Deny Thy Father: 2355-2357

In this book, we see Will Riker as a Cadet and then an Ensign; we see his father; we see Katherine Janeway as an Ensign, and we see Owen Paris, father of Tom Paris, already an Admiral. The story centers around Will and his father, although the twain never do meet; already, they're estranged. The plot, both the main one and various subplots, are all handled well, competently and with flair. We get more insight into both Will and his father; not surprisingly, Deanna Troi is not the first potential love that Will has broken up with in the name of furthering his career, nor is it surprising that his father has trouble with relationships too. Not, perhaps, of interest to the reader who isn't already familiar with the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" background world and characters unless they would find a study of a disfunctional father-son relationship in which both men are reasonable, worthwhile individuals of interest, but definitely a must for fans.

The Tholians are back, which in itself is reason enough to want to read this book. But, aside from the action and brilliant space opera of the story, the very fact Will Ryker's estranged father gets thrown into the mix makes for even greater space opera. Definitely get it and add it to such works by other authors as: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.

My expectations for this book, after reading the reviews here and with the Lost Era series being 2 for 4, were not high. I found this to be good reading, though not spectacular. Obviously the book follows two stories, Kyle's and Will's. Will's story is a personal drama, without the dramatic Academy tests or conspiracies that Original Series books set there have. Still, I found it to be a well written, interesting, and entertaining depiction of Will Riker at that time. I don't really like Will Riker all that much as a TNG character, so making him interesting for me was a good achievement on the author's part. The cadets are rather clichéd, but apart from the eternally patient girlfriend I've known people just like them, and they work well as part of Will's story. Kyle's story has much more action in its beginning and end. The descriptions there and overall are very well done. This author understands how to make long descriptive passages interesting. The middle of Kyle's story was essentially filler, as Kyle himself puts it, to prepare him for the end of the story. It was entertaining and well done, but it had almost nothing to do with the central plot of Kyle's story. I would have preferred more time on the conspiracy. I did quite enjoy the resolution of that. It's refreshing, after "Serpents Among the Ruins", to see a murderous conspiracy be viewed by Starfleet Command as something to stop. All in all, I found this to be an enjoyable read. Nothing was spectacularly good, but lately just enjoyable has been too much for some Trek authors.

My purpose is not to reiterate the plot which is already provided by the publisher and several reveiwers. My purpose is to express whether or not, in my opinion, the book is worth trading my hard-earned money for the price on its cover. I thought that "Deny Thy Father" was one of the better Star Trek books published lately.I agree, to some degree, with each previous reviewer. But I gave the book its full five stars because I haven't particularly enjoyed Star Trek books lately, and I enjoyed this one for its entertainment value--not necessarily for its value to the Star Trek storyline. There is a separation of values here. I read the book as a reader looking for something to read solely for its science fiction entertainment merit, and this story entertained me.The Star Trek books aren't exactly literary epic novels and I thought this book was very well done for its subject matter. No, we don't really get into the Ryker heads, but we see some action. While I admit growing extremely board with Ryker Sr's life on the run, overall, the story was entertaining. Would I read a second Star Trek book by Jeff Mariotte? Yes. Did I think the cover price of the book was a fair exchange for its entertainment value? Yes.