Until now.

More than two centuries ago, the Dokaalan sent an unmanned probe into the void, bearing a distress call for anyone who could save their doomed world. But the message reached Federation space too late to save the planet or its people.

Or so it was believed....

Generations later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E are stunned to discover the last of the Dokaalan -- now only a colony fighting to stay alive in a decrepit asteroid mining complex. Although their home planet was destroyed long ago, the survivors hope to someday transform a nearby planet into a new home for their people. But bitter divisions exist among the Dokaalan, sowing the seeds of sabotage and terrorism -- and placing Picard and the Enterprise in the middle of an escalating crisis that can only lead to total destruction!

I would suggest that you read the first two books in this series first as "A Time to Sow" builds from the telling of the story in those two books and "A Time to Sow" builds the story to continue in the fourth book in the series "A Time to Harvest" which comes on next mouth and is written by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore.

I must say that I was anticipating an interesting story from this writing duo and I wasn't disappointed to say the least. This book leads us further into the story of the events that happen in the first two books of the series and the writing style was easy to follow and it was a very fast read. The book starts out a little slow and we get further involved with the story of Jean-Luc Picard and his presumed milkrun for the flagship of the fleet the U.S.S. Enterprise as it is sent out to an unexplored section of space called the Dokaalan sector.

As we read on, the book starts out in 2151 when a Vulcan ship intercepts a probe with a message of doom and gloom for the Dokaalan people and their planet Dokaa. But these are times when early exploration of the universe is just getting started and the NX-01 in not sent on the mission. Now, two hundred years later, Admiral Alynna Nechayev sends the NCC 1701-E on a months long space voyage to the Dokaalan Sector when a second probe is found.

Picard does a lot of second guessing of himself and an introspective look into the workings of Picard's mind is evident. I thoroughly enjoyed this look into what makes Picard tick and the thoughts that make Picard who he is. This is the first part of the book but the most interesting part of the book comes when first contact is made with the Dokaalan people. As things heat up a nuclear reactor is about ready to blow up and the U.S.S. Enterprise is now on a mission of mercy and is set on rescuing 400 people from a doomed asteroid base.

We read about the whole crew getting involved from Picard on down as the story keeps you reading to find out what happens next and how will the crew solve the next set of events that crop up. There is really good description in the book and you can visualize the events as you read them in the book in your mind.

You say, are there any twists and turns in the book and I say, Oh Yes there are plenty. Just when you think you can pridict what is going to happen next they writers throw in a curveball and shake things up for the Enterprise crew. I mentioned that there is some mystery and intrigue sprinkled within the pages of this book and there is. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew are stunned to discover the last of the Dokaalan there are things going amiss, whether from sabotage or terrorism or just plain decrepitness the crew is now investigating.

I can't tell you everything that happens in this book, that would be unfair to you the reader, but believe me there are some real twists that I'm sure will be resolved in the next book.

I gave this book a solid 5 stars as it was a pleasant and fun read with action-adventure mystery and intrigue making this book one of the better books so far in this series. Also, this book draws on past adventures throughout the book as there are references to them and they do bring back memories of reading them in the past.


The long windedness does not quite obscure a good story   April 8, 2004
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

This turns into an intriguing mystery story, but takes forever to get going. There seems to be some disease spreading among Trek authors, compelling them to fill the first third of a book with boring and/or long winded material. Prior to arriving in the Dokaalan system, the authors spend time with each major character, going into great detail on their current feelings and situation. The Data-La Forge scene was good and relevant to the story, but only it and one of the others should have actually been in the book. Including them all was just too much. Also, after the dramatic rescue that is the first non-introspective scene, Troi and Picard immediately have to talk it over. The authors also have a bad tendency to put several paragraphs of reflection between single lines of dialogue. During action scenes, they sometimes call a time out and put in two or three pages of historical exposition. It's rather boring since it goes over Trek history that should be common knowledge, it isn't exactly relevant to the story, and it breaks up the flow of the story and reduces the tension level.

Despite all this, this is a good story with a lot of faults rather than the reverse. The characterisations are very good. The long winded scenes are not inaccurate, just long. Not only are the major characters well done, but the relatively minor ones of Kell Perim and Christina Vale are given serious development. Even one-line characters contribute noticeably to the humour or tension of a scene. The action scenes, the exploratory and diplomatic scenes are well described and clear. Most of all, the build up is very well planned. By the end we actually know more or less what the Enterprise's enemies are doing and how, but why and by what group is a mystery. Unlike the first book of this series, I am not only looking forward to the mysteries being revealed, I am actually looking forward to the way it will be written.


Another Hit   April 5, 2004
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore continue with there winning writing with a Time to Sow. This story picks up where John Vornholts "A Time to" books leave off. The opening set during the time of Archers Enterprise and we see some nicely written scenes involving characters from that era and it sets up the rest of the book. Jump to 2378 and Picards time and we find he and the crew of the Enterprise E sent into relatively uncharted space to investigate message probes sent from a civilization whos world was about to be destroyed. They arrive there without incident and find the survivors living on asteroids. The Enterprise capabilities are hampered by extreme radiation so the crew must do more on site work to find out how things work for the survivors. They encounter opposition who much to their surprise are using pre federation weapons and Klingon weapons. There is also a spy on the Enterprise. There are nice continuity bits through out the book. The characters ring true. It is easy to visualize them when reading the book. I look forward to the remaining book that will finish the story. Its easy to see these authors are fans as well as good story tellers.


FUN TO THE THIRD POWER   May 12, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

In actuality I give this one 4 1/2 stars. In the third installment of the A TIME TO... series, A TIME TO SOW, Ward and Dilmore have created an even better book that the first two in the series. Regulated to unglamorous duty, Captain Picard and the Enterprise must answer a centuries old distress call. What they find there is both unexpected and potentially dangerous.

This book is excellent in that it deals with the internal struggles of the main characters. Entire chapters are devoted to the thoughts of the main crew. Couple this insight with the exciting plot, and this novel is a winner. It has elements of mystery and intrigue that move wonderfully. Not to be missed.


You won't find a good story in your navel   November 24, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

With the first two books in the Time to... series out of the way, would two different authors be able to turn things around? In a way they do, but there is one major strike against it.

Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise are still dealing with the political fallout from the last two books, and are sent on a mission to get them out of the way for a while. It's a bit of a milkrun, really. Many years ago, a probe dispatched from a distant area of the galaxy was found, but Starfleet, still in its infancy, didn't have the time or resources to do anything about it. Now, another probe has been found. Both probes speak of a civilization on a dying planet, and it was figured that getting there would take too long to rescue any survivors (since the probe took years to get to where the Vulcans found it to begin with). The Enterprise is sent to investigate what happened and see if they can find out what happened all those years ago. When they get there, they discover an asteroid field and radiation that wreaks havoc on their systems. They also find the remnants of survivors of the planet Dokaal, scraping out an existence among the asteroids on constructed mining colonies, alone for several hundred years. The survivors hope to terraform a planet further out in the system so that they can one day walk on solid ground again. The Enterprise offers whatever help they can, but dissension is threatening to tear the Dokaalan apart before anything can be done.

A Time to Sow is actually a lot better than I thought it was, once I get past the main fault (so I'll get it out of the way first). It is extremely overwritten. Long, very tedious introspection is the norm in this book, with Picard brooding about what happened in the first two books, Crusher brooding about not being able to save some of the Dokaalans killed in the explosion that brings the Enterprise to the mining colony, Picard again brooding about his decision to emergency transport some of the people who end up floating in space and how they ended up dying anyway. He does this despite the fact that the Picard I know would realize if he hadn't done it, they were dead anyway. What makes this particular brooding worse is that Picard *acknowledges* that they would have died anyway, but still keeps wondering if he made the right decision. I think that's my problem with the whole series, so far. They've turned Picard into this pod person who's awash in insecurities that I don't believe he would have. However, since that ties into the whole series, I'll ignore that part for now.

Excessive introspection is not the only way the book is overwritten, though. A Time to Sow is very heavy in Trek continuity references, and the authors feel they have to go into great gory detail about every single one of them to explain the reference to the (one or two?) non-Trek fans who are reading the book. Ok, I exaggerate a little, but I think there is a way to more concisely explain the reference than Dayton and Ward use here. Of course, there's an easier solution: DON'T USE SO MANY REFERENCES!! A few references, even explained in a couple of paragraphs, don't bog a book down. When they are excessive, though, that means there are a lot of paragraphs used for explanation when they could be used for storytelling. This is not good.

The writing is so heavy-handed that it outweighs a lot of the good points of the novel. The characters are, for the most part, well-written (even Picard is when he's not examining his situation for the one hundredth time) and the authors have created some interesting aliens in the Dokaalans. The journal entries by the First Minister, Hjatyn, give us the history of the planet in a very interesting way that doesn't feel like an infodump (unlike the continuity references). There are a wide variety of characters among the Dokaalans (though some who are more than they appear to be, to be revealed in the next book). The plot elements are tense and there are some good action scenes, especially the ending with Geordi and Taurik. The romantic elements between Troi and Riker, which were a small part of the problem with Vornholt's books, are virtually non-existent in this one. You can tell that they are together, but they act professionally when they are on the bridge together. Everything regarding plot and characterization is done very well.

Unfortunately, every time there gets to be a little tension, or something interesting starts to happen, the authors give us some interminable description or a lengthy monologue of a character's thoughts intrudes on the whole thing and brings the book to a screeching halt. I love learning about characters through their thoughts, but sometimes too much is too much. Introspection is a good thing. Navel-gazing isn't, and that's what we get a little too often in this book. Since it's pervasive throughout the entire book, neither author can be blamed for it. They're both like that. I've only read one other Ward book (his debut, In the Name of Honor, and it's a problem he's had since the beginning (at least the continuity reference problem).

All in all, this isn't that bad of a book, it just gets tedious at times. It splits the difference between Vornholt's two books, but it doesn't bode well for this whole series if the first three books are iffy at best. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for book four.

David Roy