Book Report #97 - A Time To Harvest by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Book 21 of 52
Page Count - 330

The second book in the A Time To Sow/ A Time To Harvest duology was a very satisfying payoff. 

The troubles that were plaguing the Dokaalan people, it was discovered, were more than just unfortunate accidents.  The Dokaalan's were involved in a very difficult project of trying to terraforming a nearby planet.  But acts of sabotage and disagreements within the population threatened to destroy what was left of this race.

The troubles that had to be addressed were many and interrelated.  The authors did a wonderful job of tying things up and creating a bad guy that was so good that I stopped reading to enjoy the "Oh, cool!" moment.  I love intelligent, pragmatic bad guys and the baddies in this book are great.  They are highly resourceful and able to turn unexpected events to their own advantage.  Plus, and this is something I always loved in Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, when they were caught they merely smiled with a "Well, you've got me." attitude then were willing to discuss things in a civilized way.

This whole series is building up to the movie Nemesis so it will be fun to see how the crew gets to where they are at the start of that story.  Until then, we get to enjoy some very well though out adventures that simply feel like this was season eight or nine of the television series.

I like these two books very much, maybe even a bit more than the first two because the baddies were just so well done.  I still don't own the next two books; A Time to Love / A Time to Hate, I may have to buy them as eBooks to continue this series.  But I will certainly continue with it.

Dayton Ward has a website HERE

Sorry to say that I could not find a personal website for Kevin Dilmore.  (He may have a FaceBook page or Twitter account but I didn't search for those.)

Dayton Ward (left) and Kevin Dilmore (right)

Book Report #96 - Star Trek: A Time to Sow by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Book 20 of 52
Page count - 314

In 2151, during the time of Johnathan Archer and the TV series Enterprise, a probe was found by the Vulcans.  This probe was a distress call from a far flung planet that was suffering planet-wide seismic events that threatened to destroy it completely.  It was discovered that the probe had been in space for 38 years.  The Vulcans decided to to nothing about it since the events plaguing that world would have already taken place and there would be no rescue to mount.

Fast forward two hundred years to the days of the Enterprise-E, with Starfleet wanting to keep Picard out of the way, they are sent to explore the region to see what evidence they can find of the inhabitants of this poor world.  They discover the planet had indeed been destroyed but were surprised to find the survivors had migrated to, and created a sustainable society, in the asteroid belt of the system.

Since the Dokaalan people had sent the distress call Picard initiated first contact with them.  A crisis occurs while they are there and the Enterprise manages to rescue over 400 Dokaalans which goes a long way to enable the trust of the leadership.

This is classic Star Trek; exploring strange new worlds.  It takes a while to discover that there is some internal strife going on that threaten the crew.  This is a story that takes place over two books so I don't recommend reading A Time To Sow without having A Time To Harvest close by.

I really liked this first installment.  I grabbed the second book without pause and just kept on reading.

Dayton Ward (left) and Kevin Dilmore (right)

Book Report #73 - Star Trek: A Time to Die by John Vornholt

Captain Picard is relieved of command of the Enterprise and is kept sequestered at Star Fleet medical undergoing a psychological assessment.  His removal from command was covered in the first book, now he is under medical supervision and cannot go anywhere without being accompanied by his doctor.

Conditions in the Rashanar battle site remain unsolved and the remaining crew desperately want to clear Picard and get him back aboard.  Through a technicality Picard is allowed back on the Enterprise but not in command, he is always with his doctor who now believes in his innocence and is determined to help.

This book kept the same pace as the first and I was very happy with the story the A Time To ... series is nine books long but is split in to four two-book cycles with a single stand-alone novel completing the whole epic.

I also enjoyed the return of Westley Crusher in these two books.  The plot hole of the last book was explained but it was the most contrived and clunky part of the story.  Even with that one flaw it was still a very rich environment to set a Star Trek story.

Read it.  It's fun.

Book Report #72 - Star Trek: A Time to Be Born by John Vornholt

Back in the pulpy goodness of Space Opera.

Start Trek has always been my go to SF universe.

The "A Time to ..." Series spans 9 books and occupies the times between the films Insurrection and Nemesis.

The Enterprise is sent to help retrieve bodies and control scavengers in the Rashanar sector which was the site of a cataclysmic battle of the Dominion War.  Once they arrive they discover that the assignment is not as simple as it sounds; this region of space has many hazards including; the multitudes of wrecks and debris, gravitational anomalies, an antimatter asteroid, pirates, reluctant members of the Federation and a mysterious shape-shifting ship hiding among the wreckage.

The book was well paced, not bothering with much exposition.  Let's face it, if you're reading a Star Trek novel you understand the universe in general; exposition can be minimized.  When you dive into the novels, however, you must be prepared to accept that lots has gone on that is never covered in the TV shows or the movies.  This simply causes me to want to read other ST books.

I'd say this opening book sticks pretty close to the conventions of Hard SF.  Of course the science is flawed, unproven or incomplete but if that is what takes you out of the books you need to be reading something else.  Star Trek has always been about the characters and this book kept me interested throughout.

It's difficult to believe in any sense of danger when you know that, from the outset, authors are not permitted to do anything dramatic with the characters, like killing them.  If you take the mind set of reading a cliff-hanger series, then you wonder more about how a character is going to get out of a situation rather than if they will survive it.

There was one plot hole that I hope is resolved in the second book.  It involves the rescue of Data that was helped by an unknown party lurking in the Rahanar Battle Site.

I enjoyed this first book and dove right in to the second without pause.  So far, I'm hooked.

John Vornholt