Customer Reviews
An enjoyable episode in the "New Frontier" series.
Picking up where the original four mini-book releases left off, Peter David gives us the first full-length Star Trek: New Frontier book with "Martyr."
I really enjoyed the results. The main plotline of the book, the A-Story, is that of the ship encountering a world where Captian Mackenzie Calhoun has been 'recognized' as the 'Savior,' of their prophecies. With some interesting diatribes on the notions of faith and spirituality, the book would have been a bit heavy and a lot less 'fun' than the other books without the B-Story: Dr. Selar, still in the throws of her Pon Farr.
The story reveals more tantalizing tid-bits of the characters assembled mostly from the mind of Peter David, and even those characters we already know gain a bit more depth (especially the aforementioned Dr. Selar). Peter David once again proves that the characters of the Star Trek world do not need a screenplay to stand on their own, and, indeed, be quite interesting in their own right.
This one definately ends with something that makes you want to keep going, and I picked up Book Six the day I finished Book Five.
Too much sex, but David knows his characters--and his Trek.
The big-wigs at "Star Trek: Voyager" should drop everything and hire Peter David now. David accomplished in five books of the "New Frontier" series what the "Voyager" staff is still trying to do: chronicle the adventures of a free-wheeling crew with an unconventional captain in a distant region of space, and do it with enough character depth and Trek flavor to make fans want to come back for more.
"Martyr" displays the best and worst of Peter David, with the best coming out on top this time around. Yes, David lays the sex and innuendo way too thick for a single book, the idea of a sentient Mugato security guard grates on this Trek fan's nerves, and the plot itself is not exactly groundbreaking material. However, even with these drawbacks, the story can still succeed if the presentation is good enough. In this regard, David rarely disappoints.
And he doesn't this time. With "Martyr", David manages to flesh out all his regular charcters to some degree, especially the two characters I was most worried about. He finally made Burgoyne 172 more than a sex-craving curiousity, and Soleta got a chance to shine as well. And, like all the "New Frontier" books before, Captain Calhoun continues to stand out as a conflicted man who inspires both frustration and admiration--often at the same time. I find myself hanging on the Calhoun scenes just to see what the man does next. So, sex aside, the characters work.
And the plot? Well, the plot fares less well, mostly because it is familiar ground, and the actions of the aliens involved are telegraphed well in advance. However, David makes the most out of it. He makes the character of Ramed just tortured enough hold one's attention, sets up the Redeemers as a possible recurring threat (possibly a quite interesting one), and leaves the fate of Zondar an open question.
Plus, Peter David manages to infuse a Trekkian-style flavor in the ending. He is one of the few Trek novelists (perhaps the only one) who goes beyond the action and adventure and tries to convey a message with it, be it a character's self-discovery or the folly of a culture's short-sightedness. This is something that even the Trek television writers have pulling off nowadays.
Is "Martyr" Peter David's best work? No. Is it still a good read? Definitely. Is it better than most of the other Trek novels being cranked out these days? Absolutely. There is just as much to like in "Martyr" as there is to dislike, but in my case the stuff I liked won out. Looking forward to "Fire On High"...
He did it again...
It seems to me Peter David, in this fifth book, has settled into the characters now... There was a great scene between Shelby, Calhoun and Admiral Jellico in the beginning... If you like that feel of Trek... Where you find the laughs... They are in this book.
If you want to see what is happening with Selar and Burgy... Read... read...
Anyway I enjoyed this book...
