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A review by brassaf
A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido
5.0
I am fully aware that I'm way behind (20 years!) in my Star Trek reading, such that the following statement seems a little backwards, but I'm writing it anyway. I got the same feeling reading this book from 2004 that I did watching season 3 of Star Trek Picard. Both are amazing!
Things I loved about the book:
1) New characters, beloved The Next Generation characters, all mixed together to form a 9-novel story that leads up to (and has a one chapter epilogue after) Star Trek: Nemesis that concludes with, this novel.
2) KRAD (as the author call himself) is a masterful reference maker. I'm sure somewhere out there, there is a reference guide to reading this book--I think I've seen him do similar reference guides for other books. I really loved all the callbacks to tv shows, movies, other novels, even comic books. The reason I wanted to (finally) read this series was that it not only fills a gap prior to and sets up Star Trek: Nemesis but it is a good spring board for many other novels (c.f. https://www.thetrekcollective.com/p/trek-lit-reading-order.html, a site I've had bookmarked for many years!) Another awesome reference: the portable holo-emitter from the future (from Star Trek Voyager)!
3) This is not a full phasers and torpedoes non-stop space battle book. But it has enough action, mystery and tension to drive the plot from finish to end, and is actually nice that the series ends with a novel that isn't non-stop full phasers and torpedoes. We get to see some of the more political and diplomatic side of Star Trek.
4) Alexander, son of Worf, son of Mogh!
5) Humor! In a scene immediately prior to the wedding scene in Nemesis we see Wesley Crusher's Traveler-style arrival. He thinks he's showing up for a Betazoid wedding and is... dressed... appropriately. Classic Wesley!
6) The final scene (not much of a spoiler given it is 20 years after its publication AND certain things can't really change given Nemesis hot on its heels) with (most of) the "D" (USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D) crew having a final moment together before going their separate ways, with Riker's speech to the assembled, was not only touching, but again, gave me that Star Trek Picard season 3 happy good feeling. And, some of the tension between Crusher and Picard (although really one way) does set up nicely Star Trek Picard season 3, although of course DeCandido had no way of knowing this at the time!
7) Plot-back-filling at its finest! How did Worf return to Starfleet after his ambassador gig following Deep Space Nine? Why was Wesley wearing a Lieutenant's uniform in Star Trek: Nemesis? Etc.!
The only question I am left pondering without an answer are the scattered references to Sisko, as if he's.... alive. I must not have read enough of the "season 8" of Star Trek Deep Space Nine novels yet! Alas, I'm working my way through them, slowly but surely, but really slowly being the key word here.
All-in-all, a solid 5 out of 5. DeCandido, if you're still out there reading reviews for your novels, I hope you see this one so I can convey my thanks. If my TBR pile outlives me (yikes) I will have at least finished this wonderful series with its masterful final installment. Bravo and thank you for writing this book 20 years ago!
Things I loved about the book:
1) New characters, beloved The Next Generation characters, all mixed together to form a 9-novel story that leads up to (and has a one chapter epilogue after) Star Trek: Nemesis that concludes with, this novel.
2) KRAD (as the author call himself) is a masterful reference maker. I'm sure somewhere out there, there is a reference guide to reading this book--I think I've seen him do similar reference guides for other books. I really loved all the callbacks to tv shows, movies, other novels, even comic books. The reason I wanted to (finally) read this series was that it not only fills a gap prior to and sets up Star Trek: Nemesis but it is a good spring board for many other novels (c.f. https://www.thetrekcollective.com/p/trek-lit-reading-order.html, a site I've had bookmarked for many years!) Another awesome reference: the portable holo-emitter from the future (from Star Trek Voyager)!
3) This is not a full phasers and torpedoes non-stop space battle book. But it has enough action, mystery and tension to drive the plot from finish to end, and is actually nice that the series ends with a novel that isn't non-stop full phasers and torpedoes. We get to see some of the more political and diplomatic side of Star Trek.
4) Alexander, son of Worf, son of Mogh!
5) Humor! In a scene immediately prior to the wedding scene in Nemesis we see Wesley Crusher's Traveler-style arrival. He thinks he's showing up for a Betazoid wedding and is... dressed... appropriately. Classic Wesley!
6) The final scene (not much of a spoiler given it is 20 years after its publication AND certain things can't really change given Nemesis hot on its heels) with (most of) the "D" (USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D) crew having a final moment together before going their separate ways, with Riker's speech to the assembled, was not only touching, but again, gave me that Star Trek Picard season 3 happy good feeling. And, some of the tension between Crusher and Picard (although really one way) does set up nicely Star Trek Picard season 3, although of course DeCandido had no way of knowing this at the time!
7) Plot-back-filling at its finest! How did Worf return to Starfleet after his ambassador gig following Deep Space Nine? Why was Wesley wearing a Lieutenant's uniform in Star Trek: Nemesis? Etc.!
The only question I am left pondering without an answer are the scattered references to Sisko, as if he's.... alive. I must not have read enough of the "season 8" of Star Trek Deep Space Nine novels yet! Alas, I'm working my way through them, slowly but surely, but really slowly being the key word here.
All-in-all, a solid 5 out of 5. DeCandido, if you're still out there reading reviews for your novels, I hope you see this one so I can convey my thanks. If my TBR pile outlives me (yikes) I will have at least finished this wonderful series with its masterful final installment. Bravo and thank you for writing this book 20 years ago!