Gullivers Fugitives Star Trek Next Generation #11

Think about your closest friends; are they real to you? If you didn't know them in the first place, would they still be real? Now think about your favorite fiction characters; are they real? Think of a world without them; would YOU be real?After Troi makes an intriguing contact with an "alien" life form from another dimension, thinking that this may be related to the disappearance of USS Huxley a long time ago, Picard decides to investigate inside a nebulae cloud where all subspace communications are blocked by natural sources. They are more than surprised to find a planet named Rampart inhabited by humans inside the cloud. Although human, Rampartians do not like the Enterprise's intrusion because it represents everything they tried to keep away from their society. The fiction in Rampart is a crime and the punishment is death. Since they were departed from the earth, Rampartian science is only excelled in one area: To read and cleanse minds; thus, not only actively involving in creating or consuming fiction is crime, but even thinking of it is... However there is a group of rebels - Dissenters - fighting against the dictatorship with the single weapon they have: Fiction! And Enterprise crew find themselves in the middle of this fight.While the basic promise of the book seems to tell a simple story of rebels fighting against a dictatorship, the author manages to create a compelling storyline by combining some action and nice characters into it, Trek style. Most importantly you are asked what happens if you're ripped off all fiction, and Troi's dreams and the presentation of Dissenters give you a memorable sensation of how actually valuable your fiction characters to you than you've thought. A nice touch is added with Wesley's revelation that "he" is a part of a bigger "It", and the books ends with a nice twist.I am almost sorry that this is a Trek book, because otherwise this would lead to a very nice Saga; How and why the colonists left earth, why are they greedy about fiction, how did they developed the technology and so on.By the way, if you read and like this book, I recommend Ray Bradburry's Fahrenheit 451 too.

When I read this NG novel I expected another run of the mill story with the politically correct message. I was very surprised and wrong about my assesment by the back cover. In this one any creativity or wrong thinking is fatal. A lost starship crashes on this planet only for it's captain to survive. His mind was wiped of any reference to Starfleet and his former life. While I know the major characters would not meet their demise....it's was very exciting to see how Picard escaped the mind wipe intact. The scenes with the all knowing "one eye" cameras/assault units were the best. Especially when Geordi and Wes had to figure out how they worked. It would have played well as a television episode. A lot of the novels are very often superior to the TV scripts and this was one of them.

I believe that as consumers of mass media, we all value our freedom to choose to read, watch, or listen to whatever we desire. But what would happen if the planet we call Earth became a totalitarian state where the expression of creativity is utterly forbidden? That is the premise of "Gulliver's Fugitives."In the first Next Generation audio book ever made, read by Jonathan Frakes (Riker), the away team encounters an underground movement of individuals, much like that found in the movie "Demolition Man", who seek to restore the imagination to its proper place of value. This story is an excellent take on censorship and First Amendment issues.

Some of the best Star Trek episodes were usually 20th century social commentary thinly disguised as 23rd/24th century science fiction. Gulliver's Fugitives continues that same ST storytelling as social commentary tradition.

For all of us who have ever been persecuted for being different, or fighting for the things we truly love, this is the book for you. It demonstrates perfectly the philosophy behind Star Trek, that of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, and how a deadly problem can be overcome by such diversity. It also demonstrates the power of myth, of every culture, and how it can be inspirational even in an extremely advanced technological culture like the Federation, or even Rampart, where only the rebels seem to appreciate it. The book keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering when they'll be rescued, with a fantastic (literally!) climax that is spectacular.