A Time to Hate

Robert Greenberger's A Time to Hate, the second part of his entry in the A Time to... series of Star Trek books, continues the story of William Riker and the choices that he has to make. Leading up to Star Trek: Nemesis, Riker has to consider the direction of both his personal and professional life. As with A Time to Love, this was a short yet powerful book with a lot of character development and action. Not only that, it sets the scene for the rest of the series, piling on a little Starfleet intrigue as well. The planet Delta Sigma IV is falling apart. The Bader and the Dorset, with their natural aggressive instincts returned to them, are finding that one hundred years of peace has not prepared them for violence. Instead, riots have broken out, murders are becoming very commonplace, and vandalism runs rampant. Many blame the Federation, so they take it out on the Enterprise's security officers who are attempting to keep the peace. Captain Picard is trying to buy time for Dr. Crusher to come up with a way to fix things. Meanwhile, Commander William Riker has found his father, as Kyle Riker tries desperately to track down the person who committed the initial murder. Tensions have always been high between the two men, but with Kyle suspected of some involvement in what's happened, these tensions grow ever stronger. However, Kyle is just trying to rectify the mistakes he has made, and he tries to enlist Will to help him. Will personal tensions between the two men keep them from fulfilling their mission? And will Dr. Crusher be able to fix things before the entire planet erupts into chaos? A Time to Hate is only a minor let-down from the first book, mainly because the first book was so good. There are a couple of minor issues with this one that bring it down a notch. The first is the virtual disappearance of the native who has been leading Will around. Once Will finds his father, Seer is not in the book anymore until the end, and I missed him. The relationship that had developed between Will and Seer was interesting to read about, and I was sorry he was gone. I was worried that he had been completely forgotten until he showed up at the end. I suppose he would have detracted from the arguments that Will and Kyle had, but he would have been a more interesting companion than Bison was. I just found Bison annoying, and even more so when he ultimately didn't have much to do with the ending of the book. Incidentally, Bison is the other minor strike against the book. As with A Time to Love, characterization is the strength of this book. All of the regulars are once again wonderfully portrayed, especially the Rikers. The conversations between them were great, relating back to the episode of The Next Generation in which Kyle appeared, as well as the book Deny Thy Father. Will is having a hard time forgiving the man for all those years of feeling abandoned as a child, but he slowly comes to realize exactly where Kyle was coming from.

the enterpise is at a planet that has had peace for over 100 years. all of a sudden the inhabitants are living shorter and shorter life spans and the federation comes up with a cure. problem is the cure also makes the inhabitants violent to the point where they will kill each other and cause mass genocide if another solution is not found. the book looks at all the ethical questions, examines them from several points of views and does not come up with a quick fix. it is good writing on the author's part and the best so far of this series.

This was truly the book that made the "A Time to..." series seem validated. Before, I was a little let down because of what happened in the previous books. If you are unfamiliar with the "A Time to..." series, it's meant to explain all the changes the audience was forced to work with during the last Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis. "Born" tells the story of the Enterprise's reputation being tarnished and Picard and crew being put through the ringer for political and personal reasons by Starfleet and the Federation. "Die" is your basic TNG story, Riker and crew remain loyal to Picard and put their careers on the line to prove his actions in "Born" were justified. "Sow" has the crew rebounding somewhat and dealing with a race of people who suffered a disaster stemming back fromt he days of Captain Archer and the crew of the NX-Enterprise. "Harvest" has the crew once more putting a lot on the line to do right and save a planet's people. "Love" is the book that sets up the events in this installment, dealing with the relationship between Cmdr. William T. Riker and his estranged father, Kyle Riker. Perhaps one weak point of the book is that it references other books that the reader may not have read. Peter David's "Imzadi" is the basis of much of the Deanna/William Riker story line. There's a part where Deanna retells parts of "Imzadi" to Vale, trying to get her to understand the relationship she has with William Riker. Much of the material for the Kyle/Will relationship comes from the book, "Deny Thy Father," part of last year's Lost Era series. This book, if you have read those, does well in putting new spins on these older works, bringing the aged perspective on them both. This book does have a lot of action. It's one of the few books where the Enterprise really isn't used. The personell though is deployed into a dangerous situation on Delta Sigma and the author chooses to up the action and really drive home that this isn't the normal mission. People die, Picard's diplomatic skills really don't get them to where they would in most TNG episodes, Vale really finds her place alongside the usual characters and as a security chief. There are action scenes spread throughout the book so don't think it's a snooze fest filled with conversations and such. What I liked about the book is that finally, just as in "Love," we're getting the substance that makes Nemesis perhaps a more comprehensible movie. Crusher, as in most of the "A Time to" series, really is given a task here. Not only does she have to find a cure to save those on Delta Sigma but each action she takes makes her wonder if she's needed elsewhere, such as back at Starfleet Medical. We get glimpses and ideas of what life she lived when she headed SM back during the second season and why she left. We also are given a lot of moments where her relationship with Picard is actually given some attention. No hitting around the bush as in many books but we get the idea that there's this forbi

I can't add much to what Jackie Bundy said in her review but I will make an attempt. This book, these books A Time to Hate and A Time to Love are my kind of Star Trek books. In these two books the problem to be solved or the story if you will is secondary to the interaction between the characters. The story story itself is engaging but its Riker's relationship with his father,with Deanna, Crusher's thinking about her offer to head starfleet medical and LaForges ingenuity in solving his problem and Picard's continuing difficulties that carries the story for me. I definately recommend them for you to read

Those that complained the previous volume, "A Time to Love," lacked action and fast pacing, will certainly be sated by the latest entry in the "A Time to..." saga. Greenberger will undoubtedly make up for what others seemed to perceive as a lack of action in "...Love." Regardless, "...Hate" builds off of the plot elegantly constructed in the previous entry, starting off with a manhunt and ending on an ominous note.The theme of the novel, of course, is the resolution of a planetwide catastrophe--something that sits well against the backdrop of the Riker familial conflict. Will faces his personal demons, as does Kyle; both men are well-developed and we do begin to feel something towards the both of them, a kind of sympathy and understanding that Greenberger achieves with seemingly little effort. The reunion and the recovery spans continents and riots, father and son coming to terms with their own assumptions about one another while facing death at every turn. Indeed, Kyle speaks of some guilt regarding the crisis on Sigma IV, going so far to say it is "his fault" that the situation on the planet is as it is. The chase for El Bison El is the Rikers' mission, and the man they discover is not at all whom the reader expects.The situation onboard "Enterprise" may seem a bit contrived, but it is important. The fact that the quartermaster is unable (or, perhaps, unwilling) to provide La Forge with the parts he needs speaks volumes of how far the "Enterprise" has slipped image-wise in the minds of many, from the admiralty to ensigns aboard other vessels. While it is repetitive to hear the constant reminder that the reputation of the "Enterprise" is tarnished, this goes a long way towards explaining the shakeup seen in "Nemesis."Face time in the novel goes to Picard, Riker, and Vale; these three are seen the most. "...Hate" shines the spotlight on not only an established character like Riker, but on the lesser-known security officer Vale, whose character growth is both well-deserved and enjoyable. Her scene with Troi towards novel's end is great; in fact, I imagine it is going to be pivitol in books to come. Picard discovers Beverly's pondering of the Starfleet Medical position, albeit not from the doctor herself, something that is both humorous and sad all at once.The Bader and the Dorset, having been drugged by the plant life, and now "cured" of this pacifism by Starfleet's carelessness (Bison's escape) are reduced to rioting lunatics, carving up members of the opposite race and the harried and thinned-out security officers from "Enterprise." While the virus plot seems to be rather insiginificant, it is anything but; the final scene of the novel between Upton and Azernal proves this, and it is here that we see a lead-in to the final three novels in the series.Overall, this was a thrilling and enjoyable read. Greenberger was tasked with providing insight into three key situations that are seen in "Nemesis," all of them involving Riker; the prop