Not a bad one, although as it was early for Trek books, it took a few liberties here and there. "First Frontier" is definitely a fun one, I enjoyed that. Don't listen to your 'unnamed sources', there is a LOT of fun to be had in the numbered books. Not as tight, continuity-wise, as the new books (in fact, they often contradict, unless the 5YM was about 40 years, and Kirk was a bigger menace to the timeline than even hinted at in DS9), but each story by itself works well. Some stinkers as well, but plenty of good stuff there.
I love Masks. It's a simple conceit, and the backstory makes no sense, but Vornholt just brings alive this vibrant, creative society. Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
You said it, Chris. One of the things I remember the most about it was the rediculous amount of times I read the wordy and completely meaningless dialogue-tag "Kirk wanted to know". Sheesh, why coudn't the author just write "Kirk asked" or even "Kirk wonderd"? The only other times I ever recall seeing that kind of tag were in kid's books --and even as a kid, I found it awkward-sounding.... I'll give you that. It was a pretty good story. Nice ideas, I think. Oh, yeah! She was actually the reason I borrowed the book. The author handled her well --as far as the writing went, anyway. As far as the older books are concerned, the only one that I recall actually dealing with her as a character is the pretty-underrated Enterprise: The First Adventure. That being said, she was well used here. I liked how Kirk notes her combat experience. She's still a lady, but she's capable, and tough when she has to be. Kinda hints at what the character could've been, had Grace not been booted of the set.... *sigh*
I would have thought "Chain of Attack" would have been techie enough for you. I didn't care for it much, but was pleasantly surprised that it referenced "The Abode of Life" and a lot of fans remember CoA as one of their first faves, simply because it was the first regular novel after the massive hit that was ST IV, and so was the first ST book a lot of new fans bought. In the UK, it even kicked off the numbered local Titan novels at #1. "The Final Nexus" was a chore to read, although I did like the female guest star. But it wasn't nearly as bad as "TNG: Into the Nebula". "TNG: The Peacekeepers" and the long-delayed "Engines of Destiny" were more enjoyable Gene DeWeese ST novels.
Chain of Attack was also the first ST novel to display the original ST logo above the title, rather than just saying "The new STAR TREK novel" in more ordinary print somewhere on the cover. However, I believe rereleases of earlier books often added the logo, obscuring that fact.
The only real problem I have with Masks is a minor conceptual point: how come the Enterprise computers had such a tiny selection of masks in their replicator database? But that was a necessary plot conceit.
^ I agree. To me, it culminates with them earning their new masks, and shows that there is more to the masks than status. I enjoyed this novel. As it stands, I just finished "First Frontier" and "Captain's Daughter". I loved both of them. Well, okay, "First Frontier" started off a little slow for me, but after about 75 pages it started to swing into it. "Captain's Daughter" was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. I'm now starting on "Web of the Romulans" by M.S. Murdock. Looks interesting. J.