It’s been a bit since I read a Next Gen novel, but I do like spending time with the Enterprise D and her crew. Gulliver’s Fugitives is an interesting concept, but not executed as well as it could have been and a little flawed.

Troi is having some troubling visual experiences following a screening of a film by some familiar sounding small-people. Filled with fantastical elements and beings, she thinks they may symbolize a nearby collection of alien life forms.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise has found indicators of the Huxley, a ship that has been missing for a decade. The nearby planet denies that the Huxley was ever there, and things get troublesome very fast. It seems fiction, of any kind, and imagination in general is outlawed, punishable by death.

They get some of their machines aboard, floating drones that can read minds, and fire deadly bursts of radiation. While LaForge and Worf work aboard ship to come up with a way to save the ship, more things are taking place for the away team.

Captain Picard has been kidnapped and had his mind blanked. His imagination is gone, and he’s committed to the planet’s credo. Troi has allied herself with the dissenters, all of whom have taken their names from classic literature (the colony was founded by Earth a couple of hundred years ago). And Riker and Data? They are determined to rescue their captain, and get away from this world.

Is there a way to escape and change the planet without violating the Prime Directive?

The narrative threads of the planet’s problems, and Troi’s merge towards the end of the story, at the climax, naturally, and can be a little confusing, and would have made an interesting visual onscreeen.

It’s not a terrible story, but it also doesn’t seem completely thought out, at least when it comes to the idea of controlling fiction and imagination. The only things these people believe in is their bible, and that makes you see what the story is really pointing its finger at. Close-minded beliefs, and a lack of creativity.

It’s a fairly interesting adventure, and don’t let the cover painting fool you. This takes place in the third season, Riker has a beard, and Crusher is back aboard the Enterprise.

I like that Troi has a bit of a chance to shine here, but none of he characters quite sound like themselves. There are hints of the performances we know, and there are references to past events that we’ve seen, but it’s not quite as good as it could have been.

In fact, by the time we were ambling to the climax, I was getting bored with the story. Sharee has some fun ideas, and writes well, but I just didn’t dig this one.

But the Human Adventure continues…