9th June 2024

A Next Generation / Deep Space Nine crossover novel, this story covers the period shortly before the DS9 pilot episode, when the Cardassians are withdrawing from their occupation of Bajor, and the Enterprise is dispatched to provide humanitarian and diplomatic help.

It feels like Star Trek, which is I suppose one of the best compliments for it. There’s a ton going on, so bigger than one episode, with a lot of plot strands to pull on and none of them seeming to dominate. This might make the book feel unfocussed, and I did at first wonder what the main plot actually was, before realising that it didn’t need to have a main plot to successfully tell stories about these characters.

Obviously the characterisation is spot on, and I particularly enjoyed seeing Keiko O’Brien get some story time as a botanist, and seeing her and Miles think about their future plans.

The choice of Garak for the cover art feels like a misstep. I can understand that he’s a marketable DS9 character, but his appearance doesn’t feel like it adds up to enough to make him as prominent as Picard, or more prominent than other characters.

One of those novels where it takes me a while to get into the swing of it, but from about halfway I stormed through.

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16th July 2023

The latest Discovery novel, set between seasons three and four, sees the crew respond to a distress call and get caught up in an internal conflict amongst some old friends.

It starts like any classic Star Trek novel, but soon becomes clear that the plot really does only work because it’s a Disco novel. It does a good job to extend the lore and explore the interaction between the two Discovery eras, and uses a range of characters from the show well.

I found it slow to read though, failing to give me a need to absorb it all faster as I read through. Each chapter felt like it ended at a convenient point to take a break, instead of offering the cliffhanger I might need.

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19th December 2021

The first novel of Coda, the trilogy that ends twenty years of novel storyline and promises to set things back on track for the Star Trek universe to continue plotting the future on television.

A variety of favourite characters from the 24th Century era come together as the universe faces a threat from across time. It’s a promising start, if a little slow to read.

Ward is brutal, setting up a storyline in which nothing can be taken for granted - certainly an attitude that I expect to follow through his colleagues’ remaining two novels.

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23rd June 2019

The latest Star Trek: The Next Generation continuation novel successfully balances two plots - one covering the ongoing events from previous novels that have rocked the Federation and a second being a stand-alone mission that the Enterprise is on.

I really enjoyed both aspects of the story. I’m a big fan of the Star Trek novels that have dealt with Federation politics, and spent time with the various presidents, and so happy to see some more of this. Ward has also crafted a lovely stand-alone story that feels like an episode of the television series, but uses the opportunity of a novel to tell a story that wouldn’t have been possible with the television technology of the 80s and 90s.

The grasp of the characters is excellent, both for those that we’ve known for decades and the newer characters who have been introduced in the novels and who get to play a large part here. They now feel as much of the family as Picard and Worf.

A great continuation novel - but probably one that requires a decent knowledge of the novels that have proceeded it going quite far back. There’s at least one more on the way for this TNG universe, and I’ll be sad if that’s the end - because the existence of a new Picard TV series may mean that this version of the Trek future is overwritten, and it’s been a fun journey.

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25th March 2018

The second novel based on the new Star Trek television series, Discovery, is set some ten years before the series and gives an insight into the backstory of two of the secondary character - Philippa Georgiou and Gabriel Lorca. Serving in Starfleet as Commander and Lt. Commander respectively, the two officers’ paths cross when a (later infamous) famine breaks out on a distant colony world after crops are infected by a deadly fungus.

I think this is a really good story, better than the previous novel, using these side characters really well to tell a tale that provides extra context, but not interfere with the direction that the television series is taking. It also of course provides an opportunity to tie elements of Discovery in with events mentioned in other series.

It’s hard to say a lot about the plot itself without dropping in spoilers for this novel or the first season of the television series (the book is intended to be read after season one, I think, through after episode 12 should be fine). My memory of some of the elements referenced was a little rusty, which I think helped build some tension as I couldn’t remember what had been established in canon, though also distracted as there were elements I had mis-remembered.

A good novel to tide me over until there’s some more Discovery on TV.

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19th July 2017

A new entry in the Next Generation continuation series, this follows a long line of novels taking the story of the Enterprise and her crew forward several years from the last time we saw them on screen. Despite that, this does serve as a pretty stand-alone story in the classic style.

The Enterprise is exploring and comes across a planet that nobody’s made contact with before, but then strange orders arrive from Starfleet Command, and Picard is left to investigate without really understanding.

It’s a great mystery thriller, with a new premise that harkens back to some of the classic tropes of the series. It’s also the third entry in the author’s pseudo-trilogy featuring callbacks to the 20th & 21st Centuries - though having not read the first two (they are Original Series novels which I generally don’t read) I can’t comment on how it fits into that.

An enjoyable adventure, and one that mostly stands alone. But if you are reading everything, I’d recommend this is read after David Mack’s ‘Control’, as there are some references.

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18th March 2017

After the second half of 2016 focussed on blockbuster trilogies to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, it was nice to get back to a simple, stand-alone adventure for the crew of the Enterprise. Or not that simple in-fact, because in this novel (as the cover strongly implies) there are two Enterprises.

This book is very much a stand-alone, and it felt a bit weird returning to that headspace after such grand adventures. I kept expecting something earth-shattering to occur to change the direction of the whole series, and felt a little bit let down by the story that perhaps didn’t have quite that resonance.

On the other hand, being a stand-alone meant that Ward was able to do some fascinating things with the characters, and show us some of the things that might have happened on the Enterprise-D. It was good to spend some time with some other familiar characters and to see the effect that the two crews had on each other.

Overall, this story read like a good episode of the TV series. And what more can you ask. It’s was contained, entertaining, and showed some interesting variety. A happy diversion to read.

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