From Publishers Weekly
In the fifth tie-in to the Roddenberry-inspired TV series, fantasy author Durgin (Dun Lady's Jess) delivers a better than average franchise product, but the novel won't win any new converts. Liam Kincaid, one of the double agents for Earth's Resistance within the occupation forces of the alien Taelons, has more reason than most to feel conflicted: a Kimura, the now-extinct progenitor species of the Taelons and their ancestral enemies the Jaridians, was one of his three parents. Survivors of a secret experiment to infect humans with Jaridian DNA learn to channel energy through their palms which could make them deadly, if risky, recruits for the Resistance. Liam's unique genome responds to the infection by giving him racial memories about the true relationships among Kimura, Taelons and Jaridians. These flashbacks are the novel's strength, adding depth to the series and to Liam's characterization. But the situation of the double agents is not precarious enough to generate suspense their habit of phoning the Resistance from the Taelon mothership make them seem as snug in the enemy's midst as Hogan's Heroes. And the fateful decision to let the virus loose on Earth, instead of experimenting on prisoners, is implausible except as a way to drive the plot. Readers with a previous interest in the series will be rewarded, but only Durgin's deft use of familiar contemporary elements, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a computerized cameo by a certain warrior princess, will keep the uninitiated from feeling adrift. (Jan. 16)Forecast: Flagging ratings and fan disgruntlement with the TV series on the SciFi channel may limit sales for this tie-in, especially as Roddenberry fans shift focus to the new Star Trek series that debuted on UPN this fall, Enterprise.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The latest Earth: Final Conflict tie-in focuses on Liam Kincaid, the human made to be the bodyguard of the Taelon Da'an. Liam faces a particularly horrendous conflict when he uncovers a Taelon plot to infect humanity with a retrovirus. Those who don't die of flu-like symptoms will develop the shaquarava, the Taelon complex of psychic powers, and become something like a new race. Complicating that situation, a number of members of the anti-Taelon resistance, including several of Liam's closest human friends, are among those infected and stand to give humanity powers against the Taelons it heretofore lacked. With memories of how a similar retrovirus altered the Taelons' ancestors and a great deal of help from his friends, Liam may be able to reverse the course of events to the benefit of both peoples. This is one of the more intelligent, if not most accessible, entries in the series, featuring traces of humor and an acute awareness of the impact of divided loyalties in the situation it presents. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
A Taelon experiment gone horribly wrong will decimate humanity unless Liam can uncover a secret buried in his past.
GENE RODDENBERRY'S EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
From the popular television series by the creator of Star Trek (tm)
Liam Kincaid walks a dangerous tightrope. While he serves as Protector of the enigmatic Taelon Companion, Da'an, secretly he also heads the human Resistance, Earth's only hope against the aliens. With deception and danger a constant, it doesn't seem life could get any harder-until the Taelons' Synod leader, Zo'or, releases a virus among the human populace that infects thousands. Yet Zo'or intends something even more sinister than genocide, forcing Liam and the Resistance to find a cure before many people die and Zo'or's ultimate plan can fully unfold.
What Liam doesn't realize is that to end the suffering, he'll have to delve into his alien past. But it'll take great courage to explore so deeply the deadly secrets of his mysterious alien . . .
Heritage
BOOK 5: HERITAGE
Liam Kincaid, the human Protector assigned to Da'an, the North American Taelon Companion, has had a difficult time balancing his duties for the aliens with his responsibility as the head of the secret, underground Resistance that is Earth's only hope for survival under the aliens.
Liam has also struggled with his alien heritage. He's managed to control the shaqarava, the power he wields, inherited from his Kimera ancestor, who came from a distant world in another galaxy.
Left to himself, he thinks he'd be able to master the power that sometimes possesses him to send a vast beam of energy toward some perceived threat. When he is accidentally infected by a Taelon virus that Zo'or, head of the Taelon Synod, has unleashed for the purpose of creating shaqarava in humans, Liam catches more than the artificial flu that was designed into the virus.
Instead, he is so seriously ill that it will require more than mere medicine to cure him. For the illness has awakened memories he didn't know he had--memories that could save . . . or kill him.
As his friends in the Resistance try to save him and stop the Taelon plague, Liam wrestles with the inner demons from his past in a life-and-death struggle for survival.
This exciting novel based on the hit television series will be a revelation to series viewers, and a thrilling novel of the near future for all readers.
About the Author
Doranna Durgin, winner of the Compton Crook Award for best SF/Fantasy/Horror novel for Dun Lady's Jess, recently wrote Tooth and Claw, a novel set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She lives in Arizona.
Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict--Heritage, Vol. 5 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Liam Kincaid, the human Protector assigned to Da'an, the North American Taelon Companion, has had a difficult time balancing his duties for the aliens with his responsibility as the head of the secret, underground Resistance that is Earth's only hope for survival under the aliens." "Liam has also struggled with his alien heritage. He's managed to control the shaqarava, the power he wields. It is part of his heritage, inherited from his Kimera ancestor on a far world in a distant galaxy." "Left to himself, he thinks he'd be able to master the power that sometimes possesses him, causing him to send a vast beam of energy toward some perceived threat. But when he is accidentally infected by a Taelon virus that Zo'or, head of the Taelon Synod, has unleashed for the purpose of creating shaqarava in humans, Liam catches more than the artificial flu that was designed into the virus." Instead, he is so seriously ill that it will require more than medicine to cure him. For the illness has awakened memories he didn't know he had - memories that could save...or kill him.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In the fifth tie-in to the Roddenberry-inspired TV series, fantasy author Durgin (Dun Lady's Jess) delivers a better than average franchise product, but the novel won't win any new converts. Liam Kincaid, one of the double agents for Earth's Resistance within the occupation forces of the alien Taelons, has more reason than most to feel conflicted: a Kimura, the now-extinct progenitor species of the Taelons and their ancestral enemies the Jaridians, was one of his three parents. Survivors of a secret experiment to infect humans with Jaridian DNA learn to channel energy through their palms which could make them deadly, if risky, recruits for the Resistance. Liam's unique genome responds to the infection by giving him racial memories about the true relationships among Kimura, Taelons and Jaridians. These flashbacks are the novel's strength, adding depth to the series and to Liam's characterization. But the situation of the double agents is not precarious enough to generate suspense their habit of phoning the Resistance from the Taelon mothership make them seem as snug in the enemy's midst as Hogan's Heroes. And the fateful decision to let the virus loose on Earth, instead of experimenting on prisoners, is implausible except as a way to drive the plot. Readers with a previous interest in the series will be rewarded, but only Durgin's deft use of familiar contemporary elements, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a computerized cameo by a certain warrior princess, will keep the uninitiated from feeling adrift. (Jan. 16) Forecast: Flagging ratings and fan disgruntlement with the TV series on the SciFi channel may limit sales for this tie-in, especially as Roddenberry fans shift focus to the new Star Trek series that debuted on UPN this fall, Enterprise. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA - Snow Wildsmith 0312878222
The Taelons had come to Earth offering helpﾽmedical, technological, and cultural. Some Taelons are not benevolent, however, and all that stands against them is the Resistance. Not quite human, Liam Kincaid was created by the Resistance to help in its struggle, but he also is an agent of the Taelon. When Zo'or, the Taelons' Synod leader, releases a virus on Earth that begins to change humans into something they might not be ready for, Liam and the other members of the Resistance must prevent the death of millions. To do that, Liam must dig into his mysterious past and deal with the part of him that is not of Earth. Teen fans of Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict television series will enjoy the story immensely. The characters are interesting, with each offering at least two reasons for every move he or she makesﾽreasonable for people who suspect, with good cause, that their every move is being watched. There are some amusing pop-culture references, including one that fans of Star Trek: Voyager, a show also created by Roddenberry, will find hilarious. The plot moves well, and there is enough action to satisfy most readers. In the end, however, the novel is bound up in the television show too much to stand on its own. Too many times Durgin references events that only devout fans would understand, and because of those references, loses any readers who are not familiar with the show,
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