War Drums

ST TNG: War Drums
© 1992 John Vornholt
276 pages

Imagine Lord of the Flies with Klingons, and set the pack of nigh-feral boys against a small community of settlers who only just arrived themselves.  Such is the set up of War Drums, the story of a besieged human colony which solicits the Enterprise's help. When the people of New Reykjavík broke ground at a stable spot on the strange planet Selva, they didn't realize it already had residents -- a group of Klingon adolescents, marooned as children when their refugee ship crashed here. Now, after months of raids by the Klingons, the humans are lead by a bitter and xenophobic man who prefers the Enterprise's sensors and phasers to her crew's diplomatic savvy.   Created by John Vornholt, War Drums is Ro Laren's first appearance in Treklit, and an interesting predictor of several TNG and DS9 episodes. The main plot -- desperate settlers increasingly held in the grips of a fear taking racial overtones, Worf struggling to make contact with the raiders and teach them - -has much human interest, but the obligatory B thread involves imminent geologic catastrophe that is uncovered by Ro and a twelve-year-old colonial girl, Myra.  Truth to be told, I tend to skip through the B-scenes in older Trek books, because they tend to be  engineering problems rendered in complete technobabble. ("The tech is going to go teching tech! We need to tech the tech, quickly! We did it! Now the A plot is safe!) This one features a science investigation with Earth-relatable terms, so it actually merited paying attention to.

 TNG later featured an episode in which Worf tries to connect long-abandoned Klingon youths to their glorious heritage ("Birthright"), and a DS9 episode involved a mostly-human colony with Klingon neighbors ("Children of Time").  Kudos to Vornholt for predicting that.   He also uses the same exact quote that Picard quotes later on in the episode "Drumhead" -- 'when drums beat, the law is silent'.  (Speaking of:  what with the violent boys, their worship of the Chief, and their obsession with drums and encircling trials, Vornholt had to be drawing on Lord of the Flies!)   I probably wouldn't have tried this novel but for two things: Ro Laren was on the cover, and John Vornholt penned it.  He's not a particularly well-known author, but I'm familiar with him from his TNG Dominion War duology, which were the first TNG books I ever read. I read them multiple times, actually, and considering the heavy use of Ro Laren there he's probably to blame for her being such a favorite character of mine.  She comes off well here, both as action hero and Starfleet scientist; Worf, too, gets some depth beyond "Grrr! Honor! WORF SMASH!"

Unfortunately, I think this is my last TNG novel with Ro Laren on the cover.  All good things...

BONUS POINTS: At one point, Worf literally turns his phaser up to 11.

Requiem

ST TNG #32: Requiem
© 1994 Michael Jan Friedman,  Kevin Ryan
277 pages

dun-dun DA DA DA DA DA DA dun-dun DA da!

One hundred years ago, James Kirk of the USS Enterprise arrived at Cestus III to find a Federation colony in flames,  virtually all of its residents destroyed by mysterious attackers.  Kirk soon found himself in direct physical conflict with the attackers, a race of dinosaur-like creatures called the Gorn.    Kirk was able to find a way to conclude the Cestus affair without further bloodshed, and diplomatic overtures followed many decades later. Now, as the Federation and the Gorn try to keep the peace, the Federation's most experienced negotiator is lost -- lost on Cestus III.

Although Requiem begins with a flashback, Picard isn't lost in the memory of Gorn training scenarios, the historical record, or even his own experience with the Gorn as captain of the Stargazer. He is literally marooned in time, thrown to Cestus III four days before the deadly attack by a mysterious alien artifact in space. (When will Starfleet learn that mysterious artficats floating in space never lead to GOOD things?)    Picard is atonished by the coincidence: on the verge of restoring Federation-Gorn relations, he's been thrown to their beginning? He's also riven in conflict: while he knows he can't fight history, can't warn the colonists, their experimental power station is on the verge of destroying them in way. Worse yet, having been rescued by the colonists after he was transported through space and time into the middle of a landslide, he has a growing personal attachment to the colonists -- and while he's having moral crises and trying to pass himself off as Dixon Hill,  Merchant Captain and Totally Not a Spy,  Riker is being badgered by Starfleet to produce Picard and get to Gorn, pronto.

I thoroughly enjoyed Requiem, though Friedman and Ryan never explain why it is the Mysterious Alien Artifact threw Picard to, of all places, Cestus III on the eve of the Gorn attack.  Since we have seen other artifacts that can transport users to variety of places in time and space (the Guardian of Forever, for instance), perhaps this is another one -- one that is guided by the 'user's' thoughts. Perhaps when Picard activated the time-transport, his thoughts were on Cestus III -- hardly surprising given the impending negotiations.   "Arena" is one of my favorite TOS episodes, and so this look at the colony before its destruction succeeds for me. The 'b' plot also features Ro Laren being appointed acting first officer, and the book ends with Kirk and company arriving and "Arena" beginning.

It's got the Stargazer, Kirk, Ro Laren, and the Enterprise-D. What more do you want?

The Romulan Stratagem

The Romulan Stratagem
© 1995 Robert Greenberger
297 pages

A planet on the border of the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan empires has invited the Enterprise to sell its government on Federation membership. When the Big E arrives, however, they find a Romulan warbird waiting for them. The Romulans have also been invited to make a pitch for membership, and their negotiator is no less than Admiral Sela. Sela, who claims to be the daughter of an alternate-universe Tasha Yar, fell from grace after Picard dismantled her last set of nefarious plans, and for her snatching this planet  from under his nose will be sweet revenge. During the week of meetings, however, several deadly explosions implicate the crews of both the Enterprise and Sela's warship, threatening both powers' desires. Incredibly, Data finds himself working with Sela to work out what third party is sabotaging the conferences. While this plot thread has considerable interest,  given Data's intimate history with Yar,  that angle is never pursued. The ending is a departure from the unexpected, but on the whole there's nothing really remarkable about the book. Ro Laren lends  interest in her comic-relief thread, being assigned to babysit a civilian family after bodily throwing one too many civilians out of her way attracts the Wrath of Riker.  A teenage boy in said family develops a raging crush on Ro, one which she is far too slow to pick up on.  All told, this is enjoyable enough, but I only read it for the characters featured on the cover.

Read it for Ro. Patrick Stewart wants you to.

The Persistence of Memory - Silent Weapons

Star Trek TNG Cold Equations, Books 1 & 2: The Persistence of Memory and Silent Weapons
© 2012 David Mack
400 and 352 pages

The last time David Mack penned a Trek trilogy, billions upon billions died (Destiny), the Borg were vanquished, and thousands of readers' minds were blown by the intensity of it all. Now he's at it again with Cold Equations, set in the era of the Typhon Pact. A half-score of the Federation's most chronic enemies have their own confederacy, and the two states have been engaged in a cold war of sorts for the last couple of years, vying for power through covert missions. The Persistence of Memory opens with an attack on one of the Federation's most important research laboratories, one housing the deactivated bodies of B4, Lore, Lal, and various other Soong-type androids...the deceased Commander Data's family, as it were.  A cloaked ship, later to be revealed Breen, raids the lab and nicks the bodies...and as the Enterprise-E is conducting its investigation, a man is spotted on the streets who looks very much like Data. The man is none other than Noonien Soong, Data's inventor-father -- a man who was supposed to have died years ago.  But there he is, and looking rather young to boot -- what gives? The Persistence of Memory is largely his story,  the tale of one slightly-mad scientist to achieve immortality while watching the drama of his offspring from afar, with some political drama tacked on at the end.

That drama takes on a life of its own in Cold Equations, where Breen intrigue threatens to disrupt a delicate negotiation between the Federation president, Naniette Bacco, and the Gorn Hegemony. Shenanigans from a Soong-type android lead to Data's arrest (did I mention? he's back), and then come explosions and assassinations.  The Enterprise is on the scene, attempting to solve the mystery to both get their friend exonerated and to prevent their president's untimely demise, but something is screwy.  Their mystery-solving works all too well, aided by a series of anonymous tips that raise Worf's hackles (and Klingons have very big hackles), and lead him to suspect that someone, somewhere, is pulling the strings, manipulating the Enterprise, the Federation, and even the Gorn into playing parts in a bigger scheme. Thus a murder mystery becomes a massive political drama in which the struggle for power between Typhon Pact members proves to be more interesting than the Cold War-like tension between the Federation and Space-Moscow.  Unlike the Federation, which is more or less united (forgetting for the moment the angsty Andorians), the Typhon Pact members all have separate agendas, and they view one another as temporary expedients to their eventual nationalistic supremacy than actual partners.

After the epic-beyond-words achievements of Destiny,  poor David Mack has a lot to live up to. Cold Equations doesn't feature thousands of Borg cubes running willy-nilly, eating planets and inspiring mesmerizing speeches from doomed civic leaders, it's still a fantastic trilogy so far. The Persistence of Memory not only brought Data back (sort of), but gave his, Lore's, and other androids' stories utter cohesion: what Christopher Bennett did for time travel threads, Mack does with robotics, linking not only the Soong family but episodes from the original series.  Soong's perspective on watching his sons grow up is captivating, and then right behind that comes an intelligent political thriller that doesn't simply throw two entities against one another, but has  at least five participating in a tangled web of self-interest and lies.  I already purchased the finale, The Body Electric, and look forward to reading that soon.

Related:
Cold Equations on TvTropes

Q Squared

Star Trek the Next Generation: Q Squared
©  1994 Peter David
434 pages

On Stardate 2124.5, Captain Kirk and the Enterprise had a memorable experience with an impish creature named Trelane, a being of extraordinary power but the maturity of a child. Now Trelane is back, this time to play with Captain Picard and a different Enterprise....and right behind him is his godfather Q, beginning him to behave. Trelane, as it turns out, is a member of the Q Continuum, and Q has the task of grooming him to be a responsible adult. Naturally, the universe is doomed. After a tongue-lashing from the good captain, Trelane runs away and returns having discovered how to harness the power of universal chaos to give everyone on the Enterprise a really bad day....by collapsing three parallel universes into one another. Such is how Peter David starts off another fantastic Q novel.

In "Q-in-Law", the fun came from bouncing lively characters like Q and Lwaxana Troi off of one another. Here, David explores various what-if scenarios: what if  Worf was rising star in the Klingon empire, and not a disgraced orphan? What if William Riker hadn't been rescued by Nervala IV, but captured by Romulans? What if Jack Crusher hadn't died? And what if Picard and Beverly Crusher had acted on their attraction...?  When Trelane begins forcing the universes together, chaos ensues, and a thrilling story unfolds as the characters navigate their way though an increasingly insane and ever-changing reality.

Although a novel that touches base with metaphysical notions like multiverses can confusing, especially when temporal shenanigans are thrown in, Q Squared manages to grow busy with action without ever losing the reader, and it's wonderfully funny  despite how serious things get. The action is frantic, and as Picard and the others lose control, astonished laughter is sometimes the only response to what they're enduring.

Q Squared is an excellent bit of Trek literature, supremely entertaining on its own merits   and doubly so for knitting together various temporal elements of TOS and TNG together. I understand David did the same with his pre-Destiny TNG Relaunch novel, Q&A. If so, I might have to read it....even if it DOES have the Borg destroying Pluto.

Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line
© 1997 Diane Carey
320 pages

Two captains, each without a ship. The first, Captain Picard, lost his when it plowed into the surface of Viridian III while he struggled to prevent a grief-stricken madman from destroying a world. The other's, Captain Bateson's, became a historical artifact when he was thrust into the future in the midst of a battle against a Klingon cruiser. His attempt at self-sacrifice saved a starbase from destruction and prevented a war, but his legendary ship is still not viable against the Federation’s modern foes, like the Dominion and the Borg. After running into one another (dozens of times) in “Cause and Effect”, Bateson and Picard’s fates are again linked with the creation of the USS Enterprise-E. While Picard questions his future as ship’s captain, Bateson is eager to earn the captaincy of the not-yet-commissioned Enterprise despite being ninety years behind the times. While Picard is dispatched on a secret mission inside Cardassian lines, Bateson sees cracks in the Khitomer Accords and is eager to prove himself against an old enemy. Thus the two captains struggle for their reputations at the brink of war.

Ship of the Line is a strikingly odd but fun book. Diane Carey seems to have wanted to write a classic naval adventure novel.  Not only do the characters speak and think as though they're living in the Romantic period, but Captain Bateson is a walking anachronism, a man who seems to live in the heyday of the age of "iron ships and wooden men". His ship is a "clipper", and when he's not cheerfully pointing out the etymology of a given expression, he's musing on naval traditions. This combined with his status as a temporal refugee plays off well, though, because Picard relates to this man the way we would relate to someone from the 18th or 19th century.  References to the Horatio Hornblower series abound: not only do quotations from various Hornblower stories start off each section, but  at least two characters seem to have been named after members of Hornblower's crew, which actually spoiled part of the book for me because I knew straightaway  who the turncoat in Bateson's crew was.

TNG fans in general will find a lot to appreciate it here, for Carey gives us a story of Picard and his people after they were off the air, connecting their stories to those of the then-contemporary Star Trek universe.  going for it, giving TNG readers a look at their captain and his crew between ships and connecting their stories  (post "All Good Things...") to Deep Space Nine's Klingon story arc. The novel takes place at the same approximate time as DS9's "Way of the Warrior":  Commander Wof has already accepted a position onboard the station, but the Klingons have not yet invaded Cardassia nor revoked the Khitomer Accorrds. The Federation and the Klingon Empire are thus at peace, but Klingon belligerence strains relations.The Klingon captain whose invasion Bateson thwarted ninety years ago is enraged and humiliated that his 'vanquished' foe is alive and well, and both he and Bateson are easy for a rematch. Relations between the UFP and Klingon Empire are already strained, and the feud may be the firestarter for war. Picard is also engaged with an old enemy -- Gul Madred, the man who tortured him in "Chain of Command". He gets some marvelous comeuppance.

Carey is an efficient writer, never wasting time with extensive transitions or letting a conclusion drag out. The pace is fast, but not hurried, and there are scenes of rich, thoughtful dialogue that allow for a break in the action and give the reader a chance to savor  the interplay between characters -- particularly between Picard and Captain Kirk, who Picard visits in holographic form as a way of searching his own soul. It captures an opportunity that wasn't quite taken advantage of fully in Generations.

Although I've had this novel for years, I shied away from reading it at first because I found the idea of anyone but Picard manning the Enterprise-E to be distasteful. I'm glad I gave it a chance:  its quaintness ensnared my interest, and it fleshes out a hole in the TNG timeline rather nicely with a dandy 'good show'.

Q in Law

Star Trek TNG #18: Q-in-Law
1991 Peter David
252 pages

A feud  between two families of space gypsies is about to end in marriage, as their children have decided to tie the knot and give Captain Picard the honor of marrying them. Although this species never been heard of before, and indeed never will be again, the ceremony is attracting guests from throughout the Federation, including...Lwaxana Troi. That certainly puts a damper on Picard's spirits, but then Q decides to invite himself to the festivities to explore the age-old question: what is love?  Poor Picard. Poor, poor, Picard.  If surviving a week of tense relations and petty bickering between future in-laws weren't bad enough, he has to do it in the company of the two people in the universe who drive him absolutely mental.

It's the setup for what is easily the funniest Star Trek novel I've ever read. Although the premise isn't stellar (aliens wanting to know about human love is rather tired), the execution was perfect. Lwaxana and Q are powerful, prickly characters -- a lot of potential, but they're easy to misuse. In David's hands, they're dynamite together, even when Q isn't sniping at Worf ("Oh, you'll all have to forgive Worf. He's just discovered opposable thumbs, and he's feeling overly confident.") and neither of them is giving the good captain fits. David also weaves in a couple of running gags and throws a  very earnest and very naked young woman in Wesley Crusher's quarters.  Even his mother can't help but laugh.

Were I in the mood for an adventure or some poignant comments about the human condition, Q-in-Law might not have been appropriate. But I wanted to relax, and it delivered magnificently. I've never enjoyed Peter David this much before: small wonder he was asked to write other Q books. If you like Star Trek TNG in the slightest, look for a used copy of this. It's nothing less than a riot.

Paths of Disharmony

Star Trek Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony
© 2011 Dayton Ward
459 pages

Andoria hangs over the edge of a precipice, only generations away from extinction. Founding members of the Federation, Andorians are unique in possessing four sexes, all of which are required to produce offspring -- a single offspring, for twins are rare to the point of nonexistence. Such an arrangement makes it difficult for the population to maintain its own numbers, and they have been in steep decline for decades.  If trends continue, the population will vanish.The crisis has been a long time coming, appearing first in the Deep Space Nine relaunch "Mission: Gamma" series, but attacks on Andoria by the Borg have made the problem more acute, and Federation attempts to help -- which involve complementing the Andorian genome with alien strains that will allow two-sex pairs to produce young, and which will increase the instance of twins -- have produced only mixed results and are regarded by many Andorians, particularly religious "Visionists", as repugnant.  In the wake of increasing hostility toward the Federation, the USS Enterprise has arrived in orbit carrying scientists from across the galaxy to attend a genetics conference in hopes of finding some answer to this troublesome dilemma.

As eager as I was to finish the Typhon Pact miniseries off, its setting of Andoria gave me pause. Relaunch Andorians are a whiny bunch, so much to the point that while reading the Mission: Gamma series, I hurried through the chapters featuring Shar, who appears on the front cover of this book. I like Ward's style, though, so I read Paths -- and found it a political thriller which beats even Rough Beasts of Empire in giving the Trek universe a shake-up.  Though the reader is treated to character development a plenty (Picard is now a father to little René), most of the action takes place on-planet, as Picard and the Andorian government attempt to carry out the conference amid much moodiness, terrorist attacks,  and outright conspiracies while inthe shadows, the Typhon Pact lurks and schemes. This is an excellent conclusion to the miniseries which focuses on the Federation's new rival:  they're obviously growing in strength, and accomplish a masterstroke here: the book's conclusion is stunning -- and a bit of downer.

Paths of Disharmony makes it clear how subtle and potent a foe the Federation now faces and sets the stage for the books to come.  Interestingly, Paths' impetus is more the Vanguard series than the other Typhon Pact books, and it's worth nothing that Ward is one of the two authors (along with David Mack) who has contributed the most to that series.  Though it doesn't end on a happy note, Paths should please most Trek readers with the growth of the Enterprise-E staff and fast-paced plot of political intrigue.

Related:

• Star Trek Vanguard
• Typhon Pact on TvTropes
• Vanguard on TvTropes
• Author's Website

Reunion

Star Trek TNG: Reunion
© 1991 Michael Jan Friedman
343 pages
On the cover:  Unknown models as Idun Asmund, Picard's former human-raised-by-Klingons helm officer and Captain Morgen, who looks rather scary.  There's also a little quirk on the cover: the Stargazer is depicted with only two nacelles. This was before the four-nacelle model  became official, I suppose.

Many years ago, fresh young lieutant named Picard saved his ship from peril by assuming command following the death of his captain and first officer. In recognition of his services rendered, Starfleet named him captain of the Stargazer.  Now an officer of legend, Picard commands the Federation flagship -- the Enterprise-D -- and is hosting a Stargazer reunion. The arrival of several Stargazer officers brings back mixed memories for Picard: fond recollections of those days when he was young and brash, before his best friend Jack died under his command -- before Stargazer was lost. The memory of Jack is painful, though, and even moreso for Jack's widow, Beverly Crusher. She and Picard aren't the only persons haunted by the memories of what once was:  after the reunion is troubled by a series of nearly lethal accidents, Picard realizes someone among his former comrades is targeting the Stargazers on by one.  With the ship in peril, Picard and his friends both old and young must find the would-be murderer among their ranks and while striving to prevent a diplomatic catastrophe.

I don't think I've looked forward to any Star Trek book as much as Reunion, perhaps save S.D. Perry's DS9 capstone Unity. I began reading the Stargazer series years ago, and the first two books in it rank as some of my favorites in Trek literature as a whole -- but Reunion invented those characters.  Death in Winter spoiled the mystery for me by alluding to the killer, but even so I had fun trying to figure out why the character in question had 'snapped' -- and was able to use my previous Stargazer reading to keep ahead of Picard and the others.  There's considerable peril to be had outside the potential assassin: while on a diplomatic mission, Enterprise is trapped in a high-warp slipstream that threatens not only the mission, but the  ship itself by throwing it far beyond Federation borders. Characterization is accurate for both the TNG crew and the Stargazers, though Picard is more formal with his old XO than I would expect -- in the Stargazer books, they're 'buddies'.

I expected a great deal of Reunion and come away from it feeling quite satisfied. Like other Friedman novels, this is one I can see returning to again and again.

A Time to Be Born

A Time to Be Born
© 2004 John Vornholt
284 pages

On the cusp of their epic battle with Shinzon, many of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's long-time crew were heading for new assignments and new challenges. Among the changes were William Riker's promotion to captain and his new command, Riker's marriage to Counselor Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher's new career at Starfleet Medical. But the story of what set them on a path away from the Starship Enterprise has never been told.

           UNTIL NOW.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-E have been dispatched to the site of a terrible battle during the Dominion Wars, a site filled with dangerous anamolies and mysteries. His orders are to collect the dead from Starfleet vessels and, analyzing the site's physicial remains and examining ships' logs, attempt to explain what happened during the conflict. He is accompanied by the Juno, an older Excelsior-class starship, and a few new allies who appear to have ulterior motives for infiltrating the rubble. Picard needs the help of his comrades and allies, for an unexplicable gravity sink, apparantly sourceless energy discharges, and a swirling vortex of debris are not the only dangers: combative scavengers flit among the remains, stealing parts and ambushing the Starfleet crews.  In the perilous darkness, nothing is as it seems, and Picard will have to make quick choces that end his career in Starfleet.

I bought A Time to be Born four years ago, although my reading of it stalled half-way through. In trying to get back into Trek lit, I figured I'd give the A Time to... series another shot. The series consists of nine parts, the titles of each coming from the Hebrew book of Ecclesiastes -- though that may be more familar to some readers as being from Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn".  The series aims to bridge Insurrection and Nemesis, exploring character development, Alpha Quadrant politics, and answering questions about or mending mistakes of Nemesis.  The premise of this initial book is interesting, and I liked the ending, but the development of Picard's time within the battleground was a struggle to read through. If I'd only wanted the general story or events of consequence, I could read the introductory chapters and then skip ahead to Picard's trial.

Rough start but a promising ending. I intend on reading through the A Time To series, but not immediately.

Related

• Psi Phi's A Time to page, offering general descriptions of the books and their covers.
• A Time to be Born on Memory Alpha
• A Time to.... series on Memory Alpha.

The Buried Age

The Buried Age
© 2007 Christopher L. Bennett
439 pages

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's life changed when, in approaching an uncharted star system,  an aggressive alien vessel attacked him in mid-warp, crippling his ship, the USS Stargazer, and dooming it after twenty years under Picard's command. Although he succeeded in defeating his foe, creating the Picard Maneuver to do so, the ship itself had to be abandoned. Following a court-martial and disturbed by the loss of the people and ship he loved so dear, Picard opts to take extended leave from the service and explore the world of academia, pursuing a doctorate in archaeology. Disturbed by his increasingly sedentary lifestyle, his old friend Guinan appears with information that may spread light on a galaxy-wide extinction event several millions years ago -- information that Picard can't help but be intrigued by. Leading a team of civilian scientists, Picard journeys to a planet far beyond Federation borders which holds breath-taking secrets. This is the start of an extraordinary journey, one that will require Picard to work with Starfleet more and more and set him on the path to command the Enterprise-D.

Along the way he will shape the lives of and in return be shaped by several  young lieutenants -- an android whose talents and development are neglected by a Starfleet that doesn't know what to do with him; a bitter young Betazoid whose expertise has heretofore been ignored in favor of her beauty and empathic abilities; and an intelligent and compassionate young woman named Janeway who is at Picard's side when they make their first big discovery: a survivor from those millions of years ago, held in stasis and awaiting to be freed. Their experiences together will change them forever.


The Buried Age is an excellent novel. Although it carries Star Trek in the title, The Buried Age offers an experience beyond a simple "episode in a book".  It functions well as both a science fiction novel and a character drama, allowing Picard and others to explore a grand story involving a benevolent, highly-cultured galaxy-wide civilization that met sudden destruction.  Bennett relies more on science than most Trek authors, and the science in his works is more developed than simple background technobabbles. What makes the book for me is its spellbinding writing and characterization:  I visibly trembled while reading some portions of the novel, so caught up was I in the emotions Bennett forces his characters to endure. It's an especially strong Trek novel, given its abundance of subtle references to the series.  The book's essential function is to bridge Stargazer and the The Next Generation, and he does this well -- not only in telling the story of what happened to Picard after the court-martial but before TNG's first episode, but in focusing on Picard's character as he struggled to figure out where his life should go once he lost the life he matured with. Bennett also explores Data and Troi's early development and sees Picard prepare his first command team aboard the Enterprise-D.

Highly recommended to Star Trek fans, recommended to general sci-fi readers as well.

Related:

• The Buried Age on Memory Alpha
• Christopher L. Bennett on Memory Alpha

Greater than the Sum

Greater than the Sum
© Christopher L. Bennett 2008
368 pages

Fresh from his honeymoon with Dr. Beverly Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard has returned to the Enterprise-E to assemble a new command staff in the wake of recent losses in battle. Finding the right people to meet the demands of the Federation flagship is problematic, but news from the Beta Quadrant will render staffing problems trivial: the Borg are back.

After the events of Death in Winter, a Borg cube launched an attack on the Federation and brutalized it in a way not seen since Wolf 359. They were driven way, but assimilated a Federation science vessel before vanishing completely. That science vessel, the USS Einstein, was reported destroyed, but its attack on the USS Rhea, a Federation starship assigned to investigate a system in the Beta Quadrant proves otherwise. The Borg-controlled Einstein -- known in Starfleet enlisted ranks now as the Frankenstein -- is a threat to the Federation, not for its own armament but for the knowledge it possesses. The Federation's greatest defense against the Borg is the gulf of space between the Federation and the Borg Collective -- but that curious system in the Beta Quadrant may hold the secret to quantum slip-stream warp drives, which would make the Milky Way as transversable as a local star system. The Frankenstein cannot be permitted to return to the Delta Quadrant, lest the Borg gain that knowledge.

Picard is given ultimate discretion in how he chooses to combat the threat, and reluctantly chooses to include the young officer who survived the attack on the Rhea as part of his staff. The excitable, immature officer doesn't appear to be Starfleet material, let alone an officer distinct enough to serve on the bridge of the Federation flagship -- but something about her compels Picard to give her a chance. Together with a ship of ex-drones -- the Liberated, led by Hugh -- Picard must find a way to destroy the ever-adaptive and increasingly aggressive Borg before they are able to adapt slipstream technology to their uses and return to the Collective, where they will share that knowledge and give the Borg a way to dominate the entire Milky Way.

Greater than the Sum is one of the best Trek books I've read. Although the mission is essentially military, Bennet focuses on character development, diplomacy with a new form of life, and scientific investigation. Bennett's pacing worked well for me: ultimate confrontation with the ship is delayed, allowing tension to build. In the meantime, Bennett focuses on Picard and his new officer, Lieutenant Chen. I didn't like Chen at first, thinking her sophomoric: I didn't realize her immature disposition was deliberate until Bennett starting bouncing her personality off of Picard's, at which point hilarity ensued.  While she begins as a hyperactive and childish Ro Laren-type with pointed ears, Chen matures throughout the book and I looked forward to her scenes. Bennett also explores Picard and Crusher's married life, particularly the motives behind Picard's reluctance to start a family. His official explanation is that having children would be irresponsible in light of the Borg threat, but the real motives are more nuanced and draw from various Trek episodes, including The Inner Light.  Although Greater than the Sum continues the story begun in previous TNG Relaunch novels, Bennett's background exposition was sufficient and unintrusive. It's thus a easy recommendation for both fans of Trek literature and of The Next Generation itself.

Related:

• Greater than the Sum Memory Alpha article.

Death in Winter

Death in Winter
© 2007 Michael Jan Friedman
368 pages

I've been meaning to dive back into contemporary Trek lit for some time now, but have been somewhat daunted by a shift in the literature: instead of new releases being published as self-contained novels, Star Trek books today tend to fit into a newly-created extended universe canon that roared into existence following the end of Deep Space Nine and the rise of the "Deep Space Nine Relaunch",  a collection of individual books and series set in the post-"What You Leave Behind" era and which gave the show an eighth season in book form.  The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise soon experienced their own "relaunches", all of these relaunches tied to one another creating the type of expanded universe that Star Wars readers have so long enjoyed. The downside of this is that it increases the amount of background needed to be absorbed to enjoy a given book fully dramatically. I thus posted on TrekBBS and asked for a map of sorts to prepare me to read the newly released Star Trek: Destiny series, and the information I compiled suggested that Michael Jan Friedman's Death in Winter was the place to start.

I could think of no matter, for Friedman is my favorite Trek author: I enjoyed his Stargazer series depicting Captain Picard's first command immensely, falling in love with the characters and eagerly waiting more. Now Friedman tackles Picard in the days following Nemesis: the Romulan empire is in turmoil after the assassination of most of its senate, and most of Picard's command crew has left him. Riker is now the captain of the USS Titan (and has his own book series, along with Troi):  Data is dead, and Dr. Crusher has decided to become the head of Starfleet medical once more, leaving Picard with only LaForge and Worf to help him oversee the Enterprise's extensive repair and retrofitting following its fight in Nemesis.

Of those lost crewmembers, Picard misses Crusher the most:  one of the first season's opening episodes established romantic tension between the two, and they enjoyed a special relationship throughout the series.  Recent events have made their mutual love for each other more acute, making Crusher's departure hard to bear.  While Picard sees to his ship, Crusher is sent on a secret mission to the outskirts of Romulan territory to prepare a vaccine on a plague planet.  Her mission goes awry when the half-human, half-Romulan Commander Sela learns of a Federation officer's presence on her planet, and Picard is tasked with escorting another doctor to the planet and -- if he can -- finding the newly-imprisoned and possibly dead Dr. Crusher. Picard, along with old comrades from the Stargazer, steal into Romulan territory and try to find allies while a political battle for control of Romulus wages. If Picard is not careful -- and if he cannot keep his emotions concerning the doctor from interfering with the mission -- he, Crusher, and their comrades may be used as political pawns by the various senators and admirals who want their voice to guide the battered Star Empire.

Friedman lives up to expectations, doing justice to the TNG crew and handling Romulan politics well enough that I did not tire of it.  I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Stargazer officers given my fondness for that series. The four threads of the book -- Picard's efforts to find Crusher, political espionage and maneuverering between Romulan factions, Beverly's role in those maneuverers, and Worf and Geordi's struggle to do  their duty -- mesh neatly together to make for a compelling read.

Spartacus

Star Trek the Next Generation: Spartacus
© T.L. Mancour
276 pages

It seems only appropriate that I read a Star Trek book on the weekend that its newest movie comes out, hopefully revitalizing the Franchise. A number of years ago, someone donated a large number of Star Trek paperbacks to my local library, and they were consequently sold in its bookstore for a a nickel a piece, or something like that. I bought $5 worth, meriting me a large bag full of Star Trek paperback novels. I haven't read most of them, but I like knowing they're in my closet for whenever I want to experience some new Trek. Spartacus is one of those novels. You may be able to surmise from the book's title what the plot is generally about -- a slave revolt and resulting war, with the Enterprise-D caught in the middle. While exploring beyond Federation space, the Enterprise comes to the aid of a ship making repairs. The ship, as Enterprise crewmen discover, is staffed entirely by androids. Although the soon-to-be-called Spartacans and the Federation crewmen get along well, the arrival of an alien fleet makes Captain Picard realize that there is more going on here than a ship having been damaged by an interstellar storm. The androids once served their creators, the Vemlans, dutifully, and Vemlan society grew to become dependent on the androids even as the droids themselves were becoming more sentient.

When androids began to be used as gladiators, "Alpha", or completely intelligent and sentient androids, led a revolt. The resulting war partially destroyed Vemla, and now a Vemlan fleet has come for revenge. The androids would rather be destroyed as free beings than return to Vemla, and there seems to be no peaceful alternative. The Vemlans are intent on recovering the androids to put them on trial (ironic given that they deny the 'droids sentience) or destroying them, and Captain Picard is unable to come to the defense of his new friends owing to Federation law. And then, Commander Data has an idea -- one that may present a peaceful solution, or which may thrust the Federation into war with the Vemlans. The book was a breezily fun read that shows a good bit of character development on Data's part, as well as insight into Federation procedures. I think both the Spartacans and the Vemlans are fleshed out enough for the book's purpose. Assuming readers are Trek fans who can actually find the book used on Amazon somewhere, I'd recommend doing so. It's not a deep read, but it's a fun one.