Resistance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Star Trek: The Next Generation 'Resistance' is an okay novel. First, its strengths; finally, we get a TNG book that attempts to blend in elements and parts of the different shows into the plot. You have Worf dealing with his actions in "Deep Space Nine" and showing that he still hasn't gotten over the death of Jadzia Dax. You have Picard showing that even after 'First Contact', he still has issues with the Borg. The Enterprise is still reeling from the events of 'Nemesis' and trying to welcome in new officers, such as Counselor T'Lana who for me made this novel far more interesting than the premise set it up to be. Worf (as you can read from the premise) turning down a promotion. Picard 'losing it' which seems to be a theme with the whole 'A Time To ...' series. Crusher dealing with the events of Nemesis, the 'A Time To ...' series, and the novel 'Death in Winter.'

Another good point is that this really is an easy read. The tone of it is very much 'The Next Generation', even without Data, Riker and Troi, from start to finish, I felt as if I was reading and visualizing an episode of the show and it carried with it the feeling of 'Encounter at Farpoint' with the new crew members trying to blend in with officers (like Crusher, Picard, Worf and Geordi) who are already familiar with one another. Counselor T'Lana proves to be a point of conflict, not conforming or fitting in as Deanna Troi did. This was a welcome addition to the crew. But, it did feel as if she was a cookie-cutter Vulcan echoing Enterprise's T'Pol more than a truly original character. I actually enjoyed seeing Worf mature and grow with this novel. I was glad to see the Picard/Crusher relationship actually going somewhere. I enjoyed reading about Kathryn Janeway and Picard bumping heads after their rather friendly exchange from nowhere in "Nemseis".

What brought the novel down for me was the main conflict and premise. The Borg. I was waiting for something mind blowing, edgey, fresh, just as the premise promises. Yet, this felt like a continuation of "Best of Both Worlds" and "Star Trek: First Contact." By the end, I felt asif the plot was a let down. It's a rehash of dozens of episodes dealing with the Borg. Yes, the Borg and TNG go together nicely and it's an obvious choice to 'relaunch' TNG series, but really, it doesn't seem necessary. It seems dull, rushed, almost like a clip show. It was like reading a script for "Best of Both Worlds" with a footnote to Voyager's "End Game." There were parts when I felt it jumped the shark, from Picard having another "First Contact" moment and feeling as if he could hear and predict what they Borg were doing, to the entire crew except one person being in full support of him when as a reader it seemed like a very bad, reckless, "you can't be serious" idea. It doesn't come off as 'cool' or 'hip', it left me personally wishing they had chosen something original to launch this great series and characters on.

What was also distracting was the new host of characters. The plot is geared toward some and yet only works if you as a reader care for them or what happens with them. These aren't characters we've been following for 20 years. You really have no reason at all to care about them or 'feel' for them and so their actions and story arcs feel like a pointless, distracting plot. By the end, with the 'new people' plot intruding in the main plot, I kept yelling for the plot to go back to our main slew of heroes. Poor Geordi La Forge, yet again, is shafted in this novel, left with hardly anything at all to do or say. Thankfully, Crusher does get a beefed up plot, far better than that of "Death in Winter" or any TNG film besides "First Contact." Still, if you're expecting anything new with the Borg, don't set your hopes too high. It was a let down and, in my opinion, a waste of a novel. Like an 80s TNG episode, many of the problems are nice and cleanly wrapped up in the sum of 306 pages with predictable twists, cliches that'll make you cringe, leading you to pray the upcoming novels "Q&A" and "Before Dishonor" help this relaunch really take off.

Even with the rather unorignial plot, distracting extras, the feel of it being like professional fan-fic, many points that jump the shark, it's not a bomb and it was nice to read about the transition of what was to what will be 'The Next Generation' story and cast. Give it a read and be your own judge.

This book for me summed up much of what is wrong with the Star Trek franchise right now. Offering nothing new or fresh, the book is merely a rewriting of plots from earlier episodes and films. I realize that there are only so many ideas out there, but come on. It was like someone was handed a one paragraph summary of each character and was told to remind readers at every opportunity of the show's past successes like First Contact (Make sure you work in that Ahab line!), Best Of Both Worlds (Make him Locutus again! The fans loved that!), and the already well covered Worf "I Miss My Dax" storyline of DS9 season 7 and every Worf appearance since then.

Picard's "daring" plan isn't shot down immediately, because nobody mentions how poorly the idea worked out when Voyager's crew tried it. Everybody knows who Seven of Nine is, but didn't read the reports on Voyager's attempt at this same thing when Tuvok and Janeway tried it? I guess they don't have Tivo on the Enterprise. Or mission reports. Or common sense.

If you have watched Unimatrix Zero, and the episodes and films mentioned above, you'll have about twelve pages of new material in this book. The Worf's promotion storyline, which I thought would help the later parts of the story, almost became an afterthought.

Nothing New. Nothing Compelling. This book is a cash grab and will only eat away at more of the loyalty of the Star Trek fanbase. Avoid it and save some of your wallet's goodwill for their next try.

By the way, I didn't like this book.

This book is without any redeeming points. Dillard is a horrible writer; I mean she is truly awful. She writes as if she were composing an encyclopedia, astutely cataloging every event and conversation as tersely as possible. Because she cannot write a conversation or action scene worth a damn, she spends three-quarters of the book using internal monologues that go on for pages, even when such monologues are ridiculous, e.g., Picard is in the bowels of the Borg Cube, and he decides to take a five-page jaunt through memory lane.

The characterization is horrible. Janeway becomes a total b!tch. One of the most innovative captains in Starfleet becomes a whining, over-bearing b!tch. Dillard must have issues with women, because, unless the women is petite, feminine, and subordinate, she is a b!tch.

The plot is pathetic. Just when will the Borg wake up and realize that a ship nearby, even though it has its shields and weapons powered down, may be trouble, because it is collecting information. One of the most important aspects of warfare is information. Countless armies have been defeated by their lesser opponents because the opponents had better information. After having their butts kicked repeatedly by the Federation, you'd think they'd have learned that by now, especially when their Super Cube can easily destroy the Enterprise, so why do they always let it pull up next to them and send people aboard to gather information and sabotage the ship.

Finally, Dillard contradicts her own characters. After spending pages learning about the new Vulcan counselor who has years of experience, is highly decorated, and is renowned for understanding and adapting to different cultures, she finally boards the Enterprise and begins to insult, undermine, contradict and denigrate the senior staff. Absolutely pathetic. So why was she so decorated?

This book should NEVER have gotten pass the editors. Don't buy it. Don't read it. Just let it die, and avoid Dillard's books at all costs.

My feeling for Star Trek Resistance fluctuated throughout the book, from high expectations due to the strong visual cover and title, to partial disappointment towards the end. The new counsellor is a strange choice. There is unnecessary plot development of minor crew who end up dying anyway. There are too many new characters. I must say it does move the Next Generation Universe forward in some unexpectedly positive ways though.

As you may have guessed by now, this book focuses on Picard and the return of the Borg (again). It's a bit long in the tooth as a concept now, and there are plot copies from TNG series 6 where Lore takes over a splinter group, and other previous movies. Suffice it to say that they get in over their heads, but somehow manage to grasp victory from defeat.

There were a few individual things which struck me in the book.

1. Data will be sorely missed. Not only was he a great character, but was actually central in defeating the Borg at least twice. I hope someone develops a plot twist to reinstall Data into his "brother" later on.

2. Janeway makes an excellent Admiral. Her promotion after Voyager's return as an intelligent and strong leader is a TNG plus.

3. The changing dynamics of interstellar politics allowed an interesting twist on the long standing Treaty of Algeron. I look forward to seeing how that progresses.

4. Picard and the crew show unusual individual initiative. Normally, the Enterprise would receive their orders from SF Command, be given orders (Strategic aspect), and Picard would go and carry them out his own way (Tactical aspect).

This time, Picard did everything on his own initiative and even went against Command. Is this a good thing? Only time will tell.

So do I recommend this book? Yes, but temper your expectations.

Great story, well-written (not all ST books are), lots of action and character development. It is set post-Nemesis and immediately after the novel Death in Winter, but any Star Trek fan can easily pick it up and enjoy it out of order.

I had such high hopes. Terrible. The follow-up book, Before Dishonor, is equally awful. (The latter is easily Peter David's worst book by a wide margin. He's a terrific author, but missed the mark by a continent).

The only saving grace for these two books are how David Mack built on the storyline in his Destiny trilogy. You almost have to read these two to get some of the finer points, which is too bad. You've been warned.

Of the several hundred Star Trek books I've read, these two rank in the bottom four. (The other two being Voyager's Homecoming two-parter).

What seemed to start as a good book QUICKLY disintegrates into a BAD READ! Same ole formula, Nearly destroy the Enterprise, keep everything Dark, Negative, Kill off a few characters then resolve it all in a few sentences. This book is a waste of your money, so don't buy it.

We learn a few new things about the Borg who even in a seemingly SLEEP mode can Overwhelm the Best the federation can throw at them. The new character T'Lana seems a throw back to T'Pol of the disastrous series Enterprise with Scott Bakula. Trek hasn't been done right in quite some time.

Read Resistance in 2 days and here's what I thought of it.

1)Plays more like a sequel to First Contact and Best of Both Worlds

2)The character of Sara Nave is a bit confusing(at least to me) as I can't figure out if she's attracted to Worf or not. It seems to me that Worf is afraid of committing to another relationship after what happaned with Jadzia.

3)I hate T'Lana. She is supposed to be a counsleor yet doesn't really play that part as she should. To me it doesn't feel like she's a perfect fit on the Enterprise. Personally, I feel she's a waste of a character (maybe because she's underdeveloped).

I prefer Troi as she has better chemistry with not only Picard but the rest of the crew as well. With T'Lana, it feels like she is trying to distance herself with the crew and vice versa. She seems like one who will bring tension throughout.

3)Why is Geordi only a cameo character in this book?
4)First Worf turns down the 1st officer position then accepts it and while I have no problem with this, it seems out of place for him for some reason.

5)Some of the plot is a rehash of First Contact.

All in all, it was a good read with some loopholes in between although it seems to me that like the movies, that this is another "Captain Picard Show".

It was fast reading yet fairly short with the nding feeling rushed but in the end, it is a satisfying read to the new relaunch series and I am interested in seeing on where the next two books take it.

In the most recent Star Trek film, "Nemesis", the Enterprise was destroyed (or at least very badly damaged), Data was killed, and Riker and Troi were on their way to a new assignment. The latter has been the subject of a series of Star Trek books on the USS Titan. This is the continuation of Picard's mission on the rebuilt Enterprise.

He is joined by Beverly Crusher, now his lover, Worf, Geordi La Forge, a new counselor to replace Troi, and a handful of "redshirts" (that is, people we get to know just before they are killed off).

The enemy is an old one for Picard, the Borg. Defeated by him in the film "First Contact" and dealt what was thought to be a death blow by Kathryn Janeway at the end of the TV series "Voyager", the remaining drones in the Alpha Quadrant, cut off from the Borg elsewhere, are trying to create a new queen. The story, by Star Trek veteran J.M. Dillard, is perfectly adequate. This is a readable Star Trek novel, but certainly not a memorable or groundbreaking one.

The ghost in the background is Seven of Nine, through-out most of the book sent by Admiral Janeway to assist Picard, but never actually present. At the end of the story are the first few pages of the apparent sequel, "Before Dishonor", written by Peter David, another capable Star Trek veteran. That will apparently be a Janeway and Seven book, following up on the secrets in the cube discovered by Picard.

While not wonderful, this book is a good read, and sets us up for the continuation of the Enterprise's missions after "Nemesis". I sort of wish there had been more Geordi. The appearance of the Enterprise's Chief Engineer here is minimal. (And the name for the new 10-Forward is really lame.)

I was not that impressed with this book. It lacked the emotional resonance to really pull you into the story, something that I find the new "Titan" series does a better job of.

Also, the whole premise of "battling the Borg" has been done to death. If you're going to use the Borg in any more books, my suggestion would be to have a plot that reveals more about their origins. This would be far more interesting than going over ground that has already been trod upon countless times before.

Finally, if the Federation really wanted to defeat the Borg, why didn't they just contact Species 8472?