By John Jackson Miller

Gallery, out now

Cristobál Rios gains a spaceship – and a debt…

John Jackson Miller has given us some serious novels in the new Star Trek canon – letting us know what the Enterprise crew were up to in the Klingon War, for example – but this is an altogether lighter book. As he explains in his afterword, he was writing it at the height of the pandemic, a time when we all needed something “completely fun” (sentiments also recently expressed by John Scalzi in The Kaiju Preservation Society). And what better place to look for fun than the setting of the classic Trek tale A Piece of the Action?

Miller extrapolates what the society there would be like in the aftermath of the 23rd century encounter with Jim Kirk’s Enterprise, and while the book is predominantly an action comedy, there are some serious moments, particularly with regard to the treatment of anyone not male within the ranks. There’s a little bit of list ticking off, in terms of establishing how he gets La Sirena, and how and why every hologram looks like him (and no, there’s no meta references to COVID – it’s an explanation that teeters towards Douglas Adams territory… you can almost hear Peter Jones’ dry tones talking about drink and emergency programs), but for the most part, the pace of the adventure draws you in.

There are a couple of nice Easter eggs in terms of the Picard TV series, as well as cameos that feel natural rather than forced, and Miller’s engaging style suits Rios’ character. At the end there’s still quite a gap before the events of season 1 and his encounter with Jean-Luc – hopefully Miller will chronicle some more tall tales.

Verdict: Rios play it by The Book? Never – and it makes for a fun read. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk