Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Not so frustrating in hindsight..., 06 Dec 2008
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is set in 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, and I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify this in context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, and accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With that in mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage and diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise and her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), and the knife-edge tension in the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, and how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflected in his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, and I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
All in all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan War in 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, which in truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.

On the Brink of the Romulan War, 26 Sep 2008
The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continue in the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. And in the tradition of that series, a blank spot in the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.

The Koybayashi Maru was first referred to in the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighter in trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.

The Romulans are preparing war against Earth and the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer and his crew, who figure out the deception.

Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alive in Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.

It's good have Trip back, and in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.

And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred to in the original TV series) is here.

Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Not so frustrating in hindsight..., 06 Dec 2008
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is set in 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, and I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify this in context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, and accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With that in mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage and diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise and her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), and the knife-edge tension in the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, and how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflected in his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, and I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
All in all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan War in 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, which in truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.

On the Brink of the Romulan War, 26 Sep 2008
The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continue in the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. And in the tradition of that series, a blank spot in the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.

The Koybayashi Maru was first referred to in the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighter in trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.

The Romulans are preparing war against Earth and the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer and his crew, who figure out the deception.

Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alive in Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.

It's good have Trip back, and in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.

And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred to in the original TV series) is here.

Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.


Dulll and rather preposterous, 09 Dec 2008
Oh dear, it's all gone a bit wrong.

Generally anything involving the Borg is worth reading or watching, but this book is the exception. All this book amounts to is another retread of the "Borg flies to earth and try and destroy humanity" storyline.

And guess what? The Enterprise is the only ship than can stop them and only Picard has the ability in the whole of Starfleet to think of an imaginative solution. I can see the good captain in his ready room thinking: "Hmm, the pesky Borg are back and want to destroy the Earth? Gosh, it's almost like that Romulan chap a year ago with his big ship that exploded and killed Data. First time I made the Borg go to sleep - that won't work again. Shooting the plasma tanks thing worked well against the queen, but would she accept an invite to engineering for a cup of Earl Gray? Probably not. Ah, what about the Guardian of forever? Nah too silly. Hang on, wasn't there a big cone shaped alien ship type thing that was found by Kirk and it was nearly invulnerable, and was built to kill the Borg? Perfect! Let's go and get it and come to the rescue again. Hooray!"

The author then slips in some continuity stuff by referring to past events from at least a couple of old TNG novels. Throw in a few untypical crew members to replace data and Riker. Lastly, but definitely not least, there is a rather bizarre cameo by Mr Spock who has prepared a long list of obtuse, unhelpful and annoyingly smug one liners.

This book is a really lazy effort. It was dull; some of the stuff the Borg do is just too farfetched. I only finished the book out of curiosity to see what sort of ending was waiting for me. Answer - a really bad one. Avoid.


Fantastic - one of the best Trek books I have read, 11 Apr 2008
I am suprised at some of the mixed reviews for this book as I genuinely couldn't put it down. This is the follow on to the "OK" Resistance book and my only slight complaint was the cliff hanger ending, which isn't really a negative as this surely means a third book is due. This does however have some truly great moments, my personal favourite is The Borg queen threatening the Q with assimilation, a scene I would love to have seen in a film or TV show. If you are thinking of buying then obviously get Resistance first then read this - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


A Cracking Read, 13 Feb 2008
First things first - we know this is not canon, because its a book not a film or TV show - so we can get over the worries of what happens to who and what. The book is fast paced, well written, gripping, exciting and a page turner. Picard's reactions to events are perfectly scripted as are the other members of the 'old crew'. The guess stars of Lady Q and Spook give the book further depth and interest. As a sequel to Resistance it is excellent. I am enjoying these post Nemesis books immensely.

New moves!, 29 Jan 2008
I felt the above comments were valid but feel they can be seen positively, I mean the Janeway thing - surely the next book they will reverse it and she'll pop up from nowhere!

I felt the shifts were good and for me it was a page turner a good mash of all of our favourites! It is perhaps not too deep but if you want something that will keep you going for a few days and not wanting to put down this is worth it!

Love this book, 18 Jan 2008
This is a interesting read of being Janway, picad, 7 of 9 and the borg if you are like me, who love the borg the this is a book for you

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Not so frustrating in hindsight..., 06 Dec 2008
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is set in 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, and I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify this in context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, and accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With that in mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage and diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise and her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), and the knife-edge tension in the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, and how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflected in his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, and I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
All in all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan War in 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, which in truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.

On the Brink of the Romulan War, 26 Sep 2008
The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continue in the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. And in the tradition of that series, a blank spot in the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.

The Koybayashi Maru was first referred to in the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighter in trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.

The Romulans are preparing war against Earth and the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer and his crew, who figure out the deception.

Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alive in Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.

It's good have Trip back, and in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.

And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred to in the original TV series) is here.

Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.


Dulll and rather preposterous, 09 Dec 2008
Oh dear, it's all gone a bit wrong.

Generally anything involving the Borg is worth reading or watching, but this book is the exception. All this book amounts to is another retread of the "Borg flies to earth and try and destroy humanity" storyline.

And guess what? The Enterprise is the only ship than can stop them and only Picard has the ability in the whole of Starfleet to think of an imaginative solution. I can see the good captain in his ready room thinking: "Hmm, the pesky Borg are back and want to destroy the Earth? Gosh, it's almost like that Romulan chap a year ago with his big ship that exploded and killed Data. First time I made the Borg go to sleep - that won't work again. Shooting the plasma tanks thing worked well against the queen, but would she accept an invite to engineering for a cup of Earl Gray? Probably not. Ah, what about the Guardian of forever? Nah too silly. Hang on, wasn't there a big cone shaped alien ship type thing that was found by Kirk and it was nearly invulnerable, and was built to kill the Borg? Perfect! Let's go and get it and come to the rescue again. Hooray!"

The author then slips in some continuity stuff by referring to past events from at least a couple of old TNG novels. Throw in a few untypical crew members to replace data and Riker. Lastly, but definitely not least, there is a rather bizarre cameo by Mr Spock who has prepared a long list of obtuse, unhelpful and annoyingly smug one liners.

This book is a really lazy effort. It was dull; some of the stuff the Borg do is just too farfetched. I only finished the book out of curiosity to see what sort of ending was waiting for me. Answer - a really bad one. Avoid.


Fantastic - one of the best Trek books I have read, 11 Apr 2008
I am suprised at some of the mixed reviews for this book as I genuinely couldn't put it down. This is the follow on to the "OK" Resistance book and my only slight complaint was the cliff hanger ending, which isn't really a negative as this surely means a third book is due. This does however have some truly great moments, my personal favourite is The Borg queen threatening the Q with assimilation, a scene I would love to have seen in a film or TV show. If you are thinking of buying then obviously get Resistance first then read this - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


A Cracking Read, 13 Feb 2008
First things first - we know this is not canon, because its a book not a film or TV show - so we can get over the worries of what happens to who and what. The book is fast paced, well written, gripping, exciting and a page turner. Picard's reactions to events are perfectly scripted as are the other members of the 'old crew'. The guess stars of Lady Q and Spook give the book further depth and interest. As a sequel to Resistance it is excellent. I am enjoying these post Nemesis books immensely.

New moves!, 29 Jan 2008
I felt the above comments were valid but feel they can be seen positively, I mean the Janeway thing - surely the next book they will reverse it and she'll pop up from nowhere!

I felt the shifts were good and for me it was a page turner a good mash of all of our favourites! It is perhaps not too deep but if you want something that will keep you going for a few days and not wanting to put down this is worth it!

Love this book, 18 Jan 2008
This is a interesting read of being Janway, picad, 7 of 9 and the borg if you are like me, who love the borg the this is a book for you

Great book, only problem was the third DS9 story, 02 Aug 2008
I'm not going to spoil this for potential readers but the first story has to be the best only becasue of the plot twists regarding Kirk and Sarek, and shows that maybe humans weren't really that important in forming something like a UFP.

Story two is good as well, showing us how Things could have gone for Voyager if they hadn't had time to ally with the Borg, also gives us a more concrete explenation of WHY 8472 were attacking, and why a species that lives in Fluidic space needs three legs.

Story three, well it was a good read, but too heavilly focuses on Ezri and Bashir, makeing the rest of the cast with the exception of the Botany Bays crew seem two dimensional. Although the choices of who was aboard was a pleasent suprise.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Not so frustrating in hindsight..., 06 Dec 2008
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is set in 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, and I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify this in context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, and accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With that in mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage and diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise and her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), and the knife-edge tension in the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, and how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflected in his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, and I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
All in all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan War in 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, which in truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.

On the Brink of the Romulan War, 26 Sep 2008
The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continue in the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. And in the tradition of that series, a blank spot in the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.

The Koybayashi Maru was first referred to in the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighter in trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.

The Romulans are preparing war against Earth and the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer and his crew, who figure out the deception.

Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alive in Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.

It's good have Trip back, and in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.

And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred to in the original TV series) is here.

Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.


Dulll and rather preposterous, 09 Dec 2008
Oh dear, it's all gone a bit wrong.

Generally anything involving the Borg is worth reading or watching, but this book is the exception. All this book amounts to is another retread of the "Borg flies to earth and try and destroy humanity" storyline.

And guess what? The Enterprise is the only ship than can stop them and only Picard has the ability in the whole of Starfleet to think of an imaginative solution. I can see the good captain in his ready room thinking: "Hmm, the pesky Borg are back and want to destroy the Earth? Gosh, it's almost like that Romulan chap a year ago with his big ship that exploded and killed Data. First time I made the Borg go to sleep - that won't work again. Shooting the plasma tanks thing worked well against the queen, but would she accept an invite to engineering for a cup of Earl Gray? Probably not. Ah, what about the Guardian of forever? Nah too silly. Hang on, wasn't there a big cone shaped alien ship type thing that was found by Kirk and it was nearly invulnerable, and was built to kill the Borg? Perfect! Let's go and get it and come to the rescue again. Hooray!"

The author then slips in some continuity stuff by referring to past events from at least a couple of old TNG novels. Throw in a few untypical crew members to replace data and Riker. Lastly, but definitely not least, there is a rather bizarre cameo by Mr Spock who has prepared a long list of obtuse, unhelpful and annoyingly smug one liners.

This book is a really lazy effort. It was dull; some of the stuff the Borg do is just too farfetched. I only finished the book out of curiosity to see what sort of ending was waiting for me. Answer - a really bad one. Avoid.


Fantastic - one of the best Trek books I have read, 11 Apr 2008
I am suprised at some of the mixed reviews for this book as I genuinely couldn't put it down. This is the follow on to the "OK" Resistance book and my only slight complaint was the cliff hanger ending, which isn't really a negative as this surely means a third book is due. This does however have some truly great moments, my personal favourite is The Borg queen threatening the Q with assimilation, a scene I would love to have seen in a film or TV show. If you are thinking of buying then obviously get Resistance first then read this - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


A Cracking Read, 13 Feb 2008
First things first - we know this is not canon, because its a book not a film or TV show - so we can get over the worries of what happens to who and what. The book is fast paced, well written, gripping, exciting and a page turner. Picard's reactions to events are perfectly scripted as are the other members of the 'old crew'. The guess stars of Lady Q and Spook give the book further depth and interest. As a sequel to Resistance it is excellent. I am enjoying these post Nemesis books immensely.

New moves!, 29 Jan 2008
I felt the above comments were valid but feel they can be seen positively, I mean the Janeway thing - surely the next book they will reverse it and she'll pop up from nowhere!

I felt the shifts were good and for me it was a page turner a good mash of all of our favourites! It is perhaps not too deep but if you want something that will keep you going for a few days and not wanting to put down this is worth it!

Love this book, 18 Jan 2008
This is a interesting read of being Janway, picad, 7 of 9 and the borg if you are like me, who love the borg the this is a book for you

Great book, only problem was the third DS9 story, 02 Aug 2008
I'm not going to spoil this for potential readers but the first story has to be the best only becasue of the plot twists regarding Kirk and Sarek, and shows that maybe humans weren't really that important in forming something like a UFP.

Story two is good as well, showing us how Things could have gone for Voyager if they hadn't had time to ally with the Borg, also gives us a more concrete explenation of WHY 8472 were attacking, and why a species that lives in Fluidic space needs three legs.

Story three, well it was a good read, but too heavilly focuses on Ezri and Bashir, makeing the rest of the cast with the exception of the Botany Bays crew seem two dimensional. Although the choices of who was aboard was a pleasent suprise.

Be wary readers, be wary, 08 Dec 2008
Dillards atempts here are rather low at creating a sequel to death in Winter, released a few years back, dealing with the romulan reaction to the events of Nemesis, also seen in the first Tital novel. Dillards has gone off to the deep end writing her own fantasy story in the Star Trek world. He relies to much on what has gone before too much to establish what is going on with he characters. Also too many love stories here. Ok Beverly and Picard, which is kind of obvious. A Klingon and Vulcan and then a Helmsman after a lost crew man to the Borg, thats going too far. Nice use of the Admiral Janeway at Starfleet but again she relies too much on the Past events. The charcters don't seem right, In their mannerisms and how Beverly just simlpy follows orders of her Lover without putting up a fight, has she mellowed in the last 20 years on the enterprise? She tried to bring in too many characters at once in my opinion and couldn't work them well. Try to pu some more danger in their, I'd loved to have read more pages, a battle with the fleet, butwait we've had that before in films and TV. She needs to go back to the source material and make a few more notes. Always refer back to he episodes if you get stuck Mr Dillard. Although I liked his angle on the Borg fighting for survival, tieing up loose end of their origins which have gone unaswered for some ten years now.


Not great..., 29 Mar 2008
When I first heard about this book I was quite excited at the prospect of the return of the Borg despite their over exposure during Star Trek: Voyager's run and that terrible Enterprise episode.

And therein lies one of the major problems with this book. Despite the writer's efforts to introduce new elements to the Borg mythology the whole piece feels very stale and the quick discard of some of the earlier sub plots is somewhat confusing as I thought they would have some interesting bearing on the story.

J.M. Dillard does her best to keep it interesting and the action flowing and tense but in the end it just feels like a remake of "The Best of Both Worlds" with some of "Star Trek: First Contact" thrown in and it just doesn't feel as exciting as it should do.

Its a shame because the first three or four chapters where very promising.

There are many many other Star Trek novels I would heartily recommend long before this one.

Almost entirely disappointing, 15 Feb 2008
After looking forward to reading this book, I was disappointed by almost every aspect of it. The story has a general interest to it, but it's marred by a fundamental misunderstanding of the established nature of the characters. None of the characters we're used to (Picard, Worf, Crusher, LaForge, even the Borg) have been written in a way that truly reflects their personalities and their behaviour. Picard especially is full of turns of phrases that you would never expect from proper Star Trek writers in a million years. This reflected on the characters original to this book, for me, as I couldn't believe the author was capable at all of portraying apt characterisations (with the possible exception of T'Lana, the counsellor).

Add to this some ignorance about the established facts of Star Trek, such as calling Picard's heart human (not artificial) and wrongly quoting a sequence of events from First Contact that appeared to be very important to the character internally describing them, this made for a book whose writing and continuity were poor. The only saving grace is a reasonably compelling story; although for it to be told, past Star Trek novels, films and television, and what they have told us, had to be battered.

The Borg again ruined!!!, 21 Dec 2007
Ok I bought this from the local bookshop and after reading the back synopsis I was really looking forward to reading the book.

First of all the story deals with a rouge Borg cube that somehow more bigger than anything seen before and somehow are making a new Queen.
The story lacks heart and any real danger, you always kinda feel throughout the book that everything is safe and no-one you like will die.
The new characters are plain cardboard cut-outs and you end up rooting for the Borg to put them out of their bad dialouge scene's.

The good points of the book are Worf's arc and tying nicely up with DS9 episode.

The new Vulcan character is also a good new main character but you have to get over the standard star trek Vulcan character syndrome that seems to have popped-up more recently.

Also Admiral Janeway is almost perfectly written, and the scene she was in were my favourite parts, she is cast as a by the book Admiral and was refreshing to see her bang heads with Picard rather than the sickly exchange from Nemisis.

Overall only by this book if you are an extreme trekkie and don't mind the Borg yet again being reduced to a big baddie that has had it's claws clipped.

Resistance is Futile - Thank Goodness, 02 Nov 2007
One of the better of the recent ST books, as it reads more like a plot for an onscreen adventure. And the Borg are back as pure baddies, which makes a welcome change from all the soppy Voyager nonsense where drones are becoming individuals and communing in cyberspace - for heaven's sake, the Borg are supposed to have been around for thousands of years and they haven't got over the issue of individuality yet? My only criticisms would be Crusher who, in this book, seems more than happy to come up with a method of neutralising the queen, and hence all the drones. This conflicts with the Beverley who argued so vociferously with Picard about introducing a virus into their programming on TV. Same effect, but this time she seems OK with it. Plus the method she finds to do it seems a bit odd squared against the hi-tech nature of the Borg. Other than that though, an enjoyable read.

Destiny's End, 05 Jan 2009
So after dozens of set up novels, spanning the whole Star Trek saga, we come to the end. Or at least the end of the adventures we know, an all consuming trilogy, Destiny taught us about things we never dreamed of really understanding, The origin of the Borg for example.
And yet, when that conclusion is reached, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
Well written, excellent characterisations, fantastic choreographed battle scenes on the intense level i expect from Trek.
Very enjoyable, but seeming shallow at the time. Maybe more could have been made from such an expansive crossover? Some kind of interaction between Picard and Johnathan Archer, Kirk Vs The Collective?
As interesting as the Cealiar were, they came across as old school preachy Trek, you almost wanted them to become... what they eventually became. Thats not a spoiler, its mind blowingly obvious from the first flashback.
Nice third book, cant wait to see whats in store for all the characters after this, although i uspect it'll be a long while before we meet the continuing voyages of the U.S.S Enterprise again as the next TNG novels are set earlier in the timeline.
And why is Dax no longer on DS9? Anyone??? At least TNG novels are churned out at a decent speed, we have to wait years for each DS9 installment.

An excellent opener, 12 Dec 2008
The first installment of what is a superb trilogy. The pacing is good and 4 separate stories a well written. They mysteries are set well and Caeliar are interesting race.
I found Deannas characterisation puzzling, her insistence and drive seem puzzling having her watched character grow over the series.
All in all a good scene setter

a must have !, 18 Oct 2008
i have got a Star Trek Ships of the Line calender for the past 10 years, the pictures & designs are simply fantastic, ok you may have to be either a star trek fan or a sci-fi fan to fully appreciate the images, in either case you will not be disappointed.

One of the Best TNG books , 10 Oct 2008
I've read many of the Star Trek TNG books. I found this one of the better ones. This was because it has Picard behaving like Picard. In this story they have to think their way out of the problem rather than just use brute force or rely on luck. The other things that make this story interesting are the way the author managers to inter-weave the characters' personal story lines into the main plot. Some other Star Trek authors don't know how to handle the personal lives, this author does so we get some interesting insights into Picard's behaviour.
One more thing the author does well is to get you interested in the new crew members that are introduced in this book.
The book starts a little slowly but otherwise this is well worth the read.

A History Lesson, 02 Oct 2008
This is a good book and a must for next gen fans. Its answers some nagging questions from the show and films, however at times it feels like a history lesson. Theres some much backstory and information that the actual action feels secondary and rushed.
However if like me you like a lot of info and answers to questions, you will enjoy. If your an action junkie, I would read something else.

Not so frustrating in hindsight..., 06 Dec 2008
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is set in 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, and I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify this in context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, and accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With that in mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage and diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise and her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), and the knife-edge tension in the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, and how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflected in his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, and I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
All in all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan War in 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, which in truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.

On the Brink of the Romulan War, 26 Sep 2008
The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continue in the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. And in the tradition of that series, a blank spot in the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.

The Koybayashi Maru was first referred to in the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighter in trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.

The Romulans are preparing war against Earth and the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer and his crew, who figure out the deception.

Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alive in Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.

It's good have Trip back, and in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.

And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred to in the original TV series) is here.

Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.


Dulll and rather preposterous, 09 Dec 2008
Oh dear, it's all gone a bit wrong.

Generally anything involving the Borg is worth reading or watching, but this book is the exception. All this book amounts to is another retread of the "Borg flies to earth and try and destroy humanity" storyline.

And guess what? The Enterprise is the only ship than can stop them and only Picard has the ability in the whole of Starfleet to think of an imaginative solution. I can see the good captain in his ready room thinking: "Hmm, the pesky Borg are back and want to destroy the Earth? Gosh, it's almost like that Romulan chap a year ago with his big ship that exploded and killed Data. First time I made the Borg go to sleep - that won't work again. Shooting the plasma tanks thing worked well against the queen, but would she accept an invite to engineering for a cup of Earl Gray? Probably not. Ah, what about the Guardian of forever? Nah too silly. Hang on, wasn't there a big cone shaped alien ship type thing that was found by Kirk and it was nearly invulnerable, and was built to kill the Borg? Perfect! Let's go and get it and come to the rescue again. Hooray!"

The author then slips in some continuity stuff by referring to past events from at least a couple of old TNG novels. Throw in a few untypical crew members to replace data and Riker. Lastly, but definitely not least, there is a rather bizarre cameo by Mr Spock who has prepared a long list of obtuse, unhelpful and annoyingly smug one liners.

This book is a really lazy effort. It was dull; some of the stuff the Borg do is just too farfetched. I only finished the book out of curiosity to see what sort of ending was waiting for me. Answer - a really bad one. Avoid.


Fantastic - one of the best Trek books I have read, 11 Apr 2008
I am suprised at some of the mixed reviews for this book as I genuinely couldn't put it down. This is the follow on to the "OK" Resistance book and my only slight complaint was the cliff hanger ending, which isn't really a negative as this surely means a third book is due. This does however have some truly great moments, my personal favourite is The Borg queen threatening the Q with assimilation, a scene I would love to have seen in a film or TV show. If you are thinking of buying then obviously get Resistance first then read this - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


A Cracking Read, 13 Feb 2008
First things first - we know this is not canon, because its a book not a film or TV show - so we can get over the worries of what happens to who and what. The book is fast paced, well written, gripping, exciting and a page turner. Picard's reactions to events are perfectly scripted as are the other members of the 'old crew'. The guess stars of Lady Q and Spook give the book further depth and interest. As a sequel to Resistance it is excellent. I am enjoying these post Nemesis books immensely.

New moves!, 29 Jan 2008
I felt the above comments were valid but feel they can be seen positively, I mean the Janeway thing - surely the next book they will reverse it and she'll pop up from nowhere!

I felt the shifts were good and for me it was a page turner a good mash of all of our favourites! It is perhaps not too deep but if you want something that will keep you going for a few days and not wanting to put down this is worth it!

Love this book, 18 Jan 2008
This is a interesting read of being Janway, picad, 7 of 9 and the borg if you are like me, who love the borg the this is a book for you

Great book, only problem was the third DS9 story, 02 Aug 2008
I'm not going to spoil this for potential readers but the first story has to be the best only becasue of the plot twists regarding Kirk and Sarek, and shows that maybe humans weren't really that important in forming something like a UFP.

Story two is good as well, showing us how Things could have gone for Voyager if they hadn't had time to ally with the Borg, also gives us a more concrete explenation of WHY 8472 were attacking, and why a species that lives in Fluidic space needs three legs.

Story three, well it was a good read, but too heavilly focuses on Ezri and Bashir, makeing the rest of the cast with the exception of the Botany Bays crew seem two dimensional. Although the choices of who was aboard was a pleasent suprise.

Be wary readers, be wary, 08 Dec 2008
Dillards atempts here are rather low at creating a sequel to death in Winter, released a few years back, dealing with the romulan reaction to the events of Nemesis, also seen in the first Tital novel. Dillards has gone off to the deep end writing her own fantasy story in the Star Trek world. He relies to much on what has gone before too much to establish what is going on with he characters. Also too many love stories here. Ok Beverly and Picard, which is kind of obvious. A Klingon and Vulcan and then a Helmsman after a lost crew man to the Borg, thats going too far. Nice use of the Admiral Janeway at Starfleet but again she relies too much on the Past events. The charcters don't seem right, In their mannerisms and how Beverly just simlpy follows orders of her Lover without putting up a fight, has she mellowed in the last 20 years on the enterprise? She tried to bring in too many characters at once in my opinion and couldn't work them well. Try to pu some more danger in their, I'd loved to have read more pages, a battle with the fleet, butwait we've had that before in films and TV. She needs to go back to the source material and make a few more notes. Always refer back to he episodes if you get stuck Mr Dillard. Although I liked his angle on the Borg fighting for survival, tieing up loose end of their origins which have gone unaswered for some ten years now.


Not great..., 29 Mar 2008
When I first heard about this book I was quite excited at the prospect of the return of the Borg despite their over exposure during Star Trek: Voyager's run and that terrible Enterprise episode.

And therein lies one of the major problems with this book. Despite the writer's efforts to introduce new elements to the Borg mythology the whole piece feels very stale and the quick discard of some of the earlier sub plots is somewhat confusing as I thought they would have some interesting bearing on the story.

J.M. Dillard does her best to keep it interesting and the action flowing and tense but in the end it just feels like a remake of "The Best of Both Worlds" with some of "Star Trek: First Contact" thrown in and it just doesn't feel as exciting as it should do.

Its a shame because the first three or four chapters where very promising.

There are many many other Star Trek novels I would heartily recommend long before this one.

Almost entirely disappointing, 15 Feb 2008
After looking forward to reading this book, I was disappointed by almost every aspect of it. The story has a general interest to it, but it's marred by a fundamental misunderstanding of the established nature of the characters. None of the characters we're used to (Picard, Worf, Crusher, LaForge, even the Borg) have been written in a way that truly reflects their personalities and their behaviour. Picard especially is full of turns of phrases that you would never expect from proper Star Trek writers in a million years. This reflected on the characters original to this book, for me, as I couldn't believe the author was capable at all of portraying apt characterisations (with the possible exception of T'Lana, the counsellor).

Add to this some ignorance about the established facts of Star Trek, such as calling Picard's heart human (not artificial) and wrongly quoting a sequence of events from First Contact that appeared to be very important to the character internally describing them, this made for a book whose writing and continuity were poor. The only saving grace is a reasonably compelling story; although for it to be told, past Star Trek novels, films and television, and what they have told us, had to be battered.

The Borg again ruined!!!, 21 Dec 2007
Ok I bought this from the local bookshop and after reading the back synopsis I was really looking forward to reading the book.

First of all the story deals with a rouge Borg cube that somehow more bigger than anything seen before and somehow are making a new Queen.
The story lacks heart and any real danger, you always kinda feel throughout the book that everything is safe and no-one you like will die.
The new characters are plain cardboard cut-outs and you end up rooting for the Borg to put them out of their bad dialouge scene's.

The good points of the book are Worf's arc and tying nicely up with DS9 episode.

The new Vulcan character is also a good new main character but you have to get over the standard star trek Vulcan character syndrome that seems to have popped-up more recently.

Also Admiral Janeway is almost perfectly written, and the scene she was in were my favourite parts, she is cast as a by the book Admiral and was refreshing to see her bang heads with Picard rather than the sickly exchange from Nemisis.

Overall only by this book if you are an extreme trekkie and don't mind the Borg yet again being reduced to a big baddie that has had it's claws clipped.

Resistance is Futile - Thank Goodness, 02 Nov 2007
One of the better of the recent ST books, as it reads more like a plot for an onscreen adventure. And the Borg are back as pure baddies, which makes a welcome change from all the soppy Voyager nonsense where drones are becoming individuals and communing in cyberspace - for heaven's sake, the Borg are supposed to have been around for thousands of years and they haven't got over the issue of individuality yet? My only criticisms would be Crusher who, in this book, seems more than happy to come up with a method of neutralising the queen, and hence all the drones. This conflicts with the Beverley who argued so vociferously with Picard about introducing a virus into their programming on TV. Same effect, but this time she seems OK with it. Plus the method she finds to do it seems a bit odd squared against the hi-tech nature of the Borg. Other than that though, an enjoyable read.

Good, but can be better, 21 Mar 2007
Overall this book is great as it finally allows us to know the actual locations of the planets seen in the Star Trek series (except for the later seasons of Enterprise), plotted among the "real" stars of the galaxy. The explanation on the quadrants and sectors are top class.

But as a Star Trek fan I feel let down by a few aspects. The choice of large and inconsistent fonts makes this book a little too childish instead of having the more serious look of an atlas or real-life star charts. The facts presented on individual planets and star systems seem sparse and one can read all of them in a day. A whole lot more facts can be included to make this a better reference material.

As for the star charts themselves, they are well researched and neatly presented. The author, of course, has free reign on where to place the planets in the galaxy. While I am very happy that the author had incorporated the fan-invented Vulcan planet names of T'Khut and T'Khasi and the locations of Vulcan at 40 Eridani A, the same cannot be said for another fan favourite, Andor, which is placed at Procyon instead of Epsilon Indi. The Federation charts also concentrate at the area around Earth, and do not cover the faraway Federation worlds at Deneb and Antares.

The sizes of the various empires are also a bit inconsistent. Romulan space is too small while the other smaller races have sizable swaths. I know this is down to the author's personal taste, but the apparent strength of the races seen on televison should be considered.

No Index, 06 Aug 2006
This is more of a guide to have at hand, when you are watching TNG or the other variations of Trek; it is mainly focussed on TNG, DS9, and ENT, but there is a detailed itinerary for the Voyager's route, which marks the most significant planets along the way.

WHAT'S GOOD

The star charts give you a perspective of where things are in the galaxy. It's all very well hearing characters in the Trek show mentioned the names of systems or arrays, but you don't get a perspective of where everything is; so that's where this book comes in handy. For example, when I heard Picard talking about the Argus array, I thought nothing of it, until I saw that it was on the edge of Cardassian territory bordering Federation Far Space; obviously I had images of S 31 using it to spy on the Cardassians, which was fun.

WHAT'S BAD

It can be difficult to find something on the maps when you need to. For example, it took me about half an hour to find the Barradas system on the map, after hearing it mentioned in the TNG episode Gambit. (This is probably my own fault, though). It would have been nice to have an index system, which at least hinted at which sector certain systems fall in. The fold out maps do not seperate from the book easily, and require you to cut them out with a pair of scissors (this means I have to thrown away the first copy and then buy another copy). But, then, I guess not many people would want to put the map sections into a whole map on their bedroom wall.

Just plain great., 04 Sep 2005
This book is another must have for any really serious trekky.
I absoulutely loved this book. It describes all of the planetary classes, shows a number of major star systems in detail, explains the star trek mapping system, and most importantly, it had large page spreads with detailed star charts. They show all of the star systems, named, and their positions in space. It goes on (at least in the edition I have) to include a historical spacial layout and icludes Enterprises first year's course.
Although I found that the details were not exactly consistant with my other trek books, or details from the show, and it also lacks details in non feder