wanted to re-read them. I didn't live through the golden age of science fiction, but I did experience the golden age of Star Trek fiction. On TV, we can look back at the 90s as a great era of ST, but in print, it was truly under the editorship of John J Ordover. I am a fan of John, whom I interviewed a couple of times on podcasts, and, best of all, he showed up in his robe to do a panel about Picard Season 3 -> Watch it here...

Under his editorship, Star Trek hardcovers were often bestsellers, and organized as tie-ins for the TV shows, several as big events during the year. At the same time, Pocket Books was releasing two paperbacks a month based on various shows in the franchise, and sometimes series like Day of Honor, which featured a story set in each show (TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY) on the Klingon holiday. Voyager even did a Tie-in episode.

I was one of the Trek fans who bought the new paperbacks each month, sometimes skipping authors or concepts that I didn’t like, but those were rare. LA Graf was the pen name for two authors whose Trek novels I found dense, for example. Still, I might as well have had a subscription. I set aside money for the books. I went to the Borders at the Carousel Center in Syracuse every month to pick up the new books; they were my bus and break at work reads, as at home I was reading for school and activism.

The one problem these books had was that the stakes for the main characters couldn't be threatened outside the show's canon. So often ST novels like Diane Careyś Dreadnought worked because it created original characters that were engaging. One of the smartest moves an editor (at the time)John J.Ordover did was to put the year's titles inside the cover of the paperbacks. You saw all the titles for the year, it would build anticipation, and give a collect them all feeling.

In 1997, I was excited for months about a new title, Star Trek New Frontiers. What was that? Basically a Star Trek show, built in books instead of TV. Ordover got Paramount to okay this idea, but they wanted a few characters from TNG, assuming that readers needed an anchor. Smartly, the first book brought in Spock and the Enterprise-D itself. Picard in many ways, chooses our new Captain for the mission.

ST had a deep bench at the time of the authors, including Greg Cox, who is the only still active Trek author from that era. Peter David was a great choice; he got his start writing comics, but by this point, he had many, many Star Trek novels. He was one of the most popular who was very smart at typing TOS and TNG together. Peter David was the first to suggest (in Qpid) that Trelane from the Squire of Gothos was a Q (made canon by Strange New Worlds), and in the novel Vendetta, played with the notion that Spinrad’s Doomsday Machine was built as a weapon to fight the Borg.

Peter David played with the canon, was a great storyteller, and a solid writer, so he was perfect to create his own series. The first novel was serialized (like Stephen King’s The Green Mile) over two months. June and July of 1997. While serious Trek fans were digging DS9’s growth into the final seasons, getting used to Voyager, and enjoying the TNG movies, we got a new series.

Spock and Picard assigning this mission to the Captain was a similar hand-off we got in the TV series, and a smart way to bridge the gap. New Frontier was the story of a volatile region of space left in chaos as an empire falls. Starfleet is worried about this region that borders Federation space.

They want to send a ship, but who will command. Riker and Lt. Commander Shelby renewed their rivalry from the classic TNG episode Best of Both Worlds, but Picard thinks it should be a local. Mackenzie Cahloun (a humanized name he took), on the surface, is a disgraced officer, but has been acting as a spy. The rough around the edges captain grew up a revolutionary on his home world, but Starfleet only smoothed some of his edges.

Shelby was a character who was in two very important episodes of TNG. We get a crew member, Robin Lefler (who was in two episodes played by a pre-stardom Ashley Judd), but mostly a new crew. This makes the stakes higher off the bat. We learn that Shelby (who is the first officer) on the new ship is the Excalibur. The crew and the setting is perfect for expanding the ST universe.

I wanted to re-read this one because I was thinking about what a cool thing was to have a ST series that was originally created for prose. This is something I would like to see the franchise do again, maybe with a writers' room (SW High Republic style). I mean, give me a call S and S.

ST: NF holds up nicely, with excellent characters and settings. The serial style made each book fly by and feel like an episode. Each of the four holds up and feels like the Berman era, I mean that as a compliment (although I am a fan of most of Kurtzman era Trek)

I will have to slowly make my way through the ST NF books, which I didn’t keep up with. I admit I burned out on ST novels a bit at the end of the 90s. Thanks to excellent new novels by Greg Cox, Dayton Ward, and David Mack, I am back. I really enjoyed revisiting this classic.

[Carol Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Peter David's Star Trek books and comics because his love of the franchise comes through. The New Frontier was the first series of a ship with a captain that had never been seen in a TV series or movie. Most of the crew are the same with a few exceptions like Elizabeth Shelby who was a character on the two part Borg episode who was gunning for Riker job.

There are of course mentions of and appearances of other well known characters so it fits into the universe of Next Gen, Deep Space 9 and Voyager.

This book takes place several years after Picard convinced Calhoun to join Starfleet. He left for reasons that are murky and just came back and was offered a command of the starship Excalibur. He is on a diplomat mission to his system which has fallen into chaos.

The book sets up the background and the characters and does a good job of that I never felt that I was getting a dump of information with nothing else going on. Though that is basically what is going on because there is not a lot of action scenes but like I said it works.

This is a series and the book leaves off right at a critical part it is like watching a TV show and you get a cliffhanger. So at this point you do need to read them in order.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is awful. It's just not very well-written, not on any level. Every single character reads like a caricature, but the worst by far is the captain. Calhoun seems to be presented as an outstanding individual, but it's all tell and no show, because mostly his role seems to be to have snarky conversations (which are neither funny nor impressive) and to be proved immediately correct whenever one of his subordinates disagrees with him. As for those subordinates, his first officer, Shelby, is almost as cringe-inducing. A former lover, she's been placed in the role of babysitter to this unpleasant supposed iconoclast, which isn't entertaining in the slightest.

Really, the whole thing is just depressingly superficial. It wouldn't rise to competence on Ao3.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess these first four are pretty much one long book broken into four parts so I don't know how some story elements are supposed to go. However, I didn't care as much for this one as I did the first. There are some good character moments in this one but some that seemed kind of dumb. For Starfleet, everyone seems just a little too hot-headed for my liking and it seems everyone is threatening another person for some reason. Also the Hermat character I do find kind of annoying just to read - I get what he's trying to do with this character but I find the s/he thing hard not to get stuck on every time I come across it. Anyway, we'll see where this goes.

[David]

The first 4 books of this series seem to kind of operate as one book. The situation of this series is further elaborated on and the main crew are being introduced here. There are original characters mixed with preexisting characters, most notably Commander Shelby, who appeared significantly in a couple episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Here we see her a first officer. The book largely touches on tensions between her and Captain Calhoun. The first four books are presented superbly on audio, though they are very heavily abridged. Each book can be listened to in a little more than an hour.

[Matias Uusisilta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third Star Trek book by Peter David, that I've read and I got to say that I enjoy his way of writing. This one is a solid Star Trek story and a good continuation to the first part of the story.

Although the story and the way it unfolds is great, the characters leave room for improvement. Most of the characters seem to be built upon one quirk and are very one dimensional. I was especially frustrated with the first officer Shelby whose only role seemed to be to act as a female echo chamber to how brilliant the captain Calhoun is. I'm hoping that the characters would develop more nuances further down the New Frontier series and that Shelby would grow a personality of her own.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the cast of characters that Pater David has assembled and I think the situation into which he has dropped them has a lot of potential. However, I'm not overly enthused by the current format of the series, with each book running directly into the next, much like a comic book series. While I certainly have no problem with continuity between books, I would like more of a complete story in each novel, rather than just another chapter in a continuing serial.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, the USS Excalibur takes off!

The first novel, House of Cards, set the scene nicely. Peter David's Star Trek prowess shines through once more with this, as it picks up all the loose ends that the previous book left.

Though nothing particularly major takes place, there's some nice lore-building, an examination of the crew, and they get to carry out a few small missions.

Oh, and the cliffhanger sets it up perfectly for book 3.

[Nickolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the first of this series. In this book, most of the characters are new which is refreshing and interesting. (It's somewhat of a tradition for established characters to appear in the first adventure in a new series. This series had several!)
Also, it's fun to see Commander Shelby, a relatively minor character, fleshed out more here and in new situations.
Of course, the usual Peter David humor is enjoyed and appreciated.

[Vic Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

still holding back my criticism for this series until it has a proper chance to kick off! i did enjoy the backstory on the thallonians though - that they were basically criminals cast off to a planet and they've been trying for centuries to find the people that abandoned them in the first place. also liked that si cwan turned out to be admired by his people.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is still another bite sized part of the four book mini-series that started the saga. However this entry you are on board the Excalibur and you delve into all of it's crew. All are interesting and I found myself eagerly wanting to learn more and more about them. An excellently written and paced entry and I look forward to the next.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great continuation of this New Frontier storyline. I love how we see the captain and first office finally settling in and understanding one another. We see the bridge crew starting to mesh together and the plot thickens at the end and really leaves you hanging. Can’t wait to have the story continue!

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book when it first came out, but they never did anything with Mackenzie Calhoun and it didn’t really resonate anymore. It is at best three stars from me now, but I added one for it being written so long ago and still holding true.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things start coming together in the Excalibur as they make their way on their first mission as a crew. Some clashing of personalities comes along for a ride. The story moves along at a nice pace, keeping the interest at a good level. Definitely recommended

[Rowan Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to know Peter David's writing from his long run of The Incredible Hulk. As soon as I found he'd written this series of novels, I was hooked.

These books have something that the old TV show didn't have. Humor and characters who actually have a personality.

Great read, funny and well written

[Vince Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY excited to see what this series holds next! It’s troubling because this is just part 2 of 4, considering the original novel was broken up like that, but hey what can you do. I’m along for the ride!