legacies-2By David Mack

Pocket Books, out now

A peace conference between the Federation and the Klingon Empire in the wake of the Organian intervention comes under attack…

David Mack picks up the reins from Greg Cox for this middle volume of the Star Trek original series 50th anniversary trilogy, continuing the tales of Una (aka Number One) as she searches for her missing crewmates in an alternate dimension, and the Romulan spy who captured the dimension-shifting Transfer Key from the Enterprise. On top of that, he weaves a tale of diplomatic manoeuvring between Ambassador Sarek and future Chancellor Gorkon which isn’t helped by enemies without and within, all of which takes place on Centaurus – which is where Dr McCoy’s daughter Joanna is studying.

Mack is a pastmaster at juggling multiple threads, giving each sufficient time to grow as they need but never allowing any to overshadow the others. The family relationships between Spock and his father, and McCoy and his daughter allow for a degree of retrospection on Jim Kirk’s part regarding the son whose life he’s not involved in, and Joanna becomes a more rounded character than I’ve felt she’s been on previous appearances. (And there’s a lovely tip of the hat by Mack to the episode that should have been Joanna’s on screen appearance during the dialogue involving her at a critical part of the book.)

There are some strong character moments for all the Enterprise crew, as well as those aboard the Romulan ship who are not overly happy that a member of the Tal Shiar has the control that she has over their mission. Those elements combine with well-described action in a highly dramatic sequence at the climax of the book.

Verdict: There’s still plenty for Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore to resolve in the final part of this celebration, but in this, Mack encapsulates all that has made Star Trek work so well over the past five decades. 9/10

Paul Simpson