Do Comets Dream?

by S.P. Somtow

Book Overview

From award-winning science fiction writer S.P. Somtow comes Captain Picard's mos challenging dilemma: should he kill an innocent child to save a billion others? The inhabitants of Thanet believe that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743411307
• ISBN13: 9780743411301
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Do Comets Dream? Excellent Book!

A comet on a deadly course to destroy the plane Thanet. A child bound to the comets interior. A hate for a people who forgotten about the war 5,000 years ago. A religion on the line. And a starship crew that must solve a 5,000 year old mystery before it's too late. "Do Comets Dream?" is one of the best Star Trek books I have ever read. The words on the page make you feel that you're right there, on Thanet. Right there, in Kio's mind. Right there, on the Enterprise.If you want something good to read, something you can really get in to, something that can make you think, then I recommend this book to you. "Do Comets Dream?" is well worth your money.

An amazing book

Though it bears a certainly similarity to one of S.P. Somtow's short stories from the "Inquestor" series of the 1980s, also about a comet who turns out to be human ... he's done a great job of revamping this very original tale and wedding it to the ST universe ... reviews seems remarkably controversial, with everyone either raving or hating it ... one could hardly expect less than controversy from this author.

a genuinely literary star trek book

I can't agree with the person who posted five (count 'em) five identical reviews lambasting this book! I'm a big star trek fan and I ran across the following review on a public star trek bbs. i'm quoting it here because i agree with pretty much every word of it. Here it is:I wonder if Simon Tarses experiences, and perhaps his faith, will be followed up in any of the DS9 Relaunch books? That would be quite interesting.In any event, I'll be reading this book again in the near future, and that's a first for me with a Trek novel. Do Comets Dream? is most definately a worthwhile read, and I'll be pleased to reccommend to my friends who are unfamiliar with Star Trek. I just finished this novel late last night, and I must say that I'm very impressed with the book. Primarily I appreciated the presence of religion in the Trek universe. As a Theology major, Somtow's blending of Hindu/Indian cyclic religion with Christian Apocalyptic imagery was intriguing, and engaged me mentally in a way many science-fiction -- and indeed Trek -- books don't. I'd recently said to a friend of mine who used to be an avid reader of Trek fiction that recently the quality of writing in Trek Novel-dom had increased substantially, that the books could actually be considered science-fiction literature in its own right and not simply an endless stream of cash-cow media tie-ins. Do Comets Dream? has given me strong support for this claim. Despite its strong connections with religion in a largely materialistic and faithless Trek-verse (excepting the Bajorans and occasionally the Klingons), this novel is a fine example of Star Trek's ideals: learning to overcome years of hate and prejudice, exploring a richly drawn new culture (and being changed by that culture!). And in all of that, faith is integral. S. P. Somtow has a very unique voice, and his (?) prose is almost lyrical at times. Does anyone have any information on the author? I was disappointed by the lack of any "About the Author" blurb in the book.I'm not certain exactly what purpose Tormod Engvig served, however. I expected the acting ensign to contribute somehow to the mission, but instead he just sort of showed up randomly to appear star-struck at the Enterprise crew. Interestingly, the majority of primary characters in this novel weren't the Enterprise bridge crew, but rather new (or previously minor) people: the Hallidays, the various Thanetians, Simon Tarses, etc. I wonder if Simon Tarses experiences, and perhaps his faith, will be followed up in any of the DS9 Relaunch books? That would be quite interesting.In any event, I'll be reading this book again in the near future, and that's a first for me with a Trek novel. Do Comets Dream? is most definately a worthwhile read, and I'll be pleased to reccommend to my friends who are unfamiliar with Star Trek. >>><p>No clue who said it, but I couldnt have said it better. I'm a covert to this author now and I wanna get all his (her?) books.

rich and unusual -- a genuinely original star trek novel

Many Star Trek novels deal in cliches or are just some other story remade with ST characters. This one presents a vividly imagined culture, a bit like India or some other exotic easterm country. The normal characters don't appear that much but the invented ones are complex and full of baroque motivations. The average ST novel reader might find the book weird, but it's definitely rewarding!

ST-TNG: Do Comets Dream

Star Trek - The Next Generation: Do Coments Dream? written by S.P. Somtow is a quick fast paced book that gets right to the point. As the trailer states this book is about a comet that threatens the planet Thanet every five thousand years. Where life begins anew now, as Thanet has achieved space flight and warp capacity, they call upon the Federation for help. This is an interesting story. I read it in one afternoon and enjoyed it. As I mentioned, this is a fast paced story. The book is divided into for distinct segments or parts: Part One: The Reluctant Ambassador Part Two: The Machine that was Mortal Part Three: The Mortal that was a Michine Part Four: The Planet that Waited for Death Each of these parts are divided into chapters that have names of the subject of that chapter. This makes the reading fly by and there is interdispersed parts from the planet Thanet's Holy Panvivlion. The character development was very descriptive and you could picture the character in your mind as you read on in the book. The principle Star Trek characters are Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Data and Deanna Troi with some minor characters thrown in for spice, like Simon Tarses which I could see his character come to life in the book. All in all, you'll find the book an easy enjoyable read the action-adventure is not high, but the charater interplay was highly enjoyable making this a good change-of-pace book. The ending is a suprise, so I'm not going to say anything but... interesting. This is a solid 5 star story with real life scenarios making for a very believable story and the character dialog was very descriptive.