John Jackson Miller is one of my top 5 favorite Star Wars authors, but until now I had never read any of his Star Trek work, not for lack of wanting.
So take that, mix in Spock, as well as Captain Christopher Pike, one of the most interesting bit players in all of Trek-dom, and you have my attention.
But there is still a chance it could falter.
So, gang, it’s time to go to red alert as we dive in and take a look at how this one plays out!
As always, this is your fancy schmancy and super official ***SPOILER ALERT***
While Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew are sent on a year long scientific mission into the Pergamum nebula, war breaks out between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.
Pike, feeling duty bound to help his fellow UFoP members, attempts to head home to join the conflict and is ordered to stay in the nebula.
Following orders, the crew stays and is soon roped unwillingly into a centuries long war between 2 rival factions.
The Enterprise and its crew may just be what’s needed to turn the tide in either favor and bring about the destructive end of this long conflict.
Let’s just get any complaints out of the way now.
I was a bit bugged that we spend so much time away from Pike and The Enterprise crew.
I get it, the conflict and dangerousness of this region has to be explained, but I really wanted to be eased into it a bit more.
It took me a minute to get into a good groove with the whole thing because after arguing with an admiral the crew is split between a planet they are surveying and the ship so fast that I felt a bit off balance.
There’s also a crew of mostly dimwitted pirates that pull a bit of focus early on too.
It’s a very small gripe, but I wanted a bit more on ship action to get to know this group.
My only other complaint would be something I don’t feel can be laid solely at Miller’s feet.
The reason the Admiral tells Pike to stay in the nebula instead of returning to help with the Klingon war essentially boils down to nothing better than “Cause I said so!”.
With the real world reason being that the Enterprise couldn’t have been involved in the conflict due to how the show was playing out.
Miller does the best he can with the hand he was dealt, and he gives us some great verbal jousting to justify it, but it does feel a bit forced to fit the situation.
I can only imagine how much worse it could come off if not for his steady and focused hand.
My final complaint isn’t really a complaint, but more of a funny aside and a double dumbass on me.
This is set before Season 2 of Discovery, and I knew that going in.
So I decided to read this before I watch that and it lead me to a visual problem as I read.
Having not seen a second of Ethan Peck as Spock, or in anything else really, I spent the whole of the book seeing young Spock played by Zachary Quinto.
So I had a hell of kit bashed crew throw into my mind theater.
Majel Barrett as Number 1, Anson Mount as Pike, and Zach Quinto as Spock.
Who wants to try and keep up with that cross-dimensional nonsense?
It did give me a good laugh though.
Now for what I liked, pretty much everything else.
The 2 rival cultures are well motivated, or so we think up until the final turn that I won’t spoil.
The Boundless, a mish mash of kidnapped wayward travelers thrown into battlesuits and forced to fight a war they have no stake in, Vs The Rengru, a seemingly mindless and multiplying race that latches on to enemies and leaves them in a comatose state.
Both factions are incredibly well thought out and thoroughly drawn to the point that until the end you can’t really be sure who is the most at fault of the 2.
Miller does something with The Enterprise that I’ve heard Roddenberry wanted to do in The Original Series but never got around to, which I’m sure you can figure out, that splits the party, so to speak, and sets a great challenge for our heroes.
And that’s something he pulls off perfectly here, he sets up a lot of challenges and makes them an actual difficult task to complete.
These aren’t gods skating through without breaking a sweat, these are actual humans (and other beings) using their brains to overcome obstacles.
As Strange New Worlds is beginning its journey, you may be looking to get a bit more Pike, Spock, and Una (Number 1) to tee that show up, I can’t see how you could find a better story than this.
It feels like pure Trek, top to bottom.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview.
Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.
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As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
