A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)

A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)
by Keith R. A. DeCandido

List Price: ~~$7.99~~
Our Price: $3.89
You Save: $4.10 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.79 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Compare Prices for A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)

Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Keith R. A. DeCandido
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 2008-01-29
ISBN: 1416556478
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Star Trek

Book Reviews of A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)

Book Review: Best on the supermarket racks
Summary: 4 Stars

Minireview: A BURNING HOUSE is a craftsmanlike work, a good novel that pleases the reader without the embarrassing lapses in technique and judgment that so often plague series fiction. It adds new depth to themes and stories already part of the Star Trek universe and weaves together major characters and events from the television series with its own original characters and storylines. Highly recommended.

Elaboration: I picked up A BURNING HOUSE under the same circumstances that I buy most of the Star Trek and Star Wars books I read: I was at Wegmans (upscale northeastern grocery chain) and wanted something to read while waiting to check out. I made the usual mistake of assuming that the back cover would be a good guide to the contents of the book. Sorry, this is not "a tale of the Klingon Empire." Instead, it is several loosely connected tales ... and, fortunately, all of them are good. I've read other Star Trek novels, like FEDERATION and SPOCK'S WORLD, that are more important to the Star Trek universe, but I don't think I've read another Star Trek novel that was as well written or had as much "human interest" as this one. I haven't read any of DeCandido's other books, which means that I came into this series "cold", without knowing any of the characters other than the TV series regulars, and yet I did not feel lost. None of the novel felt like review for the sake of review ("As we last saw our heroes ..."), and yet the characters were vividly drawn, with complex emotions and motivations; just what you would hope for in any novel, but find too infrequently in science fiction, especially in Star Wars/Star Trek series fiction.

One of the things I particularly like about this novel is that it helps anchor the Klingon Empire in something more like reality than we've seen in the past. In ST:TOS, the Klingons were conniving, violent others--a perfect enemy for us, the good guys--the Federation--because they had no redeeming qualities. In the post-ST:TOS films, the Klingons get a new look and a new language, but they're still dirty, rotten bad guys. In ST:TNG, however, we get Klingons who actually live by a code of honor. Their code may not be hours, but is internally consistent and does not condone the kind of sneakiness and dishonesty that we saw in ST:TOS. On the other hand, it involves a strongly anti-intellectual, anti-contemplative philosophy, and a level of fratricidal violence that seem impossible to sustain in any society that has developed beyond feudalism. In fact, the Klingons have a kind of industrial feudalism that we see in other SF, like DUNE. But how can people who disdain science and learning fly spacecraft and keep up technologically with science-oriented societies like the Vulcans or the humans? DeCandido has an answer (although it may have originated with others): They can keep up because the noble/warrior caste is just one stratum of society. Some Klingons live for battle, but many others live to farm, or to treat medical patients, or to develop new technologies, or to write and perform operas celebrating great victories in battle. DeCandido takes us behind the scenes to see how these Klingons live and to experience the contradictions of a society that values the warrior above all else but needs far more farmers and construction workers and engineers than it does armored soldiers. Unless I missed it, there is no specific reference to "a burning house" in the novel; the implication is that the Empire, despite its retooling since Gorkon's time (remember that the Klingons were almost literally the USSR in ST:TOS and have become more or less Russia since the end of the Cold War) is still in trouble; its insistence on maintaining its warlike ways continues to bankrupt its society, and another explosion, like that at the moon of Praxis in STVI, could be on the horizon.

Write your own review

All A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire) Customer Reviews

Summary of A Burning House (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)

They have been the Federation's staunchest allies, and its fiercest adversaries. Cunning, ruthless, driven by an instinct for violence and defined by a complex code of honor, they must push ever outward in order to survive, defying the icy ravages of space with the fire of their hearts. They are the Klingons, and if you think you already know all there is to learn about them...think again.

From its highest echelons of power to the shocking depths of its lowest castes, from its savagely aggressive military to its humble farmers, from political machinations of galactic import to personal demons and family strife, the Klingon Empire is revealed as never before when the captain and crew of the I.K.S. Gorkon finally return to their homeworld of Qo'noS in a sweeping tale of intrigue, love, betrayal, and honor.

Contemporary Books

Book Subjects

Most talked about in Contemporary Books

Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
by James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
by Cormac McCarthy
Vintage Books; Published: 2007-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Water for Elephants: A Novel
by Sara Gruen
Algonquin Books; Published: 2007-04-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.69
Price in other shops: ~~$13.95~~

Love the One You're With
by Emily Giffin
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel
by Lauren Weisberger
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-05-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

The Host: A Novel
by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-05-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.23
Price in other shops: ~~$25.99~~

The Last Patriot: A Thriller
by Brad Thor
Atria Books; Published: 2008-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: ~~$26.00~~

Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14)
by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-06-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops: ~~$27.95~~

The Beach House
by Jane Green
Viking Adult; Published: 2008-06-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.90
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel
by David Wroblewski
Ecco; Published: 2008-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.89
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

Similar Books and other products

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Fearful Symmetry (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by Olivia Woods
Star Trek; Published: 2008-06-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.03
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

The Sky's the Limit (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Star Trek; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops: ~~$16.00~~

Resistance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by J.M. Dillard
Star Trek; Published: 2007-08-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Star Trek: TNG: Greater than the Sum (Star Trek, the Next Generation)
by Christopher L. Bennett
Star Trek; Published: 2008-07-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.81
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Star Trek: Terok Nor: Night of the Wolves (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by S.D. Perry
Star Trek; Published: 2008-04-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Star Trek: Terok Nor: Dawn of the Eagles (Star Trek)
by S.D. Perry
Star Trek; Published: 2008-05-20; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Sword of Damocles (Star Trek: Titan, Book 4)
by Geoffrey Thorne
Star Trek; Published: 2007-11-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Before Dishonor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
by Peter David
Star Trek; Published: 2007-10-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Star Trek: Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by James Swallow
Star Trek; Published: 2008-03-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Forged in Fire (Star Trek: Excelsior)
by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels
Star Trek; Published: 2007-12-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.05
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~