jdornoff's Full Review: David Mack - Destiny Book 1: Gods of the Night
Background:
Destiny is a series of three books that take place sometime after the Next Generation Book Greater Than The Sum. Plot:
The Borg are back, and this time they have decided that since Humans are not willing to be assimilated along with their defeat at the hands of humans, that humanity and the Federation will be annihilated out of existence. They have already savagely destroyed several worlds but that is only the beginning.
Meanwhile back in the 22nd Century Captain Erika Hernandez and the crew of the Starship Columbia had a virus downloaded by the Romulans to their computers that caused the Columbia to destroy the convoy it was escorting. In its attempt to escape the Columbia lost its Warp Drive causing them to seek the nearest inhabitable planet.
Back in the 24th Century, the Starship Aventine is trying to recover the wreckage of the old Earth starship Columbia in the Gamma Quadrant which the Defiant had discovered several years earlier. With Borg attacks continuing the ship is ordered to leave the Columbia and head back to the Alpha Quadrant but as they are about to leave the Columbia two crew members are mysteriously killed.
Far from home, the crew of the Starship Titan under the command of Captain Will Riker feels helpless as they hear updates of the Borg continuing to destroy Federation Worlds. Just as they are trying to decide if they should head back to Federation space to help the war, they make a discovery that could be a link to the Borg attacks back in Federation space. Riker is also under stress with the news that if Troi carries the child she is pregnant with to term it will probably kill her.
Finally, if that is not enough going on, the Enterprise is busy fighting the Borg incursions when they discover that there might be a link between how the Borg are so easily getting into Federation space without much detection and the Azure Nebula. Is there any hope for the Federation? My Impressions:
When I first started reading this book series I was not excited about it. The previous three books in the Star Trek TNG series had been good, bad, and good, respectively but after three straight novels dealing with the Borg I was ready for something different. However, this first novel in the series hooked and impressed me.
It is often difficult for a writer to keep a story coherent and in tact when trying to piece together so many different elements into one, but David Mack does an excellent job of keeping it all together and making a thoroughly enjoyable story.
While there is only limited character development when comes to crewmembers on the Enterprise (that will come in the second and third novels), Mack does a good job of developing the characters from the Columbia and the Aventine. You also have some personal conflict for Riker and Troi that nicely blends into the development of the story.
For those who like action, there is plenty of it that is interspersed with the development of the unfamiliar characters. The action sequences do not overpower the rest of the story but instead the character development and the action parts compliment each other very well.
While the novel is fairly long at 423 pages (and it is only part 1 of 3), Mack does such a good job of combing the elements of the story that reading is quick and pleasurable. Also, for those that may have lost track of all the new characters between Titan, The Next Generation (Enterprise); and the two unfamiliar ships the Columbia and the Aventine, Mack includes a listing of the main ships and their featured crew members.
There are only a couple of negatives I found with the book and they were very minor. First of all it seems like the author was forced to throw a bone to Voyager. Since this book includes elements from the other three modern television series, they had to throw Voyager in there for good measure. However, the whole segment really offers nothing to the book but it does have closure for one person that was part of the series. It should be noted that two regulars from Voyager are in the book but they have moved on to new roles and they fit in more with the rest of the book.
There is also mention of Captain Calhoun and the ship from the New Frontier book series.
The only other minor negative is that it ends in a cliff hanger but that is to be expected in a three part book series. Final Thoughts:
Gods of Night is one of the best of the Star Trek relaunch books to date. It is fast paced, has good action and character development. The author keeps you glued to the book and leaves you longing for the next book in the series.
In addition, he gives you just enough back stories that you do not have to be a Trekkie to understand what is happening throughout the book.
I highly recommend Gods of Night to Star Trek fans and non-fans alike.
Half a decade after the Dominion War and more than a year after the rise and fall of Praetor Shinzon, the galaxy s greatest scourge returns to wreak h...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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