navithefairy's review
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kdez's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lizardgoats's review against another edition
5.0
With the title and the basic plot as guide (planet is destroyed by music-loving aliens and only the children are saved) this story is an obvious allusion to the nursery rhyme "The Pied Piper of Hamlin." Intertwining the two stories--a 50-yr-old tragedy and the resettlement of a technology-averse people--makes for an interesting narrative on communication.
How do vastly different species/ideologies/hierarchies communicate effectively with each other? What happens when language fails to communicate what the individuals want, not what's best for the group?
These are just some of the questions touched on in this story, but I think the real shine comes from the crews interactions with each other. Carmen Carter did a great job capturing the voices of Enterprise crew. She even goes so far as to extend the narrative of miscommunication to them and their relationships with each other--harkening back to Jack Crusher's death as an impediment between Picard and Dr Crusher's friendship and Wesley Crusher's narrative of himself as a boy without a father.
Also it's really nice to see Wesley have a friend his own age, even if for a short period of time. In the series he is nearly always alone, the only child in a room of adults. It was nice to see him as just a kid for once.
As as side note, I would've loved to see this story as a TOS book. It would've been amazing to see Uhuru, our canon linguist, learning the musical language of the Charaii in order to communicate with them. I can see why TNG was chosen (pretty sure there is already a TOS book the revolves around this idea) and it does work well in the TNG universe. It just fits so well with Uhuru's character that I can't help myself from imagining.
How do vastly different species/ideologies/hierarchies communicate effectively with each other? What happens when language fails to communicate what the individuals want, not what's best for the group?
These are just some of the questions touched on in this story, but I think the real shine comes from the crews interactions with each other. Carmen Carter did a great job capturing the voices of Enterprise crew. She even goes so far as to extend the narrative of miscommunication to them and their relationships with each other--harkening back to Jack Crusher's death as an impediment between Picard and Dr Crusher's friendship and Wesley Crusher's narrative of himself as a boy without a father.
Also it's really nice to see Wesley have a friend his own age, even if for a short period of time. In the series he is nearly always alone, the only child in a room of adults. It was nice to see him as just a kid for once.
As as side note, I would've loved to see this story as a TOS book. It would've been amazing to see Uhuru, our canon linguist, learning the musical language of the Charaii in order to communicate with them. I can see why TNG was chosen (pretty sure there is already a TOS book the revolves around this idea) and it does work well in the TNG universe. It just fits so well with Uhuru's character that I can't help myself from imagining.
witchofthemountains's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
courtney12345's review against another edition
4.0
This book is really weird, not bad, just weird. The book is interesting and the author does a beautiful job describing everything. Probably one of the easiest books to picture in my head that I read in 2021. But the plot is sooooo weird. The alien's spaceships are alive, steal children, and communicate with sound. And the inside of their ships is liquid?! This only brushes the surface of how weird this book is.
Overall a good read.
Overall a good read.
frakalot's review
4.0
I thought this was really good. Another great and very classic adventure. An interesting story with some very TNG philosophical questions.
djwudi's review
3.0
Decent for early TNG, though more than a bit on-the-nose with the Pied Piper connections (children abducted from a place called Hamlin by aliens whose language is music).
octavia_cade's review
3.0
A good solid read, although it skims over a few places I think. A four year old who's seen her home and family slaughtered, and who's been kidnapped by the aliens who did the slaughtering, is having so much fun after several days with them that she wants to go back after being rescued? Not buying it, sorry. I'm also not buying that someone as clever as Deelor didn't see Ruthe's final strategy coming a mile off, because I certainly did.
Nitpicks like these aside, however, this was a thoughtful and considered story about alienation, I suppose - about what happens when you're ripped from your culture and raised in another one, and whether or not it's in your interest, after a lifetime of assimilation, to be ripped away once again. And, from the other side, how ethical it is to build diplomatic relationships with those who slaughter and kidnap others. It's a book all about price and compromise is what I'm saying, and some of the prices are very heavy, and some of the compromises are fairly repellent. It's more sad than anything, even more sad than hopeful, and that's an unusual approach for Star Trek, though one I think that has paid off here.
Nitpicks like these aside, however, this was a thoughtful and considered story about alienation, I suppose - about what happens when you're ripped from your culture and raised in another one, and whether or not it's in your interest, after a lifetime of assimilation, to be ripped away once again. And, from the other side, how ethical it is to build diplomatic relationships with those who slaughter and kidnap others. It's a book all about price and compromise is what I'm saying, and some of the prices are very heavy, and some of the compromises are fairly repellent. It's more sad than anything, even more sad than hopeful, and that's an unusual approach for Star Trek, though one I think that has paid off here.
bdplume's review
3.0
As far as Trek books go, this one isn't tops. Even for Sci-fi a good bit of it isn't believable, and the parts that are believable are predictable from the very early stages. It still manages to be a semi-fun read, though.
scarlettsims's review
3.0
This was a decent quick read. I think my main beef with it was that it was early-seasons: still had Yar, Wesley was a bigger character, everyone was still kinda new to the Enterprise. Also, some of the reveals were pretty predictable. However, the alien adversary was an interesting one and there was nothing notably offensive. I think I might just seek out later titles in the series from now on.
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