The Eyes of the Beholders
by A. C. Crispin
Star Trek: The Next Generation (13), Star Trek (novels) (1990.09), Star Trek (1990.09)
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After several Federation and Klingon ships disappear while traveling a newly opened trade route, the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM is sent to investigate. Their quest leads Captain Picard and his crew to an eerie space graveyard full of ships of every size and description, all of them, dead in space. At the center of the graveyard lies a huge, incredibly powerful artifact, constructed by an ancient alien race. And as the crew struggles to solve the mystery of the artifact, they unwittingly trigger its show more awesome power, a power that threatens insanity and death to all aboard the Starship Enterprise. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Like most people who from time to time like to read a non-episode book based on a television show they enjoyed, I’ve been disappointed on more than one occasion. Books in the Star Trek universe are notorious for the sometimes poor quality of writing and/or story, and failing to be true to the characters as portrayed on the show. Eyes of the Beholders has none of these shortcomings, and is in fact, one of the best books I’ve ever read in the Star Trek: The Next Generation group of stories.
The basic story of an alien artifact and the graveyard of ships it has lured to their demise, while hardly original, is wonderfully conceived and written by A.C. Crispin. He manages to make a somewhat familiar scenario seem fresh, even mysterious. show more The members of the crew seem themselves, and the reader feels like they are reading a well-written episode they missed somehow. The various crew members each have enough “screen” time that the reader’s desire to spend time with them again is satisfied. The answer to the mystery of whether the artifact is a weapon, or simply technology so alien that it drives humans to near madness is intriguing, and the solution rewarding.
Because the characters were themselves, it was very enjoyable spending time with them. But there is much more here. In addition to the main story, we also have Data attempting to write a romance novel. This adds humor to the narrative as he passes it to one friend on the ship after another to get their opinion on it. Crispin perhaps does his best job, however, in painting the relationship of the Vulcan doctor, Selar, and a young Andorian orphan girl who is blind, and because of her condition, is unwanted by her own people. The final solution to their story may be predictable, but it’s also warm and tender, and adds a great deal to the specialness of this entry in the Next Generation universe.
I loved this. Anyone who reads these for enjoyment, especially for the nostalgia of spending a bit more time with characters they came to know and love over the years, and looked forward to seeing each week, can’t go wrong with this one. Very highly recommended. show less
The basic story of an alien artifact and the graveyard of ships it has lured to their demise, while hardly original, is wonderfully conceived and written by A.C. Crispin. He manages to make a somewhat familiar scenario seem fresh, even mysterious. show more The members of the crew seem themselves, and the reader feels like they are reading a well-written episode they missed somehow. The various crew members each have enough “screen” time that the reader’s desire to spend time with them again is satisfied. The answer to the mystery of whether the artifact is a weapon, or simply technology so alien that it drives humans to near madness is intriguing, and the solution rewarding.
Because the characters were themselves, it was very enjoyable spending time with them. But there is much more here. In addition to the main story, we also have Data attempting to write a romance novel. This adds humor to the narrative as he passes it to one friend on the ship after another to get their opinion on it. Crispin perhaps does his best job, however, in painting the relationship of the Vulcan doctor, Selar, and a young Andorian orphan girl who is blind, and because of her condition, is unwanted by her own people. The final solution to their story may be predictable, but it’s also warm and tender, and adds a great deal to the specialness of this entry in the Next Generation universe.
I loved this. Anyone who reads these for enjoyment, especially for the nostalgia of spending a bit more time with characters they came to know and love over the years, and looked forward to seeing each week, can’t go wrong with this one. Very highly recommended. show less
After several Federation and Klingon ships disappear while traveling a newly opened trade route, the U.S.S. Enterprise TM is sent to investigate. Their quest leads Captain Picard and his crew to an eerie space graveyard full of ships of every size and description, all of them, dead in space. At the center of the graveyard lies a huge, incredibly powerful artifact, constructed by an ancient alien race. And as the crew struggles to solve the mystery of the artifact, they unwittingly trigger its awesome power, a power that threatens insanity and death to all aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Meanwhile, Data decides he wants to write a book and would like his friends to critique it. The only way I can describe this is an interstellar bodice show more ripper that is so horrible it's comical. I laughed so hard at some readings I had tears in my eyes. I loved the flashback of dreams some of the crew from this alien artifact. We get to see Worf as a kid, Riker at seventeen and his "first love", and Picard's first ship.
A.C. Crispin knows her Star Trek and it really shows in her work. If you are a long time Trekker or just starting out, this is a great episode to read. show less
Meanwhile, Data decides he wants to write a book and would like his friends to critique it. The only way I can describe this is an interstellar bodice show more ripper that is so horrible it's comical. I laughed so hard at some readings I had tears in my eyes. I loved the flashback of dreams some of the crew from this alien artifact. We get to see Worf as a kid, Riker at seventeen and his "first love", and Picard's first ship.
A.C. Crispin knows her Star Trek and it really shows in her work. If you are a long time Trekker or just starting out, this is a great episode to read. show less
It's a Star Trek pulp novel. It's not good. My four star rating does not mean it ranks with other four star non-genre books that I've read. Also, there a ton of nits to pick (and most are to be found in others' reviews). However, there was a lot to keep me reading and I was very invested in the characters and story. I liked more about than I have liked of most of the series so far, and thus it deserves the fourth star imo. I will keep reading. Who knows, they may eventually become actually good!
I wish I knew what blind people thought of this book, but to my untutored read it seemed like a charming take on how different people have different perspectives and abilities.
Really fun book. Introduced a number of really cool ideas... that it sadly did not explore. Ultimately enjoyable though. 3 out of 5.
I've always wanted to read a Star Trek novel; I'm a big fan of the ST TNG TV series. If you want to take a break from all those heavy classics this one is a perfect 'comfort reading'.
Is this the one where they find an ancient time capsule/art gallery floating in space and everything in it is so bizarrely alien it drives humans insane? Cool.
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Author Information
A. C. Crispin was born in Stamford, Connecticut on April 5, 1950. She received a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Maryland in 1972. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked for the US Census Bureau. Her first novel, Yesterday's Son, was published in 1983 and was part of the Star Trek series. She wrote three show more other Star Trek novels: Time for Yesterday, The Eyes of the Beholders, and Sarek. She wrote V, a novelization of the television miniseries, in 1984 and collaborated on two more books in the V series: East Coast Crisis with Howard Weinstein and Death Tide with Deborah Marshall. She also wrote Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy and The Starbridge Chronicles. Her most recent works include The Exiles of Boq'urain: Storms of Destiny, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom, and Time Horse. She died of cancer on September 6, 2013 at the age of 63. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Eyes of the Beholders
- Original title
- The Eyes of the Beholders
- Alternate titles
- Star Trek - Die nächste Generation: Die Augen der Betrachter; Star Trek - The Next Generation: Die Augen der Betrachter
- Original publication date
- 1990-09; 1992
- People/Characters
- Jean-Luc Picard
- Important places
- Sargasso of Space
- Important events
- Trapped in the Sargasso of Space
- Dedication
- this book is dedicated to my friend
Irene Kress
with love and thanks
for all her understanding and help. - First words
- Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, chief engineer of the starship Enterprise, awoke in his shipboard cabin from a sweating, heart-pounding dream of absolute blackness to the real darkness of his unassisted vision.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Their moving images silhouetted in the window in Ten-Forward, surrounding android and humans alike with the unwinking glory of the distant stars.
- Publisher's editor
- Ryan, Kevin
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 728
- Popularity
- 38,808
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.32)
- Languages
- Czech, English, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 6
