20th April 2024

Having finally managed to catch up on all the episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy’s first season, I felt comfortable starting my dive into the three novels that have been published.

It is a short novel, and clearly printed for younger authors, with large, sans-serif text on very cheap paper, and a fast pace story.

The most important thing for me though is that the author has totally captured the feeling of Prodigy. The book reads just like it’s an episode of the TV series, with the right pacing, the right use of the characters, the right peril, and the right morals.

Compared with early novels from other Star Treks, this feels the most spot on with its characterisation and world. Every character gets a chance to shine and I loved it for that.

A jolly good little adventure.

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5th October 2021

An intriguing return to Next Generation novels set during, rather than long after, the TV series, sees us join the crew for two parallel stories - while Picard, Troi, and Worf investigate a crime, Riker, Data, and Crusher explore a new planet. As is traditional, La Forge doesn’t get to do much.

Set during the seventh season, the novel definitely has the feel of a classic TV episode - with the two plots, a smattering of science fiction mixed in with familiar storytelling, and familiar friends.

I had been expecting something a little more focussed on Troi and Crusher though. From the marketing I had seen, I had thought that this would be a novel that focussed on their friendship, which was not deeply explored in the TV series, but instead they are totally separated. Troi feels a bit short-changed in page-time too, with Picard and Worf having more aligned time than I was anticipating.

And I suppose finally I’m not quite sure I got the message of the story. I can’t align the two plots to a common theme to tie them together, and so this breaks away a bit from what otherwise feels quite a welcome return to the familiar settings and storytelling style.

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