A Call to Darkness

Star Trek: The Next Generation #9

by Michael Jan Friedman

The Enterprise discovers a lifeless Federation research vessel, orbiting a planet hidden behind a mysterious energy shield. Over the strong objections of his senior officers, Captain Picard and an away team beam over in search of the missing crew -- And vanish.

But soon his captain's disappearance is not the only problem facing Commander Riker. For a mysterious disease has begun ravaging the "Enterprise crew. Now Riker must unravel the secrets of the planet below in order to rescue Picard -- and prevent the starship's destruction.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek The Next Generation, Fiction, Ebooks, Media Tie In, Fantasy

274 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

Michael Jan Friedman is an author of more than seventy books of fiction and nonfiction, half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Eleven of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. Friedman has also written for network and cable television and radio, and scripted nearly 200 comic books, including his original DC superhero series, the Darkstars.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't terrible...

Again, I'm reminded of how much like TOS early TNG was (and that's not necessarily a compliment). I also must have missed something somewhere about the description of the main antagonist race, because I'm pretty sure at one point they were described as having tentacles and the like, being vaguely squid-like - but then suddenly they all looked like Data...so, I must have misread something somewhere.

Also, I'm confused as to how an alien race on a world outside of normal travel lanes, in a place no one ever really goes to, is able to sustain gladiatorial fights and battles with stolen, amnesiac crews from passing star ships...even the ship that the Enterprise was attempting to locate - and thus, the reason for the story, only seemed to come across this world by happenstance, after drifting along on damaged engines, after suffering some type of accident....

But then again, I look too deeply into these things, I guess.

The story was okay...it seemed highly derivative of so many other Star Trek stories that it was almost too distracting to even get into. And yet again, the crew of the Enterprise show up, meddle, and plunge another world into chaos and anarchy. :)

If you're a completionist and must read Star Trek simply because it's Star Trek (like me!) then, by all means, dive right in...otherwise, you could probably pass it up.

[WhatShouldIRead]

Read about 80 pages. The story seemed to drag a bit for me. All these franchise books run either hot or cold. Very uneven content. Unfortunately I think this one was a casualty in that regard for me.

[Kati · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ST:TNG tie-in. Boring. The characters behaved very out of character compared to their TV-selves and the story just dragged on and on and on. Maybe if this was a short story, it would have worked, but as it was - nope, not really. Too many characters in peril meant too many scenes with just one crew member doing... something... to show that he was in peril. I know that the author probably thought the book needed some world-building but it felt mostly tiresome. I even skipped a page here or there and I didn't miss anything, the story was still understandable. I was glad when I finished it. Won't be re-reading it in the future, that's for sure.

[Alan Grist · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finally, made it to the end.

I'm compelled to read the series from beginning to end - that's the only reason I finished this, book. Name choices of new characters overly complicated. Too much unnecessary & boring extrapolationn. The whole disease plot was just a writer's device to put a time limit on the primary plot & was fixed to easily. Why would the natural antibody of the MUTATED bacteria from one planet be present in the daily gruel of a planet in a different star system? And of course the doctor would be one of the lost away team that happened to eat it & realize within a week that since she had not gotten sick , the antibody must be in her food. And of course, the lost away team making contact right before the Riker pronounces the last syllable of engage - which would leave them abandoned & in danger. Really?!

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another satisfactory installment in the Star Trek TNG saga. This one makes good use of Worf and to lesser degrees Dr. Pulaski and Geordi to tell a tale about a world that has devolved into a gladiator entertainment centered society.

The story does raise some interesting issues about what develops strength of character and how a society that is decimated by an alien conflict might be psychologically scarred for generations. It doesn't make much use of the Star Trek mythos other than borrowing a few of the main characters and a few of the precepts but there's nothing inherently wrong in that.

Perhaps not the best Star Trek novel but still a worthwhile read.

[Camille · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Enterprise is searching for a lost vessel. The Enterprise finds the vessel without its crew. An away-team beams down to investigate. The away-team (which includes Captain Picard much to Riker's disapproval) disappears. We find out a planet is stealing the crew of ships which come in its orbit in a Hunger Games (good book by the way) like situation to continue a faltering war but keeps its "lower caste" population entertained. I think my description sounds a lot more entertaining than the actual book, which being blunt, was a bore. This novel is without honor.

[Kreg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An away team goes missing while a disease spreads on board. Can they find the team before they have to leave? Well of course they do, this is Star Trek after all... Still overall it was a decent read if a bit cliche.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book from the Star Trek Reading list I'm following that failed, in my eyes, to warrant it being there. Michael Jan Friedman's other entries have been pretty decent and this started out the same way, with good character work and some lively banter between the crew. However when the major plotline kicked in - a fair way into the novel - it fell to pieces somewhat. There wasn't enough time to develop strands but it also felt interminably long. The quality of the actual scenario and subplot did feel like one of the worst of early TNG (which could be pretty bad) so one could argue that Friedman was fulfilling the mission statement here ... authors wouldn't really have known what Star Trek would go on to become in later seasons and nobody had really worked out just *how* to write great TNG yet. Also to be fair this Hunger Games-esque scenario hadn't actually been done to death in the early 90s and it may have felt like a neat idea, but I wish the writing had been more compelling instead of chopping around at least 7 different viewpoints and not really developing any.

[Taaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ab der Hälfte ist es zumindest halbwegs lesbar und geht voran, aber die erste Hälfte hätte man um mindestens zwei Drittel kürzen können.

Und auch dann, mindestens 8 verschiedene POV im Buch?! Das ist einfach zu viel.

Und als das Buch gerade doch auf drei Sterne zusteuerte, musste der Autor noch die Logik aus dem Fenster werfen. Wie haben sie denn Geordi seine Erinnerungen zurückgegeben? Und plötzlich soll der Brei vom Planeten magisch ein passendes Antibiotikum sein, was sie dadurch merken, dass sie auf dem Planeten nicht krank wurden - wenn die Bakterien das Patienten an Board doch erst mutiert sind, NACHDEM sie runtergebeamt sind, und auch sonst am Ende nur 30 von 1000 Leuten auf der Enterprise erkrankt waren?

Und wie genau haben die 18.000 weitere Leute ins Schiff gequetscht gekriegt?!

[Ryan Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I was not bothered by the characters "not being as they are in the show". I just viewed it as a story and I thought it was an interesting premise and had a good pace and enough interesting description to get me immersed. The Star Trek setting of the story I found useful as the characters were broadly their archetypes and so were recognisable but also different enough to be interesting.

[Scott Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Friedman’s first TNG novel and it’s clear that he’s not as familiar with the universe as he would soon become. The plot is kind of a cross between TOS “The Gamesters of Triskelion” and VOY “Workforce”. I think things are wrapped up too quickly and easily for my liking.

[SamB · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read, I enjoyed this one probably most of the early TNG novels I've read so far. Not without its flaws though - too much of the resolution happens off screen and the crew seemingly forget about the fate of anyone not in the main credits. But I really liked the world building (and would gladly have read more of it) and MJF's style is very readable.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was alright but it could have been any characters, it was not very Star Trek at all. In fact for almost all of the book the characters didn't know who they were so they really didn't act like themselves. It was ok as a bit of light sci fi drama but disappointing if you are expecting something that could have been a show story.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Jan Friedman is the best Star Trek novel author.

I enjoyed the world he created for this novel. The known-character utilization was ingenious in this particular Star Trek novel. It was a fun read.

[Jeff]

I read all these "Next Generation" books in middle school/early high school. Even then I thought most of them were pretty bad. But I'm a completist so they must be included in my book list!

[J.W. Braun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Star Trek books. It goes beyond the television series and delivers a story that could only be told in a novel format.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The opposite of everything "The Children of Hamlin" manages to be: it's dull, tedious, and a chore to finish. The TNG cast veers between bland and almost unrecognizable.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok story. Some characters did seem a bit disjointed compared to the TV stories. The world iswas set in was well done, and intriguing. But as a Star Trek book it disappointed.

[Maj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably he worst Trek book I've read so far. But still serves the purpose...so if you decide to read it, you'll survive. :)

[Lovisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty ok, enjoyable but somehow it lacked substance. The original character Dan’nor was very interesting, the author could have done alot more with him. Overall a nice story.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't very good and the author kept calling the transporter the teleporter and things being teleported.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Jan Friedman is one of my favorite Trek writers, and he delivers a good read here that almost completely ignores the cast of ST:TNG.

The Enterprise is searching for a lost vessel and stumble upon a planet that is definitely against visitors. An away team, somehow led by Picard in one of those "Well, you know it's going to wind up badly" decisions, gets captured by the inhabitants and mind-wiped so they can participate in brutal Conflicts run by an oppressive government. (The story begins to echo a bit like 1984 here.) The crew of the Enterprise then fades into the background as the plot focuses on the political struggles of the Klah'kimmbri government. Not that this is bad, as the sub-plot-turned main-plot is interesting, although there's one wonky moment where the main character (Dan'nor, because who doesn't love apostrophe names?) claims he's been out of work for weeks due to accidently abducting the away team, when in fact only a couple of days have passed.

Meanwhile, as if the captain being missing isn't enough of a ticking clock, the remaining crew have to deal with a wonky plague that has shown up ... for some reason. But Pulaski is off the ship playing in the Conflicts, so we are introduced to a new ship doctor, who will never be mentioned again. He's a frontier doctor, so he's unused to all the high-end medical technology on the Enterprise, but by gum, he's going to solve this plague by insisting the ship head to a starbase so they can solve it for him. But rather than focus too much on his efforts to stop the plague, the Enterprise scenes are mostly Riker pacing around wishing he could do more to save the away team.

Friedman has a really good handle on writing the Trek characters, and it's almost a shame he didn't play with them some more. Of course, you have to expect that with the earlier Trek novels, there's not going to be any earth-shattering plots as the novels didn't connect with the events in the shows. (A very one-sided relationship, IMO) However, if you don't expect to find a cast-heavy novel, this is a decent read!

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first time I read it, the criticism I laid down at its feet was that it wasn't really a Trek novel because the characters weren't themselves for most of it. In fact, the majority of it reads like a fantasy novel. And this was too bad because Friedman is rather adept at getting us into the characters' heads (for example, Worf's impatience with even the inefficient multi-syllabic names we humans have). On a second read, that knack actually means even the long amnesia portions of the book still present recognizable characters. The earlier criticism is still valid though. This is more Workforce (Voyager) than Conundrum (TNG), and the medieval trappings, while presenting an alien culture adequately, really distance us from the setting. Worf does get to shine as a warrior berzerker, as does Riker in sole command of the Enterprise. But I have other misgivings, including the dissident subplot that fails to intersect with the lives of the heroes until the last few pages, and the preponderance of "magical" solutions to problems. The aliens look just like Data, making it easy for him to infiltrate their installations. Pulaski has an accident that cures her amnesia, then goes through a speech of being careful to find the correct dosage of light flashes to help others, only to have flashes in the sky from a meteor shower do the trick. Even the aliens get into the game, using their fancy transporters to kidnap people off weak and disabled ships, which apparently has given them 18,000 prisoners, not counting those that must have died. That's a lot of weak and disabled ships. Most ridiculous of all is the cure to the plague, which Pulaski manages by simply feeding the Conscripts' gruel to the patients. So the four conscripted away team members never got the disease, so what? The same can be said of more than 900 people aboard the Enterprise! So while I have a new respect for Friedman's character work in this book, its plot is still a mess.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more like it - the best of the TNG tie-ins I've read for a while. Which is surprising, as the central problem of the story, in which several Enterprise officers are kidnapped and have their memories wiped, is not generally one that appeals to me. I don't dislike memory-wipe stories, exactly. It's just they never seem to really focus on character work as much as they should, which makes me think of them as a bit of a let down. That's not the case here - well, maybe it is with Geordi and Picard, a bit. But Friedman does a particularly good job with Worf, who finds himself brainwashed into taking part in endless battles... and who doesn't like it. The easy thing would have been to say "He's a Klingon warrior, he's going to fit right in," but Friedman doesn't do that. Instead he has Worf struggle with an aversion for conflict that he doesn't understand, but which is a product of his well-established dislike of dishonorable acts. It's actually done really well, and I would happily have read a whole book where Worf was the only one kidnapped, if the treatment of Pulaski hadn't come in a decent second.

Also, the focus on roles aboard the starship, and what it means to hold them, puts me in mind a little of Diane Carey's Ghost Ship, which remains the best of the TNG tie-ins for me thus far.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't really sure how to rate this one. I liked the premise quite a lot, as it has that creative storytelling edge that marks a lot of Michael Jan Friedman books in this series. But, my problem is with his characterizations. This is early Friedman Treklit, but it still suffers from the same apparent lack of understanding of the characters that even his more recent entries seem to have. Data seems weirdly emotional (smiling at things, even when ruminating on his own thoughts). Riker seems way too emotional. And Picard, of course, loses that thoughtfulness and eloquence he usually has.
Also, the plotlines. There are only two major ones going on here: an away team is kidnapped, and there is a disease beginning to ravage the crew. The latter is basically ignored the whole book, and solved in a really offhanded way. The former, while receiving most of the attention, is also resolved in a head-scratching sort of way. Without revealing too much, I began to question whether Friedman understood that the Prime Directive was a thing.
It's entertaining enough but don't take it too seriously.

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost a standard 3-star “stranded in primitive conditions/‘Bread and Circuses’ variant” adventure, but had some _really_ weird oversights that knocked a star off.

Spoilers for my two biggest objections follow:

Geordi gets abducted, and there’s a scene of his abductors decide if whether or not to remove his visor (they don’t), after which...it’s never relevant again. Aside from one moment where it’s knocked off until someone hands it back again, it never comes into play, even in circumstances where it should (like sneaking around in darkness).

Even worse, though, was an ending resolution that involved the Enterprise relocating 18,000 refugees of various alien races. In one go. By itself. For a ship which normally carries a compliment of just over 1,000 crew and civilians, and rated to carry up to 6,000 (numbers from Wikipedia), packing it with nineteen times its standard compliment, or over three times its maximum rated compliment, strains credulity to the breaking point.

[Solitudes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had a bumpy start for me. After the first 40 pages I was bored to death and really not getting into it because indeed is really good to see a very dramatic introduction on the plot followed by 20 pages or so of how the team is enjoying some forced R&R at the orders of the Captain. But after that the book started to unfold and to get better with quite an interesting plot where Picard, Geordi, Worf and Pulaski are trapped and forced to fight which is not their to fight while Riker and Data (no, no Ensign to rescue the ship) are trying to save them while dealing with a serious situation on board of Enterprise simultaneously. And i liked the idea of "if you were born to be a new man with no memories of your past will you still remain a good man no matter what?". So despite the initial hiccup s I enjoyed this book quite much.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid sci-fi story at first, with a slightly lacklustre conclusion.

The star character is Pulaski: brusque, confident even in the face of dangerous authority. Worf gets some interesting character development too: a young character learning his way in a different culture; his own way.

The conclusion comes across as a series of minor developments rather than going with a bang. In that sense, it comes across as easier than it should have, particularly considering the more-than-average set-up. This was a shame. It was almost a solid, standalone sci-fi adventure for more than aficionados.

The prose is a bit YA. Very simple. Occasionally betrayed some of the more thinky, philosophical parts of the Pulaski and Worf character explorations.

[Mark R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

***1/2

"A Call to Darkness," by Michael Jan Friedman is one of the better "Next Generation" novels. It tells of a planet whose rulers zap the crews of near-flying space vessels, clear their memories, and put them to work in tournaments used to keep the society's population entertained.

Some of the U.S.S. Enterprise officers end up in this unfortunate situation. Picard sends himself down as leader of a rescue team, in order to discover the whereabouts of the daughter of an old friend, who could be in danger. The Enterprise team drops off the radar, and it's up to Riker to figure out what happened to them.

"A Call to Darkness" is fast-paced, with an intriguing story.