Magnificent Telling of the Star Trek Story!
596662
Just watched this on Amazon Instant Video, and I'll definitely be adding the Blu-ray to my collection.

I've been a Star Trek fan since I was 16 years old, when the original series appeared on television.  This is 2013 film is the best telling of the Star Trek tale I have yet seen!  I think my jaw dropped in the first few seconds of the film and stayed that way for the net two hours.  Every one of the actors in the roles of the original characters provides the most believable and most powerful performance in the history of the Trek legendarium, and the plot is the best yet in a Star Trek story.  The special effects must be been equally magnificent because there was not a moment that the thought came into my mind to wonder about them; I was completely engrossed in the story from the first moment of the story to the last.

Most notably, Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Khan was absolutely terrifying.  I was on the edge of my seat whenever he came on screen.  After watching Cumberbatch in both this role and his portrayal of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movies, I'm convinced that no one can out-class him in delivering a super-competent psychopath to the big screen.  (I've not yet seen him as Sherlock Holmes, but in the back of my mind that if he had not had the title role of "Sherlock," he would have been outstanding as Moriarty.  He could even do a convincing Lex Luthor to antagonize Superman.)

I don't have a single quibble with his one.  Highly recommended for any science fiction fan!
4238305
I was apprehensive about reading a new Star Trek series but I am glad I read this one. The story was great! The station is beautiful and the character's are well defined. A must read for any Star Trek fan!
1664188
What a bargain this one is! If you talk to [original series] Trekkies, you'll find that they rave about these two episodes, the third great one being "The Trouble with Tribbles".

In "Shore Leave," part of the Enterprise crew transports down for a little R&R on an interesting planet, only to discover that Lewis Carroll and others appear to have lined out the program. Each crew member experiences situations and people that existed earlier in their lives (or in their dreams). The "Alice in Wonderland" character theme continues throughout the episode. But Kirk quickly discovers that this seemingly joyful planet is NOT all in fun as death begins to plague his crew!

This entry is a really fun Star Trek romp, albeit it's serious at times, and is reminiscent of the much older "Bonanza" episode, "Hoss and the Leprechauns".

"The Squire of Gothos" is truly a unique episode. 'The Squire' is brilliantly played by William Campbell, a renowned actor who was an original contender for the spot of Captain Kirk. This is the only episode where a chief character had more speaking parts than Captain Kirk (William Shatner). The ego-driven Shatner, only realizing this too late, never allowed THAT to EVER happen again!

I've known Bill Campbell, ("Love Me Tender," where he played Elvis Presley's brother in the latter's first film, an American Civil War saga), for many years and consider him a good friend -- this Star Trek episode was one of his favorite acting experiences of all time. He really loved this memorable and fascinating role as the ornery Squire, "Trelane". And I have to say, Bill was a perfect, very dramatic  casting choice for the difficult role.

The story: On the Planet of Gothos, Kirk, Spock, and female crew members  are forced to 'play' The Squire's games, WHEN he wants to play, and by HIS rules. It doesn't take long for The Squire to get under Kirk's skin, big-time, but he finds himself helpless against the vast power of this pseudo-Gothic troublemaker.

If you were only ever going to own a single original Star Trek Series DVD, this would be the one to grab!
3405879
Star Trek: Generations was one of my favorite movies of the series because it was action-packed, and it brought Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard together to save the day! His themes in regards to the lives of these 2 individual as they go through various changes in their personal lives are done beautifully! The themes for the nexus are done so superbly that it gives you such a great sense of joy! Marvelous score!
979919
Mark Twain once described Richard Wagner's music as being "better than it sounds."  This sentiment sums up my feelings of Diane Carey's Trek novels.
 When one picks up a Star Trek novel by Diane Carey, one may be assured of two comforting elements:  1)  Captain Kirk (and, by association, the rest of the TOS crew) will be treated by other characters as the bravest, strongest, noblest, handsomest, simply the ginchiest anyone has ever seen; and 2) Ms. Carey's knowledge and experience of nautical and naval traditions will be lathered over the story at every opportunity in a manner almost of reminiscent of Irving Wallace, who would do extensive research of his subject and then have a character simply mouth paragraph after paragraph of expository paraphrasing, almost completely divorced from the context of the plot.  Ms. Carey's last two efforts evince these traits exceptionally well.  In "Ship Of The Line," she has Captain Morgan Bateson speak in nineteenth-century sailing lingo, while in "Red Sector," her protagonist has a case of hero-worship on Spock that borders on the homoerotic.
 Ms. Carey's latest effort, "Wagon Train To The Stars," is classic Carey.  Both the above elements are present in full force.  A supporting character -- the captain of a privateer vessel in the aforementioned "wagon train," early on rebels against taking orders from Kirk, saying "there's only one man in a hundred thousand worth following" (or words to that effect).  Then, after several amazingly heroic, courageous and daring feats, the privateer places himself fully at Kirk's disposal, repeating his earlier statement.
 ...  She has to show the reader just how heroic, how wonderful the TOS characters are.  I can't imagine her Kirk with the humor shown in "The Trouble With Tribbles" or "How Much For Just The Planet?", the self-doubt of "Balance Of Terror" and "Obsession," or the fallability of "Operation -- Annihiliate!" and "Errand Of Mercy."
 I'll continue to read the New Earth books.  Once again, Carey (this time with John Ordover) have concocted a brilliant plot, and so far it's a pretty good story.  It's just that her actual words never quite live up to the story's promise.
1016897
Easily one of the top five episodes in trek history!  If you're a fan of Nimoy's character you've gotta see this one!  Too great for words!  The whole series rocks and this is one of the very best!
2745843
I've just finished viewing the second season of Star Trek: Voyager. Before ordering it, I read the reviews, which I recall largely panned the second season. I must disagree. Yes, I am a "Trekker", and yes, I have viewed many times all programs from Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, I ordered Voyager because I needed to feed my hunger for about anything Star Trek. I found the contents of Season Two to be better than I had been led to expect. There are many very good episodes, which are offered largely to develop back story of most characters. I would unhesitatingly recommend this collection to others, especially Trekkers. Now it is on to Season Three!
2898113
Great for any Star Trek fans out there. Bought for my husband and he could not put it down!
3342596
This is the absolute best space opera written since Star Trek and all the other popular operas since.  This saga is more than worthy of being made into tv/movie material.  The thing about Ryk Browns writing is he doesn't write over our heads with complicated gobbledee gook. <G>  The material keeps me intrigued and that's something for a guy who has an attention deficit for reading. I cant wait for episode #13!!!

Fred/racerx43
2262359
This book was a great narrative of Starfleet, and Federation history. It was so well written that I cheered when the Romulans where defeated in "The Great Romulan War." It was great to see how the Articles of the Federation reflected on US Constitution and how "American society" influenced Star Trek over the years. Great buy, and it looks great on my mantle!
2828736
This book is a fabulous and worthy addition to the line of excellent Star Trek novels, even going back to the work of Diane Duane and L. A. Graf, two of my favorites.  It's not just that Mr. Robinson knows Garak through portraying him for seven years - he knows him through delving into his psyche and his motivations, and confidently giving him a past that makes perfect sense when trying to understand the character we saw in the series.

I was unable to put the book down, once I started re-reading it again recently - in fact, I found it even more riveting, now that the series has been over for so long and events in the world have moved on.  But that's sort of the point - in the book, Garak is back on Cardassia helping to rebuild, and life is different than it was ten or twenty years ago - things have moved on in his world as well as in our "real" one.  The passage of time made the emotional impact even greater for me - and it was quite an impact.  I find that the courage and, eventually, the humor that Garak was able to show toward some of the people and situations in his life was quite inspiring.  I think I would sometimes have been huddled on the ground crying!

Or maybe I wouldn't - the real beauty of this book is that Garak never loses his sense of self, and tells how he grew stronger through the events of his past life and of the desolate present on Cardassia.  Anyone who has ever heard Andrew Robinson speak knows how seriously he takes this part of his career and how much respect he has for Garak's fans - this book is an incredible legacy and offering to us, who love this whole multi-faceted Star Trek world.  I really wish the book was still available on paper, but read it anyway, even if the Kindle version is still having hiccups - you'll be thinking about scenes from it for a long, long time.
3473341
If you enjoy book series that meld past shows and previous books with the work, then Peter David's "Imzadi II" won't disappoint.
Readers will be transported from scenes in ST:Generations to past ST:TNG episodes  with a ST:DS9 character thrown in for good measure. All this blends  together cleanly to create a marvelously structured and exciting  storyline.
Mr Worf's relationship with Troi takes center stage this time  'round, with a humorous confrontation on Betazed with Mother Troi, Lwaxana.  Though I'd be hardpressed not to find any situation involving Lwaxana  unhumorous. Disappointing many of the Riker/Troi fans I've spoken to is  Riker's somewhat backseat position. While his double plays an important  role, *our* Riker doesn't show his mettle until the closing battle. But, as  I mentioned to them, what is there is all Riker, and it sets us up nicely  for a possible third Imzadi.
The plot twists and planet hopping, Earth to  Betazed to Qu'onos and beyond, should keep any fan of ST:TNG or these  wonderful characters page turning to the end.
Here's to Imzadi  III,
Barbara
921540
Having liked star trek from its humble beginings i thought this book was well worth the wait, the story of trill and bajor are very well put together
becouse it tells the reader all about the other planets in the federation that were affected after the story of Star Trek Deep Space Nine UNITY.
Having watched star trek from the beginning i had no idea about the trill society and the fact that the symbionts live very long lives. The tv series went into it a little bit, and the complex relationship between Ezri dax beging so old and wise and Julian Bashir was great (referance DS9 Equilibrium and TNG Conspiracy).
Then we come to Bajor and the story after the Emissary(AKA Benjamin Sisko) returns and the birth of his child and the contarvercy surrounding Bajors entry in to the federation and the relationships that get better after Star Trek Deep Space Nine UNITY. Over all i found the story and the set of books great and really worth the time to read. Loved it as a Star Trek Fan.
505842
I just finished listening to this yesterday and found it to be enjoyable.
The short story read aloud was competent if a bit brief.  (Do not expect the same stories you had in an hour long show with Power records!)  The use of sound effects and music was professionally done and added a lot to the presentation.

Kirk's voice actor was so good I thought Mr Shatner might have done this.  I suspect they used a top impersonator at the time, there were many back then.  Spock was acted well also with the same lack of emotion portrayed by the original, though the voice was slightly less similar to Mr Nimoy.  It was a good solid reading by a pro from both actors.

PS  The comic books that came with some of these records were all superbly done (with some interesting errors like switching the race of Uhura and Chekov leaving Uhura a blonde.)  The art was very good looking otherwise for the time period it was produced in.

The other roles were less like the actors but basically competent enough with the nuances of the characters to move the story forward to a nice conclusion in the style of the classic series.

I heard all the other power records Star Trek series stories as well and they were equally well crafted, and compared well to the animated series considering the lack of the original voices.  Again the Kirk voice made the story a pleasure.  I wish there were info about who the actor was but none could be found on line by me
4173465
Twist of Faith offers everything:

*what a bargain!  660 pages of truly wonderful story-telling with enough action, variety, mysteries, and fun to give you hours of reading pleasure

*a truly beautiful cover and binding.  Not something I usually care about but the artwork on Twist of Faith is just fantastic.

*Avatar, by S. D. Perry, is as rich and detailed a story as you will find in the Star Trek universe.  Mind you, this is NOT an easy read - the book is painstaking in its detail, carefully building up characters and story until the book positively takes a life of its own (literally!).  Most amazing of all, it brings utterly brand new characters completely alive, from an "old hand" Star Fleet officer to a young Andorian to a brand new take on the Jem'Hidar.  And if that weren't enough, it takes backstory from the series to a remarkably vivid and logical extension, with the book filled with both heart-wrenching tragedy and great triumphs.

*an action packed middle book (Abyss) which, while it can't keep up quite the momentum found in the first book, serves as effective action piece for our good Doctor.

*a very well written 3rd and final book (Demons of Air and Darkness) which shows that a very simple and somewhat monotonous premise - catastrophe and rescue - can be greatly enhanced by skillful, amusing, and action-packed writing ability that neatly fuses races from not only Deep Space 9 but also Voyager in a way that makes sense and provides edge of your seat excitement.

*and if that weren't enough, there's a special treat in the Horn and Ivory novella which is a different sort of story (more would spoil the fun) that is immensely enjoyable and remarkably entertaining, especially since it involves a series of characters and events which don't go beyond this single story.

In short, this is a fantastic volume, attractively to view, wonderfully priced, and an absolutely stellar set of stories.  They outdid themselves with this one!

Kudos!!!
1190632
Great addition to the Star Trek series.  5 stars!
4347982
This second book in the Legacies trilogy is even better than the first!  Mack does a phenomenal job of capturing the essence of the characters, and he moves the plot along a great deal.  I highly recommend this book, and the overall Legacies trilogy, for any Trek fan.