I'm reading this one now and like all the NF books. But has anyone noticed that the silhouette of the Excalibur doesn't quite configure to what an Ambassador class ship should look like in silhouette? Check out the nacelle pylons, frinstance. They should be elbowed, not straight. True, the black shape doesn't give full detail of the nacelle pylons but then it does give enough to show the pylons are wrong for that class of ship. I'm not sure about the shape of the battle station, though, if it's configured correctly in the silhouette.

Perhaps the ship looked different because of the repair and refit that it underwent before Calhoun was assigned to it?

That could very well be, Aaron. I forgot about that.

I looked at the Ent-C pic in the older Star Trek Encyclopedia, page 91, and it looks like in the silhouette Excalibur's aft section of the battle station could be the same as in the E-C pic, but I'm not totally sure. I mentioned in another post that one thing I liked about one of my favorite NextGen eps, "Yesterday's Enterprise", is that I can see the Ambassador class ship to get a better idea of the Excalibur as I read this story. I also saw the Ent-C model doubles as the Excalibur in the TNG ep, "Redemption, Part II", which is on this Monday, so thankfully I caught that in time to watch it. I forgot it was in that ep. I missed "Part I" but oh, well. The refit of the Excalibur also explains why the bridge now has the curved tactical railing and ramps like the Galaxy class ships do, and not as the Ent-C shows in "Yesterday's Enterprise."

That also brings another point to mind, now that I think of it. Just how long are starships supposed to last? I read somewhere, maybe in one of the NF novels, that they're made to last about a century, which, if so, espec were it canonized in a series or movie, would explain they still use Miranda, Excelsior and Oberth class ships during the present era. Of course another explanation would be budgetary, too, on Paramount's part. That'd also explain why the Enterprise was several years old (10? 15?) by the time Kirk got her, though I don't know how many refits she had before he got her. I'd love to see an old Constitution class in a series ep, maybe in a museum or something, like in the novel, "Crossover." Yes, I know the old Enterprise was shown in the DS9 ep, "Trials and Tribble-ations," but that doesn't quite count since they went back in time to that era.

Does anyone know when the next book is coming out also does Peter David have sole publication rights to the New Frontier name?

I have no idea, Robert. I've not heard anything, but then I've not been looking, either. I'm still reading this one, too, but almost done with it.

The seventh book in the New Frontier series is "Once Burned," also known as Captain's Table, Book Five. It tells the story of Mackenzie Calhoun's previous ship, before his resignation...

I was disappointed in this book. This one practically swims in elements from previous books he wrote: Strike Zone, Q-in-Law, and one other I can't think of offhand. His other works in ST are original.

Alex, I've not read this one yet. I read the other six and liked them, espec the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" thing. Hilarious and a great homage to Gene, whose name I of course pay homage to with my nick. It just blew me away when I first read that. Kudos to Peter David.

Now I'm going on a Heinlein trip, starting with "Stranger in a Strange Land."

They'll all be Peter David, but it's not really that he has 'rights' per se, more that John Ordover (the editor) won't commission any written by anyone else.

Ok, so two of the ways Morgan envisions the Prometheans are Shadows and Vorlons from Babylon 5, but WHO is the actual appearance supposed to be like?

All the original characters should belong to Mr. David.

Book six, Fire on High (FOH), was an almost complete 180 from Martyr. With only a few exceptions, FOH genuinely felt like a classic Trek story. Mystery, adventure, science-fictiony stuff, mild character development... not bad at all.

Having said that however, this was a story of great buildup with unsatisfying payoff. To avoid spoilers, I'll liken it to the climax of the movie Contact. While I generally enjoyed the movie, I think most can agree that it could've ended better, except this time there's a rather lazy deus ex machine involved. That's FOH in a nutshell for me, and I'll throw in the somewhat ridiculous explanation of Robin Lefler's mother for good measure.

Overall, I'd still recommend the second NF omnibus; Prometheans, but only if you've read the first four. I'm on the fence about continuing the series however, though thankfully I have a distraction in reading the omnibus of the first four short stories of the ST Corps of Engineers to get through next before I decide.

Apologies, that should say deus ex machina, not machine, as I'm sure everyone reading this assumed. Dang auto correct