Stone and Anvil Star Trek New Frontier

Published Feb. 12, 2010 by Pocket Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-4516-2329-1

(1 review)

A crewman has been murdered aboard the USS Trident, and all evidence points to Ensign Janos of the USS Excalibur-A. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun is reluctant to accept that Janos, a powerful non-humanoid whom the captain has known and trusted for years, could be a killer, and immediately launches an investigation into the crime. But this troubling murder mystery soon escalates into a full-fledged diplomatic crisis that threatens to pit Calhoun and Captain Elizabeth Shelby against the entire United Federation of Planets -- and the Starship Enterprise™.

Meanwhile, the turmoil involving Ensign Janos forces Calhoun to recall his own tempestuous past, his rocky relationship with a young Elizabeth Shelby -- and a long-ago exploit that may have everything to do with the deadly emergency that now confronts them all!

6 editions

Sean Randall reviewed Stone and Anvil (Star Trek: New Frontier) by Peter David (Star Trek: New Frontier (14))

Review of 'Stone and Anvil (Star Trek: New Frontier)' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

"In any case, Dr. Bethom was quite explicit that he had no desire
to communicate with you until a particular change in climate at an indeterminate
point in the future."
"Let me guess: When Hell freezes over."
"That was it!"

The repartee is brilliant. The narrative, superb. And whilst we can argue that the setting of the story itself is simply a backdrop for a recitation of things gone by, what a recitation it was...

"No one's dying, I hope?"
"no, but I haven't gotten there yet."

We see "one-punch Calhoun" in all his academy glory, and whilst there's certainly more to it than is told, its riveting stuff nonetheless.

I loved everything about "then" - it added so much to Calhoun's character and filled in so much of the history that I could have happily consumed another volume on the subject. His unbending positions on almost everything made the …

"In any case, Dr. Bethom was quite explicit that he had no desire
to communicate with you until a particular change in climate at an indeterminate
point in the future."
"Let me guess: When Hell freezes over."
"That was it!"

The repartee is brilliant. The narrative, superb. And whilst we can argue that the setting of the story itself is simply a backdrop for a recitation of things gone by, what a recitation it was...

"No one's dying, I hope?"
"no, but I haven't gotten there yet."

We see "one-punch Calhoun" in all his academy glory, and whilst there's certainly more to it than is told, its riveting stuff nonetheless.

I loved everything about "then" - it added so much to Calhoun's character and filled in so much of the history that I could have happily consumed another volume on the subject. His unbending positions on almost everything made the whole thing absolutely worth reading, and as for the Kobayashi Maru, I at least had always assumed it was a rescue mission. even knowing that there was no way to win the damned thing I'd assumed that. And then Calhoun takes the test and completely debunks that theory forevermore.

"Kebron, for his part, was briefly stuck. He was wearing a mutilated monster on
his right arm, and was having trouble shaking it off."

The "now" portions of the thing were interesting in their own way and they filled in background on other characters in their own right, but what made this such an excellent read for me was the glimpse into the history of a character that has been built up and done so much throughout this whole series. The unending irony, the ceaseless banter and the whole view of a universe that some authors make so bleak and militaristic gives this book and the series itself a degree of light fun. Certainly one to come back to when you're feeling a bit fed up with the whole high-handedness of the universe, I'd say.

Oh, and wasn't that "mind control some of the people some of the time"stuff on page 294 a bit of a Lincoln crib? I thought it sounded vaguely familiar...