Star Trek: Destiny

Hard as it is to believe, it's a helluva good time to be a Trekkie. I mean, sure, there hasn't been an episode of Star Trek on TV since 2005 and Star Trek: Nemesis is regarded by everyone to be the worst Star Trek movie ever -- but there's hope for the future.

As Paramount turns it's focus back onto the original series with the up-coming Star Trek movie (which, in my mind, will make or break the future of the franchise), the fate of the Trek spin-offs rests in the hands of the so-called "TrekLit" department. This group of writers and editors have taken the Star Trek universe and given it a new direction.

The post-finale "relaunches" of Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise continue the adventures of the crews and vessels of said series. The Next Generation line of books have developed stories that work around the movies and have relaunched themselves, post-Nemesis.

Toss in new book-only series like New Frontier, Vanguard, Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and others, and we now have a vast universe that gives the writers a lot of freedom. Not all of them are successful and some of them miss their marks, but for the effort is there and there's always a chance of another writer coming in and cleaning up someone else's mess.

Which brings us to the whole point of this blog post -- a review of the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy, a series that takes the status quo of the 24th centrury and turns it on its head. The books, written by David Mack, were released late last year and are among the most exciting Star Trek books I've read.

The trilogy revolves around two main plotlines. One is the Alpha Quadrant's war with the Borg. The Borg, deciding to no longer try and assimilate the Federation, have decided to simply wipe them out completely. The other revolves around the mysterious presence of the long-lost USS Columbia NX-02 in the Gamma Quadrant -- a mystery that connects to a highly advance species called the Caeliar.

These two plots bring together the Enterprise-E, the Titan (Riker's new ship), and the Aventine, with its new captain, Ezri Dax. As the plots begin to intertwine, we are not only given the full origin of the Borg, but also its final fate. In the end, virtually the entire galaxy is transformed as a result, setting the stage for new Trek books that will further reveal the new status quo.

What I really like about these books is that it does in fact bring about change in the Star Trek universe. In addition, we're given some significant character development of the parts of Picard, Riker, Troi, Worf, Dax, Hernandaz, and a boat-load of other characters. In fact, even though the cast is three basically three starships full, there is plenty of character moments to go around.

We see scores of characters -- Martok, Admiral Paris, Chakotay, Seven of Nine, Tom Paris, and Garek. In addition to this, TrekLit-created characters appear. Federation President Bacco plays a large role. The Excalibur from New Frontier and the daVinci from SCE are name-dropped. Many political powers all play roles in the series, including the Tholians, Gorn, Breen, Ferengi, Romulans, and Cardassians.

That being said, I wish there had been a bit more. Voyager's role is minor, just a chapter or two spent with Chakotay, Seven, and Paris. The end result with the Borg -- while it worked out great -- really could have been seen as being more wide-spread. It doesn't address the Unimatrix Zero Borgs, Hugh, or the Borg Cooperative, all three of which would have helped increase the impact of what had occured.

We also don't even get a glimpse of the Romulans as they battle Borg.

That's not to mention the large amount of "WTF" moments for new readers. While I would recommend this book as something to help non-reading Trekkies get into TrekLit, there are certain elements that are tough to wrap one's head around. Janeway's dead? Picard and Crusher are married and having a baby? Torres left Paris? Dax is a Captain? I can see it being confusing to new readers. Heck, I've read some of the TrekLit books and even I was confused!

There are flaws with the writing too. I'm fairly certain that President Bacco repeats some of her dailogue throughout (side-note: I keep thinking her as some sort of strange combination of the West Wing's President Bartlet and Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet. I don't even know why). Picard's Borg-angst is way too heavy-handed.

But that being said, David Mack is among the best TrekLit writers and so much of this series is well-developed and interesting. Not only does it retain Star Trek's central theme of seeking out new life and new civilizations (in meeting and dealing with the Caeliar), but it also handles the Borg incredibly well. In fact, I dare say that the revelations made in regards to the Borg are a stroke of genius.

If you're a Star Trek fan, craving some 24th centrury lovin', this is where you need to go. If you want more, follow the bread crumbs into the series that crossover here. This series really does boldy go where no one has before.