Violence between the human settlers and the native Klingons on the planet Selva forces Captain Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise to intervene and prevent a massacre.
From early experiences with John Vornholt and his excellent writing style that is so very fluid, one learns that one of his novels are to be looked forward to with great anticipation. "War Drums" is no exception to that general rule. If I were to rank the early Star Trek The Next Generation novels, up to the release date of "War Drums," I'd definitely have to rank it in the top five.As is true with all of his novels, John Vornholt uses a very fluid writing style and instills in his novels very realistic characterizations, not only for the primary characters but for the "guest" characters. Along with the excellent characterizations, his plot, plot devices and surprises with the story makes his stories very memorable. As is his usual style, he also sets the surrounding world up with perfection; when he takes you to an alien environment, he describes it clearly and concisely, making you, the reader, feel as if you're there with the characters.What makes this novel so intriguing is that it's a Worf story and adding to that is Ro Laren. Both characters of which, at the time of this exceptional novels release, hadn't received too many stories, making this novel that much more valuable to fans of these characters.The author also does a great job of exploring some of the Klingon culture in this novel, which to most fans is a true delight, considering the enormously popular nature of all things Klingon.The cover art for War Drums is good but typical of most early Star Trek novels, where you basically have portraits of one or two of the main characters of the story and a somewhat interesting background.The premise:The planet Selva is a lush colony world that has been settled by a group of humans. Unbeknownst to them when they settled on the planet, it had already been "settled" by a group of young Klingons. When violence erupts between the two groups, the Enterprise is called in hopes of rendering assistance and stopping the violence.Upon her arrival, the Enterprise is called away on another urgent mission. Captain Picard leaves Worf, Troi, Data and Ro Laren behind as an away team. Worf and the rest of the away team soon find that the old hatreds between humans and Klingons exists in abundance on this planet and they must soon find a way to stop the violence before it turns into an all out war. Adding to that mix is a particularly intriguing third party!What follows is what I found to certainly be one of the best early STNG novels and I'd highly recommend this novel as it will make an excellent addition to your Star Trek library. {ssintrepid}
ST-TNG: War Drums
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Star Trek - The Next Generation: War Drums written by John Vornholt is a book where the "bumpy heads" make an impression and action-adventure mixed with a little mystrey and intrigue keep your attention till the end.This book is typical of Vornholt where he takes sometime and adds a Trek twist to it... the the case of "War Drums" it remineded me of the "Lord of the Flies" but with good character development as feral Klingon's and Erth settlers try to get along until a Romulan spy gets into the picture.Worf leads an away team to the surface of the planet Selva to investigate why young feral Klingons were left on the planet and are now fighting the colonists. As the Starship Enterprise is called away on another mission and leave Worf and Deanna Troi, Data and Ro at the settlement called New Reykjavik to investigate.Reading this book reveals some of the Klingon rituals of comming of age and Worf leads a mission to contact the feral Klingons as he and the others try to find out why the Klingons have decided to fight the colonists. The story is fast-paced and you will find that you can nearly finish the book in one setting as your interest is piqued.I enjoyed the story as it was well-written and the characters were true to form and there is a rather intriguing ending to the story which was rather unusal for a TREK book. All in all, this was a solid 5 star book because of the writing style and character development.
A GREAT READ
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
This book was my introduction to John Vornholt, and I must say, this book is great! I would definately recommend this one to any Star Trek fan, new and old alike!
one of the best reads
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This book is one of the few star trek books that I have missed since I stopped reading them.The story line is very good and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.If you want to learn a lot more about data, worf and roe this book is for you.
Suspense with Klingons
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I enjoyed this book due to the interaction between the Klingons and the colonists. This book was full of intrigue especially when you throw a goddess in who happens to be a Romulan. The ending was abrupt but I did like the twist about the tsunami causing the Klingons and colonists to work together in the end to save their lives.
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