Michael Jan Friedman

A book like this is, to a large extent, fan service (not a complaint) and I feel like debating its merits is merely debating how well you, as a fan, feel like it serviced your interests. Michael Jan Friedman has written some great Star Trek stories and all of the characters feel true to themselves. He also writes good X-Men. My complaint is that the book is overstuffed. With a complement of Star Trek characters and X-Men, you're already going to have trouble giving all of them ample time. show more But this story also introduces a bunch of new characters, meaning no one really gets the time in the spotlight they deserve. When the Star Trek characters and the X-Men are interacting, the novel is great. I just wish we'd had more of that and less time spent with characters that will likely never be seen again. show less

Of course, this is a book I've read many times before, but it's one of Michael Jan Friedman's better ones. The Stargazer crew is an interesting bunch of characters, and meeting them and seeing glimpses of a young Picard are really the best parts of the book. (The best scene in the book-- and indeed, perhaps the best scene Friedman ever wrote-- is Pug Joseph's confession to Wesley.) The B-plot about a subspace anomaly and some random Romulans is pretty forgettable, but the A-plot of the show more (attempted) murder mystery is executed well, aside from the fact that the crew doesn't actually investigate the attempt, but just sits tight and hopes no one gets murdered. Crusher cracks it in the end thanks to a chance comment in an old letter from Jack, but by that point the murderer's kidnapped Picard, so what's the point? (I wonder how much the impact of this book has been diluted in this modern age, where we've had almost a dozen books detailing the adventures of the 'gazer crew. These small glimpses used to be all we had; now they seem somewhat insignificant. Though I do wish the proper 'gazer series had depicted the mission of exploration described in this book, rather than stopping just before it.) show less

I loved Kahless. I wasn't sure that I would, because as much as I love Worf as a character, the Klingon race has often times been a little too raw for me in my time as a Star Trek fan. But as the book progressed, I realized in "Kahless" we are treated to a complicated and fair look at who the Klingon are. And the word complicated is appropriate here, because that's also part of the plot -- as Klingons grapple with what the truth of their legendary hero "Kahless" really was like, you get a show more layered and deeper look at both a character and a whole race. It's not just snarls, angry confrontations, and nasty food (like what sometimes we got with the Klingons on the shows), but a beautiful look at characters.

The book alternates, chapter by chapter, between the modern world where the Klingon (as well as Picard) are dealing with new information, and the "heroic era" which tells the story of the actual Kahless. We flip back and forth and move forward through both stories, and it's pretty riveting. show less

Michael Jan Friedman’s Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men: Planet X is a delightful crossover that shouldn’t work, but somehow does and will entertain fans of both franchises who can remember the heyday of 1990s nerd culture. It appeared when both Star Trek and the X-Men were at the heights of their respective franchises’ popularity and captures the essence of what made both great. The story itself takes place during the Dominion War, with the Enterprise-E on its way to Starbase 42 show more for a conference between the Federation and their Klingon allies. Lt. Commander Worf joins the Enterprise along the way for his expertise (pg. 20), but the ship must divert when the X-Men appear on Starbase 88. When last the Enterprise crew met them, they were transported to the X-Men’s timeline shortly after the events of Star Trek: First Contact due to the effects of the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror’s timehook (pg. 53). While the Enterprise and her crew returned to their proper time, the X-Men found themselves pulled along in the time wake, arriving twelve months later. Now, the X-Men may be able to help the Federation as people on Xhaldia are mutating upon reaching the age of 22. Meanwhile, an unknown alien race called the Draa’kon has attacked the planet, seeking to capture the transformed people of Xhaldia. The Enterprise crew and the X-Men will have to combine their respective unique talents and personalities to save the transformed from the Draa’kon and from Xhaldian persecution.

Friedman clearly has fun thinking up interactions between the X-Men and the Enterprise crew. For example, Storm and Captain Jean-Luc Picard have something of a flirtationship (pgs. 50-57), Worf and Wolverine bond as warriors (pgs. 70-74), and Data can harmonize with Banshee (pg. 99). He also works in references to “The Inner Light” (pg. 56), “Hide and Q” (pg. 222), Q, the Traveler, the Founders, and more (pg. 48). Further, he includes references to two of the great Marvel creators by naming members of Worf’s away team Ditko and Kirby (pg. 167). Though Professor Xavier does not appear in this story, Dr. Beverly Crusher creates a holographic simulation of him to consult with about the transformed Xhaldians, noting the “resemblance” between the Professor and Captain Picard (pg. 199). Best of all, Friedman made this connection two years before Patrick Stewart portrayed Professor X in the first X-Men film.

This is the third Star Trek/X-Men crossover. The first was a 1996 comic written by Scott Lobdell and featured the X-Men meeting Captain Kirk and the crew of the original Enterprise during its five-year mission. In the second, Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton described the crew of the Enterprise-E meeting the X-Men after the events of Star Trek: First Contact. These stories were made possible by Marvel’s brief Paramount Comics line, under which they published their licensed Star Trek comics based on the various series and original titles like Starfleet Academy and Early Voyages. Here, Friedman concludes the crossovers with the X-Men, with an epilogue that’s particularly fitting for both franchises. Strange as this Star Trek/X-Men crossover may seem, Trek has since crossed over with DC’s Legion of Superheroes in 2011-2012, with Doctor Who in 2012, with Planet of the Apes in 2014-2015, with DC’s Green Lantern twice in 2015, and with the Transformers franchise in 2018-2019, though all of the crossovers after the X-Men occurred exclusively in comic book form and were facilitated by IDW holding the Star Trek comic license. show less