Opinions about the Invasion series.
- Thread starter PimpMario
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First Strike is classic TOS. A great Kirk book. One of Diane Carey's best.
The Soldiers of Fear is enjoyable, but it's a little remote. After Carey gives us all this great material about the Furies in the first book, they're a bit faceless in the second.
Time's Arrow is fantastic. It doesn't have a lot to do with the Furies; it's more about the people the Furies fought way back in the mists of time.
The Final Fury meanders a bit. It's a sequel to Soldiers of Fear. We see the Furies' homeworld. It's okay.
I'd say the series is two great books and two middle-of-the-road books. The series as a whole is definitely worth reading.
The Soldiers of Fear is enjoyable, but it's a little remote. After Carey gives us all this great material about the Furies in the first book, they're a bit faceless in the second.
Time's Arrow is fantastic. It doesn't have a lot to do with the Furies; it's more about the people the Furies fought way back in the mists of time.
The Final Fury meanders a bit. It's a sequel to Soldiers of Fear. We see the Furies' homeworld. It's okay.
I'd say the series is two great books and two middle-of-the-road books. The series as a whole is definitely worth reading.
Thanks for the in-depth reviews, I can pick them up for $2 a peice so I will probably do it!
Keep the opinions coming.
I, surprisingly, agree. First Strike is one of few TOS books I've enjoyed, and the only Diane Carey book I've ever liked.
I thought this one the worst. Short, rushed, and like Allyn said, remote. I recall a number of attempted character pieces that just went nowhere.
The best of the series, I'd say. Grand scope, intriguing villains.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I have fond memories of Time's Enemy, but can't recall my feelings on the rest of the books. The mystery behind the starship they find was really intriguing (I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't read it).
I also really loved L.A. Graf's bio of their history. Very creative!
I also really loved L.A. Graf's bio of their history. Very creative!
The TOS (best entry) and TNG are the better of the 4 entries IMHO. The DS9 one gets off the track and might as well be a standalone about something else entirely. The VOY one was ok.
I agree that TOS and DS9 are fantastic, and TNG and VOY much less so. VOY also has the strangest continuity problems I've ever read in a novel, among the best of which were Torres being on the bridge and in engineering within the same exchange of dialogue and a mention of Tom and Harry seated side by side on the bridge.
While we're on the subject, can someone tell me how user friendly Time's Arrow is, as a stand alone novel? I only have the DS9 one, as the back cover blurb interested me.
Totally user-friendly and worth reading.
Um, the DS9 one's called Time's Enemy, not Time's Arrow...
It's also fabulous, one of the best books of the era, albeit (or perhaps because of) having virtually sod all to do with the miniseries.
It's also fabulous, one of the best books of the era, albeit (or perhaps because of) having virtually sod all to do with the miniseries.
I, more surprisingly yet, agree to a considerable extent. I remember being pleasantly surprised by First Strike; it's as readable as Carey gets. I didn't like the core Invasion concept much, but First Strike is a good start to the series nonetheless.
Yeah, this was the second surprise in a row -- I went from liking a Carey book to disliking a Smith/Rusch book. That was one of their earlier Trek books, and I've since found their Trek work inconsistent, but I'd been positively inclined towards them for stuff like their Pulphouse quarterly hardcover magazine and other things.
Yep. Back in the day, this was the one I remember people really buzzing about online. Epic stuff.
I agree with Trent. Time's Enemy is the best of the series, and First Strike is very good. I don't like Diane Carey very much, but this one is good in terms of plot and characterization. Soldiers of Fear feels like a rushed job, and the last installment, Final Fury, is a mixed bag. Personally, I really loathe gratuitously inserted characters like Lt. Redbay, but it's just me.
In the end, I find the premise very intriguing, and the tetralogy is totally worth reading.
In the end, I find the premise very intriguing, and the tetralogy is totally worth reading.
I recall loving the TOS and DS9 books and liking the TNG book fairly well. I liked the Redbay maneuver in the TNG installment - a shuttle is at full impulse going in one direction, then it enters warp for a millisecond so that it leaves normal space, rotates 90 degrees to its original course, then reenters normal space traveling in a completely different direction with no inertial stresses. Neat idea.
The VOY book brought up some intriguing notions, as I recall, which I've never seen followed up on. Neelix wasn't as annoying as usual, and I thought it was absolutely awesome how he was keeping a spare communicator or two in his boot because "someone's always taking away our communicators when we're captured". Then the odd interaction where Janeway (I believe) got the wild hare to ask the communicator some questions as if she were talking to a dumbed down version of a ship's computer. Why not? I could buy it that communicator badges are more than just souped up nokia cell phones.
Wish I could go back and re-read the series. I lost a single box in a move years ago, which (wouldn't cha know it) contained my entire trek books collection (50+ novels). Just about killed me.
The VOY book brought up some intriguing notions, as I recall, which I've never seen followed up on. Neelix wasn't as annoying as usual, and I thought it was absolutely awesome how he was keeping a spare communicator or two in his boot because "someone's always taking away our communicators when we're captured". Then the odd interaction where Janeway (I believe) got the wild hare to ask the communicator some questions as if she were talking to a dumbed down version of a ship's computer. Why not? I could buy it that communicator badges are more than just souped up nokia cell phones.
Wish I could go back and re-read the series. I lost a single box in a move years ago, which (wouldn't cha know it) contained my entire trek books collection (50+ novels). Just about killed me.
I thought they were really cool when I first read them. However, it should be noted that I was a fifth grader when I read them and the thought of Star Trek people meeting up with 'demons' was about as cool a concept you could come up with.
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