Dyson Sphere

As an archaeologist I come from a certain bias, meaning that I came to this book already as a fan of Pellegrino's works. Dyson Sphere is archaeology on a grand scale, wherein imagination can run utterly wild, and there are scenes in this book that absolutely stun, and turn the whole Star Trek premise on its head with the realization that humanity is really as nothing compared against the scope and the time frames of the universe. But as much as I loved this novel, I, like other reviewers, was jolted by the feeling that somehow huge pieces of the story had been bitten out by an editor - or perhaps even left out by the authors themselves in their haste to meet a deadline. Now, it seems, more than twenty percent of the text was removed by Pocket Books as Dyson went to press. Not even the authors were ever told why. The same thing happened to H.G. Wells' "Time Machine" as it went into its first edition - And still it shone... what was left of it. Perhaps some day the first edition of "Dyson Sphere" will be treasured just for its shiny parts, even after it is fully restored. It should be, for it really does, even at its most jagged edges, brim with every bit the same sense of wonder as the best parts of Wells' "Time Machine."

This review refers to the original version of the book, which was approved by Paramount for publication and which was mysteriously gutted by Pocket Books on the eve of publication - -without either author's knowledge or consent. I, like many readers, am familiar with the superior works of both authors and as I trudged through these seemingly misconnected chapters I could not escape the feeling that huge pieces were missing. Conversations would break off unexpectedly, then start off somewhere else - with different people! It was as if a good movie had been given over to Ed Wood for editing (or to the writers' worst enemy). One of the authors (Pellegrino) is a professional engineer and archaeologist and I could not imagine how a book in which the Captain of the Enterprise, an archaeologist at heart, is given charge of a most amazing archaeology expedition - - the Dyson Sphere, and the archaeology of the Borg - - could possibly go so wrong. I approached Pellegrino about this and he confirmed that approximately 25% of the book had been removed, that someone had renamed ships half-way through the story but not throughout (so that ships and even characters abruptly changed names), and that gross scientific inaccuracies had been introduced. All the more puzzling because Pellegrino claimed that he and Zebrowski had been hired on specifically to write a scientifically literate Star Trek novel. He was kind enough to let me read the original, approved version and I will never understand why some of the most fascinating creatures and chapters (including anything at all that dealt with character development or Piccard's personal suffering) were deleted. Pellegrino politely explained that there had been sincere apologies from Pocket Books, and that although no one at Pocket seemed to know how this had happened, the full version would be published shortly. That was nearly two years ago, and when I ran into him at a recent conference in Philadeplhia, he confirmed that the promise of a restored edition was apparently nothing more substantial than "lip service," and stated (this time, not so politely)that "Dyson Sphere" was the only one of his own books that you would ever find on his shelves. This is too bad, because the version I read was every bit as good as Pellegrino's "Dust," Zebrowski's "Brute Orbits," or Pellegrino and Zebrowski's "The Killing Star." Pocket could easily have had another New York Times best seller on its hands. I've never before heard of a publisher destroying one of its own books. It makes no sense. It's like eating your children.

This book just continues the Traditions of Gene's ideas

I don't know what so many people seem to think is wrong with this book. I thought the Horta crew was interesting, since there never was much talk about the Horta since their main episode. Picard kept in character with his need to go into the sphere and be the archeology lover he is. Though some characters didn't say much, that does not take away from the story. There doesn't need to be a chapter per character to be a good novel. The science was very evident, the authors obviously did their research. The sphere itself was well-described, and the manakin people showed evidence of new life beginning, and unfortunately a quick ending. Using the sphere in a story was a good idea, and I enjoyed it. All in all, it was an excellent book, and don't be afraid to try it.

Contrary to what some reviewers have said, I think this is an excellent addition to the catalogue of ST novels. The style and pace may be different from many other novels, but this just reflects the kind of characters the book is dealing with. In fact the leisurely pace of the book echoes well the slow physical movements of the Horta themselves. As to the charge that there's too much "science" in the book, well ST has always prided itself on having a credible scientific basis on which to build its dreams and at lwat one of the authors of this book is a scientist with a PhD! If you just want people zooming through space blasting each other with photon torpedoes, try some back issues of the comic books. If you want thought-provoking Trek (the best sort of Trek) this is one of the books you should read.