It occurs to me that we never did these for the wave of New Frontier books that came out a few months back. So… take it away.
It occurs to me that we never did these for the wave of New Frontier books that came out a few months back. So… take it away.
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Superb, and a real page turner (moreso in fact than Stone and Anvil).
The first of the series that I’ve wanted to read again immediately I finished it.
Don’t want to say more in case I spoil it, but seriously, to anyone who’s followed the series, but hasn’t hasn’t read this yet, go out right now and buy it, borrow it or stea… well, maybe not steal it. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for that. But buy it or borrow it… now.
‘Gods Above’ was a fantastic read. Although I will miss McHenry as a regular character I understand why The decision was made. It’s one of the aspect of Mr David’s writing that I like so much – he puts his characters in an imperfect world in which they can ripped out at any time. Like the sense of humor displayed in the writing it lends a sense of realism and depth to the charact
Awesome….finsished it in a night and wanted more. I love McHenery and hope he is used again.
Man, I’ve been hanging at this site waiting for this through all the comic threads. I have to say, that I’m a huge fan of NF, which is the only Star Trek book series that I read (and buy) on a regular basis.
‘Gods Above’ was great, and yes the loss of McHenry leaves me saddened, but no doubt new and interesting characters will come in.
The interplay between Shelby and Calhoun has always been a huge part of the attraction of the series, and to see them develop as a couple past the URST of earlier books, especially the argument following the arrival of the Excal at Danter, was extremely interesting. The whole Morgan Lefler-in-the-computer was an unexpected twist, and now I’m completely rambling, so I’ll finish with:
I loved it.
This was easily the best book of the series to date (and the preceeding ones were good too). I enjoyed the way everything tied together and I can’t give it enough praise.
I thought it was spectacular (especially since it was the first NF book we got in two years). The characterization of Spock was just a real treat, I loved every line (“Ah yes, the Kirk manuever”). Classic! I hope we get to see more of the Old Father again. A “Power That Be” that actually cared about others, whodythunkit?
Oh yeah, and Kebron’s new attitude was so…odd.
Great GREAT AWESOME BOOK! The books written by Peter David are ones I can never put down, when I start to read one I read until I look over to the clock and it says something like 4 o’clock in the morning and I started reading at 5 that evening. I just cant wait until the next one comes out! Cant get enough of it!
Yes I enjoyed it lots. Disappointed in the loss of McHenry and thoroughly enjoyed the resurection of Primus/Lefler. I am wondering if Soleta is with child? And how would that child be related to Moke? Wondering if McHenry will be replaced on the bridge or since Morgan can handle things if there will be her hologrammed self in the seat? Wondering when a mobile holoemmieter[sp] will enable her holo self to wander around the ship?
I thought you outdid yourself with the Flying Purple People Eater attacking Selar and Burgy a few novels back, but Santa Claus kickin ášš takes the cake. Your explanation of Majel’s “Morgan’s” voice being the computer voice blows away everything that has preceeded, and a great touch making sure that your Trek series stands among the best series on TV by making sure Mrs. Roddenberry is included. Always great to see some old favorites.
Thanks PAD…..another great novel, where characters change and one will be missed.
FRANK: “i am wondering if Soleta is with child?” Me too. Also, make me wonder in future NF books if Soleta’s child will be evil or good. And while growing up will he/she have issues with the parentage and blame it on Soleta. Just as Soleta have issues with her parentage.
Very enjoyable with a lot of twists and turns. And everyone had something to do, which is not an easy feat with a cast this large. And then there’s Spock, which is just a bonus.
Yep, it was pretty good. But I thought the whole Soleta thing was pretty superfluous, it all just seemed like a vehicle for Calhoun to get mad (he already kinda was) and for Calhoun to say something pithy to the enemy (which he kinda always does). Just to me it seemed like a pretty trite way to treat a very complicated character. But aside from that I loved it very much, especially after such a wait. I’ll miss McHenry and the old Kebron but ce la vie.
Thanks PAD
Great book, definite page turner.
Somebody already posted one of my favorites lines “The Kirk manuever”, I would add “reminds of Pan” and Spock grunting after hearing it applied to him way too much.
Also the story ended with one of the best cliffhangers I’ve read in a long while.
Worth the money spent.
I would have to say that the only thing I didn’t like was the long wait for it. 🙂
(Well, that and cover redesign #4. Why didn’t they just stick with the same style?)
I posted the following review quite a while ago, before I had read “No Limits” and “Stone and Anvil”. I hope nobody minds that I post the text here, too. I left it unchanged, including my speculations :).
Just to be safe here: The text contains spoilers.
After a long NF break, it felt great to have a book with new adventures of my favourite characters in my hands. I felt like meeting old friends again and on top of that, I was very curious how Peter David will end the story which started in “Being Human”.
When reading the book I could see again why I enjoy NF so much. PAD made me laugh more than once but he also made me think. But first of all, I enjoyed his sophisticated characterizations which are building perfectly on previous novels of the series. I was right concerning my assumptions concerning McHenry`s future and about Moke`s father but putting that aside, a lot happened that I didn`t expect at all. PAD kept surprising me and I enjoyed that too. I could also admire again how skilfully this author can play with language. I especially mean the dream (or was it more than that?) M`Ress had. That was chilling and I could understand her reaction very well.
For a closer look, it is maybe a good idea to start looking at what wasn`t surprising to me. When McHenry “died” in “Being Human” I was quite sure that he will be able to simply return to his body. As I could see, it wasn`t so simple after all, but in essence I was right. It was certainly better this way than a smooth transition would have been. It made everything more interesting and it was also realistic to show that this transition wasn`t easy for McHenry. I also welcomed the part in which Soleta did another dangerous meld in the series, this time in order to help her friend. The interaction between McHenry, the Old Father (as the Being with the many names – like Woden – wants to be called) and Moke was something I very much enjoyed reading.
What I found most interesting is the moment in which McHenry was contemplating what would have been if he had used his power to try to keep his relationship with Burgoyne instead of letting hir go. I understood the worried look the Old Father had very well. Having so much power is a huge responsibility and it can be tempting to misuse it. Hopefully McHenry will be strong enough not to be corrupted by it. It was also interesting to see that there is such a strong bond between McHenry and Burgoyne at all. I wouldn`t have expected that but I like it that at least from McHenry`s side, it was more than just a matter of having casual sex now and again.
When I finished “Being Human” I had the uncomfortable feeling that McHenry won`t stay and the worst case would be, to kill him. I have seen it too often and not only in Star Trek: People who are extremely powerful don`t stay around. Sometimes they are killed but in many cases there is some wondrous transformation (as it also happened in “Gods Above”) and the person leaves the lesser evolved species he or she came from behind in order to explore the new world opening up to him/her. I think I know why also PAD chose this solution: Having such a being on the ship would make it very difficult to write NF in future because his powers would always be there to save the day at the end. On the other hand, it would be an interesting challenge to have someone like him aboard. Would his crewmembers finally accept him? This is a question that will never be answered now. I was very disappointed that there was so much mistrust, even hostility by some, against him. Did he really have to “die” so that this changed? This would be very sad indeed. Also, is there a kind of Prime Directive such advanced beings should observe? Like when to use such powers and if so, to what extent?
Anyway, at least the second question can be addressed when McHenry will be back for a visit. I am confident that this will be only a matter of time and I am looking forward to it. I always wished for a story in which Q will visit Calhoun and Shelby. Well, it should not only be interesting and fun, I think the tradition that Q is pestering each captain at least once is a tradition that should not be broken .
What also got my attention is the remark the Old Father made to Moke, that he brought Calhoun to him. This is a nice solution to the question how Mac could have survived the crash in “Restoration” with only relatively minor injuries and it is no longer a coincidence that Moke found him before it would have been too late for Calhoun.
That the Old Father is Moke`s biological father is something that was already obvious to me in “Being Human”. But that didn`t take anything away from my enjoyment of the scenes in question. One reason is, I like it how PAD is treating children in NF, in this case Moke. It is a welcome change to what we could see in Voyager where Naomi was often used as the “cutesy” factor, overly childish and na
I have to be honest here, I loved the book, but I always have a problem with this whole ‘human mind in the computer’ thing.
Yes, Morgan was a unique individual (unrelated topic – please write a 500 word essay on how startfleet has enough ‘unique’ individuals that several can be on every starship) BUT I can’t see her, in the digital equivalent of an eyeblink spontaneously upload her entire persona into a computer core then SEAMLESSLY integrate herself into the entire binary operating system, apparently losing no data and causing no massive disruptions.
I mean, c’mon, don’t they run Norton in the future? At the very least, the system should have thought she was a virus and TRIED to expel her.
BTW, I’m not saying having Morgan in this state is a bad idea. I like it. But the way it was done left me a little disappointed, which is a rare feeling when reading Peter’s work.
That said, did anyone else picture Santa doing the Yoda fight scene from Star Wars: Attack of the Morones.
Not to spoil things too much, but am I the only person disappointed with the latest twist w/r/t Zak Kebron? I liked the surly, no-nonsense mug from the earlier NF books, but now Kebron 2.0 seems like a Brikar copy of Janus. Granted, there were times where Kebron almost turned into a stony stereotype of Worf, but I think there were other ways to develop Zak that could have been taken.
I loved the old-style Trek feel of the story; I like the big cosmic dramas more than political/cultural melodramas.
What I didn’t like was the cheap-n-easy ending. When introducing powerful adversaries, it’s always difficult to figure out how our heroes can “defeat” them in a convincing way. Still, the method used here was a lot like the convenient trapdoor in “Best of Both Worlds II”–not in the details, just in the overall feel.
I love this series! I can’t think of any other books that have made me Laugh out Loud in a long time. I also care about what happens to them, that’s good writing if you ask me!
Because I love these characters as they interact together, I was a little leery when Shelby got her own ship taking some of the crew with her. However I’m glad to see PAD’s been keeping them not to far from each other (and doing it in a way that makes snese!). Shoulda done that with Riker in TNG long ago, just didn’t make much sense keeping him as second…
Now God’s Above? Oh Yeah! Good stuff!
(Although I do agree about Zak, It just doesn’t feel like I’m reading about the same guy in Stone & Anvil! But I suppose I’ll give it time to see where he goes…)
I loved seeing a wee bit of Buffy when Kalinda hacked off Lodec’s arm thus saving her brother. Hmmm, Anubis wanted her to stay because she had potential…(shades of “Star Wars”? Naaah, PAD wouldn’t do that to us!)
Moke being the son of Zeus? With possible capabilites like the others? Calhoun’s gonna continue raise him? HA Excellent! Can’t wait to see more of that!
Finishing God’s Above made me anxious to read the next because I didn’t want it to end. And so I am.