An interesting premise; having a slightly backwards race at odds with the Klingons suddenly find themselves in possession of technology that is above Klingon and Federation levels. They request arbitration by the Federation in order to buy time to learn how to use it, and unfortunately the Enterprise is assigned. In the end it's a slightly silly book that just ends up being somewhat bland.

Numbered novels aren't usually allowed to add information to the canon, or at least anything that could "matter". Survivors (TNG #4) was an exception, and so is Strike Zone. Peter David only does it through details, but they are immediately believable. Because I read this back in the day, I was under the impression that claims such as the Ferengi/synthehol connection was canonical. I especially appreciate the Kreel, which help pad out Klingon space a lot more than has been done on the show. It sometimes seems that while there are tons of races in Federation space, the Klingon Empire is just Klingons. The Kreel aren't part of the Empire, but they do fill out its history and borders. David's true strength, as in his comics, is dialogue and character development. I don't think he has Wesley's "voice" quite right, and his Data is pretty broad, but the rest are impeccable. Their interactions are smart and witty, as his the omniscient narrator. His Worf is more badass than any before Deep Space 9, and I hope a lesson to TNG writers at the time. There are a lot of comic bits, of course, much of it quite welcome, especially the crew being sick of "tests". David's not afraid to poke fun at Trek's conventions. I do take exception at his naming of characters and ships however, attracting attention to itself through the use of inside jokes (Tron, Kothulhu, and for comic book readers, Bobbi Chase).

I was thoroughly entertained by this novel. It was fast moving, fun and action packed! What more could you ask for in a Star Trek The Next Generation novel? Well, maybe a better ending, but I’ll get to that later.

Warning: Minor spoilers

The novel starts by introducing us to the Kreel, an unattractive alien race who are depicted as technology scavengers. They stumble across advance weapon technology on a deserted planet they consider within their territory. Now the Kreel have a century worth of animosity with the Klingons (who in return HATE the Kreel – they even spit whenever they say the name), who also stake a claim on the “deserted” planet (and the technology). Even though the Klingons are technologically superior to the Kreel, the Kreel manage to figure out some of the weapons and seem to have an upper hand against the Klingons.

In order to solve this problem, the Klingons and Kreel decide to meet and come to a resolution and of course the Enterprise must be the vessel to facilitate this meeting.

Meanwhile, our favorite 16 year old acting ensign Wesley Crusher (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice) is whining away that everyone calls him the “Brain Trust” and hates the fact that everyone views him as a genius. Sigh. But our boy wonder has a best friend name Jaal (who happens to be a beautiful elf like alien). It is revealed that Jaal has a genetic disease which gives him 6-12 months to live which causes Wesley to go crazy with this news and he vows to discover a cure.

As the novel continues, we deal with major clashes between the Kreel (I began to hate them more and more as the novel went on), Worf gets a love interest (because we know humans can’t take the “lovin’” that is Klingon), Data and Dr. Pulaski bicker over her unease with androids, and I get even more annoyed with Wesley.

The author’s writing style flows easily and his use of humor caused me to laugh out loud more than once. The story does play out as a typical TNG episode but with more subplots and the typical ending which leaves you asking, “Really? That’s what is behind all of this?”

This is Peter David’s first Trek novel. David’s style is slightly wacky. This novel is equal parts silly and clever. It’s an entertaining read even if it lacks the seriousness of early TNG. It’s interesting to look at this as a foundation for David’s later Trek work.

I don't often write reviews, but this book is so very weird.

The weirdness starts with a teenage girl telling Riker his beard is super sexy, stroking her hands thorough it, and him being amused by it (in a creepy kinda way). Picard doesn't listen to Troi's counsel ("I can do my job Counsellor!). Picard gets a sense of humour. Picard is attracted to Pulaski (what??). Ten-Forward becomes "Ten-Four". Pulaski doesn't bother to help a patient because there's just no helping them, and then just lets Wesley give it a go because he has "picked some things up from his mom."

I had to stop at this point because it was like bizarroTrek.

Peter David is a fantastic writer. You know how in the TV series there are episodes you could watch on repeat? This book has the same feel. Interesting from begining to end.