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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780743462853
ISBN number: 0743462858
Label: Star Trek
Manufacturer: Star Trek
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: May 25, 2004
Publishing house: Star Trek
Sale Popularity Level: 89042
Studio: Star Trek
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Product Description:
A century ago the long-running conflict between two alien civilizations ended when both of them colonised the same distant planet, becoming instead a shining example of inter-species cooperation and coexistence. Now an investigation headed by Kyle Riker -- estranged father of Commander William Riker -- has revealed how fragile their hard-won paradise is. Within a few generations, a virus indigenous to their colony planet of Delta Sigma IV will wipe out all its inhabitants. Faced with this threat the delicate shell of harmony starts to crumble...Jean-Luc Picard and his crew, still reeling from the events which have tarnished the career of one of Starfleet's most decorated captains, must come to the aid of a world which once knew only peace, but now faces violence and chaos. Riker, meantime, must face the fact that his own father may be responsible for the anarchy into which Delta Sigma IV is descending.
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Rated by buyers -
A good book. It starts off a little slow, like most ST books, but you get very invovled in the story. You will most likely immerse your mind in the plot. The best part of this book is that it goes in the subsequent book A Time To Hate very well, it makes you want to read the second on.
Rated by buyers 
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A Time to Love, by Robert Greenberger, is the fifth book in the Time to... series of Star Trek: The Next Generation novels, taking place immediately before the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. The very first four books were up and down affairs, wallowing in Trek continuity and occasionally telling a good story. A Time to Love, however, is the very first one that's been fully satisfying. It is rather lightweight, but for some reason it packs a punch. It begins the story of how William Riker, very first officer of the Enterprise, finally finds himself with a command of his own after all these years under Captain Picard. While concentrating on this and his relationship with Deanna Troi, the book also tells a great story too.
A Time to Love is a short book (263 pages), but somehow Greenberger packs a lot into it. The very first ten pages are a little slow as he summarizes what's happened so far in the series, but he does it in an interesting fashion: having Troi and Riker going through crew transfer applications, commenting on what's happened so far and how it's affecting morale. This scene is also important as it begins the realization, carried throughout this book and the next, that Riker has to finally make a decision about his life. He's 42 years old, he and Troi have rekindled their romance (in the movie Insurrection, but they haven't moved forward. Just what is he waiting for? Plus, he has turned down many command opportunities to stay with Enterprise, but is that still the right thing to do? I've never seen such an effective summary before, giving us new information even as it goes over old. Some of the later scenes, such as Geordi's, do slow down and tell us too much about the past without anything happening, but those scenes are not very long.
The characterization in this book is wonderful. Riker and Troi get the most, but everybody else is great too. Picard is getting fed up with the boring missions that he's been given, mainly to keep Enterprise out of the spotlight and allow time for the furor to die down. Picard feels put upon, and he wishes for a mission that he can sink his teeth into. The Delta Sigma IV mission turns out to be just what he asked for, but perhaps too much. His frustration when the ruling council on Delta Sigma IV is frozen with indecision is palpable, as his annoyance with himself when he realizes that he hasn't kept on top of the situation on the Enterprise very well during the mission. Crusher's indecision about the offer to head Starfleet Medical is hanging over her head, and she keeps coming to the realization that she and Picard will never have a romantic relationship and she must also look to her career. In the meantime, though, she is determined to do as much to help the people on the planet below as she is able.
Even better are the scenes with the various security officers as they try to quiet the situation down on the planet before it escalates into even more violence. We get scene after scene of these officers doing their job, many of which look like they're going to end with the typical "red shirt" ending, but they don't always. This makes the scenes that *do* contain something bad even more effective. Greenberger writes these scenes with tension, keeping the reader entranced to know what will happen next. These scenes also give wonderful characterization to Lt. Vale, the security chief who is responsible for all of these men and women. Greenberger perhaps has too many times where he says that Vale would give her life for Picard, over-emphasizing it a little bit, but overall her characterization is quite good.
Kyle Riker doesn't figure a lot in this book, except by his absence and the effect of the search for him on Will. These scenes are extremely effective, with Will contemplating what barriers that have been in the way of the reconciliation of him and his father, as well as taking stock of his life. Riker is taken on his search by one of the natives and they visit the man's home as well, emphasizing just what Riker has been missing all these years. While being full of action and conflict (emotional and violent), the book makes a very effective character study of Will, as well as the other regulars. I found it incredibly entertaining to read.
The only weak spot in the novel (and this may just be setting up something for the subsequent few books) is the Geordi and Data story, where Geordi has to scrounge for parts by trading with various other starships in the area like some supply sergeant. Data suggests that Geordi become a true supply sergeant by getting everybody's inventory and seeing what they have and what they need, facilitating the delivery of these parts through a Ferengi trader. This subplot doesn't appear to have anything to do with anything except to give these two major characters something to do. I hope that changes, but in this book they felt forced into the story, and as short as it is, I ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
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A TIME TO LOVE is well written and a good read. I enjoyed it, but honestly I think it and A TIME TO HATE could have been one book. The funny thing in "LOVE" is that on page 100 Troi beams back to the Enterprise, but on page 101 she is clearly still on the surface of the planet with Picard. I found this goof hilarious but forgivable. All in all, "LOVE," is worth reading.
Rated by buyers -
As with most other recent Next Generation books, this one takes a lot of pages to get interesting. The book starts off with the obligatory recap. The subsequent third or so is fairly slow reading. The author has the crew doing a lot of very mundane stuff throughout the book. It is all right when the crew are talking or otherwise interacting, but there is a lot of just thinking or watching. However, the author carefully increases the amount and intensity of events on the planet. It begins with a murder, with nothing added for a third of the book or so, and ends with the whole planet going crazy. The tempo is excellently gauged, after that very first third, so the tension level is sky high by the time the book ends. The pace of the mystery behind the events is also quite well paced. With that said, I caught on to the core of the problem quite early in the book. Waiting for the Enterprise crew to catch up could have become frustrating, but as I began to feel that, the tempo began to pick up considerably and kept my interest level going up. That might not work for everyone. So, like its predecessors, much of this book is good and entertaining, but it takes a while to get there.
Rated by buyers -
on a peaceful planet, two diffrent cultures, the bader and the dorsets have colonized a world and learned to live in peace for 100 years. but their scientist have found an illness that shortens the life spans of both species and will have them extinct within 2 generations. the federation sends commander riker's father to help find a cure. they have test subjects who seem to be cured and the people decide to have a celebration of this and to mark 100 years of peace. on the day of the celebaration, the unthinkable happens. someone is murdered. there has been no crime for a 100 years and the ruling body is at wits end on how to deal with this new problem. the enterprise is called in when it is discovered that riker's father may have a connection to the murder and the continiung problems that are
escalating out of control. is the secret to the crimes the fault of the cure to the disease? or is there some more sinister work at hand?
this book keeps you intrigued all the way through. it is definitely the best one to date. really worth reading.
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