Pretty much as advertised--last TNG episode as novel

Reviewed by John A. Dodds, 2004-08-10

This book takes the last Star Trek: TNG episode and turns it into a decent, short novel. Having seen the episode a few years back, I read the book already knowing the story. But the novel does a good job of taking you through the story and adding a few elements here and there to more fully explain what's going on and why. This book isn't the kind I'm likely to ever re-read, though.

All Good Things... (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Reviewed by Anonymous, 2003-11-03

Could not put this one down. This is an amazingly well-written book that trancends the genre.

STNG All Good Things... - An exceptional novelization!

Reviewed by K. Wyatt, 2003-10-11

"All Good Things" is only the second of three episode novelizations for Star Trek's most prolific author, Michael Jan Friedman. As is standard fare for a Michael Jan Friedman novel, it is another excellent read. When setting out to put a novelization of an episode in print, the main things the readers are looking for are personalization of the characters thoughts during "on screen" moments and some added "between" the scenes, scenes. MJ Friedman accomplishes this with great ease.

The only sad thing about this novel is that it was, at the time of its publishing, just another sign that an era of extraordinary and historic television had come to an end. The upside would be the movies, for the better part, but overall, this show is sorely missed by many.

Credit to Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga for the original screenplay for "All Good Things..." which made up the outstanding conclusion to seven years of the some of the best television episodes ever to grace the home theater.

The cover art for this, the hardback and the later published paperback is "right on" with the overall theme of the television shows grand finale!

The premise:

As Star Trek The Next Generation began with Q introducing himself in "Encounter at Farpoint," so does it end with him once again challenging humanities right to be among the stars in "All Good Things..." How does he go about this; in his usual style of harassing but teaching Captain Picard, all at the same time. Captain Picard wakes to find himself on board the Enterprise D at the time in which he belongs, yet before he awoke he was thoroughly convinced several years had passed and he'd been an old man.

What follows from there is nothing short of one of the most brilliant episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation and an outstanding novelization in which Captain Picard is bounced around between three different time periods and the past, present and future of not only the Enterprise and her gallant crew are at stake but humanity itself is at stake.

I highly recommend this novelization to any and all fans of Star Trek, whether you can find it in hardback or paperback. I believe this is one story that Gene Roddenberry would truly have been proud of! {ssintrepid}

ST:TNG All Good Things...

Reviewed by Joe Zika, 2003-02-26

Star Trek: The Next Generation; All Good Things... novelization by Michael Jan Friedman based on All Good Things... Written By Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga is base on the television episode by the same name.

What you found in the television episode is covered in this book, but the leaps in logic and continuity are better covered in this novel. What I found very inteesting was the author's way of coveying time... past, present, and future. It was smooth and integrated in the storyline making for a logical progression.

The book is about Captain Jean-Luc Picard's fight to save the human race from the ravages of the "Q." The verdict is in, and humanity must be destroyed. As Picard makes his case for humanity, "Q" takes Picard on trips to the past and future making for an interesting read.

As Picard looks "Q" in the eye and stoically asks "Q" having reached a verdict... have you decided upon a sentence? "Q" replies that he has... It's time to end your trek through the stars... and make room for a more worthy species. "Q" has wrapped up humanity's fate... You're to be denied existence... you will be destroyed.

Knowing this, Picard makes a valent attempt to save all humanity. This is a Picard/"Q" book and it is very well-written, intriguing and is the novelization of the classic final episode of The Next Generation's television journey. A very fast read as Picard in his effort to save humanity, must sacrifice himself and all those he holds dear... perhaps more than once as this has a time travel theme to it... and if Picard fails... Mankind is doomed.

Faithful novelization of a good episode.

Reviewed by James Yanni, 2002-12-08

There are a couple of major quibbles I have with the plot, however, and while it is not the fault of the book that the flaws are there (they were there in the episode) I still find that I can't rate the book higher given those sloppinesses. I don't know what I'd have done if I were making the novelization, and had to choose between diverging from the episode or making sense, but still...

The first flaw is in the claim that the three beams that created the anomaly were from "three different Enterprises, at three different times". Nice idea, but they WEREN'T. One of them (the one in the future) was from Beverly Crusher's medical ship; the future Enterprise never sent off a tachyon pulse. The second is that the anomaly, supposedly an "anti-time" anomaly, moves BACKWARD in time from its origin point, yet Picard and company find it FORWARD in time from its origin point, and growing.

I realize that when dealing with temporal anomalies, time travel, and weird physics, anything is possible. But it would be nice if things made sense INTERNALLY; if they can't be made to do so, it would be nice if the characters in the book at least acknowledged the wrongness and their inability to explain things. These flaws went a long way toward ruining a good story for me.