Toward the Night
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Description
While patrolling the borders of the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise record a series of subspace echoes from a planet orbiting a volatile flare star—and when Lieutenant Spock and Commander Una Chin-Riley lead a landing party to learn more, they discover the ruins of a dead civilization and evidence of starship-grade metals - quite possibly a crash site. As they continue to investigate the strange signals, Spock and Una find shocking signs of dangerous alien life and remnants of what can only be Federation hardware. The trail soon leads Pike and Enterprise’s helmswoman Lieutenant Erica Ortegas deep into the mystery of a lost Starfleet vessel, missing in action for over ninety years—and to a terrible dilemma that will challenge the crew to question their past... and their future.
Reviewed on 24th May 2025
Set during season two of Strange New Worlds, James Swallow’s new Star Trek novel follows the crew as they investigate a star that’s putting out unusual radiation, and get into all the usual trouble.
It’s a classic planet-of-the-week story with plenty of character stuff, adventure, and the occasional British cultural reference which will go totally over the head of most American readers and therefore I find incredibly delightful.
Swallow uses the range of characters, but particularly I enjoyed the time with Ortegas, who has a great balance between being a comic and deep character both on the show and in the novel.
A fun trek.
