Publication Date:June 26, 2007 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days Shipping:Expedited shipping available Shipping:International shipping available Condition:Mild warping; spine okay. Book is ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text
Product Description Jean-Luc Picard. His name has gone down in legend as the captain of the U.S.S. Stargazer and two starships Enterprise. But the nine years of his life leading up to the inaugural mission of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM to Farpoint Station have remained a mystery -- until now, as Picard's lost era is finally unearthed.
Following the loss of the Stargazer and the brutal court-martial that resulted, Picard no longer sees a future for himself in Starfleet. Turning to his other love, archaeology, he embarks on a quest to rediscover a buried age of ancient galactic history...and awakens a living survivor of that era: a striking, mysterious woman frozen in time since before the rise of Earth's dinosaurs. But this powerful immortal has a secret of cataclysmic proportions, and her plans will take Picard -- aided along the way by a brilliant but naive android, an insightful Betazoid, and an enigmatic El-Aurian -- to the heights of passion, the depths of betrayal, and the farthest reaches of explored space.
A Reivew of "The Buried Age"October 25, 2008 Antoine D. Reid(Durham, NC United States) I have to agree with many reviewers. I found part of "The Buried Age" to be good. We are indeed treated to a look at what Picard was doing between the years of losing the U.S.S. Stargazer and taking command of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. My problem with the novel is, like many note, all the techno-babble that comes off as Christopher Bennett's attempt to make a simple novel overly complicated. It felt as if it dragged on. There is little action and even character development for Picard, the subject of the novel, who comes off more as a jilted lover by the end of the book and simply out of character.
The Good: I liked how the book attempts to setup the whole 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' world. Yet, this really does not occur until the end of the book. We get to see why or how Picard came to know the familiar crew of the Enterprise-D, from his first (and unspoken of in the series) encounter with Data, a very complicated Guinan, Deanna Troi who by far was the most well-written of the TNG bunch in this novel and goes beyond her typical restating of the obvious role, to even an appearance and explanation of how TNG's longest running arc/foe began. This for me was what I came in expecting from the novel and enjoyed immensely as a reader and fan of this series.
The Bad: Honestly, the book didn't feel like it really picked up and kicked things off until page 313. The majority of the novel did not 'feel' like Star Trek or The Next Generation. The entire time I was reading this, I was simply distracted and bored by this. The premise of the majority of the book is Picard loses his confidence and goes on something of a journey to 'find himself'. Yes, a rather over-used plot coupled with a dull archaeology find that is supposed to liven the plot. The only problem is the plot is predictable. When you read of the conflict in the story, your mind goes 'I bet she's ...' and you're pretty much right. It was disappointing and I found it hard to believe that Picard would spend so much time and years hung up on one thing or person. It felt completely out of character. The description of the book is quite deceiving as well as it hints at the appearance of Guinan, Troi and Data ... and while Data appears early on in the book along with another big Trek character cameo, Guinan and Troi don't really play a big role until the last 100 or so pages of the book! The rest is this drawn out, boring, over-the-top plot that was pretty skip-worthy.
I'd probably give this book another half of a star if I could simply for the last three sections of the book which answered a lot of TNG era questions. It was fun, interesting and a good way to bridge the eras of Picard's life. I still feel like we've missed out on the true story of Picard's lost era with how the plot is setup, and after you read it and get to the big reveal and answer as to why things feel a bit off and out-of-character, you'll probably feel like a majority of the book is a waste of a read with only 150 or so pages really being necessary. Simply did not meet my expectations based on the description of the book and a poorly executed, tad bit soap operaish, execution of the story and plot. If you read, buy it used for sure to save your money.
An overly lengthy but completely satisfying bridge between Stargazer and TNGJune 5, 2008 Malcolm C. Eckel(Houston, TX) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bennett is an incredible world builder. The Star Trek universe presented in this novel is every tiny bit as consistent and plausible as any series of science fiction ever released, and applies such copious amounts of ingenious spackle that even TNG's first two seasons almost make sense. The achievements in this area should not be overlooked; I almost feel like one should read this before ever watching Star Trek, in much the same way that Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy so entirely improved the original Star Wars trilogy. The appearances of Janeway and all the main characters were absolutely perfectly characterized and realistically developed, especially Data. And Bennett gives Picard himself the greatest tragic flaw the character is capable of as well, one that unfortunately foreshadows First Contact a little too strongly, but is otherwise perfectly compelling. Bennet's ability to make this world and these characters come alive is stunning, every bit as much here as in his similarly wonderful Ex Machina.
Unfortunately, despite being a brilliantly conceived universe with perfectly realized characters, it still manages to be, well, sort of boring for about the middle half. Interesting stuff happens, it just happens very slowly and in a lot of detail. I'm not sure much of this could've been prevented, but the last quarter does an excellent job of skipping over important things to summarize them later, so I feel like the middle half could've been somewhat flensed.
Still, ultimately the story is so wonderful, and so perfectly realized, that it overcomes its lack of narrative drive and delivers a sweeping and legitimately sci-fi wondrous conclusion. Bennett does more to legitimize the show than the show does, and it's a fanboy's abject joy to read.
One of the Better "Star Trek" novels published in recent memoryApril 25, 2008 John Kwok(New York, NY USA) 2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Christopher Bennett's "Star Trek The Next Generation: The Buried Age" is among the finer examples of "Star Trek" fiction that I've come across lately. It is a most engaging, quite exciting, exploration of first contact that works too as a decent space opera science fiction novel. Here we are given some interesting, quite tantalizing, glimpses into Jean-Luc Picard's character, looking more closely at his lifelong interest in archaeology, and the aftermath of losing the USS Stargazer. It is also a fine introduction to Picard's initial meetings with the entire command crew of the USS Enterprise-D. Told well by Christopher Bennett in clear, concise prose is Picard's unexpected encounter with the enigmatic alien Ariel. Anyone who is a fan of "Star Trek" fiction and of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", should add this book to their collection.
Veeeeeeery slow ReadApril 20, 2008 Jeremy(il) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book started out great don't get me wrong but then it just became bogged down with the technical stuff which ruined the series at times as well. I give it three stars just because we learn so much about Picard and other characters.
could be betterMarch 19, 2008 JohnA37(Brisbane, Australia) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Covers period of Picard's life betweem loss of the Stargazer and Enterprise D (Next Gen). Predictible that the alien is going to fall for Picard and end up betraying him... ok for fans who want to fill in gap, but otherwise its obvious how book is going to end.
