by John Jackson Miller

Gallery, out now

Emperor Georgiou – deposed and in a universe that’s not her own. The perfect addition to the side of Starfleet that stays in the shadows…

I thoroughly enjoyed Miller’s first foray into the Discovery universe, with his novel explaining what happened to the Enterprise crew during the Klingon War, and he’s expanded on another missing part of new Star Trek history with this terrific novel focused around Section 31, the former Emperor, and a couple of guest stars from across Star Trek’s history.

Although it’s set effectively between seasons of Discovery (and alongside part of season 2), there’s certain references in here that only make sense once you’ve seen the whole of the Section 31 storyline, and there’s some intriguing hints regarding Georgiou’s character that bode well for the delayed Season 3. Miller understands not just what makes the Mirror Universe version of Michael Burnham’s captain tick, but also the original – a character long dead by the time of the events of this novel, but who is highly important to it.

There’s another key player who’s been expanded far more in the Star Trek novel canon than on screen, and that’s Dax – Emony Dax on this occasion, whose presence allows for name dropping of Leonard McCoy. (There’s another original series cameo or two in here, but I’ll let you discover those – they’re fun.) Twenty-third century Star Trek’s Federation doesn’t know about the Trills’ nature…

Miller weaves a tale of politics, retribution, revenge and low down sneakiness that grabs you from the start. In a way it’s archetypal Discovery – it takes a period of Star Trek history we thought we knew, and puts a new spin on it (and even indulges in its own version of the end of Season 2 along the way) – but it’s also a very different take on a Mirror Universe tale.

Verdict: Great fun, and the sort of story you can see Michelle Yeoh having great fun with onscreen! 9/10

Paul Simpson

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