I really loved reading this novel. The plot starts right away. Within the first 10 pages our crew is stranded and separated, literally on the surface of a strange new world. Their gadgets don't work. They can't contact the ship. And the ship can't come and get them. That is all standard Star Trek stuff.
But then, the author sets up some really nifty world building. Usually in Star Trek or Star Wars, whenever the characters visit a planet, the entire place is portrayed as having only one type of environment. Hoth is an ice planet all over. Endor is a forest planet all over. Fereginar is a swam planet all over, etc. But here, this planet has different biomes, different areas with different functions. There is a part that resembles the Old West. There is a part in the ice. There is a part in the forest. There is a part in the mountains where the elite rulers live. There are islands. There are seas. There are plains full of volcanoes. And all these parts of the planet get their fair share of activity happening in them, each one pushing the story forward. It was really unexpected and interesting to be able to explore all these areas.
And the characters that our crew meets are so very fully fleshed out. They don't feel like side characters. They are critical to the plot. And they are all sympathetic also. There is no pure villain anywhere in the story (even though two of the characters briefly reach levels of cold-blooded villainy before they calm down). Every one of these characters have carefully thought-out motivations for what they are doing that really makes you feel for their side. Even though you know that eventually Pike and co are going to overcome the problems of the planet and get away, there are consequences that everyone has to wrestle with, and they are not easy to answer. For Pike and co to get back to their lives, they MUST disrupt the lives of a bunch of others, some who want their lives disrupted, but some who feel it is their right to not have their lives disrupted, and it is hard to argue against that.
The pacing is great. The plot is great. All the characters have something important to do. I especially appreciated giving Hemmer some time to shine before he was killed off in the show (this novel takes place before Hemmers death in Season 1, ep 9--a death that was the most totally unnecessary in all of Trek, in my opinion. Hemmer needs a resurrection!). The ending is a little unsatisfying only because everything gets wrapped up a little too quickly when Pike and co reach their final destination on the planet. But I can live with that.
The only real gripe I have about this book is that some of the characters Pike meets at the start of the book are virtually ignored from the half-way point of the book on. These characters collectively called themselves the Menders, and they were such a large part of Pike's story in the first half of the book, and I enjoyed these characters. Sure, they were a little goofy, but they were fun, and the author spent quite a bit of time fleshing some of them out. But once we get to the second half of the book and Pike's team takes to the seas, the Menders are still with Pike, but they really don't get much play anymore in the plot of the story. It was a shame, for I liked them.
But in all other ways, this book was really good. I had a fun time with it. It was a surprisingly rich explanation of the different parts of this strange new world, with a great story for Pike, good scenes for Hemmer, and new characters you care about, motivations that are nuanced, and a resolution with consequences. Good time all around!
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Top reviews from other countries
south walian
Easily one of best star trek series after the original series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2023
Amazon Customer
You really have to know your star trek as book is based on an episode of Enterprise
Reviewed in Australia on August 12, 2023Stephane
Excellente histoire de science fiction et d’intrigue.
Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2023
