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Stardate 43747.3 - On board
the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Picard transports an old friend,
Professor Baldwin, off Tantamon IV. After a failed attempt on his life,
Baldwin decides that it is time to disappear from the Federation
records. Meanwhile, Wesley Crusher is worried that he will not make a
good captain some day. At Guinan's suggestion, he goes to the holodeck
and runs some scenarios with some of the notorious aliens that are
enemies of Starfleet. None offer a challenge because they are not new
and unknown. Wesley enlists the aid of Data to help design a new race,
something from Wesley's nightmares as a kid, something so unpredictable
that it will challenge his command abilities. At Picard's insistence,
Wesley inserts his aliens into the Kobayashi Maru scenario, an
unbeatable scenario (Although Captain James Kirk once claimed to have
beaten it) designed at Starfleet to test all cadets who wish to become
captains of their own vessels. But when Wesley runs the program with
both Data and Picard acting as Ensigns, the new aliens, which he calls
Boogeymen, take over the holodeck and will not let them go. Balwin,
fearing more attempts on his life, begins a chain of events that not
only cause the Enterprise computer to start to break down, it causes
Wesley's Boogeymen to become a real threat to every single person on the
Enterprise.
This is a Star Trek: The Next Generation
book. It is number 17. The story mostly revolves around Wesley Crusher,
Data and Jean-Luc Picard as they struggle to figure out how the
Boogeymen can possibly be taking over the Enterprise.
I always liked the character
of Wesley Crusher and was sad when he left the show. I thought he had a
lot of potential to evolve into a very interesting, and powerful, being
in the Star Trek Universe. Mel Gilden has done wonderful job in nailing
the Star Trek characters in this book. Boogeynmen must have taken
place right before Wesley left the show, as he already has his honorary
Ensign rank and appears quite grown up. I would have liked to have seen
the Boogeymen be more ruthless, but, in reality, this book reads exactly
as if it were one of the television shows, rather than a more
action-oriented movies. The story is fast-paced and quite enjoyable to
read. The new aliens introduced are very interesting as are some of the
situations the crew finds themselves in that are new and enjoyable to
read about. Overall, this is a very good Star Trek: The Next Generation
story and I do recommend it for your reading pleasure.
I rated this book an 8 out of 10. |
