Editorial notes:
In December 2009, Shai creates a second blog dedicated to reviews of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” novels. Shai publishes 17 posts in this blog between December 2009 and March 2011.
Ghost Ship (Diane Carey) was the first of the novel [sic] TNG novels. Given that it was released in mid-1988 it was most likely commissioned some time during the first season, which is a round-a-bout way of saying that perhaps there’s a practical reason for the poor characterization which will inevitably dominate this review.
The plot involves the Enterprise coming into contact with an entity of large magnitude and power (excuse the generic description), and due to an ability to draw power off the ship, including its weapons, appears indestructible. An additional plot (actually which is introduced first), and which folds into the first, is Troi’s coming into contact with some unknown personalities’ minds. The crew identify some of these personalities as belonging to members of a twentieth-century Soviet sea vessel which was lost with all hands. Join the dots.
Comments: This comes across as a very poor TNG novel firstly, as was mentioned, due to its poor characterizations. Hence Riker seems overwhelmingly antagonistic to everyone around him, especially hostile to Data’s artificiality; Geordie is a sap whose thoughts hardly stray from “Data’s so good, and he’s really human, and people don’t appreciate him, and Riker makes me so mad”; and Picard’s forever uncertain and hesitating. Diane spends a disproportionate portion of the novel trying to convince the reader of the central characters’ inner trials and personal development, so much so that she ends up parodying the very concept of character growth. In one section, Data’s activity is described as human-like, just in case we weren’t getting all the not so subtle (i.e. inanely repetitive) hints. I also feel obligated to say (without elaborating, so this will only make sense to those who’ve read this book), that the ethics debate (as to whether they have the right to act upon a request for euthanasia) was conducted in such an idiotic manner as to be insulting.
To finish on a quasi-positive note: as a concept, the plot is mostly fine. In fact, it could be used as a fairly powerful finale-type story: it contains room for tension, undoubtedly high stakes, risk of sacrifice, and most importantly room for the characters to shine, all while leaving us with a nostalgic taste. Unfortunately, it delivers on none of these things.
External links:
A more extensive, detailed, and consequentially caustic review that emphasizes the poor characterization that makes up this novel can be found in this Amazon review by Adam. It’s the best review I’ve seen online of the book, and I recommend it. Another fairly good review is one by Siskoid, and which points out the amusing discrepancy between the novel’s Soviet vessel circa 1995, and, well, history (+). I’ve no doubt, ahem, that Diane was making a purposeful point about the ability of Cold War tensions to spur technological developments, and hence proposing that a Star Trek universe could never have come into place if not for an enduring Soviet Union. No doubt.
At this time there’s not too much at either of MemoryBeta or MemoryAlpha, although both have some nice lists.
