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Star Trek: The Next Generation #59
Gemworld, Book Two
Sparkling like a three-dimensional snowflake in the depths of space, Gernworld once was one of the Federation's greatest marvels. Six different alien races coexisted peacefully on an artificial world composed entirely of crystal -- until the very substance of Gemworld began to multiply out of control, tearing the world apart. Now the entire planet -- and the "Starship Enterprise(TM) " as well-faces total destruction.
The only way to stop the disaster is to turn off the vast network of force fields holding Gemworld's atmosphere in place, but to do so will require the cooperation of each of the planet's half dozen alien civilizations, one of which sabotaged Gemworld in the first place. With time running out, Captain Picard and his crew, including a lovestruck Lieutenant Barclay, must embark on a hazardous trek across the dying planet to find and unite the chief engineers from many strange and exotic races -- while watching out for a mass murderer determined to destroy a world!
The only way to stop the disaster is to turn off the vast network of force fields holding Gemworld's atmosphere in place, but to do so will require the cooperation of each of the planet's half dozen alien civilizations, one of which sabotaged Gemworld in the first place. With time running out, Captain Picard and his crew, including a lovestruck Lieutenant Barclay, must embark on a hazardous trek across the dying planet to find and unite the chief engineers from many strange and exotic races -- while watching out for a mass murderer determined to destroy a world!
233 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2000
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353 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 13, 2010
"This is a well-written book based an the moderately interesting (but completely implausible) concept of a world without gravity that nonetheless has a "native" species that is humanoid. Even given that it eventually admits that they are not truly native to the planet, I would expect them, over the millennia that they have inhabited the planet, to have diverged more from the human norm than they have. The book also features Reg Barklay prominently, which I consider a bug rather than a feature; if you LIKE the character of Barkley, you might consider this a four-star review, although even then I'm not so sure. And as a final drawback, it is a "continued next time" story, which I've always hated. Again, if you don't share my dislike of books that "end" in mid-story and require us to buy another book to see the end of the story, take my rating with a grain of salt."
That was what I said after the first book of the series; it's still all true now. But what was particularly distressing is that the conclusion to this story was even less satisfying than the non-conclusion at the end of book one; the plot twists were predictable, the villains obvious, and the solution to the problem a deus ex machina (or more accurately, a deus ex Betazoid). So I can't even say that it was well-written anymore. I expect better of John Vornholt.
That was what I said after the first book of the series; it's still all true now. But what was particularly distressing is that the conclusion to this story was even less satisfying than the non-conclusion at the end of book one; the plot twists were predictable, the villains obvious, and the solution to the problem a deus ex machina (or more accurately, a deus ex Betazoid). So I can't even say that it was well-written anymore. I expect better of John Vornholt.
August 29, 2016
8 days remain and 2 billion lives hang in the balance! "Gemworld" launches into its second installment with the mother of all ticking clocks, as Picard and the crew struggle to prevent the destruction of Melora's homeworld. Thankfully, the author has crafted a convincing plot which gives us a believable reason to visit each of the six sentient species inhabiting Gemworld and explore their unique characteristics: the crew must collect all six crystalline shards (one from each species) in order to "reboot" the planet's artificial shell and prevent disaster from striking.
These species are as diverse as they come; from eel-like sea monsters known as Frills to the Yilterns, bat-like critters who group together to take on the appearance of flying carpets. John Vornholt bestows each species with their own separate personality, delivering his quota of "seeking out new life forms" aplenty. Perhaps most interesting is the Gendlii, a giant sentient fungus who communicates by allowing people to ingest parts of its "body". There are some truly fascinating, original concepts scattered throughout these pages, and it all makes for a welcome departure from the normal Star Trek novel fare.
Unfortunately, this time around I found myself less engaged with one of the main protagonists, Melora Pazlar. Her character shined in the first book, faithfully reproducing her DS9 personality and augmenting it with some newly found maturity. Yet this time around, the author decides to shoehorn her into the ill-thought-out romance with Reg Barclay leading to a number of cringeworthy passages where they go from mild flirting to full-blown life-partners in the space of one or two chapters. Really, John Vornholt should stay away from romance. This is the second time now that I've been left incredulous at how unrealistic his writing is when it comes to affairs of the heart. We are delivered such ridiculous lines as "Promise me you'll always love me" and "I can't live without you". I know Reg is a bit eccentric, but this is beyond the pale even for him.
At the same time, the predictable betrayal evolves as Elayasian Jeptah Tangre Bertoran stages an ill-advised takeover of the Enterprise and attempts to derail the crew's plan to switch off the shell. While there are some fun scenes of Geordi and his gang of engineers attempting to take back control of the ship, the plot failed to gain the traction it should have. Indeed, the eventual "pay-off" (if you can call it that) between Melora and Tangre was so casual that it only succeeded in doing both characters a disservice. This also leads me to Melora's divided loyalties: she spends half of the book secretly plotting against her colleagues (fine, I can live with that)... but then completely gets away with it because, what?, Reg loves her and pressures Troi into covering up what she's done? This really didn't sit right with me.
And finally we have the story's resolution. Sadly, this was a mess, and obviously sacrificed in favor of exploring Gemworld's weird and wonderful inhabitants. I can get on board with the Lipuls traveling across dimensions in their "dream ships" - and I actually quite enjoy the explanation for why Gemworld is so diverse - but the whole "dark entity" story was so vague, poorly written and badly executed that it totally undermines both books' underlying plot. The resolution between Troi and the entity is laughable and only serves to make a joke out of Picard's desperate attempts to collect all six crystalline shards over the past two books. A bad, bad ending, and very disappointing after so much wonderful material preceded it.
A few other points:
* The destruction of the U.S.S. Summit. Unbelievably perfunctory. Almost to the point of being a throwaway footnote.
* Keefe Nordine. Enjoyable to an extent, but then he just seems to disappear, almost as if the author gets bored with him.
* Unanswered questions: Who opened the rift? The entity? The possessed Lipul engineer? Why was Picard so convinced that rebooting the shell would close the rift? What happened to the runaway dark matter collection story?
With so many problems (especially in the final 2 or 3 chapters), this should deserve a two star rating at best. However that would overlook Vornholt's wonderful world-building work that occupies the first two thirds of this book, so I'm tossing in an extra star for that.
These species are as diverse as they come; from eel-like sea monsters known as Frills to the Yilterns, bat-like critters who group together to take on the appearance of flying carpets. John Vornholt bestows each species with their own separate personality, delivering his quota of "seeking out new life forms" aplenty. Perhaps most interesting is the Gendlii, a giant sentient fungus who communicates by allowing people to ingest parts of its "body". There are some truly fascinating, original concepts scattered throughout these pages, and it all makes for a welcome departure from the normal Star Trek novel fare.
Unfortunately, this time around I found myself less engaged with one of the main protagonists, Melora Pazlar. Her character shined in the first book, faithfully reproducing her DS9 personality and augmenting it with some newly found maturity. Yet this time around, the author decides to shoehorn her into the ill-thought-out romance with Reg Barclay leading to a number of cringeworthy passages where they go from mild flirting to full-blown life-partners in the space of one or two chapters. Really, John Vornholt should stay away from romance. This is the second time now that I've been left incredulous at how unrealistic his writing is when it comes to affairs of the heart. We are delivered such ridiculous lines as "Promise me you'll always love me" and "I can't live without you". I know Reg is a bit eccentric, but this is beyond the pale even for him.
At the same time, the predictable betrayal evolves as Elayasian Jeptah Tangre Bertoran stages an ill-advised takeover of the Enterprise and attempts to derail the crew's plan to switch off the shell. While there are some fun scenes of Geordi and his gang of engineers attempting to take back control of the ship, the plot failed to gain the traction it should have. Indeed, the eventual "pay-off" (if you can call it that) between Melora and Tangre was so casual that it only succeeded in doing both characters a disservice. This also leads me to Melora's divided loyalties: she spends half of the book secretly plotting against her colleagues (fine, I can live with that)... but then completely gets away with it because, what?, Reg loves her and pressures Troi into covering up what she's done? This really didn't sit right with me.
And finally we have the story's resolution. Sadly, this was a mess, and obviously sacrificed in favor of exploring Gemworld's weird and wonderful inhabitants. I can get on board with the Lipuls traveling across dimensions in their "dream ships" - and I actually quite enjoy the explanation for why Gemworld is so diverse - but the whole "dark entity" story was so vague, poorly written and badly executed that it totally undermines both books' underlying plot. The resolution between Troi and the entity is laughable and only serves to make a joke out of Picard's desperate attempts to collect all six crystalline shards over the past two books. A bad, bad ending, and very disappointing after so much wonderful material preceded it.
A few other points:
* The destruction of the U.S.S. Summit. Unbelievably perfunctory. Almost to the point of being a throwaway footnote.
* Keefe Nordine. Enjoyable to an extent, but then he just seems to disappear, almost as if the author gets bored with him.
* Unanswered questions: Who opened the rift? The entity? The possessed Lipul engineer? Why was Picard so convinced that rebooting the shell would close the rift? What happened to the runaway dark matter collection story?
With so many problems (especially in the final 2 or 3 chapters), this should deserve a two star rating at best. However that would overlook Vornholt's wonderful world-building work that occupies the first two thirds of this book, so I'm tossing in an extra star for that.
January 29, 2012
I have to say that John Vornholt is not one of my favorite Star Trek writers, so I started reading this duology called Gemworld with a little trepidation. I was mildly surprised. The writing was at a higher level than the last book I read by him (I can't remember which book that was), although it didn't pass into spectacular. But was really surprised me was the actual plot elements and the detail of the world he created here.
The books focus on the remains of an ancient water world, where the water has mostly evaporated away, leaving behind crystalline structures with liguid marrow trapped inside and an atmosphere held in place by a lattice of forcefields. The mass of the planet is so low that it basically has no gravity. I don't have enough of a science background to know whether this setup is even possible, but it was intriguing enough to hold my attention.
In any case, something has happened and now mutant crystal is growing at an increasing rate, threatening to destroy the entire planet. Melora, one of the inhabitants of the planet who has joined Star Fleet (and who first appeared in an episode of Deep Space Nine), and Deanna receive a dream distress call and the Enterprise sidetracks to investigate.
Upon their arrival, they are immediately nearly destroyed by a mysterious dimensional rift that doesn't appear on their sensors, but it spewing dark matter toward the planet, which the massive shield that keeps the planet in one piece uses to help keep its inhabitants alive. The problem is that there's too much dark matter, and the shield is converting the excess into the mutant crystal. But no one can figure out why.
The story unfolds from there. The best aspect of the two books is the world itself and the inhabitants. Having no gravity except on the Enterprise and its shuttles gives an interesting twist to the investigation. Having the Enterprise and its shuttles flying about in atmosphere, with the crew able to work on repairs and learn about the world without the need of spacesuits was also interesting. As pointed out in the book, this would be a perfect starbase. So in the "oh, cool" scale, the books have a huge wow factor that sparks the imagination.
My problems with the book, which I overlooked while reading because of the wow factor, all have to do with the writing. Some of the key plot elements are "discovered" so much as stated or asserted. For example, the dimensional rift. There was never an investigation into what was generating the dark matter, and it was sain repeatedly that the rift didn't register on their sensors . . . so how did they know what it was? How did they know it led to another dimension? There were a few other elements like this in the books. It would have been simple to fix something like this, and I don't see why that wasn't done. Most of the character's emotional states were also just stated, rather than shown, which made the emotional content of the book kind of flat. I didn't like the "romance" aspects of the book either, especially in book 2. Not that I don't like romance elements, but it just felt somewhat cheesy.
But as I said, the wow factor is great enough that you can overlook, or at least "overread", these other aspects. There's a good plot here overall, with plenty of twists and turns, especially in book 2. (Book 1 is mostly setup.) Not the greatest Star Trek books I've ever read, but definitely fun.
The books focus on the remains of an ancient water world, where the water has mostly evaporated away, leaving behind crystalline structures with liguid marrow trapped inside and an atmosphere held in place by a lattice of forcefields. The mass of the planet is so low that it basically has no gravity. I don't have enough of a science background to know whether this setup is even possible, but it was intriguing enough to hold my attention.
In any case, something has happened and now mutant crystal is growing at an increasing rate, threatening to destroy the entire planet. Melora, one of the inhabitants of the planet who has joined Star Fleet (and who first appeared in an episode of Deep Space Nine), and Deanna receive a dream distress call and the Enterprise sidetracks to investigate.
Upon their arrival, they are immediately nearly destroyed by a mysterious dimensional rift that doesn't appear on their sensors, but it spewing dark matter toward the planet, which the massive shield that keeps the planet in one piece uses to help keep its inhabitants alive. The problem is that there's too much dark matter, and the shield is converting the excess into the mutant crystal. But no one can figure out why.
The story unfolds from there. The best aspect of the two books is the world itself and the inhabitants. Having no gravity except on the Enterprise and its shuttles gives an interesting twist to the investigation. Having the Enterprise and its shuttles flying about in atmosphere, with the crew able to work on repairs and learn about the world without the need of spacesuits was also interesting. As pointed out in the book, this would be a perfect starbase. So in the "oh, cool" scale, the books have a huge wow factor that sparks the imagination.
My problems with the book, which I overlooked while reading because of the wow factor, all have to do with the writing. Some of the key plot elements are "discovered" so much as stated or asserted. For example, the dimensional rift. There was never an investigation into what was generating the dark matter, and it was sain repeatedly that the rift didn't register on their sensors . . . so how did they know what it was? How did they know it led to another dimension? There were a few other elements like this in the books. It would have been simple to fix something like this, and I don't see why that wasn't done. Most of the character's emotional states were also just stated, rather than shown, which made the emotional content of the book kind of flat. I didn't like the "romance" aspects of the book either, especially in book 2. Not that I don't like romance elements, but it just felt somewhat cheesy.
But as I said, the wow factor is great enough that you can overlook, or at least "overread", these other aspects. There's a good plot here overall, with plenty of twists and turns, especially in book 2. (Book 1 is mostly setup.) Not the greatest Star Trek books I've ever read, but definitely fun.
February 21, 2022
A slight improvement over the previous book, with the world building over and the plot going into action.
The crew is split into teams to find several keys that would allow the engine for Gemworld to be shut off and reboot. There's some solid scenes in recovering the keys, with some gathered more easily than others. It was nice to Barclay getting some solid action and being a stronger character. I wasn't pleased with Melora's change, but being a supporting character anything could be done with her.
The solution to the danger posed to Gemworld was too quick and only seemed to come about because the 250 page mark was coming up. Much like an episode of Trek has to wrap up within 46 minutes, a quick ending occurred. Did it make sense? Overall, yes. It was just so simple as to sour me on it.
Overall, I still wasn't keen on this book and it still has my dislike that it received twenty-two years ago. There are much better Trek exploits out there and any one of them would be more enjoyable than this.
The crew is split into teams to find several keys that would allow the engine for Gemworld to be shut off and reboot. There's some solid scenes in recovering the keys, with some gathered more easily than others. It was nice to Barclay getting some solid action and being a stronger character. I wasn't pleased with Melora's change, but being a supporting character anything could be done with her.
The solution to the danger posed to Gemworld was too quick and only seemed to come about because the 250 page mark was coming up. Much like an episode of Trek has to wrap up within 46 minutes, a quick ending occurred. Did it make sense? Overall, yes. It was just so simple as to sour me on it.
Overall, I still wasn't keen on this book and it still has my dislike that it received twenty-two years ago. There are much better Trek exploits out there and any one of them would be more enjoyable than this.
June 23, 2018
UGH THAT ENDING
April 20, 2024
Yawn...this is boring TNG paint-by-numbers. The lack of ambition alone makes it earn its cellar-dweller status.
September 23, 2023
Honestly, this duology has terrible covers, and other problems, but for some reason they just hit the spot for me. I enjoyed Barclay's chance to have full characterization. Just, lots of interesting ideas. Aliens, a mostly peaceful society with minimal politics, race consciousness, diplomacy... oh, I'm babbling, nevermind. So anyway:
I honestly want to read more, other-than-ST, by the author, which is something I can't say about most other ST books I've read.
Space, for Picard, is "the ocean in which he swam and the soil in which he grew."
I appreciate Crusher & Troi, as opposed to Beverly & Deanna. I mean, their first names are sometimes used, but so are Will's, and Jean-Luc's.
I appreciate not being distracted by typos and other editorial errors; Vornholt is a professional.
And now I am finally done with the STTNG that I inherited from my brother plus the last few I scrounged so I could not have to go cold turkey when the box was empty. Next adventure, back to TOS with Spock and the others. ;)
I honestly want to read more, other-than-ST, by the author, which is something I can't say about most other ST books I've read.
Space, for Picard, is "the ocean in which he swam and the soil in which he grew."
I appreciate Crusher & Troi, as opposed to Beverly & Deanna. I mean, their first names are sometimes used, but so are Will's, and Jean-Luc's.
I appreciate not being distracted by typos and other editorial errors; Vornholt is a professional.
And now I am finally done with the STTNG that I inherited from my brother plus the last few I scrounged so I could not have to go cold turkey when the box was empty. Next adventure, back to TOS with Spock and the others. ;)
August 23, 2023
TNG #59: Gemworld #2 by John Vornholt
This book… just petered out, which really sucks. It sets up a decent premise with a really interesting world to explore, but the longer the book went on, it lost steam. I did like the twist of the main villain being Pazlar’s father and added a new dimension to her character. But it didn’t mean anything in the long run in the book. I could have also some without the character of Norene as he didn’t add anything. There are some interesting ideas such as the Lipul bringing life forms from another dimension to create life on their world and the idea of a vast intelligence. But everything is wrapped in 20 pages, like an episode of TNG. But a mediocre episode at most.
5/10
This book… just petered out, which really sucks. It sets up a decent premise with a really interesting world to explore, but the longer the book went on, it lost steam. I did like the twist of the main villain being Pazlar’s father and added a new dimension to her character. But it didn’t mean anything in the long run in the book. I could have also some without the character of Norene as he didn’t add anything. There are some interesting ideas such as the Lipul bringing life forms from another dimension to create life on their world and the idea of a vast intelligence. But everything is wrapped in 20 pages, like an episode of TNG. But a mediocre episode at most.
5/10
March 13, 2021
3.5 stars - I just don't have that option.
I think I liked the "quest" in this one but it didn't feel like it had awesome moments as much as the first book did. In my opinion it kind of ended anticlimactically. I like the diversity of life on Gemworld although they can stay away from the mushroom people- yuck! I liked the journey, the ending just felt underwhelming although I was glad LaForge finally got to be a part of the story.
I think I liked the "quest" in this one but it didn't feel like it had awesome moments as much as the first book did. In my opinion it kind of ended anticlimactically. I like the diversity of life on Gemworld although they can stay away from the mushroom people- yuck! I liked the journey, the ending just felt underwhelming although I was glad LaForge finally got to be a part of the story.
September 4, 2024
I don't understand why this has a higher average than the first one. The characters are written in a more generic/bland way (especially the new guy), the plot is less interesting, and the end just kind of sucks. I think I'm just not a fan of Vornholt because even his higher rated books I think are just ok. I'm not even gonna bother with the 4 Genesis novels.
April 19, 2020
Great world-building and a decent plot, but this did not need to be two books, and Vornholt really whiffed the ending. I'm not sure it is possible to do a Barclay-centered book that is good.
October 19, 2020
I am glad I didn’t spend my time on the sequel... the others were right on the ending...
September 28, 2021
John Vornholt is still the best Trek author
July 8, 2025
A weird and grandiose adventure. Vornholt again portrays the characters very well and true to the tv-series. Nice to see Barclay as a main character. A bit over the top at times.
August 18, 2025
The world was quite creative and held my interest. But the whole plot was a circular McGuffin chase.
August 6, 2016
Quando Gemworld uscì, fu accompagnato da un certo battage pubblicitario, al punto che mi spinse a comprarlo anche perché le recensioni che avevo letto erano tutte piuttosto positive anche se un po’ strane, e ora – a lettura avvenuta – posso capire perché.
Premetto che ho letto questa coppia di libri parecchio tempo fa, e che non mi sarei sognato di farne una recensione se non fosse che mi è capitato di inserire un riferimento al romanzo mentre recensivo Dark Passions (v.), anche perché non è che ricordi tanto bene la storia.
Ciò che senza ombra di dubbio salva il romanzo è lo stile di Vornholt, sempre chiaro anche quando deve dare descrizioni complesse di un ambiente che spesso ricorda più il fantasy che non la fantascienza. Elaysia viene talvolta dipinto in paesaggi mozzafiato, scritti talmente bene che sembra di vederli, ma lo stesso vale anche per le scene o gli esseri più raccapriccianti che quasi ti fanno voler allontanare fisicamente il libro da te per distaccarti da quell’ambiente a tratti spaventoso (sarà che quando leggo mi immergo totalmente nel libro, evadendo dalla realtà circostante? ^_^;).
Le sei razze che popolano il pianeta vengono tratteggiate con cura, e forse ciò che può non piacere è che si tratta di esseri talmente lontani dall’antropomorfismo da sapere a priori che non li si potrebbe mai incontrare in un episodio delle varie serie. Forse vengono tratteggiate con fin troppa cura, perché alla fine risultano farla da padrone togliendo lo spotlight dai protagonisti cui siamo affezionati e dei quali vogliamo leggere le avventure.
Oltre al dramma umano e alieno, il romanzo presenta un giallo, ed è proprio questa la parte costruita peggio: solitamente non leggo gialli pertanto le poche volte che mi capita mi sembra quasi tutto nuovo e non arrivo mai a individuare il colpevole. In questo caso invece verso i tre quarti del primo libro avevo capito chi fosse il responsabile dei tragici avvenimenti; la soluzione mi sembrava talmente ovvia che mi ero detto che sicuramente stavo sbagliando perché doveva trattarsi di una pista per fuorviare i novellini come me. Ci sono rimasto malissimo quando – giunto alla fine del libro – ho avuto la conferma che il colpevole era invece proprio quello che pensavo!
Per concludere, consiglio il libro a chi vuole leggere qualcosa di diverso e che esuli dai canoni Trek cui siamo abituati, volendosi gustare qualcosa di fantasy e una punta di horror. Lo sconsiglio a tutti gli altri e in particolar modo ai divoratori di gialli!!
Premetto che ho letto questa coppia di libri parecchio tempo fa, e che non mi sarei sognato di farne una recensione se non fosse che mi è capitato di inserire un riferimento al romanzo mentre recensivo Dark Passions (v.), anche perché non è che ricordi tanto bene la storia.
Ciò che senza ombra di dubbio salva il romanzo è lo stile di Vornholt, sempre chiaro anche quando deve dare descrizioni complesse di un ambiente che spesso ricorda più il fantasy che non la fantascienza. Elaysia viene talvolta dipinto in paesaggi mozzafiato, scritti talmente bene che sembra di vederli, ma lo stesso vale anche per le scene o gli esseri più raccapriccianti che quasi ti fanno voler allontanare fisicamente il libro da te per distaccarti da quell’ambiente a tratti spaventoso (sarà che quando leggo mi immergo totalmente nel libro, evadendo dalla realtà circostante? ^_^;).
Le sei razze che popolano il pianeta vengono tratteggiate con cura, e forse ciò che può non piacere è che si tratta di esseri talmente lontani dall’antropomorfismo da sapere a priori che non li si potrebbe mai incontrare in un episodio delle varie serie. Forse vengono tratteggiate con fin troppa cura, perché alla fine risultano farla da padrone togliendo lo spotlight dai protagonisti cui siamo affezionati e dei quali vogliamo leggere le avventure.
Oltre al dramma umano e alieno, il romanzo presenta un giallo, ed è proprio questa la parte costruita peggio: solitamente non leggo gialli pertanto le poche volte che mi capita mi sembra quasi tutto nuovo e non arrivo mai a individuare il colpevole. In questo caso invece verso i tre quarti del primo libro avevo capito chi fosse il responsabile dei tragici avvenimenti; la soluzione mi sembrava talmente ovvia che mi ero detto che sicuramente stavo sbagliando perché doveva trattarsi di una pista per fuorviare i novellini come me. Ci sono rimasto malissimo quando – giunto alla fine del libro – ho avuto la conferma che il colpevole era invece proprio quello che pensavo!
Per concludere, consiglio il libro a chi vuole leggere qualcosa di diverso e che esuli dai canoni Trek cui siamo abituati, volendosi gustare qualcosa di fantasy e una punta di horror. Lo sconsiglio a tutti gli altri e in particolar modo ai divoratori di gialli!!
March 5, 2025
Time is running out for Gemworld. In a matter of days, the shell surrounding their world will kill them with a lethal burst of thoron radiation.
Lt. Melora Pazlar continues to guide an away team from the Enterprise (Picard, Barclay and a recovering Counselor Troi) around the planet to find the remaining Senior Engineers from the six races that live on Gemworld. They have to find the Alpusta, the Yiltern and a race they had yet to see, the Frill. And they had to find where the deceased Elaysian Senior Engineer Zuka Juno left his key.
The Frill are sentient three-meter-long moray eel-looking creatures with razor-sharp teeth and a taste for flesh. Picard and company meet them at Zuka Juno's funeral. With limited meat available on Gemworld, the other races feed their dead (and sometimes their criminals) to the Frill. After the funeral feast (consisting of Juno and the dead Alpusta from the failed mission to reprogram the shell), the away team notices a human being among a group of Frill apparently being served up for dessert. Picard successfully negotiates for the man's release to them and gets their engineer to give up his key. Keefe Nordine is an adventure seeker who became stranded on Gemworld after his similarly thrill-seeking friends were killed by the Frill (he impressed them enough for them to let him live). He becomes valuable to the away team- with him, there are now two guides, which means they can split into two teams. Transporters don't work on Gemworld, which means time is of the essence.
Troi recovers from her encounter with the rift and leads one of the teams (Picard leads the other). Between the two teams, they chase down the other jewel keys. Unfortunately, Elaysian leader Tangre Bertoran has no plans to go through with the agreed upon solution: shut down the shell (their Sacred Protector), power the planet using the Enterprise to keep the planet in one piece, turn the shell back on and reboot. He engineers a coup, seizes the Enterprise and steals a bank of phasers to try and destroy the rift. Geordi LaForge and some of his engineers retake the ship, but the damage is done. The rest of the book is a frantic race to undo the damage and find a way to stop the deadly flow of thoron radiation.
I enjoyed the book, and the ending made good sense. This was a good story-I hope we see more of Lt. Pazlar in future books, particularly given the romance between her and Barclay.
Lt. Melora Pazlar continues to guide an away team from the Enterprise (Picard, Barclay and a recovering Counselor Troi) around the planet to find the remaining Senior Engineers from the six races that live on Gemworld. They have to find the Alpusta, the Yiltern and a race they had yet to see, the Frill. And they had to find where the deceased Elaysian Senior Engineer Zuka Juno left his key.
The Frill are sentient three-meter-long moray eel-looking creatures with razor-sharp teeth and a taste for flesh. Picard and company meet them at Zuka Juno's funeral. With limited meat available on Gemworld, the other races feed their dead (and sometimes their criminals) to the Frill. After the funeral feast (consisting of Juno and the dead Alpusta from the failed mission to reprogram the shell), the away team notices a human being among a group of Frill apparently being served up for dessert. Picard successfully negotiates for the man's release to them and gets their engineer to give up his key. Keefe Nordine is an adventure seeker who became stranded on Gemworld after his similarly thrill-seeking friends were killed by the Frill (he impressed them enough for them to let him live). He becomes valuable to the away team- with him, there are now two guides, which means they can split into two teams. Transporters don't work on Gemworld, which means time is of the essence.
Troi recovers from her encounter with the rift and leads one of the teams (Picard leads the other). Between the two teams, they chase down the other jewel keys. Unfortunately, Elaysian leader Tangre Bertoran has no plans to go through with the agreed upon solution: shut down the shell (their Sacred Protector), power the planet using the Enterprise to keep the planet in one piece, turn the shell back on and reboot. He engineers a coup, seizes the Enterprise and steals a bank of phasers to try and destroy the rift. Geordi LaForge and some of his engineers retake the ship, but the damage is done. The rest of the book is a frantic race to undo the damage and find a way to stop the deadly flow of thoron radiation.
I enjoyed the book, and the ending made good sense. This was a good story-I hope we see more of Lt. Pazlar in future books, particularly given the romance between her and Barclay.
November 3, 2012
Since Vornholt left several mysteries at the end of Book One that drew the reader to pick up Book Two rather quickly, one would think that Book Two would have a smooth beginning and that the two volumes would flow from one to the other. Sadly, it did not flow so well. Perhaps it was the editor's fault for wanting a reader who picked up Book Two without having read Book One to be able to enter the story mid-way with a minimum of fuss. Too bad. I would have preferred just one more re-write of at least the first section of Chapter 1.
SPOILER ALERT:
Turns out only two of the six species are native to Gemworld. The other four were from the other dimension. The malevolent being wants vengeance on the culprits who transported the four sentient races to their new home. In the best Star Trek fashion, things get worked out.
Biggest disappointment: the manner in which Melora disposes of the chief thorn in the flesh character, and the aftermath/consequences of her actions. Where is Federation law on murder, even if it is manslaughter?
Still, there is a Star Trek kind of satisfaction when one reaches the end of the book. The story fits into the tone and style of the hundreds of Star Trek stories. Four stars is fair, or 3.9 at any rate.
SPOILER ALERT:
Turns out only two of the six species are native to Gemworld. The other four were from the other dimension. The malevolent being wants vengeance on the culprits who transported the four sentient races to their new home. In the best Star Trek fashion, things get worked out.
Biggest disappointment: the manner in which Melora disposes of the chief thorn in the flesh character, and the aftermath/consequences of her actions. Where is Federation law on murder, even if it is manslaughter?
Still, there is a Star Trek kind of satisfaction when one reaches the end of the book. The story fits into the tone and style of the hundreds of Star Trek stories. Four stars is fair, or 3.9 at any rate.
June 24, 2014
This is the second and concluding book in the Gemworld series. The series generally adhered to the basic formula for most TNG plots. Troi communicates with an entity no one else can, the crew of is in peril, the engineers need to solve a catastrophic problem to save people, Dr Crusher wants someone to rest but doesn't herself, etc. While I really enjoyed seeing Barclay have a more prominent role in this book, I was disappointed in how the book ended. There was a big build up on how they needed to solve the problem and basically the ending just happened (avoiding spoilers). I definitely enjoyed the first book more than the second book.
May 11, 2013
First off you need to read book 1 to understand what is going on.
There is now a race against time to save the planet. Barclay has to get all 6 engineers keys. Meanwhile Deanna keeps having visions and communications from the rift.
Theres some nice character moments with Deanna, and with Geordi. The story is quick moving and does have a couple of surprising twists. A good read.
There is now a race against time to save the planet. Barclay has to get all 6 engineers keys. Meanwhile Deanna keeps having visions and communications from the rift.
Theres some nice character moments with Deanna, and with Geordi. The story is quick moving and does have a couple of surprising twists. A good read.
May 27, 2012
Fascinating science fiction themes continue in the latter half of the Gemworld duology. The use of Troi, Barclay and Melora works really well. And this time Vornholt's writing is good throughout.
April 13, 2012
more reg barclay FTW!!!
July 20, 2015
Gripping end to the two part story Gemworld. Part thriller, all adventure, the crew of the Enterprise do what they do best. This whole story would have made a spectacular episode.
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