Future Imperfect: The Janus Gate Book Two

For instance, the back cover blurb, while still clearly inaccurate, isn't quite as blatently inaccurate as was the blurb on the back of "Past Tense", the first book of the series. For another thing, while still ending on a cliffhanger, this book at least does us the courtesy of doing so AFTER resolving a major plot point. And the writing is just as good as it was in the first book of the series, which is saying quite a bit.Unfortunately, while this book comes closer than book one did to having an actual ending, it has no beginning; one could not reasonably expect to enjoy this book if one hadn't read book one of the series, so it still can't stand alone. So while the series is well worth reading, I cannot recommend this book by itself. It is a story fragment, and can only be read as part of a trilogy.

The second book in L.A.Graf's "Janus Gate" trilogy is an exciting adventure which builds on the ground work laid in book one. This time there is more of a science fiction edge, as the true nature of the Janus gate mechanism is revealed, and just how out-of-sync the time stream now is becomes apparent. The future adventure with Sulu and an older Chekov fighting the Gorn is an excellent idea, and the fact that the author found a new and interesting way to use established characters and aliens from the original series speaks volumes of her ability as a writer. The ending too manages to throw in another curve to the story with the arrival of the mysterious "Shechenag", and the reader can't help but be drawn in to the next book. For any other fans who liked this story I would also like to recommend "Killing Time" by Della Van Hise published in July 1985 (Star Trek collection #24), which features an excellent story where Romulans have altered time creating a distorted future in which Spock is an embattled starship captain, and Kirk is a bitter ensign. As for this book, it is another enjoyable effort from Graf, even better than the first one.

I enjoyed this book very much but it is getting complicated with all of the time travel (we have a Chekov and Sulu from a future time in a similar parallel universe or maybe alternative future universe and a young Kirk from a past time). I am really looking forward to book 3 to find out how all is resolved. However, Spock does give us a clue that they (the original crew) will not remember any of it after the time loop is corrected, but that has never happened before on many of their trips to the past - yet needs to as this series takes place early in their careers and they now have a lot of information they should not know.Usually in most series, each book tries to tell a stand alone story, but this book (series) doesn't even try. It continues on right after the first book and ends on a cliffhanger ready for the third. Now we have to wait for the ending to come out. I see no reason why this should not of been a larger (probably more expensive) book instead of a series.

Continuing the serial begun in "Present Tense", L.A Graf moves further into the story of Tlaoli 4, its caves and its time distortions. Oddly enough, though, not once does the action of the story take place aboard the Enterprise.Picking up from the cliffhanger in the first first book, Lieutenant Sulu of the Enterprise finds himself swapped in time with an older version of himself that is struggling to hold on in a Federation almost overrun by the Gorn. Likewise, Captain Kirk has been swapped with his teenage self. While we do not see the time Captain Kirk has been sent to, we see a how the crew reacts to having a teenage version of their respected captain stuck with them.While the ideas are again not new: time-travelling technology from an ancient culture, a future in peril and balancing the needs of now against the needs of the future, the way in which L.A. Graf spins them are quite fun. Again, she's created a meat-and-potatoes "Star Trek" story that reads like a well-done episode (and a preview of the crew's five-year mission). She gets the interplay between Sulu, Chekov and Uhura down well and the book definitely stands on those three, relegating Kirk, Spock and McCoy to the periphery. She even manages to throw in an unexpected twist or two while tying the story together (in its back-and-forth-through-time aspect) quite well.Her future timeline (one in which Kirk never commanded the Enterprse) is reasonably well thought out as well. She constructs an entire future timeline and does a good job of showing what Chekov and Sulu could reasonably have become given those circumstances.Again, it's not Shakespeare (or even "The City on the Edge of Forever"), but it really doesn't have to be. It's a fun, light read and should be taken as such. If you're a "Star Trek" fan - or even a general sci-fi fan looking for something not too strenuous to take to the beach or the park, you could do worse than this.

Star Terk: TOS - The Janus Gate - Future Imperfect by L.A. Graf is the second book in this trilogy and it takes off right where book one left off. We get a better explanation as to what happened to Sulu's shuttle craft, about what kind of alien transporter, and how all of the first book relates to the second book.As we know from the first book, while at Psi-2000 the Enterprise had to cold start the warp engines and that put the Enterprise and her crew back in time by 3 days. So, we have a time fracture, while at Tlaoli-4 this plays an importanat part in solving what is going to happen next, as we now find that there are multiple time fractures appearing. The alien caves at Tlaoli-4 are part of an ancient alien technology left behind as a gift for future visitors of the planet. Tlaoli-4 is a depleated planet and the technology is power starved and preys upon large power sources as we have found out in the first book. A discovery of alien space craft litter the landscape and a power draining of all dilithium type technology.The book has many tie-ins with ST: TOS TV series as we read on. But since time has been fractured, there are many alternate time lines and therefore we have an Older Captain Sulu and Pavel Chekov. These "older" versions are fighting the GORN.We were introduced to the Gorn via the TOS TV series along with the ephemeral and multidimensional Metron who were to mediate a confrontaion between the Fedreration and the Gorn Hegemony. With the loser of the physicial confrontation to be banned from space, as things turned out, the Federation won, but of course there were different combatants through the time lines or parallels. Now, the Gorn are using other technology to further their Empire... thus the space teleportaton... Janus Gate.This book is full of parallels, action, adventure and keeps you well entertained and glued to the book to find out how things turn out and how Spock can get the time fractures healed. The book starts fast and keeps on moving faster as intrigue builds and problems mount. Along with this, we get character development, interplay, and fleshing out to make this book work.Of course, we haven't resolved the problem of Captain James T. Kirk and how are the members of the Enterprise crew to deal with the Shechenag introduced late in this book. These and other problems introduced along the way, so far, I trust will be resolved in the third book of this trilogy. I found this series to be a very good one and I trust others will concur. This is a very well written series with attention by the reader paramount. So, enjoy a wild ride through time and space as the Enterprise and her crew try to solve this latest adventure.Now, on to book three...