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Star Trek: The Next Generation #19
Perchance to Dream
On a routine mission to survey Domarus IV—a class M world with no intelligent life—a U.S.S. Enterprise™ shuttle crewed by Data, Troi and Wesley Crusher is captured by a race called the Tenirans who claim the world for themselves. As Captain Picard tries to negotiate with the captain of the Teniran ship, the shuttle suddenly disappears in a blaze of color and light.
Picard demands to know what's happened to the shuttle and its crew, but the Tenarins deny any part in their disappearance. Suddenly, Captain Picard vanishes from the bridge and finds himself alone on the planet's surface with the Tenarin captain. As the two captains begin to work together, they realize that they are not alone on Domarus IV as they confront an incredible alien force with the power to transform a world—or to destroy it.
Picard demands to know what's happened to the shuttle and its crew, but the Tenarins deny any part in their disappearance. Suddenly, Captain Picard vanishes from the bridge and finds himself alone on the planet's surface with the Tenarin captain. As the two captains begin to work together, they realize that they are not alone on Domarus IV as they confront an incredible alien force with the power to transform a world—or to destroy it.
239 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
March 10, 2023
Should you really complain if a Star Trek Next Generation novel gives you exactly what you expected? I should not, so I will not. At least, not too much. Perchance to Dream by Howard Weinstein is ST: TNG novel #19. There are usually two stories that run concurrently, just like on the TV series. In one story, the away team is made up of cadets, Ensign Crusher, Commander Troi, and Commander Data. It really is more about a Coming of Age, teen angst, and how first crushes sometimes destroy you (figuratively). The second story is about an encounter with an alien race and a new life form difficult to communicate with because of the extremely distinct reference points. It is something every Trekker has seen before. More apropos of nothing (minor gripe) would have been to have Captain Picard and Wesley Crusher on the cover, but that is a minor nit to pick. Typical, quick escapist read. I enjoyed it. 4 Grey Geeks for you.
April 21, 2024
A great space opera.
March 3, 2017
this book had a good story but I think too much time was spent on the a story to do with the teniran captain and picard and not enough time spent on the b story and that was finding out where the missing shuttlecraft was and what the enterprise d crew were doing to get it back if this was an episode that would have been addressed straight away a good read but i liked the author's previous TNG novel Exiles better than this one I also didn't like the subplot of the character of ken wanting to ask the female character Gina out
July 3, 2012
An easy and entertaining read. Very much like an episode of TNG, 2 plot lines get weaved together, a new species is discovered and communicated with, new alliances were forged where there could have been battle, and all was neatly wrapped up in the end. Just a little formulaic, but is a formula I have grown to love. I thought Weinstein did a good job at creating another new and radically different life form for us to ponder while maintaining the essence of the characters we already know and love. Not particularly "outstanding", it was a good book and I enjoyed it.
January 26, 2023
It wasn't awful. :)
I mean, it is rather tropey, what with two Captains being whisked away from their respective starships and placed on a seemingly uninhabited planet with nothing but their wits about them to compete against each other - except then it changes a little bit - though it ends relatively the same, as they finally come eye to eye after answering a challenge together (although, it's far more Picard doing all the leg-work and the other captain deciding to trust him).
And in the end, these new aliens (both that of the other captain, and that of the abductors) choose to join the Federation.
It's very episode-y...and very overdone in this universe...although, not necessarily bad. I do kind of feel bad for the author though, because this story is almost like "Darmok" (even including aliens who communicate in a very unusual way which is not understood at first) which took place during the fifth season and this book was published during TNG's fifth season, and one of his other works is a TOS novel, "Deep Domain", which is about whale-like animals and saving them and their world from danger...and was published at about the same time as Star Trek IV was released.
If you're a completionist weirdo like me, then you must read it. If not, you could probably skip it...it isn't too memorable...at least Wesley isn't a Mary Sue in it. And Data and Troi were sort of the "B" plot, so I guess that's why they got the cover
Oh well, se la vie.
I mean, it is rather tropey, what with two Captains being whisked away from their respective starships and placed on a seemingly uninhabited planet with nothing but their wits about them to compete against each other - except then it changes a little bit - though it ends relatively the same, as they finally come eye to eye after answering a challenge together (although, it's far more Picard doing all the leg-work and the other captain deciding to trust him).
And in the end, these new aliens (both that of the other captain, and that of the abductors) choose to join the Federation.
It's very episode-y...and very overdone in this universe...although, not necessarily bad. I do kind of feel bad for the author though, because this story is almost like "Darmok" (even including aliens who communicate in a very unusual way which is not understood at first) which took place during the fifth season and this book was published during TNG's fifth season, and one of his other works is a TOS novel, "Deep Domain", which is about whale-like animals and saving them and their world from danger...and was published at about the same time as Star Trek IV was released.
If you're a completionist weirdo like me, then you must read it. If not, you could probably skip it...it isn't too memorable...at least Wesley isn't a Mary Sue in it. And Data and Troi were sort of the "B" plot, so I guess that's why they got the cover
Oh well, se la vie.
November 3, 2024
I really enjoyed the plot of this book and didn't mind the (very Star Trek-esque) contrivances. Both new species were interesting in different ways, and I'd be happy to learn more about them in future novels.
There were, however, regular things that threw me out of the story, including but not limited to crew members hauling around literal paper notebooks and physical pens or pencils to write or draw (this is season 5 of TNG, not season 1 of TOS!) and Picard bolting down a glass of wine when called away from the holodeck (that was so weirdly out of character, I wondered if the scene was originally written for Riker). In addition, Troi is highlighted on the cover, yet not only does pretty much nothing plot-related, but does worse than nothing when her powers are dormant the entire novel until it becomes obvious they should have been getting tickled the whole time, and then magically, she senses something that was there all along. Would it have been so difficult for her to say she was having an uncomfortable feeling of being watched? Just one time?
Aside from that, I was greatly enjoying the story and its ending up until the point the author felt the need to disregard the genocide of Native Americans - not out of ignorance, but actively and intentionally - in order for Data to make a completely unnecessary point about giving thanks that could have been made about a dozen other ways. That really soured the ending for me.
Most of the issues I had with the text are so small and inconsequential to the overall plot, I feel they could have easily been edited out or rewritten, quickly improving the story up to 4.25 stars without sacrificing a darn thing. As it is, 3.5.
There were, however, regular things that threw me out of the story, including but not limited to crew members hauling around literal paper notebooks and physical pens or pencils to write or draw (this is season 5 of TNG, not season 1 of TOS!) and Picard bolting down a glass of wine when called away from the holodeck (that was so weirdly out of character, I wondered if the scene was originally written for Riker). In addition, Troi is highlighted on the cover, yet not only does pretty much nothing plot-related, but does worse than nothing when her powers are dormant the entire novel until it becomes obvious they should have been getting tickled the whole time, and then magically, she senses something that was there all along. Would it have been so difficult for her to say she was having an uncomfortable feeling of being watched? Just one time?
Aside from that, I was greatly enjoying the story and its ending up until the point the author felt the need to disregard the genocide of Native Americans - not out of ignorance, but actively and intentionally - in order for Data to make a completely unnecessary point about giving thanks that could have been made about a dozen other ways. That really soured the ending for me.
Most of the issues I had with the text are so small and inconsequential to the overall plot, I feel they could have easily been edited out or rewritten, quickly improving the story up to 4.25 stars without sacrificing a darn thing. As it is, 3.5.
November 21, 2022
The cover led me to believe that the Date/Troi plot on the shuttle was going to take the lead. While the shuttle plot did get a decent amount of play, it ended up being a incognito Wesley book! Not cool.
Still, an enjoyable enough Next Gen adventure.
For more on the Next Gen gang, tune into this special episode of the All the Books Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdjAz...
Still, an enjoyable enough Next Gen adventure.
For more on the Next Gen gang, tune into this special episode of the All the Books Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdjAz...
February 9, 2012
I honestly didn't read through this whole book. I stopped at about a third of the way through, mainly because it didn't catch my interest and some characters kept getting "dropped" from the scene. Case in point, early on (like in chapter two or three) one of Enterprise's shuttle craft is caught in a tractor beam that is too strong. We get reactions from Wesley, Ken and Data. But Deanne Troi and Gina were also suppose to be on board yet they are entirely silent until the next scene several pages later. And the author had earlier been trying to describe Gina as someone who is not quiet or thinks before she speaks.
A little lacking, wasn't that moving of a story although the idea of the new beings was a bit interesting. All in all, may be enough for a Star Trek fan but I won't be picking it up again.
A little lacking, wasn't that moving of a story although the idea of the new beings was a bit interesting. All in all, may be enough for a Star Trek fan but I won't be picking it up again.
January 4, 2012
This is a quick and pleasant Next Gen read. It does not involve nearly as much intruige or complication as other such novels, but is a fast entertaining story. It allows us to get to know the characters better and it handles them quite well. It is also interesting to see a story with this much of a focus on Wesley Crusher, who is kind of a neglected character. The title is sort of ambiguous and seems somewhat arbitrarily applied, however, and does not seem to have much relevance to the story at all.
February 10, 2021
Knowing full well that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, I have been looking forward to reading this one for a long time just based on the picture and title. I'm pleased to say that I highly enjoyed this story.
It's a perfect TNG set up and I thought the story was an interesting classic. It rings a little familiar to Darmok and Jalad without the language barrier.
I thought all of the characters were well presented and the story with its multiple threads had me engaged from start to finish.
It's a perfect TNG set up and I thought the story was an interesting classic. It rings a little familiar to Darmok and Jalad without the language barrier.
I thought all of the characters were well presented and the story with its multiple threads had me engaged from start to finish.
May 15, 2013
*****SPOILER WARNING******
Started slow, then got slower (i.e. boring), and then picked up about 60 pages from the end and wrapped up in a very traditional The Next Generation "all-is-well-look-towards-the-future" kind of way. Now, I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. PS. I really disliked the character of Gina.
Started slow, then got slower (i.e. boring), and then picked up about 60 pages from the end and wrapped up in a very traditional The Next Generation "all-is-well-look-towards-the-future" kind of way. Now, I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. PS. I really disliked the character of Gina.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2017
Kind of a familiar story that went as long as one would predict. Had a tea party in it so...yay! Found it very odd how the story focused so much on Dr. Crusher and then dropped her about a 1/3 of the way through and only had her story resolved in the Epilogue. No surprises here though.
July 14, 2020
This was a nice first-contact story with enough mysteries and questions to keep the story going. I enjoyed the trip back in early TNG days (around the fifth season).
April 24, 2021
This is the type of story that Star Trek does particularly well, and it's one of the ongoing themes that differentiates it from many of the other franchises, some of which have a lamentable tendency to grimdark. Picard and the Enterprise come into contact with two alien races, and the triangle of conflict between the three is slowly untangled to result in three well-meaning societies who have learned to communicate with each other and become friends. There's disagreement within each society as to what should be done, but little of it is mean-spirited and even the naysayers come around in the end. It's just all affirming and generally positive, albeit it does have one irritating subplot, and that (of course) includes Wesley Crusher, who couldn't not be annoying if his life depended on it. As it is, he and two teenage friends are on a training mission to evaluate their possible candidacy for the Academy, and they get caught up in what's going on, but manage to make it all about themselves and spend their time squabbling about who likes who and why, and if only we'd spent that wasted time with Picard instead, because his storyline was excellent. Or with Dr. Crusher, whose storyline inexplicably petered out halfway through and got essentially resolved off-page at the end.
May 2, 2021
Probably 3.5
As a Star Trek fan, I've read a lot of books based on Star Trek franchise. Some are mediocre, a few, very loosely tied to the franchise, and others quite good. Perchance to Dream falls in the last category.
Weinstein remains true to the characters, although I do find it hard to believe Picard would eat fish he sensed as intelligent. The cover is a little misleading because this is not strictly a Data story--as they like to say on the ST podcasts--Data has very little to do in this tale. He feels more like a secondary character, as does Troi.
The plot revolves around Capatin Picard and Captain Airit from an alien ship. Halfway through the tale, it looks like the story will resolve itself, but people being who they are, refused to do the right thing and another suspenseful hundred pages result.
Star Trek fans should like this. As for other readers, hard to say, since they need to know all the backstory of the characters to understand their behavior.
As a Star Trek fan, I've read a lot of books based on Star Trek franchise. Some are mediocre, a few, very loosely tied to the franchise, and others quite good. Perchance to Dream falls in the last category.
Weinstein remains true to the characters, although I do find it hard to believe Picard would eat fish he sensed as intelligent. The cover is a little misleading because this is not strictly a Data story--as they like to say on the ST podcasts--Data has very little to do in this tale. He feels more like a secondary character, as does Troi.
The plot revolves around Capatin Picard and Captain Airit from an alien ship. Halfway through the tale, it looks like the story will resolve itself, but people being who they are, refused to do the right thing and another suspenseful hundred pages result.
Star Trek fans should like this. As for other readers, hard to say, since they need to know all the backstory of the characters to understand their behavior.
June 24, 2024
This TNG novel is set in early fourth season (an actual stardate is given at the end), and was written in that period. The series had settled down into a long haul of success, and the novels are doing better.
This isn't a great novel, but it is a good one. This contrasts sharply with the first season batch. We have a couple major MacGuffins here: A planet that is home to a completely unknown form of life, and a unknown intelligent species of the more conventional type which has claimed said planet.
We get two parallel main plots out of this, each of which have a cluster of sub-themes. That last is the only place the book really falls down, as many come up for a conversation, and then don't continue past that. One of these unexplored themes gives the novel its title, as teenagers try to grapple with the still-distant country of mortality.
For one main plot, we deal with Troi, Data, Wesley, and two other new-for-the-novel teenagers on board the Enterprise. The latter two (and Wesley, of course) are involved in studies to get into Star Fleet Academy. The shuttle used for an expedition gets into trouble, and plot follows. Sadly, after a good start this does largely dead-end with few opportunities for the characters to move things forward, except on a personal level.
The second plot gets going slightly later, and ends up doing the heavy lifting as Picard deals with a prickly Teniran captain, and tries to figure out just what is going on with this planet.
In general, it's all handled well, and flows through to the end well. The real troubles are the dead-end co-plot, the reader knowing more than the characters, and suffering through watching them fumble around, and an overall lack of explanation of how these energy creatures are so different from all the other energy creatures seen in Star Trek that the Enterprise's sensors don't seem register them at all. On the other hand, the entire cast is present, and each get a meaningful scene, but the discarded themes bit keeps some to no more than that.
This isn't a great novel, but it is a good one. This contrasts sharply with the first season batch. We have a couple major MacGuffins here: A planet that is home to a completely unknown form of life, and a unknown intelligent species of the more conventional type which has claimed said planet.
We get two parallel main plots out of this, each of which have a cluster of sub-themes. That last is the only place the book really falls down, as many come up for a conversation, and then don't continue past that. One of these unexplored themes gives the novel its title, as teenagers try to grapple with the still-distant country of mortality.
For one main plot, we deal with Troi, Data, Wesley, and two other new-for-the-novel teenagers on board the Enterprise. The latter two (and Wesley, of course) are involved in studies to get into Star Fleet Academy. The shuttle used for an expedition gets into trouble, and plot follows. Sadly, after a good start this does largely dead-end with few opportunities for the characters to move things forward, except on a personal level.
The second plot gets going slightly later, and ends up doing the heavy lifting as Picard deals with a prickly Teniran captain, and tries to figure out just what is going on with this planet.
In general, it's all handled well, and flows through to the end well. The real troubles are the dead-end co-plot, the reader knowing more than the characters, and suffering through watching them fumble around, and an overall lack of explanation of how these energy creatures are so different from all the other energy creatures seen in Star Trek that the Enterprise's sensors don't seem register them at all. On the other hand, the entire cast is present, and each get a meaningful scene, but the discarded themes bit keeps some to no more than that.
February 16, 2022
Der Autor bedient sich der für Star Trek üblichen Zutaten, um ein seichtes Abenteuer zu erzählen, dem es durchaus an Spannung und Ideen mangelt. Die Figuren sind akzeptabel getroffen, wobei Geordi am schlechtesten wegkommt: Da der Autor die Handlungsentwicklung immer wieder abbremst, müssen Geordis Analysen und Schlüsse stets unpräzise und vage bleiben – was mit der Zeit einfallslos wirkt. Ein Pluspunkt ist der gefällige Schreibstil des Schriftstellers; es liest sich leicht dahin, auch wenn es absatzweise eher langweilig ist. Das beste des Romans sind dann die letzten siebzig Seiten. Hier bekommen manche Figuren etwas mehr Tiefe und die Geschichte geht endlich ihrem Ende entgegen, dass Star Trek in Roddenberrys Sinne darstellt. Kann man lesen, ist aber kein Muss.
February 28, 2024
TNG #19: Perchance to Dream by Howard Weinstein
I read this book on the recommendation of someone on this sub and it was… fine. The Shapers were an interesting species and felt very TOS. Weinstein did a good job of capturing the feel of an episode of TNG, and I felt particularly in the scenes where Picard was on the planet fishing and falling into the creek. Felt like a classic episode of TNG. The stuff with Wesley/Kenny/Gina I could care less about as it felt juvenile. Also the Tenerians were an interesting take on xenophobia.
Anyway, this was a decent book overall with a really nice ending.
6.5/10
I read this book on the recommendation of someone on this sub and it was… fine. The Shapers were an interesting species and felt very TOS. Weinstein did a good job of capturing the feel of an episode of TNG, and I felt particularly in the scenes where Picard was on the planet fishing and falling into the creek. Felt like a classic episode of TNG. The stuff with Wesley/Kenny/Gina I could care less about as it felt juvenile. Also the Tenerians were an interesting take on xenophobia.
Anyway, this was a decent book overall with a really nice ending.
6.5/10
August 23, 2020
I read it out of curiosity, I've seen about 80 percent of all star trek tv and movies...and it played out like a longer episode of star trek. I quickly got past the strange shift of knowing character's internal monologue, and as I noted, it was star Trek TNG. My long standing problem with TNG being that all the characters are too similar to one another can be left for another day. If I find 25 cent copies of any more at Goodwill, I just may be tempted to buy another...but not at the regular price of 50 cents, I'm not made of money, sheesh.
September 13, 2021
TEMBA HIS ARMS WIDE should be enough to give away not necessarily the plot but at least a good portion of it. Despite being marketed as a Deana - Data novel, for me it was more of a Picard story with many elements from the famous TV episode (the strange civilization, barely acknowledged at the beginning, the difficulty to establish the first contact of any kind) all these are really familiar. Quite an entertaining novel, I liked it and it is an easy reading therefore several hours of good ol' fashion Star Trek. Nothing spectacular but also nothing to complain about too much.
September 29, 2025
I was expecting either a variation on the TOS episode Arena or the episode Errand of Mercy. However, the author took the story in a different, much calmer and less tense direction. I was a little disappointed that the conflict between the two captains was resolved so quickly and that the expected twist, which I had subconsciously been preparing for, never came. This is a decent filler story, but nothing more.
April 9, 2022
If you view these books as television episodes, they are quite entertaining. The different StarTrek series have anew adventure every week and these stories are like that. This week, Wesley, Picard and Data were the main characters. They helped a race of people running from slavery. They met on a planet where a life form existed that was energy. The book was enjoyable.
January 4, 2024
If you’re a STNG fan it’s a fun read. If this story was on TV, it’s what fans would call a character building episode. (Not a lot of battles or exciting action.) Also, the cover of this novel is misleading. Deanna is barely in the story. Should have Data, Picard and Wesley on the cover. Some publisher probably figured Deanna on the cover would sell more than Wes.
July 11, 2020
Overall a good early TNG franchise book. The author did a fine job with the characters, yet I did find the plot a little thin. Too much time was spent on minor characters resulting in watered down plot involving the bigger picture. A fine read, but one lacking any kind of big story.
July 23, 2020
Great TNG story!
I've always loved reading stories where Jean-luc shows new aliens kindness and compassion and this one is a great example of that. It's a very hopeful book, not so much filled with action as it is with great character moments and a good story.
I've always loved reading stories where Jean-luc shows new aliens kindness and compassion and this one is a great example of that. It's a very hopeful book, not so much filled with action as it is with great character moments and a good story.
August 13, 2020
It is an average story for me...
August 16, 2020
Good story
Worthy of being an episode. The Enterprise must find their missing crew and discover if some strange lights are just natural phenomenon or a form of intelligence.
Worthy of being an episode. The Enterprise must find their missing crew and discover if some strange lights are just natural phenomenon or a form of intelligence.
August 4, 2021
Very enjoyable slice of Next Gen from the pen (word processor) of series veteran Howard Weinstein.
March 4, 2022
0/10 stars to data and riker for perpetuating revisionist colonial history, truly disappointing, unforgivable, distasteful, etc
August 18, 2022
I'm not going to even glance at other reviews. I really truly enjoyed this one and don't even want to see what nits I may be neglecting to pick.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews