Star Trek: Invasion! - Book 4: The Final Fury (1996) - Dafydd ab Hugh - Book Review

I'm back baby! That's right... The first review I have done for the new site! And boy does it feel great! Don't get me wrong... I did love the old site, but it was time for a massive overhaul, and well I have to say that... So far so good! I know it is a work in progress... But I hope you love being here as much as I have loved making it! 

Anyway... On with the show, eh? 

And speaking of shows... Star Trek has been a TV Show/Movie/Book series, etc... That has been known for literally decades for being a science fiction series that has tried to give man an element of hope in the fear ridden world that we live in today, that something will be done about it! 

Well as I have mentioned in previous posts that there is at least one particular book series in the Star Trek universe that I have read that was an interesting turn in to the world of horror... 

That being the, 'Invasion!' series! 

This maybe one of the greatest battles in Star Trek on TV, but the, 'Invasion' series maybe the best in book form! 

Now before I begin with this last final book in the series, let me say this, rather you are just getting in to the, 'Star Trek' novels... Or have been reading them for years... You are going to come across an author at some point that is just a stellar writer... That is: Dafydd ab Hugh!

This person rocks... Now I have only read his Star Trek novels, but they are engaging in the way this person describes his settings, as well as guides the reader through out a story that is so well crafted that most of the time I feel as if I am watching an episode of Star Trek in and of itself! 

Unfortunately that is both one of the reasons that this novel rocks, and why it sucks... It's not the only reason why... but it is certainly one of them! 

Well I will get in to that in a minute... 

A book that only sucks because it is the last in an amazing series!

As for the story, this story tells of how after running in to a Star Fleet distress call, The Starship Voyager (which is so far outside of the Federation that it will take them several decades to get home,) goes to investigate the call as quick as they can... What they find is something that could not only get them home, but also save the Federation, or destroy the Federation and Voyager and her crew along with her! 

You see, they have come across the Furies base of operations from which they have been working on invading the Federation! 

Is this a way home? Or is this the death of everything mankind and the races that have united with, care about... Including themselves! 

Now I will be honest and say that I was so engrossed in this novel that the only real problem I had with this was the fact that it truly was the end... And I think this novel, along with it's direct  predecessors in the series would make for a great movie series in and of itself! 

So check it out... You might find you really like it... I know I did! 

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Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Invasion (Book 3) - Time's Enemy (1996) -L.A. Graf - Book Review

Official Score = 4 Devils 

Okay, so far I know that I covered a lot of the Star Trek (Invasion) mini-series... The truth is, is this series is truly spectacular!  It has the usual technical innovation, that I will say is awesome, as well as the potential for humanity to put there differences aside for the common good, and all of this wrapped in a story... That in the case of this series, and being a fan of Horror & Science Fiction, I have to say is a truly thrilling, and chilling good read, (I know... cheesy as hell, right? But it is true!

Now the first two of these books were pretty spectacular, and the truth is, is that it is pretty much a toss up between the Deep Space Nine version of this series and the original series version of this series (I mean both of these books are truly something that a Trekkie/Horror fan like myself has always hoped for!) But the thing that I did find to be fascinating about, 'Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Invasion (Book 3) - Time's Enemy (1996)' Is an aspect of the story that I almost never see in any media format (in movies, in books, or on TV,) but when I do... Man it is an amazing good time!

This book... I am going to say is truly a toss up between the first and this one as to which is the best of the series!

What I mean by this is the fact that this story has similar connections to the, 'Furies' that the previous books had, but in this edition we find out that the, 'Defiant' may have played a role in the battle to, 'oust' the Furies out of the Alpha Quadrant! This is found out when an ancient version of the Defiant is found adrift, and Captain Sisko and his crew are sent in to discover what it all means, and find out not only how this is possible, but what part that Sisko and his crew play, and when they play it!

In the end, this novel is blast for Trekkies, and I think if you are a Horror or Science Fiction fan, that you might like it as well!

Star Trek: Invasion! Book 2: The Soldiers Of Fear (1996) - Dean WesleySmith And Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Book Review

Official Score = 3 Devils

You know they say that the sign of a good series, is one that keeps your interest in it all the way through (even when they have bad runs, you still keep going back for more... That sort of thing.) For me, I would have to say that, that would be, 'Star Trek'...

Even when the people who make Star Trek started producing dud movies, I still found myself interested to keep going, (fortunately there wasn't to many of those,) but there was one particular run that they did when I was a teenager that had both the elements of, 'Science Fiction' & 'Horror' in it that I found that I really liked... That being the, 'Invasion!' series.

A classic series that is worth giving a try, if you get a chance!

Most of the time in the world of Star Trek... Well it is mostly science fiction... In the case of DS9, they added an element of, 'War' to the series (which I do think kind of enhanced the whole experience really quite nicely, but they had never really dived in to the world of  Horror or Science Fiction... That was until the, 'Invasion!' series came out, and you may not think so, but getting a dose of horror in the world of Star Trek (which at the time was only the original series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9 & Voyager...) but damn was it fun!

Imagine an episode of Star Trek, but the Halloween episode, where monsters of all sorts, come out to play with the crew of the Enterprise... And that is what you get!

And this saga was continued real nicely with: Star Trek: Invasion! Book 2: The Soldiers Of Fear (1996):

You see this next tale, tells the story of how decades after the original U.S.S. Enterprise had stopped the advancing invasion from an Alien race that after being exiled a millennium ago, had come back to try and re-conquer the territory that had once been there's... Well they are back, and they are literally putting, 'fear' in to people!

This time it will be up to Captain Jean Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise - D to stop this menace, before they can finally do what they failed to do a millennium ago!

In the end Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch do a great job in making a generally fun Science Fiction novel in to a scary good time... I would even go so far as to say that this book was so well written, that it could been turned in to a movie!

If you get a chance to sit down with this, do so... Read the first book first, but after that, dive in to this one, I doubt you will regret it... I know I didn't!

Star Trek: Invasion! (1996) - Diane Carey - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="350"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

You might be wondering why I am doing a lot of reviews for Star Trek novels... Well the truth is, is that Star Trek novels generally are a lot of fun, (even the more cheesier ones!)

The primary reason for this I think is that the authors of these novels generally tend to expand beyond what is acceptable for the TV show... And in some small way make it even more real then it already can appear to be!

And there was one series of novels that really did this both in escapism, and making this series almost seem more real! That series being the, 'Star Trek: Invasion!' series!

Now for me, I first discovered this about the same time that I discovered that Star Trek has it's own book series, you see, this series of books takes place over the 4 shows that were available (Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine & Star Trek Voyager.)

[caption id="attachment_3272" align="aligncenter" width="187"] A great series![/caption]

In this series there is an ancient evil, a once massive and violent alien race that controlled large swaths of what would become known as the Federation, but whom would eventually disappear... And as they disappeared, so will they disappear in to the darkest recesses of the inhabited planets that these Aliens (The Furies) once controlled!

Well they have decided to come back, and take back what was once theirs! And for Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701, they are going to have to basically go to war with this dangerous enemy from the turbulent past of that area of the Galaxy, if they are going to stop them!

In the end, I found this book to be a total blast, I mean it incorporated just about everything that made the original Star Trek so freaking awesome, while also adding some seriously cool elements of, 'Horror' in it as well!

If you haven't checked this one out yet, check it out, I think you might really like it, I know I did!