As fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation know, Q is the omnipotent extradimensional entity who so often causes whimsical havoc on the Starship Enterprise and elsewhere--for example, by helpfully introducing Captain Picard and his crew to the menacing Borg collective. Now this petulant demigod's first-person story is told by John de Lancie, the actor who plays Q, and Peter David, author of successful Star Trek novels. It's an irreverent romp through one bizarre scenario after another, as not only Star Trek's Federation universe but the entire multiverse of alternative timelines looks set to gurgle down a metaphysical plughole. Q's own wife and son vanish into the maelstrom, and his "Q Continuum" colleagues blither about calmly accepting apocalypse as a change from eternal tedium. Only Picard and Data the android accompany the questing Q, whose monstrous egotism and complaints that Picard never genuflects to him are barely affected when he loses his godlike powers and realizes that he may need mere humans. En route to the end of all things, they encounter other Federation characters, including Romulans, Klingons, Ferengi, and our captain's dread cyborg alter-ego, Locutus of Borg. After a fast-moving sequence of fights, wisecracks, insults, old jokes, and ultimate despair, the fate of the multiverse is ... but that would be telling. Frothy entertainment. --David Langford
From Publishers Weekly
There are very few things that Q, a member of the Q continuum, can't handle, so he isn't going to let a little thing like the end of the multiverse get the better of him. Under normal circumstances, he might have gone along with the rest of the Qs in celebrating the End as the biggest party of all time, but these are not normal circumstances: the fates of Q's wife and child are at stake, and Q, usually omnipotent and omniscient, in not in control. Powerless, he needs the help of his erstwhile tormentee, Jean-Luc PicardAwho is convinced that some being even more powerful than Q is causing this sudden universal decline. There are plenty of such entities to choose from, including the M continuum, a being called god and a mysterious female presence who puts the cosmos on hold as she reads a peculiar message in a bottle. Considering that Q is one of the most beloved characters in the Star Trek universe, De Lancie (who plays him on the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and who's here aided by veteran Trek mass-market novelist David) is sure to gain a wide readership even though Q's egotistical ramblings, which work so well on screen, can drag on here. The narrative, which presents an almost mythological universal manifestation of the five stages of grief, will take readers on a wild and unique ride, though it leads to a predictable conclusion. As for the quest to make Q a more prominent character in the world of Star Trek books? Fans will say, "Make it so." (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Amazon.com Review
As fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation know, Q is the omnipotent extradimensional entity who so often causes whimsical havoc on the Starship Enterprise and elsewhere--for example, by helpfully introducing Captain Picard and his crew to the menacing Borg collective. Now this petulant demigod's first-person story is told by John de Lancie, the actor who plays Q, and Peter David, author of successful Star Trek novels. It's an irreverent romp through one bizarre scenario after another, as not only Star Trek's Federation universe but the entire multiverse of alternative timelines looks set to gurgle down a metaphysical plughole. Q's own wife and son vanish into the maelstrom, and his "Q Continuum" colleagues blither about calmly accepting apocalypse as a change from eternal tedium. Only Picard and Data the android accompany the questing Q, whose monstrous egotism and complaints that Picard never genuflects to him are barely affected when he loses his godlike powers and realizes that he may need mere humans. En route to the end of all things, they encounter other Federation characters, including Romulans, Klingons, Ferengi, and our captain's dread cyborg alter-ego, Locutus of Borg. After a fast-moving sequence of fights, wisecracks, insults, old jokes, and ultimate despair, the fate of the multiverse is ... but that would be telling. Frothy entertainment. --David Langford
From Publishers Weekly
There are very few things that Q, a member of the Q continuum, can't handle, so he isn't going to let a little thing like the end of the multiverse get the better of him. Under normal circumstances, he might have gone along with the rest of the Qs in celebrating the End as the biggest party of all time, but these are not normal circumstances: the fates of Q's wife and child are at stake, and Q, usually omnipotent and omniscient, in not in control. Powerless, he needs the help of his erstwhile tormentee, Jean-Luc PicardAwho is convinced that some being even more powerful than Q is causing this sudden universal decline. There are plenty of such entities to choose from, including the M continuum, a being called god and a mysterious female presence who puts the cosmos on hold as she reads a peculiar message in a bottle. Considering that Q is one of the most beloved characters in the Star Trek universe, De Lancie (who plays him on the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and who's here aided by veteran Trek mass-market novelist David) is sure to gain a wide readership even though Q's egotistical ramblings, which work so well on screen, can drag on here. The narrative, which presents an almost mythological universal manifestation of the five stages of grief, will take readers on a wild and unique ride, though it leads to a predictable conclusion. As for the quest to make Q a more prominent character in the world of Star Trek books? Fans will say, "Make it so." (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.