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Star Trek: Invasion #2
The Soldiers of Fear
Long ago, before the dawn of civilization, they were banished to the realm of nightmares. Now the terrors are real...A generation ago, another Starship EnterpriseTM fought off a ship of exiled aliens intent on conquering all of the Alpha Quadrant. Starfleet thought the foe had been repelled forever—until now. The Furies have returned in might warships even more powerful than before. But their weapons are more than merely physical, for these aliens are the origins of all the demons and monsters of ancient myth, and they have found a way to project fear directly into the minds of their enemies. To defeat the Furies, and save the Federation, Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise must first conquer the darkest terrors of their unconscious minds.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1996
33 people are currently reading
650 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,365 books721 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
July 4, 2017
The Furies' invasion continues!
This is the second book in a series of four of the Star Trek event "Invasion!"
BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID...
Like 70 years ago, the fearsome Furies were stopped by the boldly efforts of Captain Kirk, Mister Spock and the USS Enterprise with crutial help of a third party in the conflict.
The Federation thought that that would be the last time to hear about the Furies...
...but they were wrong!
The Furies have returned and more powerful than before!
Bigger ships, better weapons, and the worst of all...
...a new advantage where the Furies now are able to really inflict fear in the hearts of their enemies...
...for real!
Not as a metaphor, but now they can provoke real feelings of fear to any crew trying to approach a warship of them.
Now, it's the turn of Captain Picard, Cmdr. Riker and the USS Enterprise-D to face a new wave of invasion, better prepared, better armed and without assistance of a third column.
The Furies reigned in all our realm, centuries before of any known civilization would be able to stand up, they were responsible to breed the myths about demons across the galaxy, but they were expelled into other dimension...
...and they didn't like that one bit...
...the invasion to take what was theirs is resumed!
Kirk did his part to deal with the Furies, now it's up to the next generation to do theirs!
The big 4-part book event continues!
This is the second book in a series of four of the Star Trek event "Invasion!"
BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID...
Like 70 years ago, the fearsome Furies were stopped by the boldly efforts of Captain Kirk, Mister Spock and the USS Enterprise with crutial help of a third party in the conflict.
The Federation thought that that would be the last time to hear about the Furies...
...but they were wrong!
The Furies have returned and more powerful than before!
Bigger ships, better weapons, and the worst of all...
...a new advantage where the Furies now are able to really inflict fear in the hearts of their enemies...
...for real!
Not as a metaphor, but now they can provoke real feelings of fear to any crew trying to approach a warship of them.
Now, it's the turn of Captain Picard, Cmdr. Riker and the USS Enterprise-D to face a new wave of invasion, better prepared, better armed and without assistance of a third column.
The Furies reigned in all our realm, centuries before of any known civilization would be able to stand up, they were responsible to breed the myths about demons across the galaxy, but they were expelled into other dimension...
...and they didn't like that one bit...
...the invasion to take what was theirs is resumed!
Kirk did his part to deal with the Furies, now it's up to the next generation to do theirs!
The big 4-part book event continues!
August 18, 2025
The Furies return with new ships a a way to use the fear they know we have. Picard and The Next Generation crew face the next wave of the ones outed from the space quadrants that most known species currently live.
A well done follow up in part 2 of the crossover Invasion. A little telegraphed in parts it is still an interesting story. On to part three with DS9 and the other side of the war.
A well done follow up in part 2 of the crossover Invasion. A little telegraphed in parts it is still an interesting story. On to part three with DS9 and the other side of the war.
July 20, 2010
While this is the second book in the Invasion! sub series, it can be read as a standalone novel. The story - a long feared enemy returns bent on conquering Federation and Klingon space. Picard and the Enterprise crew must find a way to deal with this enemy who has a new twist on an old weapon.
The book doesn't spend as much time on the invaders point of view as the first book in the series which makes sense, but I had liked the original villains and had hoped to see more of their society. The authors used the cliche of exhaling "a breath he didn't realize he was holding." no less than three times. There's also some foreshadowing that feels more like lazy writing.
The authors do a good job of relaying the information from the first book and that's no easy feat. It would be easy to add too much, which would annoy those who read the first book, or too little, which would confuse those who hadn't. They've managed a nice balance. Some of the minor parallels to the first book - a member of the bridge crew trying to help from his/her sickbed then going against medical advice to the bridge and a character with a speech impediment, for example, were annoying. I think I might have rated this book higher if I had read it as a stand alone. On to book three!
The book doesn't spend as much time on the invaders point of view as the first book in the series which makes sense, but I had liked the original villains and had hoped to see more of their society. The authors used the cliche of exhaling "a breath he didn't realize he was holding." no less than three times. There's also some foreshadowing that feels more like lazy writing.
The authors do a good job of relaying the information from the first book and that's no easy feat. It would be easy to add too much, which would annoy those who read the first book, or too little, which would confuse those who hadn't. They've managed a nice balance. Some of the minor parallels to the first book - a member of the bridge crew trying to help from his/her sickbed then going against medical advice to the bridge and a character with a speech impediment, for example, were annoying. I think I might have rated this book higher if I had read it as a stand alone. On to book three!
February 5, 2014
"what was there to question? He and his best friend were going to die in the next few minutes. it was that simple."
Because of the speed at which I read, these books are kind of like a feature-length episode for me. This one was certainly very enjoyable, and although the Redbay ending was predictable and Data’s immunity to the genetic queues underexplored, fitting into the work thus far was smooth and neatly managed. Guinan’s input was very televisual, too.
The length of the DS9 extract, the next novel, was a bit weird – this novel itself was just under an hour and a half of reading, and the “up next” sequence was a further quarter of an hour on top of that. Still, this is a fantastic series to come back to after so long without the old familiar episodes on rerun.
Because of the speed at which I read, these books are kind of like a feature-length episode for me. This one was certainly very enjoyable, and although the Redbay ending was predictable and Data’s immunity to the genetic queues underexplored, fitting into the work thus far was smooth and neatly managed. Guinan’s input was very televisual, too.
The length of the DS9 extract, the next novel, was a bit weird – this novel itself was just under an hour and a half of reading, and the “up next” sequence was a further quarter of an hour on top of that. Still, this is a fantastic series to come back to after so long without the old familiar episodes on rerun.
October 15, 2024
Another 3.5, if GR would only allow partial stars. It's predictable, but a good read nonetheless. Thankful books three and four are in my collection so the story can continue.
August 2, 2022
This felt like an unfortunate step down from the first issue in the series. Aside from feeling wholly too short, this entry in the 4-part series was not nearly as epic. I did not get to know Sam Redbay as well as he deserved and the length of the novel meant that the Furies themselves got a pitiful amount of stage time when compared to the first installment.
I think 3 stars is generous here and the relatively exciting battle sequences push it there but otherwise I'm thinking 2.5ish.
I think 3 stars is generous here and the relatively exciting battle sequences push it there but otherwise I'm thinking 2.5ish.
May 23, 2011
My least favourite of the four "Invasion" books. I found it contained less depth than the other three, and too concerned with moving the plot along. The others have a very apocalyptic feel to them, but "The Soldiers of Fear" is simply competent action/adventure, in my eyes. Not bad at all, but unambitious, compared to its stablemates.
October 7, 2021
I have a sneaking suspicion that he'll turn up in one of the subsequent books of this little mini-series, but for this one Redbay might as well have been called Redshirt, because his role was blindingly clear. I know that, due to desperate reliance on the reset button, Trek rarely, if ever, loses one of its main characters, and while large parts of me are glad for that, it does tend to undermine stories like this, which aim for epic but have their sense of threat undercut because everyone we care about is going to survive no matter what. Because of this, for me, the stories Trek does best are the ones about more than just battles. The Soldiers of Fear has some interesting things to say about fear, but at bottom this is a book about a big fight where victory is won through military force alone. There's some lip service giving to the idea of reaching out to the other and attempting negotiation with them, but First Strike did that much better. This is still an enjoyable read, however, and I zipped through it easily enough. The pacing, especially, worked well for me - part of the reason I never really warm to fight scenes is because I often find them an elongated drag, and that didn't happen here. Much more focus was given to the preparation for the fight, which is more interesting to me and has more opportunity for character work, as opposed to explosion.
August 27, 2024
An episode that will not give you any respite! The Furies are back, of course, and they're back with a vengeance after their humiliating defeat at the hand of James T. Kirk, 80 years before. Bringing literally terror with them, they set ready to conquer what they claim their dominion, all the while the new Enterprise must come up with the most audacious, and desperate, plan to win...
The narration is what you would expect from a movie, the pacing is intense, you can feel the clock ticking, feel the fear and the uncertainty!
The narration is what you would expect from a movie, the pacing is intense, you can feel the clock ticking, feel the fear and the uncertainty!
August 29, 2024
Das erste Kapitel ist vielversprechend, aber leider können die beiden Autorinnen dieser Erwartung nicht gerecht werden. Sie bedienen sich altbekannter Zutaten aus dem Star-Trek-Universum, und vermengen diese zu einer dünnen, einfallslosen Geschichte, die sich im Mittelteil etwas in die Länge zieht. Der Showdown zum Ende hin ist vorhersehbar, die Dramatik stark konstruiert bis unglaubhaft, und der kleine Streit auf der Brücke zwischen Riker und Worf eher peinlich. Dieses seichte, bedeutungslose Abenteuer kann man sich wirklich sparen.
May 27, 2021
Det var en oerhört platt bok. Jag skulle vilja se mer av personporträtt, vreden och skräcken. Författarna var inte bra på att beskriva händelserna på ett realistiskt sätt. Tyvärr blev jag väldigt besviken och betyget kan inte bli annat än 1/10. Om man läser serien i sin helhet är det dock nödvändigt att läsa även denna. Även om böckerna skall vara fristående är de starkt sammanbundna, och man måste läsa alla för att fullt ut ta till sig serien.
August 5, 2022
The creatures now dubbed "The Furies" have returned after 80 years. Using historical records stolen from the original Enterprise, they have developed a weapon that exploits human fear. The "Next Generation" crew must bring all of their technical knowledge to bear on defeating this new threat.
Once again, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel, although I imagine it would have little appeal to those not already familiar with the Star Trek television shows and characters.
Once again, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel, although I imagine it would have little appeal to those not already familiar with the Star Trek television shows and characters.
November 29, 2019
This is not one of my favorite Star Trek novels. I will give each one a read to keep up with the characters, events, etc. Picard and his crew face the nightmare race called the Furies, who believe themselves to be Gods and the humans in the Alpha quadrant will be their slaves, using a device that cause severe mental anguish, fear, and nightmares. On to book three to see what happens next!
February 23, 2025
A solid second entry in the Invasion! saga although its 234 page count feels very short and with an easy win for the crew with an obvious sacrifice. As the second part, it almost feels like a filler and the brief sections focused on the Furies don't add much to the story and if anything help them lose some mystique.
February 7, 2018
I enjoyed this one. had a lot going personally so had to read it casually. it tried to involve all the main characters equally. the ending was super predictable. too much foreshadowing of the importance of an introduced "red shirt".
June 24, 2018
A good follow up from Invasion #1: First Strike (Star Trek, Book 79). An interesting idea, having four books in a series, but involving different sub series characters across the generations in each book.
September 22, 2021
Really enjoyed this one - gripping and engrossing, a great story with the Furies. Ending was slightly predictable - doing a classic Star Trek in which you meet some random new character to make the sacrifice to save the day. But that made it feel more Trek.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2021
Getting better!
I thought this was better than book one. Maybe it’s just been too long since I’ve watched TOS but I could “hear” these characters better than the first book. The writing and delivery seemed more in line with how it was on TNG.
I thought this was better than book one. Maybe it’s just been too long since I’ve watched TOS but I could “hear” these characters better than the first book. The writing and delivery seemed more in line with how it was on TNG.
November 16, 2018
Entertaining.
October 5, 2020
This one is good... too bad i couldn’t read the first book...
April 23, 2021
Decent.
April 8, 2023
Great! Epic Star Trek!
x-not-for-me
July 15, 2023Even though it's numbered (41) it is part of a side series and so I will not be filling that gap in my (inherited) collection.
June 23, 2024
The Soldiers of Fear is a forest path with forks in the forks in the forks in the road.
August 26, 2025
First book I’ve read cover to cover in a long time. Engaging and easy to read I would like to read the others in the series.
September 27, 2025
A good narrative, making use of all of the characters. A nice follow up to the first book in the series and set up the remaining narrative.
April 26, 2018
Four books, killing to preserve the Galaxy.
August 1, 2011
In this book I found myself struggling to focus. It was boring and my main goal for reading it was so that I could move on to the next book in the series. Overall Its terrible.
The author also seems to not understand that we use phasers NOT lasers when fighting the enemy. And lasers in the Trek universe are only used for things like surgery. A phaser is a much more powerful weapon than a laser.
If anything this book gives me inspiration, for indeed if this book can be published as awful as it is- Then my works will surely be published too...
In the future, it is my hope the writer reads my review and takes to heart about these observations. Star Trek is not to be written haphazardly and rushed out the door to make a quick buck. It is a form of sci-fi that you must be well acquainted with in order to truly write.
The science and technology in Star Trek is not something you can not just randomly make up as you go or make a perfunctory attempt at...
Frankly I have seen better writing from high school children. And this book is not worth the money. If only it were possible to skip this book. because unlike the First Book and the Last book. The others fail to follow standards to say the least.
I read and watch Trek because I believe that the Star Trek universe is the blue print for a better world. Everything we need to know from how to treat each other to money and politics resides in the trek universe. And someday if our technology can keep pace with our social advance. We may yet explore this galaxy...We should all remember that Gene Roddenberry Gave us this Blue print and starting from the 60s he showed us a 1 hour window. Of how things could be.
I remember watching Trek in the 70s when I was a little kid on a black and white TV. Even then. I knew it was something special. When we think of Gene Roddenberry we should also remember him for inspiring things like Cell phones. Blue tooth and advanced computing devices. Most of all though he should be remembered for inspiring generations of scientist who may someday make it possible for us to seek out strange new life.and boldly go where no one has gone before...
The author also seems to not understand that we use phasers NOT lasers when fighting the enemy. And lasers in the Trek universe are only used for things like surgery. A phaser is a much more powerful weapon than a laser.
If anything this book gives me inspiration, for indeed if this book can be published as awful as it is- Then my works will surely be published too...
In the future, it is my hope the writer reads my review and takes to heart about these observations. Star Trek is not to be written haphazardly and rushed out the door to make a quick buck. It is a form of sci-fi that you must be well acquainted with in order to truly write.
The science and technology in Star Trek is not something you can not just randomly make up as you go or make a perfunctory attempt at...
Frankly I have seen better writing from high school children. And this book is not worth the money. If only it were possible to skip this book. because unlike the First Book and the Last book. The others fail to follow standards to say the least.
I read and watch Trek because I believe that the Star Trek universe is the blue print for a better world. Everything we need to know from how to treat each other to money and politics resides in the trek universe. And someday if our technology can keep pace with our social advance. We may yet explore this galaxy...We should all remember that Gene Roddenberry Gave us this Blue print and starting from the 60s he showed us a 1 hour window. Of how things could be.
I remember watching Trek in the 70s when I was a little kid on a black and white TV. Even then. I knew it was something special. When we think of Gene Roddenberry we should also remember him for inspiring things like Cell phones. Blue tooth and advanced computing devices. Most of all though he should be remembered for inspiring generations of scientist who may someday make it possible for us to seek out strange new life.and boldly go where no one has gone before...
July 24, 2023
I didn't find this one as enthralling as the first but I did still find it enjoyable.
2023: This book is noticeably shorter than the others. It was okay this time around. Much weaker than the first book. Deanna was understandably incapacitated for this book and I think this was during that weird love triangle between her, Worf, and Riker. It's hard to care for brand new characters.
I would have liked this book and the previous to have taken more time apart from one another. Obviously we don't know all of the species in the Furies but I like to think they used the information they had gained from the TOS crew and did a little selective breeding. I think it would have been interesting if they started to work towards having more features that greater resemble the things in human myth that they feared. I know in the end they _are_ the things that were feared but I think the idea of choosing to breed for traits that are more monstrous from the point of view of humans would have been even more fear inducing.
They were most likely different species than the previous crew but these did refer to certain of features as wings or snakes for hair. As opposed to evolution for heat regulation or senses. This could be the authors choice or they Furies themselves changing their language when referring to their bodies and the bodies of the rest of their people. They were much more violent than the original crew. Thought this could be because we didn't see the Rath crew without a human to interact with. It is possible that they are pretty violent in general. Also learning about their eating habits, or at least one species habits, was interesting.
2023: This book is noticeably shorter than the others. It was okay this time around. Much weaker than the first book. Deanna was understandably incapacitated for this book and I think this was during that weird love triangle between her, Worf, and Riker. It's hard to care for brand new characters.
I would have liked this book and the previous to have taken more time apart from one another. Obviously we don't know all of the species in the Furies but I like to think they used the information they had gained from the TOS crew and did a little selective breeding. I think it would have been interesting if they started to work towards having more features that greater resemble the things in human myth that they feared. I know in the end they _are_ the things that were feared but I think the idea of choosing to breed for traits that are more monstrous from the point of view of humans would have been even more fear inducing.
They were most likely different species than the previous crew but these did refer to certain of features as wings or snakes for hair. As opposed to evolution for heat regulation or senses. This could be the authors choice or they Furies themselves changing their language when referring to their bodies and the bodies of the rest of their people. They were much more violent than the original crew. Thought this could be because we didn't see the Rath crew without a human to interact with. It is possible that they are pretty violent in general. Also learning about their eating habits, or at least one species habits, was interesting.
January 4, 2016
This is book 2 of the four-part Star Trek series "Invasion!" that crosses through the settings of the first four Star Trek TV series.
Star Trek #79: First Strike
Star Trek: The Next Generation #41: The Soldiers of Fear
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #16: Time's Enemy
Star Trek: Voyager #9: The Final Fury
It is a formulaic ST:TNG adventure that describes an impending invasion of our quadrant of the galaxy through a manufactured wormhole. I knew there was going to be a problem when the station that has been monitoring the last point of entry into our quadrant experiences a sudden loss of mass, and the human crew doesn't know why. Didn't any of them bother to learn about the very reason for the station's existence? Then the alien invaders project a "fear beam" onto the Enterprise, and we get to observe each crew member's personal greatest fear. Yeah, a fear beam that is undetectable by any known science, but that Geordi is able to create a shield for within one hour. This is the kind of plotting I expect in a comic book.
There are some pleasing interactions between Guinan and Piccard, Worf and Riker - and I guess that is what this kind of writing is all about. So not a total loss, but no way I would ever recommend this except as part of the crossover series.
Star Trek #79: First Strike
Star Trek: The Next Generation #41: The Soldiers of Fear
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #16: Time's Enemy
Star Trek: Voyager #9: The Final Fury
It is a formulaic ST:TNG adventure that describes an impending invasion of our quadrant of the galaxy through a manufactured wormhole. I knew there was going to be a problem when the station that has been monitoring the last point of entry into our quadrant experiences a sudden loss of mass, and the human crew doesn't know why. Didn't any of them bother to learn about the very reason for the station's existence? Then the alien invaders project a "fear beam" onto the Enterprise, and we get to observe each crew member's personal greatest fear. Yeah, a fear beam that is undetectable by any known science, but that Geordi is able to create a shield for within one hour. This is the kind of plotting I expect in a comic book.
There are some pleasing interactions between Guinan and Piccard, Worf and Riker - and I guess that is what this kind of writing is all about. So not a total loss, but no way I would ever recommend this except as part of the crossover series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews