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Star Trek: Destiny #3
Lost Souls
The soldiers of Armageddon are on the march, laying waste to worlds in their passage. An audacious plan could stop them forever, but it carries risks that one starship captain is unwilling to take. For Captain Jean-Luc Picard, defending the future has never been so important, or so personal -- and the wrong choice will cost him everything for which he has struggled and suffered.
For Captain William Riker, that choice has already been made. Haunted by the memories of those he was forced to leave behind, he must jeopardize all that he has left in a desperate bid to save the Federation.
For Captain Ezri Dax, whose impetuous youth is balance by the wisdom of many lifetimes, the choice is a simple one: there is no going back -- only forward to whatever future awaits them.
But for those who, millennia ago, had no choice...this is the hour of their final, inescapable destiny.
For Captain William Riker, that choice has already been made. Haunted by the memories of those he was forced to leave behind, he must jeopardize all that he has left in a desperate bid to save the Federation.
For Captain Ezri Dax, whose impetuous youth is balance by the wisdom of many lifetimes, the choice is a simple one: there is no going back -- only forward to whatever future awaits them.
But for those who, millennia ago, had no choice...this is the hour of their final, inescapable destiny.
444 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2008
About the author
David Mack
115 books641 followersDavid Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of 39 novels of science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies.
Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for produced episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), games, and comic books.
Follow him on Twitter @davidalanmack or like his Facebook page.
Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for produced episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), games, and comic books.
Follow him on Twitter @davidalanmack or like his Facebook page.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
March 7, 2016
The destiny of the Federation concludes!
This is the third novel in a “Star Trek” book trilogy named “Destiny”
AND THEN, YOUR HEART JUST STOPPED
Going into battle against great odds can be brave or noble – but going into battle without a plan is worse than futile, it’s wasteful.
A multinational fleet of almost 350 ships was forming a line of defense against the Borg at the Azure Nebula.
But, it was a futile action…
…a Borg armada of almost 7,500 cubes (Yes! You read right!) crossed through a subspace tunnel with such devastating force that the only way to describe it was to be literally a stampede, where the Borg cubes didn’t even bother to shoot their weapons, with only their nightmarish numbers and speed, they massacred the puny fleet, in a matter of seconds.
Immediately, the Borg armada separated in battle groups moving toward each planet in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, mainly against the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the Romulans, but definitely also targeting any other civilization over there…
…And this was the cardiac cliffhanger in the previous book of the trilogy!!!
FEDERATION’S DARKEST HOUR
Why think small? Thinking is free.
Assimilation isn’t Borg’s procedure anymore, the Borg’s ultimate goal is to murder everybody and to destroy everything around the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
The Borg armada is only hours from reaching planets like Deneva and Risa, Qo’noS (the Klingon Homewolrd) is also near of their grasp, they are less than a day from Earth, and barely about a couple of days from reaching the rest of Core Planets in the Federation.
And sure as hell, the Borg Queen is leading the Borg armada!
Starfleet in a desperate movement, it sends the technical specifications of the futuristic Transphasic Torpedoes to the rest of Starfleet vessels and even to the Klingon Defense Force, however…
…each firing shot, while able of destroying Borg cubes, makes to be one closer step for the Borg to find a way to be adapted against that weapon from the future.
The entire combination of civilizations in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants are barely days from complete obliteration.
Blood will make oceans. Planets will be on flames.
Nobody and nothing will be left to remember us.
HEROES’ PATH IS NEVER EASY TO WALK
…if I’ve learned anything, it’s that there are always alternatives to killing.
Captains Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, Ezri Dax and Erika Hernandez are the only ones in a position to find a way to stop the Borg, but…
…only if they would have a plan to make for that!
The USS Enterprise-E, the USS Titan and the USS Aventine are in the Azure Nebula on their own. Starfleet Command doesn’t have any orders to give, no plan, no strategy.
The Borg invasion is just too large, too fast, too overwhelming, for any battle scenario ever conceived by Starfleet Command, and the Klingon Defense Force can only think that today is a good day to die.
The Borg only think in killing every single life form in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, they don’t make truces, they don’t negotiate, they don’t spare civilians, they don’t have mercy,…
…therefore a peaceful solution seems to be a far-fetched attempt.
What are we going to do?
The same thing that we always do. – The impossible.
However, Ezri Dax, William Riker, Jean-Luc Picard and Erika Hernandez are Starfleet Captains. They are an unique breed of people. Risk is their business. Making a difference is why they seat at the Command Chair. Finding the road of peace, in the middle of the darkness of war, is their best destiny.
This is the third novel in a “Star Trek” book trilogy named “Destiny”
AND THEN, YOUR HEART JUST STOPPED
Going into battle against great odds can be brave or noble – but going into battle without a plan is worse than futile, it’s wasteful.
A multinational fleet of almost 350 ships was forming a line of defense against the Borg at the Azure Nebula.
But, it was a futile action…
…a Borg armada of almost 7,500 cubes (Yes! You read right!) crossed through a subspace tunnel with such devastating force that the only way to describe it was to be literally a stampede, where the Borg cubes didn’t even bother to shoot their weapons, with only their nightmarish numbers and speed, they massacred the puny fleet, in a matter of seconds.
Immediately, the Borg armada separated in battle groups moving toward each planet in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, mainly against the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the Romulans, but definitely also targeting any other civilization over there…
…And this was the cardiac cliffhanger in the previous book of the trilogy!!!
FEDERATION’S DARKEST HOUR
Why think small? Thinking is free.
Assimilation isn’t Borg’s procedure anymore, the Borg’s ultimate goal is to murder everybody and to destroy everything around the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
The Borg armada is only hours from reaching planets like Deneva and Risa, Qo’noS (the Klingon Homewolrd) is also near of their grasp, they are less than a day from Earth, and barely about a couple of days from reaching the rest of Core Planets in the Federation.
And sure as hell, the Borg Queen is leading the Borg armada!
Starfleet in a desperate movement, it sends the technical specifications of the futuristic Transphasic Torpedoes to the rest of Starfleet vessels and even to the Klingon Defense Force, however…
…each firing shot, while able of destroying Borg cubes, makes to be one closer step for the Borg to find a way to be adapted against that weapon from the future.
The entire combination of civilizations in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants are barely days from complete obliteration.
Blood will make oceans. Planets will be on flames.
Nobody and nothing will be left to remember us.
HEROES’ PATH IS NEVER EASY TO WALK
…if I’ve learned anything, it’s that there are always alternatives to killing.
Captains Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, Ezri Dax and Erika Hernandez are the only ones in a position to find a way to stop the Borg, but…
…only if they would have a plan to make for that!
The USS Enterprise-E, the USS Titan and the USS Aventine are in the Azure Nebula on their own. Starfleet Command doesn’t have any orders to give, no plan, no strategy.
The Borg invasion is just too large, too fast, too overwhelming, for any battle scenario ever conceived by Starfleet Command, and the Klingon Defense Force can only think that today is a good day to die.
The Borg only think in killing every single life form in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, they don’t make truces, they don’t negotiate, they don’t spare civilians, they don’t have mercy,…
…therefore a peaceful solution seems to be a far-fetched attempt.
What are we going to do?
The same thing that we always do. – The impossible.
However, Ezri Dax, William Riker, Jean-Luc Picard and Erika Hernandez are Starfleet Captains. They are an unique breed of people. Risk is their business. Making a difference is why they seat at the Command Chair. Finding the road of peace, in the middle of the darkness of war, is their best destiny.
January 17, 2022
A fitting ending to the trilogy.
May 10, 2020
Incredible conclusion to an epic, thrilling Trek story with some mind blowing reveals about the true nature and origin of the Borg. With the Federation facing imminent and total annihilation, the crews of the Enterprise, the Aventine and the Titan join forces for a much anticipated showdown against the Borg. Descriptions of the Borg collective consciousness and the experience of being devoured by its malevolence, erasing all traces of individuality and freedom are beyond chilling. This series was fantastic in so many ways, and certainly deserves its status as one of the most popular and enduring Trek stories.
March 11, 2021
Destiny, more than any other story within the vast library of Star Trek fiction, is a huge inflection point in the Trek universe and is pointed to as the moment when everything changed. We all knew that (at the time) canon Trek had moved on and the writers were free to play in the universe as they wished, but the monumental events chronicled in these novels blew everything to this point out of the water. David Mack did not hold back at all when telling this story, and it's to his credit that it works as well as it does. The events of this trilogy defined Star Trek novels for the decade following its publication, a distinction that is very well-earned. Needless to say, Lost Souls and the preceding two novels are must-reads for any fan of Star Trek fiction.
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2020/04/Desti...
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2020/04/Desti...
April 30, 2019
A mediocre read, overly dark, and tarnishing of major Trek characters.
January 10, 2019
*mind blown*
November 14, 2010
Lost Souls is a very satisfying conclusion to the Destiny series. Not only are the Borg taken care of finally and forever but they’re taken care of in a way that cleaves to Roddenberry’s vision of the Federation. As the Federation president says after the end of the incursion:
We also discover the ultimate origins of the Collective. As we learned in ST:IV (the one with the whales), the human propensity for unthinking violence can come back to bite us in the arse in a big way – in this case, the final Borg incursion into Federation space with not one cube but 7,000+ and with the goal of galaxywide genocide not assimilation. Mack has a field day showing up the impotence of the Federation and its allies in the face of Borg technology, destroying some of the most iconic planets of Trek mythology, including Deneva.
A curmudgeon might object that the incursion’s resolution smacks too much of a deus ex machine, and they’d be right, but would you rather the Collective win? Besides, Mack is an excellent storyteller and you don’t mind the god-like intervention when it comes (in fact, you’ve been anticipating it).
There’s nothing envelope-pushing or mind-blowingly unique about this trilogy but as I’ve said about the author before, if you’re not looking for anything too serious that stays true to the characters and ethos of Star Trek (and introduces some interesting new characters), then Mack is the author for you.
Recommended to any Trekkie (or Trekker).
“In keeping with the finest traditions of Starfleet, these three crews accomplished this not through violence, not through some brute force of arms, but with compassion. This war has been brought to an end not by bloodshed but by an act of mercy.
“They took a chance on the better angels of their natures, reached out to a new ally, and transformed the Borg Collective into something benign, perhaps even noble….” (p. 419)
We also discover the ultimate origins of the Collective. As we learned in ST:IV (the one with the whales), the human propensity for unthinking violence can come back to bite us in the arse in a big way – in this case, the final Borg incursion into Federation space with not one cube but 7,000+ and with the goal of galaxywide genocide not assimilation. Mack has a field day showing up the impotence of the Federation and its allies in the face of Borg technology, destroying some of the most iconic planets of Trek mythology, including Deneva.
A curmudgeon might object that the incursion’s resolution smacks too much of a deus ex machine, and they’d be right, but would you rather the Collective win? Besides, Mack is an excellent storyteller and you don’t mind the god-like intervention when it comes (in fact, you’ve been anticipating it).
There’s nothing envelope-pushing or mind-blowingly unique about this trilogy but as I’ve said about the author before, if you’re not looking for anything too serious that stays true to the characters and ethos of Star Trek (and introduces some interesting new characters), then Mack is the author for you.
Recommended to any Trekkie (or Trekker).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2012
Oh golly. No more Borg. Gone forever. Until we decide we want to try to sell books.
Why do I have "Shiny happy people holding hands" running through my head now? Because it turns out all the Borg needed was a big hug? Ugh.
Why do I have "Shiny happy people holding hands" running through my head now? Because it turns out all the Borg needed was a big hug? Ugh.
August 17, 2015
Probably my favourite in the trilogy. Destiny did not disappoint!
April 16, 2024
Summary:
2381: Erika Hernandez adjusts Titan's shields and deflector, opens a subspace tunnel, and takes the Titan in. The Caeliar try to stop them, but Hernandez closes off the tunnel and destroys the Caeliar's machine. They make it out in one piece, but the ship is powerless.
Dr. Ree bites Troi, releasing venom that puts her in suspended animation, halting her hemorrhage. Inyx carts Troi away to save her, and mentions that Titan escaped and left them behind. Vale says Riker will be back with help.
4527 BCE: The the Caeliar city-ship Mantilis crash-lands on an unknown planet. 6 humans survive: MACOs Sgt. Pembleton, Eric Crichlow, Thom Steinhauer, Niccolo Mazzetti; also with them are chief engineer Karl Graylock, and Kiona Thayer, whose foot is a bloody stump. The planet is freezing, so they search for supplies and a camping spot.
12 Caeliar survive in Mantilis. They're forced to jettison their main power supply, and without the quantum field, their catoms quickly begin exhausting their energy supply. Lerxst provides the humans with batteries and cloth, even though the Caeliar don't have enough power for themselves.
There is little food to be found, and the climate keeps getting colder. The humans see the Caeliar watching them and notice that they look sickly.
2381: Picard convinces Dax that they should contact Starfleet Command for orders.
The Klingons destroy 2 cubes with transphasic torpedoes, which Admiral Jellico finally distributed to the KDF. Many Klingon colonies have fallen already, and the Borg are headed for Qo'noS next. Chancellor Martok has marshaled hundreds of ships at their homeworld.
Admiral Akaar tells President Bacco that the Borg have killed 30 billion civilians, and estimates the fall of the Federation in 10 days. He says Enterprise and Aventine survived, she says to tell Picard to do anything to stop the Borg, with impunity.
Admiral Jellico tells Picard that with the Borg only a few hours from Earth, he has no orders to issue. Picard feels himself being pulled toward the Azure Nebula, and says they'll return there to look for survivors. Jellico says that if Earth falls, find safety wherever they can.
Titan's crew is forced to loot the destroyed ships to repair their own. Riker talks to Hernandez, who fills him in on her timeline. He thanks her for her the assist and says he's going to ask for help.
Enterprise receives a hail from Titan, which should be 1000s of light years away. Riker catches Picard up on how they came to be in the Azure Nebula, and says they could use some help. Picard can sense Hernandez aboard Titan, and the word "destiny" echoes in his thoughts.
4527 BCE: 3 of the MACOs track a large animal into a crevasse, but realize quickly that they're the prey. Mazzetti is killed and the others retreat.
As the Caeliar continue to run out of energy, they become non-corporeal and decide to consolidate; 3 of the weakest give up their energy to save the stronger. They decide to propose a symbiotic joining with the humans, whose bioelectric chemistry could power their catoms.
Crichlow is stricken with an unknown illness. The days are only a few hours long, the cold is nearly fatal, and most of their batteries are drained. Lerxst comes to their camp with a proposal.
2381: Inyx says Troi is in critical condition, and asks Ree for a venom sample so he can separate it from her blood.
Hernandez falls asleep while reading a report about the Borg, and dreams of a cube attacking Titan and assimilating her. She screams herself awake when the Borg Queen tells her she is the one they've been waiting for: Logos of Borg.
Riker and Dax meet with Picard to formulate a plan. They decide to ask Hernandez to help.
70% of the Borg and Klingon fleets are destroyed in a skirmish in Klingon space. 60 cubes break off after the battle and 10 of them head towards Qo'noS.
Riker takes Ezri and Picard to meet Hernandez. She recognizes Picard as Locutus and says her catoms allow her to hear the individual voices, and Queen, of the Collective.
The the authentic essence of the Borg, the singular voice that commands the Collective and the Queen, orders them to destroy the Federation.
The Borg attack Deneva, killing Elieth (Tuvok's youngest son) and his wife Ione Kitaine. The Borg are 5 hours out from the core planets, 8 hours from Earth. President Bacco orders the chefs to make their finest meals for their last supper.
4527 BCE: Lerxst makes his proposal to the humans, saying that their joining would boost the human's immune system and speed up recovery; but it could also result in the loss of both of their consciousnesses, turning them into automatons. The humans vote to go south and fend for themselves; Lerxst says they're on an island and can't go far enough south without crossing an ocean.
A few days later, Crichlow succumbs to his illness. The remaining 4 pack up and head south.
The Caeliar continue to deteriorate and consolidate until only Lerxst and Sedin remain. Sedin says when the humans return, they will bond, for the humans' own good.
The humans make it to the southern end of the island, but there are no trees to make a raft. Graylock says they have no choice but to turn back and fuse with the Caeliar; the others agree, except Steinhauer, who disintegrates his head with a phase rifle.
2381: Dax and Hernandez devise a plan to infiltrate a small Borg ship, kill the drones, connect Erika to its vinculum, and let her act as a dissenting Queen voice to make the Borg attack each other. Picard says it's too risky, but Dax says it's their only chance.
Hernandez taps her catoms into Titan's sensors and finds a Borg scout ship that makes an ideal target.
With a few keystrokes, Hernandez reconfigures Aventine's transphasic shielding to be 10 years more advanced. She also thinks she can pilot the ship to make a sneak attack on the Borg scout.
Worf beams aboard Aventine at Picard's behest to try and talk Dax out of her plan, but really he wants to join the attack. She says she's going through with it and denies his request, saying Picard needs his XO. They hug and he returns to the Enterprise.
Hernandez drops Aventine out of slipstream at point blank range and they quickly disable the Borg ship's shields, then active a dampening field. An assault team beams onto the cube; they should outnumber the Borg 4:1, but there are considerably more drones than expected. They deploy dampening fields to shut down all Borg technology, and use ballistic weapons to mow down drones--though not without casualties of their own: sh'Aqabaa and her strike team are hit by friendly fire when Lonnoc Kedair mistakes them for Borg. A squad makes it to the vinculum, and there are so many drones that they run out of ammo; a team of snipers saves them at the last minute.
The away team signals that the probe is clear. Hernandez links to one of the remaining drones and looks through its eyes as it's killed; she's horrified at how scared it is, and wonders if Starfleet truly knows their enemy. She asks Dax for all the classified Borg files.
Troi awakens with Inyx looming over her. He tells her of Titan's escape, then begs her to allow him to save her and her baby.
Torvig leads Ranul through an underground tunnel to the source of Axion's power, an exotic-particle generator. Vig says that if not for the planetary shell, the output is so powerful that it would be the brightest energy source in the galaxy.
Dr. Tarses manages to get sh'Aqabaa stable, but the other doctors don't have the same luck with the rest of her squad.
Hernandez has trouble interfacing with the vinculum. When Dax says they're out of time, Erika suggests removing the feedback buffer, putting herself at risk of attack from the Borg; Dax agrees.
The Borg attack Vulcan, Andor, Coridan, Rigel, and Qo'noS. The Vulcan defense force destroys 2 of the 10 cubes with transphasic torpedoes, but the other 8 adapt, rendering the weapons useless. The Borg plow through the fleet, leaving only a handful of ships intact.
President Bacco refuse to evacuate, saying that if the Federation falls, she doesn't want to live to see it.
On Andor, Charivretha zh'Thane dies sitting peacefully in a park; Thirishar, his bondmates, and their offspring are long gone from the planet.
On Vulcan, T'Lana, on leave from the Enterprise to complete the Kolinahr, is killed by a Borg torpedo. She regrets never getting to apologize to Picard, or telling Worf she desired him.
Hernandez's catoms vibrate with the frequency of the Borg Queen and she speaks to the Collective, telling them to cease fire. She tells the Borg to destroy each other, and they obey. Without the recoil buffer, she feels every death. The Queen puts the drones to sleep, then searches for Hernandez. When she finds Erika on the scout ship, she takes control of the vessel herself.
The remaining Federation ships counter-attack the cubes while they lie dormant; all cubes are destroyed.
Psionic attacks pierce Erika's memories, twisting them into horrors that never happened. The attacks come not just from the Queen, but the entity beyond her, and she can't defend herself. The Aventine crew free her from the vinculum and sedate her before she can warn them that the Queen is there.
Akaar announces that the Borg were routed from the core worlds, but the remaining fleets are on the move again, including the one headed towards Earth.
4527 BCE: The humans trek for 8 days back to the Caeliar city. They call out for Lerxst, but get no reply. They see a ghostly visage that takes control of their minds with a paralyzing shock: Sedin. Graylock screams out that he won't become a cy--borg.
The hunger decides that the female must be preserved to create more drones, so she and the engineer kill the warrior and consume him for sustenance. The hunger tells them to sleep until the cold ends, and modifies their genetics to make them stronger and more resilient.
An indeterminate amount of time later, explorers come across the crashed city-ship and encounter the human/Caeliar drones. They welcome the aliens to planet Arehaz, but don't understand the drones' reply. Suddenly, the aliens attack, skewering them with assimilation tubules. Afterwards, they understand the voice in their heads saying "you will be assimilated."
2381: The Borg scout ship fires on Aventine, knocking out its shields and disabling its dampening field emitter; scattering fields go up, stopping them from beaming back the away teams.
The Borg ship attacks the away teams with fleshy-mechanical tendrils. Kedair says to get Hernandez to a beam-out point, then goes to set the detonator for the transphasic mine. The ship rearranges itself, blocking escape and closing in the walls. Hernandez finds the Queen's royal frequency and stops the attacks. She gets the rest of the team to the beam out point, then goes to save Kedair, who is being crushed and severed, and has had an eye gouged out. Erika sets the detonator, then carries Kedair to the beam-out point, easily fending off attacks along the way. They beam out just as the mine goes off.
Hernandez tells Dax that when the Caeliar homeworld was destroyed, the city-ship Mantilis traveled through one of the subspace tunnels, and was lost in space/time in the Delta Quadrant. Through a botched version of what made Erika what she is, the Columbia crew in Mantilis became the Borg. She thinks that if Caeliar technology made the Borg, maybe they can un-make them as well.
Hernandez and Dax propose a plan to Riker and Picard: lure the Borg back to the Azure Nebule with the Omega Molecule, which they worship as perfection. Hernandez says that's how the Caeliar power their cities, so if she can get the Caeliar to bring Axion here, the Borg won't be able to resist. Picard is vehemently against the plan, and thinks the Caeliar may be sympathetic to the Borg; Erika says she's counting on that, as they can save the Borg. They need Enterprise's subspace transmitter to proceed, and Picard won't agree to it.
Riker talks to Picard privately and says he isn't acting like himself. Picard says the Borg don't deserve to be saved, then blames Will for leaving Deanna behind; eventually he admits that it's the thought of watching his son die that's really affecting him. Riker convinces him that the Caeliar are their best shot at ending the war, and that if he's wrong, they're only hastening the inevitable.
Inyx returns Troi back to the others in perfect health, but then shares news of the Borg's destruction, saying that's why Titan left. He says he's worried about Erika, and they tell him he's in love with her.
Akaar tells Bacco that the Borg are 90 minutes from Earth. She says to have all ships in Sector 001 disperse.
After making the necessary changes, Enterprise generates the soliton pusle and Hernandez connects to the gestalt. She's met with shock and bitterness, and when she asks for their help, they say they won't interfere--until she shares aeons of memories she obtained from the Collective. They realize that the Borg were created by the survivors of Mantilis, yet still Ordemo says the natural order of events must be respected. She says when the Borg assimilate her and learn of the Caeliar, they will come for them next. She tells them to bring Axion to her coordinates and she'll explain everything.
90 seconds out from Earth, all Borg ships reverse course for the Azure Nebula the instant the Queen detects Particle 010.
The Caeliar ask Hernandez to return to Axion, and she agrees on the condition they return Titan's away team, which they do. With 14 hours until the Borg arrive, Picard decides to build a thalaron weapon, in case the Caeliar fail.
As the shuttle returns to Titan, Vale apologizes for almost kissing Will; Troi sensed Will's extreme panic and doesn't blame either of them.
Geordi refuses to obey Picard's orders to build the thalaron weapon, saying there have to be alternatives to mass murder. Picard commands him to do it, but he says he won't dishonor Data's sacrifice. La Forge walks out and heads to the bar.
A while later, Worf finds La Forge at the Riding Club and tells him Picard has rescinded the order. He thanks him for having the honor to stand-up to the captain, which Worf should have done himself.
Riker runs to greet Troi when the shuttle comes aboard. Dr. Ree says the baby and Troi are fully healed, and they can even have more children. Riker apologizes for leaving her, and Troi says she's sorry he was forced to make that choice.
Kedair refuses to return to her post after the friendly-fire incident. Dax tries to be sympathetic, but when that doesn't work, she tells Lonnoc that it wasn't her fault, and she doesn't have time for self-pity with 4,000 Borg cubes on their way.
Erika visits Inyx; he's worried about what will happen to her, and if he'll ever see her again. She kisses him on the forehead and says goodbye.
Hernandez tells everyone she's not sure what's going to happen, but if she succeeds, something new awaits all of them.
A massive energy surge emanates from the Caeliar city as subspace tunnels open all around Axion, drawing the Borg armada there instantly. Erika steps through a portal and appears on the Borg Queen's ship. She gives herself up to the army of drones for assimilation; Borg nanoprobes and Caeliar catoms wage war inside her, causing her excruciating pain.
The Borg armada fires everything it's got on Axion, but the Caeliar only react with curiosity and pity. The gestalt sends forth a surge of strength and comfort, and the Borg's struggle gives way to peace and clarity as the Caeliar take control of the Collective. Deep inside it they find Sedin, reduced to a torment of suffering, forever trying to satiate her energy needs. Inyx comforts her with love, convincing her to let go. Hernandez asks Sedin to free the souls she's captured, and the gestalt dissolves the Collective, though the minds are still bound to one another with a shared awareness. Trillions of drones, their minds freed, experience panic, joy, grief, and rage as one and descend into madness.
Erika and the gestalt struggle to cope with the onslaught of negative of emotions. Axion's generator increases its output, and Hernandez directs the power into every drone.
Picard drops to his knees and collapses against the storm of emotions. Deanna hears a quarter billion voices screaming in her head; Tuvok mind-melds with her to stabilize them both.
Trillions of Borg look to their new Queen with the thought "we are Caeliar." Axion glows white like a supernova, then all the Borg cubes implode into white spheres of energy, with silvery spikes sticking out of them.
Inyx dissolves the last of Sedin's corrupted energy and says "it is finished." Hernandez convinces the Caeliar to let the Borg become part of them, saying that their need for privacy almost caused them to go extinct, meaning the Great Work would never be finished.
Hernandez contacts the Enterprise and says that there are no more Borg, only Caeliar; she too, is Caeliar. Their new mission is to find and protect cultures of peace and nonviolence, then says goodbye for the last time. Axion and the former Borg ships flare even brighter, then disappear.
In Bacco's office, Seven curls into the fetal position and hyperventilates. Bacco comforts her and finds that Seven's Borg implants have disintegrated. She says her name is "Annika."
Martok surveys the devastated remains of the First City, one of the 7 major cities on Qo'noS that has been destroyed. 77 million are dead, and Martok is the only known survivor of the High Council.
Bacco addresses the Federation. She says 63 billion have died, but the Borg threat is over. She thanks the Federation's allies, and says they all need to work together to rebuild and heal. She says Starfleet will be rebuilt, and exploration will continue. She leaves to thunderous applause.
Epilogue: Tuvok and T'Pel travel to Deneva. He is nearly overcome with emotion at the loss of his son.
Worf and Choudhurry go to the former site of her family home and plant a tree in it's ashes.
As Xin and Pazlar watch the Columbia NX-02 being towed into space dock, Melora says she thinks Xin made the holo-presence system for her because he's in love with her. He says he's not one for monogamy, and she says they can discuss terms after their first date.
Kadohata joyfully greets her husband and children at their home on Cestus III.
Dax, Riker, and Troi join Picard and Beverly for dinner before they go off on their separate missions.
Review: 5 stars. This book was fantastic! If you're a fan of TNG, you owe it to yourself to read this trilogy. It's hard to imagine any other Trek books will top this.
2381: Erika Hernandez adjusts Titan's shields and deflector, opens a subspace tunnel, and takes the Titan in. The Caeliar try to stop them, but Hernandez closes off the tunnel and destroys the Caeliar's machine. They make it out in one piece, but the ship is powerless.
Dr. Ree bites Troi, releasing venom that puts her in suspended animation, halting her hemorrhage. Inyx carts Troi away to save her, and mentions that Titan escaped and left them behind. Vale says Riker will be back with help.
4527 BCE: The the Caeliar city-ship Mantilis crash-lands on an unknown planet. 6 humans survive: MACOs Sgt. Pembleton, Eric Crichlow, Thom Steinhauer, Niccolo Mazzetti; also with them are chief engineer Karl Graylock, and Kiona Thayer, whose foot is a bloody stump. The planet is freezing, so they search for supplies and a camping spot.
12 Caeliar survive in Mantilis. They're forced to jettison their main power supply, and without the quantum field, their catoms quickly begin exhausting their energy supply. Lerxst provides the humans with batteries and cloth, even though the Caeliar don't have enough power for themselves.
There is little food to be found, and the climate keeps getting colder. The humans see the Caeliar watching them and notice that they look sickly.
2381: Picard convinces Dax that they should contact Starfleet Command for orders.
The Klingons destroy 2 cubes with transphasic torpedoes, which Admiral Jellico finally distributed to the KDF. Many Klingon colonies have fallen already, and the Borg are headed for Qo'noS next. Chancellor Martok has marshaled hundreds of ships at their homeworld.
Admiral Akaar tells President Bacco that the Borg have killed 30 billion civilians, and estimates the fall of the Federation in 10 days. He says Enterprise and Aventine survived, she says to tell Picard to do anything to stop the Borg, with impunity.
Admiral Jellico tells Picard that with the Borg only a few hours from Earth, he has no orders to issue. Picard feels himself being pulled toward the Azure Nebula, and says they'll return there to look for survivors. Jellico says that if Earth falls, find safety wherever they can.
Titan's crew is forced to loot the destroyed ships to repair their own. Riker talks to Hernandez, who fills him in on her timeline. He thanks her for her the assist and says he's going to ask for help.
Enterprise receives a hail from Titan, which should be 1000s of light years away. Riker catches Picard up on how they came to be in the Azure Nebula, and says they could use some help. Picard can sense Hernandez aboard Titan, and the word "destiny" echoes in his thoughts.
4527 BCE: 3 of the MACOs track a large animal into a crevasse, but realize quickly that they're the prey. Mazzetti is killed and the others retreat.
As the Caeliar continue to run out of energy, they become non-corporeal and decide to consolidate; 3 of the weakest give up their energy to save the stronger. They decide to propose a symbiotic joining with the humans, whose bioelectric chemistry could power their catoms.
Crichlow is stricken with an unknown illness. The days are only a few hours long, the cold is nearly fatal, and most of their batteries are drained. Lerxst comes to their camp with a proposal.
2381: Inyx says Troi is in critical condition, and asks Ree for a venom sample so he can separate it from her blood.
Hernandez falls asleep while reading a report about the Borg, and dreams of a cube attacking Titan and assimilating her. She screams herself awake when the Borg Queen tells her she is the one they've been waiting for: Logos of Borg.
Riker and Dax meet with Picard to formulate a plan. They decide to ask Hernandez to help.
70% of the Borg and Klingon fleets are destroyed in a skirmish in Klingon space. 60 cubes break off after the battle and 10 of them head towards Qo'noS.
Riker takes Ezri and Picard to meet Hernandez. She recognizes Picard as Locutus and says her catoms allow her to hear the individual voices, and Queen, of the Collective.
The the authentic essence of the Borg, the singular voice that commands the Collective and the Queen, orders them to destroy the Federation.
The Borg attack Deneva, killing Elieth (Tuvok's youngest son) and his wife Ione Kitaine. The Borg are 5 hours out from the core planets, 8 hours from Earth. President Bacco orders the chefs to make their finest meals for their last supper.
4527 BCE: Lerxst makes his proposal to the humans, saying that their joining would boost the human's immune system and speed up recovery; but it could also result in the loss of both of their consciousnesses, turning them into automatons. The humans vote to go south and fend for themselves; Lerxst says they're on an island and can't go far enough south without crossing an ocean.
A few days later, Crichlow succumbs to his illness. The remaining 4 pack up and head south.
The Caeliar continue to deteriorate and consolidate until only Lerxst and Sedin remain. Sedin says when the humans return, they will bond, for the humans' own good.
The humans make it to the southern end of the island, but there are no trees to make a raft. Graylock says they have no choice but to turn back and fuse with the Caeliar; the others agree, except Steinhauer, who disintegrates his head with a phase rifle.
2381: Dax and Hernandez devise a plan to infiltrate a small Borg ship, kill the drones, connect Erika to its vinculum, and let her act as a dissenting Queen voice to make the Borg attack each other. Picard says it's too risky, but Dax says it's their only chance.
Hernandez taps her catoms into Titan's sensors and finds a Borg scout ship that makes an ideal target.
With a few keystrokes, Hernandez reconfigures Aventine's transphasic shielding to be 10 years more advanced. She also thinks she can pilot the ship to make a sneak attack on the Borg scout.
Worf beams aboard Aventine at Picard's behest to try and talk Dax out of her plan, but really he wants to join the attack. She says she's going through with it and denies his request, saying Picard needs his XO. They hug and he returns to the Enterprise.
Hernandez drops Aventine out of slipstream at point blank range and they quickly disable the Borg ship's shields, then active a dampening field. An assault team beams onto the cube; they should outnumber the Borg 4:1, but there are considerably more drones than expected. They deploy dampening fields to shut down all Borg technology, and use ballistic weapons to mow down drones--though not without casualties of their own: sh'Aqabaa and her strike team are hit by friendly fire when Lonnoc Kedair mistakes them for Borg. A squad makes it to the vinculum, and there are so many drones that they run out of ammo; a team of snipers saves them at the last minute.
The away team signals that the probe is clear. Hernandez links to one of the remaining drones and looks through its eyes as it's killed; she's horrified at how scared it is, and wonders if Starfleet truly knows their enemy. She asks Dax for all the classified Borg files.
Troi awakens with Inyx looming over her. He tells her of Titan's escape, then begs her to allow him to save her and her baby.
Torvig leads Ranul through an underground tunnel to the source of Axion's power, an exotic-particle generator. Vig says that if not for the planetary shell, the output is so powerful that it would be the brightest energy source in the galaxy.
Dr. Tarses manages to get sh'Aqabaa stable, but the other doctors don't have the same luck with the rest of her squad.
Hernandez has trouble interfacing with the vinculum. When Dax says they're out of time, Erika suggests removing the feedback buffer, putting herself at risk of attack from the Borg; Dax agrees.
The Borg attack Vulcan, Andor, Coridan, Rigel, and Qo'noS. The Vulcan defense force destroys 2 of the 10 cubes with transphasic torpedoes, but the other 8 adapt, rendering the weapons useless. The Borg plow through the fleet, leaving only a handful of ships intact.
President Bacco refuse to evacuate, saying that if the Federation falls, she doesn't want to live to see it.
On Andor, Charivretha zh'Thane dies sitting peacefully in a park; Thirishar, his bondmates, and their offspring are long gone from the planet.
On Vulcan, T'Lana, on leave from the Enterprise to complete the Kolinahr, is killed by a Borg torpedo. She regrets never getting to apologize to Picard, or telling Worf she desired him.
Hernandez's catoms vibrate with the frequency of the Borg Queen and she speaks to the Collective, telling them to cease fire. She tells the Borg to destroy each other, and they obey. Without the recoil buffer, she feels every death. The Queen puts the drones to sleep, then searches for Hernandez. When she finds Erika on the scout ship, she takes control of the vessel herself.
The remaining Federation ships counter-attack the cubes while they lie dormant; all cubes are destroyed.
Psionic attacks pierce Erika's memories, twisting them into horrors that never happened. The attacks come not just from the Queen, but the entity beyond her, and she can't defend herself. The Aventine crew free her from the vinculum and sedate her before she can warn them that the Queen is there.
Akaar announces that the Borg were routed from the core worlds, but the remaining fleets are on the move again, including the one headed towards Earth.
4527 BCE: The humans trek for 8 days back to the Caeliar city. They call out for Lerxst, but get no reply. They see a ghostly visage that takes control of their minds with a paralyzing shock: Sedin. Graylock screams out that he won't become a cy--borg.
The hunger decides that the female must be preserved to create more drones, so she and the engineer kill the warrior and consume him for sustenance. The hunger tells them to sleep until the cold ends, and modifies their genetics to make them stronger and more resilient.
An indeterminate amount of time later, explorers come across the crashed city-ship and encounter the human/Caeliar drones. They welcome the aliens to planet Arehaz, but don't understand the drones' reply. Suddenly, the aliens attack, skewering them with assimilation tubules. Afterwards, they understand the voice in their heads saying "you will be assimilated."
2381: The Borg scout ship fires on Aventine, knocking out its shields and disabling its dampening field emitter; scattering fields go up, stopping them from beaming back the away teams.
The Borg ship attacks the away teams with fleshy-mechanical tendrils. Kedair says to get Hernandez to a beam-out point, then goes to set the detonator for the transphasic mine. The ship rearranges itself, blocking escape and closing in the walls. Hernandez finds the Queen's royal frequency and stops the attacks. She gets the rest of the team to the beam out point, then goes to save Kedair, who is being crushed and severed, and has had an eye gouged out. Erika sets the detonator, then carries Kedair to the beam-out point, easily fending off attacks along the way. They beam out just as the mine goes off.
Hernandez tells Dax that when the Caeliar homeworld was destroyed, the city-ship Mantilis traveled through one of the subspace tunnels, and was lost in space/time in the Delta Quadrant. Through a botched version of what made Erika what she is, the Columbia crew in Mantilis became the Borg. She thinks that if Caeliar technology made the Borg, maybe they can un-make them as well.
Hernandez and Dax propose a plan to Riker and Picard: lure the Borg back to the Azure Nebule with the Omega Molecule, which they worship as perfection. Hernandez says that's how the Caeliar power their cities, so if she can get the Caeliar to bring Axion here, the Borg won't be able to resist. Picard is vehemently against the plan, and thinks the Caeliar may be sympathetic to the Borg; Erika says she's counting on that, as they can save the Borg. They need Enterprise's subspace transmitter to proceed, and Picard won't agree to it.
Riker talks to Picard privately and says he isn't acting like himself. Picard says the Borg don't deserve to be saved, then blames Will for leaving Deanna behind; eventually he admits that it's the thought of watching his son die that's really affecting him. Riker convinces him that the Caeliar are their best shot at ending the war, and that if he's wrong, they're only hastening the inevitable.
Inyx returns Troi back to the others in perfect health, but then shares news of the Borg's destruction, saying that's why Titan left. He says he's worried about Erika, and they tell him he's in love with her.
Akaar tells Bacco that the Borg are 90 minutes from Earth. She says to have all ships in Sector 001 disperse.
After making the necessary changes, Enterprise generates the soliton pusle and Hernandez connects to the gestalt. She's met with shock and bitterness, and when she asks for their help, they say they won't interfere--until she shares aeons of memories she obtained from the Collective. They realize that the Borg were created by the survivors of Mantilis, yet still Ordemo says the natural order of events must be respected. She says when the Borg assimilate her and learn of the Caeliar, they will come for them next. She tells them to bring Axion to her coordinates and she'll explain everything.
90 seconds out from Earth, all Borg ships reverse course for the Azure Nebula the instant the Queen detects Particle 010.
The Caeliar ask Hernandez to return to Axion, and she agrees on the condition they return Titan's away team, which they do. With 14 hours until the Borg arrive, Picard decides to build a thalaron weapon, in case the Caeliar fail.
As the shuttle returns to Titan, Vale apologizes for almost kissing Will; Troi sensed Will's extreme panic and doesn't blame either of them.
Geordi refuses to obey Picard's orders to build the thalaron weapon, saying there have to be alternatives to mass murder. Picard commands him to do it, but he says he won't dishonor Data's sacrifice. La Forge walks out and heads to the bar.
A while later, Worf finds La Forge at the Riding Club and tells him Picard has rescinded the order. He thanks him for having the honor to stand-up to the captain, which Worf should have done himself.
Riker runs to greet Troi when the shuttle comes aboard. Dr. Ree says the baby and Troi are fully healed, and they can even have more children. Riker apologizes for leaving her, and Troi says she's sorry he was forced to make that choice.
Kedair refuses to return to her post after the friendly-fire incident. Dax tries to be sympathetic, but when that doesn't work, she tells Lonnoc that it wasn't her fault, and she doesn't have time for self-pity with 4,000 Borg cubes on their way.
Erika visits Inyx; he's worried about what will happen to her, and if he'll ever see her again. She kisses him on the forehead and says goodbye.
Hernandez tells everyone she's not sure what's going to happen, but if she succeeds, something new awaits all of them.
A massive energy surge emanates from the Caeliar city as subspace tunnels open all around Axion, drawing the Borg armada there instantly. Erika steps through a portal and appears on the Borg Queen's ship. She gives herself up to the army of drones for assimilation; Borg nanoprobes and Caeliar catoms wage war inside her, causing her excruciating pain.
The Borg armada fires everything it's got on Axion, but the Caeliar only react with curiosity and pity. The gestalt sends forth a surge of strength and comfort, and the Borg's struggle gives way to peace and clarity as the Caeliar take control of the Collective. Deep inside it they find Sedin, reduced to a torment of suffering, forever trying to satiate her energy needs. Inyx comforts her with love, convincing her to let go. Hernandez asks Sedin to free the souls she's captured, and the gestalt dissolves the Collective, though the minds are still bound to one another with a shared awareness. Trillions of drones, their minds freed, experience panic, joy, grief, and rage as one and descend into madness.
Erika and the gestalt struggle to cope with the onslaught of negative of emotions. Axion's generator increases its output, and Hernandez directs the power into every drone.
Picard drops to his knees and collapses against the storm of emotions. Deanna hears a quarter billion voices screaming in her head; Tuvok mind-melds with her to stabilize them both.
Trillions of Borg look to their new Queen with the thought "we are Caeliar." Axion glows white like a supernova, then all the Borg cubes implode into white spheres of energy, with silvery spikes sticking out of them.
Inyx dissolves the last of Sedin's corrupted energy and says "it is finished." Hernandez convinces the Caeliar to let the Borg become part of them, saying that their need for privacy almost caused them to go extinct, meaning the Great Work would never be finished.
Hernandez contacts the Enterprise and says that there are no more Borg, only Caeliar; she too, is Caeliar. Their new mission is to find and protect cultures of peace and nonviolence, then says goodbye for the last time. Axion and the former Borg ships flare even brighter, then disappear.
In Bacco's office, Seven curls into the fetal position and hyperventilates. Bacco comforts her and finds that Seven's Borg implants have disintegrated. She says her name is "Annika."
Martok surveys the devastated remains of the First City, one of the 7 major cities on Qo'noS that has been destroyed. 77 million are dead, and Martok is the only known survivor of the High Council.
Bacco addresses the Federation. She says 63 billion have died, but the Borg threat is over. She thanks the Federation's allies, and says they all need to work together to rebuild and heal. She says Starfleet will be rebuilt, and exploration will continue. She leaves to thunderous applause.
Epilogue: Tuvok and T'Pel travel to Deneva. He is nearly overcome with emotion at the loss of his son.
Worf and Choudhurry go to the former site of her family home and plant a tree in it's ashes.
As Xin and Pazlar watch the Columbia NX-02 being towed into space dock, Melora says she thinks Xin made the holo-presence system for her because he's in love with her. He says he's not one for monogamy, and she says they can discuss terms after their first date.
Kadohata joyfully greets her husband and children at their home on Cestus III.
Dax, Riker, and Troi join Picard and Beverly for dinner before they go off on their separate missions.
Review: 5 stars. This book was fantastic! If you're a fan of TNG, you owe it to yourself to read this trilogy. It's hard to imagine any other Trek books will top this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2024
Star Trek: Post-Nemesis era - Lost Souls by David Mack - Third book in the Destiny trilogy
Adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional,
hopeful, inspiring, reflective, sad, and tense.
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5 Stars
This was a GREAT finale for the Destiny trilogy.
There was/is at least one thing that is different from the novels and the latest season of Picard, but I'm okay with it. This was such a great story...that it makes sense...and was perfect for the closure of the trilogy.
I am also happy for how they handled Captain Picard. I didn't like the way David Mack was writing him, but it was on purpose. So, we're all good.
Erika Hernandez's storyline was really well done. Thank you.
Captain Ezri Dax is a really good captain, and I'm glad to see her story (which was cut short on DS9 TV series, by being the last season).
Captain Riker and Troi...was filled with a lot of tension...and it worked so well.
The relationship of Picard and Crusher was well done, too.
The Caeliar were/are a great race of creatures...and I loved how they UPPED their importance, by being themselves in this tale. It puts a lot of the history of our universe into focus. Very interesting.
The tension with the Borg was REAL. This was a powerful story, and I'm glad that this trilogy exists, and that I've read it.
Lastly, the character of President Nanietta Bacco of the Federation of Planets...is by far the best politician I've EVER seen in Star Trek. Bring more of her, and people like her...to future projects, please.
Adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional,
hopeful, inspiring, reflective, sad, and tense.
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5 Stars
This was a GREAT finale for the Destiny trilogy.
There was/is at least one thing that is different from the novels and the latest season of Picard, but I'm okay with it. This was such a great story...that it makes sense...and was perfect for the closure of the trilogy.
I am also happy for how they handled Captain Picard. I didn't like the way David Mack was writing him, but it was on purpose. So, we're all good.
Erika Hernandez's storyline was really well done. Thank you.
Captain Ezri Dax is a really good captain, and I'm glad to see her story (which was cut short on DS9 TV series, by being the last season).
Captain Riker and Troi...was filled with a lot of tension...and it worked so well.
The relationship of Picard and Crusher was well done, too.
The Caeliar were/are a great race of creatures...and I loved how they UPPED their importance, by being themselves in this tale. It puts a lot of the history of our universe into focus. Very interesting.
The tension with the Borg was REAL. This was a powerful story, and I'm glad that this trilogy exists, and that I've read it.
Lastly, the character of President Nanietta Bacco of the Federation of Planets...is by far the best politician I've EVER seen in Star Trek. Bring more of her, and people like her...to future projects, please.
September 13, 2023
The last of the three. While the story ends more than decently, with some very good dialogue and interesting scenes, generally it's just more of the same. The twist was nice, but unfortunately could be seen coming in the previous book already, and it became so obvious in this last installment prior to the reveal, that the actual reveal was mostly ruined.
This time around, I skipped a lot of the filler, and there really is A LOT of filler in this one. The pacing is off and very uneven. Entire fleets get destroyed in about the same amount of time and pages as two random people talk about their feelings.
What I feel is missing the most in all of these three books, is a writing style that engages the reader. I never felt truly engrossed in it, and that made the whole reading experience much worse than it could have been.
Perhaps this is caused, once again, by an author wanting to write a trilogy, when there's only a story to fill one decently sized book with, or two tops if you're stretching it. But I guess three books earn more money than one or two.
All in all this entire trilogy turned out mostly "meh" and my Star Trek reading itch has likely been cured for a long time to come. A 2,5 to 3/5 at best, rounding up.
This time around, I skipped a lot of the filler, and there really is A LOT of filler in this one. The pacing is off and very uneven. Entire fleets get destroyed in about the same amount of time and pages as two random people talk about their feelings.
What I feel is missing the most in all of these three books, is a writing style that engages the reader. I never felt truly engrossed in it, and that made the whole reading experience much worse than it could have been.
Perhaps this is caused, once again, by an author wanting to write a trilogy, when there's only a story to fill one decently sized book with, or two tops if you're stretching it. But I guess three books earn more money than one or two.
All in all this entire trilogy turned out mostly "meh" and my Star Trek reading itch has likely been cured for a long time to come. A 2,5 to 3/5 at best, rounding up.
June 12, 2022
The Destiny trilogy concludes here. The forces of the Federation square off against a massive Borg fleet, and it's going to be ugly. Among the Captain to root for are Jean-Luc Piccard, William Riker, and Ezri Dax. There's a massive fight brewing and things don't look great for Starfleet. Not everyone always get a happy ending.
We also see more history of the Borg than has ever been revealed before, and newer character Captain Erika Hernandez ends up taking a new approach to the menace of the Borg. There are big changes afoot in the Star Trek universe.
This is book three of a series. If you're coming in on this one, you're likely going to be a bit lost, even if you're familiar with Star Trek in general, and these characters in particular. I'd really advise reading the other two first.
We also see more history of the Borg than has ever been revealed before, and newer character Captain Erika Hernandez ends up taking a new approach to the menace of the Borg. There are big changes afoot in the Star Trek universe.
This is book three of a series. If you're coming in on this one, you're likely going to be a bit lost, even if you're familiar with Star Trek in general, and these characters in particular. I'd really advise reading the other two first.
March 28, 2021
A great end to the trilogy which also answers some great questions and does what Star Trek is meant to do, inspire hope.
January 7, 2014
The end of the Federation as we know it. While the three captains, Picard, Dax and Riker try to find a way to save the Federation from the onslaught that 7000 Borg cubes are about to unleash, a fourth story takes us in a different part of the galaxy, some 6000 years ago where we will find the answer to the question "Who are the Borg and how did they come to be?". It is a tale of survival against all odds, but above all else it's a tale of hunger, solitude, frustration, desire, longing to reunite.
The scenes depicting the assault of the Borg probe by the joint security teams of the three starships is incredibly well written. Fast paced, morally challenging and a great recreation of what it means to fight the Borg.
In the end, Captain Erika Hernandez proves instrumental in the transformation of the Borg Collective mind into something completely benign, thus ending decades of war with the Federation and thousands of years of enslavement for all the species in the Galaxy that fell under the Borg boot.
Even if the Federation managed to survive its eleventh hour, losing 60 billion people will surely change it. Meanwhile, the voyages of starship Titan continue. Its mission: to seek out new worlds and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has ever gone before.
This trilogy is an amazing work that I highly recommend to anyone who at least enjoyed the tv series and the movies. Great story, amazing characters, nice twists and many space battles! Do yourself a favour and read these books!
The scenes depicting the assault of the Borg probe by the joint security teams of the three starships is incredibly well written. Fast paced, morally challenging and a great recreation of what it means to fight the Borg.
In the end, Captain Erika Hernandez proves instrumental in the transformation of the Borg Collective mind into something completely benign, thus ending decades of war with the Federation and thousands of years of enslavement for all the species in the Galaxy that fell under the Borg boot.
Even if the Federation managed to survive its eleventh hour, losing 60 billion people will surely change it. Meanwhile, the voyages of starship Titan continue. Its mission: to seek out new worlds and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has ever gone before.
This trilogy is an amazing work that I highly recommend to anyone who at least enjoyed the tv series and the movies. Great story, amazing characters, nice twists and many space battles! Do yourself a favour and read these books!
September 28, 2012
If you don't mind stories that are told in installments, particularly if you LIKE stories that are continued from one book to another without any attempt to make each book independantly readable, then consider this a five-star review; I dock it one star for having no beginning, but rather coming in in the middle of a story.
Even if you like that sort of thing, though, there are caveats to my rating; if you have not been keeping up with all of the various plotlines in the "Next Generation" series, the "Titan" series, the "DS9" series, and the "Voyager" series, even starting with the first book of this series, "Gods of Night", will not allow you to feel that you aren't coming in in the middle of the third act of a five-act play. Worse, some of what is mentioned casually in this series as backstory provides spoilers for what happens in some of those other books. Although this book in particular, and this series in general, are very well-written, I can't recommend them to anyone who either is NOT fully current on all of the above-mentioned Star Trek series, or who doesn't care about having other stories spoiled for them. Further, good as the series is, I'm unconvinced that it's good enough to justify reading all of the neccessary prerequisites if you weren't going to, anyway, just to be ready for this series. There is such a thing as TOO MUCH continuity. I think this series has reached and surpassed that point.
Even if you like that sort of thing, though, there are caveats to my rating; if you have not been keeping up with all of the various plotlines in the "Next Generation" series, the "Titan" series, the "DS9" series, and the "Voyager" series, even starting with the first book of this series, "Gods of Night", will not allow you to feel that you aren't coming in in the middle of the third act of a five-act play. Worse, some of what is mentioned casually in this series as backstory provides spoilers for what happens in some of those other books. Although this book in particular, and this series in general, are very well-written, I can't recommend them to anyone who either is NOT fully current on all of the above-mentioned Star Trek series, or who doesn't care about having other stories spoiled for them. Further, good as the series is, I'm unconvinced that it's good enough to justify reading all of the neccessary prerequisites if you weren't going to, anyway, just to be ready for this series. There is such a thing as TOO MUCH continuity. I think this series has reached and surpassed that point.
July 19, 2010
Destiny has been a great trilogy. Lost Souls is a lot better than the previous book. Maybe it's because there's a lot more action here and it focuses less on the people lost in time. Although the last book did leave with a great cliffhanger of thousands or Borg coming into Klingon, Federation, and Romulan space.
Speaking of which, Lost Souls has to do more with the Borg and their origins than anything else. Now while this might not be canon, it still made for a good story. Part of me wished it was canon. I doubt they'll follow this story as an origin. The origin made a lot of sense and didn't weaken the Borg by any means.
Something I did enjoy was the fact of how each respective world and person dealt with their imminent destruction. I thought that added a lot to the story and made it deeper than it would have been otherwise. Without it, it would have been purely a plot driven book.
The only downside with this book and trilogy, is that what happens to the Borg. I didn't expect that to happen but when you're dealing with a trilogy that has damn near every Borg invade the Alpha Quadrant, there really wasn't any other way they could have gone with it.
I'm more curious to what's going to happen post-this trilogy. There's a lot of things that have to be dealt with because the Alpha Quadrant is pretty much up for grabs.
Speaking of which, Lost Souls has to do more with the Borg and their origins than anything else. Now while this might not be canon, it still made for a good story. Part of me wished it was canon. I doubt they'll follow this story as an origin. The origin made a lot of sense and didn't weaken the Borg by any means.
Something I did enjoy was the fact of how each respective world and person dealt with their imminent destruction. I thought that added a lot to the story and made it deeper than it would have been otherwise. Without it, it would have been purely a plot driven book.
The only downside with this book and trilogy, is that what happens to the Borg. I didn't expect that to happen but when you're dealing with a trilogy that has damn near every Borg invade the Alpha Quadrant, there really wasn't any other way they could have gone with it.
I'm more curious to what's going to happen post-this trilogy. There's a lot of things that have to be dealt with because the Alpha Quadrant is pretty much up for grabs.
February 26, 2015
Wonderful series. I shed a few tears, like the giant baby I am. My only beef is the way the author incorporated Voyager into the book. Tom Paris, Chakotay's FIRST OFFICER? This probably happened in another author's book somewhere down the line, but I literally lol'd at this image. I was not pleased at how easily Voyager was tossed to the back burner of the story, given their extensive history with the Borg. Let's just blow it up and kill everyone, then not touch on it again for the rest of the book. No biggie.
Also it would have been nice to have some closure with Seven. I felt like her emotional breakdown at the end deserved more attention, or at least equal attention to that which was paid to Picard's. I thought bringing original Voyager crew members in and not giving them much attention beyond that was kind of cheap. Luckily the series was engaging otherwise, so I can forgive this little faux pas.
Also it would have been nice to have some closure with Seven. I felt like her emotional breakdown at the end deserved more attention, or at least equal attention to that which was paid to Picard's. I thought bringing original Voyager crew members in and not giving them much attention beyond that was kind of cheap. Luckily the series was engaging otherwise, so I can forgive this little faux pas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2013
Book Three of the Destiny trilogy was heavier than the previous two books, as Our Heroes finally meet the Borg face-to-face and a good deal of the Federation's forces (and worlds) are attacked and destroyed. The origin of the Borg is revealed, and the war will leave everything changed. But while the battles rage, there are some wonderful character developments, some excellent science fiction, and some good Trek.
In other words, the book was everything I'd hoped it would be, and the very complete, very hopeful ending left me crying into my tea. Fantastic.
edited to add: And this rather makes me want to read ALL the Star Trek books I've missed over the past ten years.
In other words, the book was everything I'd hoped it would be, and the very complete, very hopeful ending left me crying into my tea. Fantastic.
edited to add: And this rather makes me want to read ALL the Star Trek books I've missed over the past ten years.
June 17, 2015
GREAT CONCEPT POOR EXECUTION
Yet another wonderful battle with the Borg: Voyager style...yawn. So in one series we find the beginnings of the Borg and the demise of the same said collective in three books. seems a bit rushed to me. Not to mention far fetched. The Borg are taken from extreme pacifism and turned into the power hungry collective by a simple matter of hunger. sorry cant buy it. Even in science fiction there still has to be an element of reality to hold on to. i always saw the begininng of the Collective as a medical experiment or accident gone wrong or as an act of the evolution of medical technologies. This was too long and drawn out to be feasible.
Yet another wonderful battle with the Borg: Voyager style...yawn. So in one series we find the beginnings of the Borg and the demise of the same said collective in three books. seems a bit rushed to me. Not to mention far fetched. The Borg are taken from extreme pacifism and turned into the power hungry collective by a simple matter of hunger. sorry cant buy it. Even in science fiction there still has to be an element of reality to hold on to. i always saw the begininng of the Collective as a medical experiment or accident gone wrong or as an act of the evolution of medical technologies. This was too long and drawn out to be feasible.
January 7, 2017
I try to shy away from Star Trek books, since most are just so poorly written, but I tried my luck and was richly rewarded!
This entire trilogy is just awesome! It's Trek at it's best. Besides the typical trek writing, my other fear was "Oh great, another book about the borg, the Enterprise narrowly escaping and saving the day" but was pleasantly surprised that that wasn't the case (well of course to some degree it was LOL), and along the way, huge things happened that were just awesome.
If you're a sci fi fan, but leery of Trek books, give this series a shot, it's a good read!
This entire trilogy is just awesome! It's Trek at it's best. Besides the typical trek writing, my other fear was "Oh great, another book about the borg, the Enterprise narrowly escaping and saving the day" but was pleasantly surprised that that wasn't the case (well of course to some degree it was LOL), and along the way, huge things happened that were just awesome.
If you're a sci fi fan, but leery of Trek books, give this series a shot, it's a good read!
August 26, 2016
The end of the Destiny trilogy. The Borg is invading the Federation, and nothing can stop them. It is a real page turning read. We find out the Borgs origin story, and it changes how the Borg is viewed. It's difficult to review without spoiling the book. You need to have read the other Destiny books to really enjoy this. A very good read.
February 25, 2011
Enjoyable read, but as indicated in the reviews for the first two books in this trilogy, the ending was absolutely predictable. If was painfully obvious from the beginning that the Borg were descended from the Caeliar and that the Caeliar would be able to bring an end to the Borg menance thereby saving the Federation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2018
Lost Souls blasts off straight after the previous book with Riker, Ezri, Picard and co all confronting the biggest Borg invasion yet with thousands of vessels attacking and invading both the Federation and it allies! :D
From the outset this outset things are incredibly tense and action packed! :D The Borg continue to roll over systems and given their lack of trying to hide themselves everyone knows when their world is due to be hit and come to the Borg's direct attention! :D This keeps up an incredible level of tension throughout for instance where you see Federation President Bacco receiving the reports and having to adjust on the fly after defeats and victories keep coming in! :D On the starships Enterprise, Titan and Aventine a similar battle is being fought with each crew having to adjust to working with each other as they come up with vastly different ideas on how to combat this ongoing threat! :D It in these circumstances much to Picard's chagrin that Ezri seems to take charge and come up with the great plans and often with Riker's support! :D This opens up a clever can of worms as Picard's clear past with the Borg is clearly having an effect on him something we have seen with him in the past but in this case is clearly having a more pronounced effect! :D This put an interesting spin and dynamic on events with Picard almost coming across as the unstable one but Dax and Riker on scene things are kept of an even keel! :D This for example is also exemplified in the where Geordi refuses to build a Thalaron Weapon on Picard's orders! :D Throughout there are character moment coming all over the place and this builds and neatly dovetails throughout all the battles that they crew are put through! :D
The book does not spare the battle scenes either as throughout they come thick and fast! :D This gives the Klingons the opportunity to do there thing and Martok on the IKS Sword of Kahless and Klag on the IKS Gorgon get to there thing! :D Martok's bring me a drink is laugh out loud and neatly counterpoints the heroics and causalities going on around them! :D At the same time the actions of Donatra's Romulans, the Klingons and their other allies really rings home that in spite of the Borg's acts it brining together disparate people's into an alliance that bodes for a very different universe post Borg! :D This actually forms a serious part of the book as Bacco manoeuvrers other states into aiding them with deft policies! :D Her advisory team is also a hoot throughout as well with Admiral Akaar and Wexler, getting to show the Klingons and Romulans Federation gunboat diplomacy! :D They are also advised amongst others by Seven who has neat plot twist throughout that are bound to have an impact later down the line! :D This is also another thing done excellently throughout the book with snippets catching up with other characters such as Morgan Bateson in battle with the USS Atlas! :D Heroics and battle scenes are aplenty! :D This complements nicely with the action and political debates going on throughout! :D President Bacco and Admiral Akaar and former Admiral West's scenes serve as a way to keep an eye on the big picture as well as lend ironically comic asides! :D
The help of the Caeliar with Hernandez really jibes well and the revaluations about the Borg's origins are neatly and deftly handled with the mystery of the piling up! :D The neat set up for the this and the temporal displacements needed to make this happen is brilliantly handled and also gives us an origin date for the Borg (4527 BCE) neatly explains how they spread so far and how they got such a running start over other races! :D Plus as a neat aside explains why they have such a human originated name! :D
The world building in immense amongst all the character and action moments throughout with hints being dropped throughout Lost Souls throughout! :D What the characters, the Federation and is allies go through in the book will not doubt have significant ramifications in future books, games etc and the book does a brilliant job of setting this up as well as conducting the latest Borg crises! :D It also manages to tie everything up with the previous events as well as lighting a fire under our characters! :D
Lost Souls is frenetic from start to finish! :D Full of commentary on sentient beings. Nobility, a study on what the Borg could be driven to, never surrender mentalities, humanity and making the right choices and rousing messages! :D It full of lump in your throat moments, edge of of the seat action, heroics, surprising character conflict and moral choices and action packed throughout! :D Clever, observant, witty and action packed throughout! :D
From the outset this outset things are incredibly tense and action packed! :D The Borg continue to roll over systems and given their lack of trying to hide themselves everyone knows when their world is due to be hit and come to the Borg's direct attention! :D This keeps up an incredible level of tension throughout for instance where you see Federation President Bacco receiving the reports and having to adjust on the fly after defeats and victories keep coming in! :D On the starships Enterprise, Titan and Aventine a similar battle is being fought with each crew having to adjust to working with each other as they come up with vastly different ideas on how to combat this ongoing threat! :D It in these circumstances much to Picard's chagrin that Ezri seems to take charge and come up with the great plans and often with Riker's support! :D This opens up a clever can of worms as Picard's clear past with the Borg is clearly having an effect on him something we have seen with him in the past but in this case is clearly having a more pronounced effect! :D This put an interesting spin and dynamic on events with Picard almost coming across as the unstable one but Dax and Riker on scene things are kept of an even keel! :D This for example is also exemplified in the where Geordi refuses to build a Thalaron Weapon on Picard's orders! :D Throughout there are character moment coming all over the place and this builds and neatly dovetails throughout all the battles that they crew are put through! :D
The book does not spare the battle scenes either as throughout they come thick and fast! :D This gives the Klingons the opportunity to do there thing and Martok on the IKS Sword of Kahless and Klag on the IKS Gorgon get to there thing! :D Martok's bring me a drink is laugh out loud and neatly counterpoints the heroics and causalities going on around them! :D At the same time the actions of Donatra's Romulans, the Klingons and their other allies really rings home that in spite of the Borg's acts it brining together disparate people's into an alliance that bodes for a very different universe post Borg! :D This actually forms a serious part of the book as Bacco manoeuvrers other states into aiding them with deft policies! :D Her advisory team is also a hoot throughout as well with Admiral Akaar and Wexler, getting to show the Klingons and Romulans Federation gunboat diplomacy! :D They are also advised amongst others by Seven who has neat plot twist throughout that are bound to have an impact later down the line! :D This is also another thing done excellently throughout the book with snippets catching up with other characters such as Morgan Bateson in battle with the USS Atlas! :D Heroics and battle scenes are aplenty! :D This complements nicely with the action and political debates going on throughout! :D President Bacco and Admiral Akaar and former Admiral West's scenes serve as a way to keep an eye on the big picture as well as lend ironically comic asides! :D
The help of the Caeliar with Hernandez really jibes well and the revaluations about the Borg's origins are neatly and deftly handled with the mystery of the piling up! :D The neat set up for the this and the temporal displacements needed to make this happen is brilliantly handled and also gives us an origin date for the Borg (4527 BCE) neatly explains how they spread so far and how they got such a running start over other races! :D Plus as a neat aside explains why they have such a human originated name! :D
The world building in immense amongst all the character and action moments throughout with hints being dropped throughout Lost Souls throughout! :D What the characters, the Federation and is allies go through in the book will not doubt have significant ramifications in future books, games etc and the book does a brilliant job of setting this up as well as conducting the latest Borg crises! :D It also manages to tie everything up with the previous events as well as lighting a fire under our characters! :D
Lost Souls is frenetic from start to finish! :D Full of commentary on sentient beings. Nobility, a study on what the Borg could be driven to, never surrender mentalities, humanity and making the right choices and rousing messages! :D It full of lump in your throat moments, edge of of the seat action, heroics, surprising character conflict and moral choices and action packed throughout! :D Clever, observant, witty and action packed throughout! :D
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2019
I wanted to read a book about the origins of the Borg. Well, I guess that's what I got, but I wish I had just read the "Cliff's Notes" on Memory Alpha instead. So often throughout this trilogy did I want to just give up and quit, but a strange sort of fascination kept me going: how many times would I read the terms "piping-hot" (twice within the space of a couple of paragraphs!) or "rebuked" or "cut and run"? Many, many times, among many other repeated terms. Even worse was the "attractive Eurasian facial features" or some variety of it, especially in this, the 3rd book. We get it, she's of a mixed European and Asian background, and she's attractive. We don't need to hear it every time there's a mention of her!
Also, as I said while reading Mere Mortals, I am seriously tired of the "endless series of new names and characters introduced, with random details that make me wonder if I should care about them or not (the answer is usually “no”)." I don't want to read another book like that. We don't need to know the name and background of every single person who does something! They can be "red-shirts" just like on TV; have them do their thing and/or get killed, and be done with it. It's very distracting to see all those names come up.
Wow, I haven't written this long of a review in a long time, if ever! I guess I am just too disappointed and frustrated by the whole series. I may or may not read other Star Trek books in the future; if I do, though, I'll bail early if I get annoyed by it. Full disclosure: I started reading Before Dishonor, a book about Voyager and Seven of Nine, about a month ago, because of good reviews, but I ended up bailing on it after 10 or so pages. I just couldn't stomach how Janeway felt so different from her tv character. So, that's one more Star Trek book that I couldn't handle. I guess they're not made for me, or me for them!
Also, as I said while reading Mere Mortals, I am seriously tired of the "endless series of new names and characters introduced, with random details that make me wonder if I should care about them or not (the answer is usually “no”)." I don't want to read another book like that. We don't need to know the name and background of every single person who does something! They can be "red-shirts" just like on TV; have them do their thing and/or get killed, and be done with it. It's very distracting to see all those names come up.
Wow, I haven't written this long of a review in a long time, if ever! I guess I am just too disappointed and frustrated by the whole series. I may or may not read other Star Trek books in the future; if I do, though, I'll bail early if I get annoyed by it. Full disclosure: I started reading Before Dishonor, a book about Voyager and Seven of Nine, about a month ago, because of good reviews, but I ended up bailing on it after 10 or so pages. I just couldn't stomach how Janeway felt so different from her tv character. So, that's one more Star Trek book that I couldn't handle. I guess they're not made for me, or me for them!
March 18, 2023
A satisfying conclusion to the Borg story and to this specific trilogy here. The trilogy tells the story, somewhat indirectly, of the Borg's origins and ultimate fate.
I believe there's really only one thing I wanted to note, beyond that "satisfying" part: from what happened in this trilogy, I developed the feeling the author loathed Voyager.
The story pulls in people and ships from DS9, TNG, and Voyager. And three specific ships lead the action, with a fourth being very important to the storyline but not active (Columbia): Enterprise, lead by Captain Jean-Luc Picard Picard (TNG) with first officer Commander Worf (TNG/DS9), Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher-Picard (TNG) (more of a bystander than anything else throughout the three books, oh, she does stuff, important stuff, but barely has any lines, so to speak), with appearanes by Commander Geordi La Forge (TNG); Aventine (sp?), lead by Captain Ezri Dax (DS9), and no one else from the various TV series; and the Titan, captained by Captain William T. Riker (TNG), Commander Tuvok (Voyager), and Commander Deanna Troi (TNG).
Other Voyager people seen, barely: Captain Chakoty, commanding Voyager, Paris, on Voyager, and Seven of Nine - on the Federation presidents advisory crew about the Borg.
This is kind of why I had the idea the author loathed Voyager. It was right there, the ship. It could have easily been four ships fighting the big fight but the ship, Voyager, was just left there, floating, not destroyed but under repairs . . . and then the author forgot it was there? I guess? And the crewmembers from the Voyager show (including Tuvok & 7 of 9), no matter where they actually were stationed during the story, were ineffectual and laughable. Of no importance what-so-ever other than to be seen as, basically cameos, as basically "see, this also includes Voyager people!". On the other hand, DS9 had only two people involved in the storyline, both super important with many lines, but one counts as being also on TNG (Worf), and the other was a last minute addition to DS9 (Erzi, sure, Dax was there from the beginning, but not Erzi - heh, that looks insane, eh? Well, Dax is a symbotic species, and the worm, Dax, was there from the beginning, just in a different body than Erzi). If anything, this is more of a TNG book than anything else. But, still, the author seems to loath Voyager.
(side note: cameo mention, just mention, of characters author was involved with in that Corps of Engineers series)
Rating: 4.98
March 17 2023
I believe there's really only one thing I wanted to note, beyond that "satisfying" part: from what happened in this trilogy, I developed the feeling the author loathed Voyager.
The story pulls in people and ships from DS9, TNG, and Voyager. And three specific ships lead the action, with a fourth being very important to the storyline but not active (Columbia): Enterprise, lead by Captain Jean-Luc Picard Picard (TNG) with first officer Commander Worf (TNG/DS9), Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher-Picard (TNG) (more of a bystander than anything else throughout the three books, oh, she does stuff, important stuff, but barely has any lines, so to speak), with appearanes by Commander Geordi La Forge (TNG); Aventine (sp?), lead by Captain Ezri Dax (DS9), and no one else from the various TV series; and the Titan, captained by Captain William T. Riker (TNG), Commander Tuvok (Voyager), and Commander Deanna Troi (TNG).
Other Voyager people seen, barely: Captain Chakoty, commanding Voyager, Paris, on Voyager, and Seven of Nine - on the Federation presidents advisory crew about the Borg.
This is kind of why I had the idea the author loathed Voyager. It was right there, the ship. It could have easily been four ships fighting the big fight but the ship, Voyager, was just left there, floating, not destroyed but under repairs . . . and then the author forgot it was there? I guess? And the crewmembers from the Voyager show (including Tuvok & 7 of 9), no matter where they actually were stationed during the story, were ineffectual and laughable. Of no importance what-so-ever other than to be seen as, basically cameos, as basically "see, this also includes Voyager people!". On the other hand, DS9 had only two people involved in the storyline, both super important with many lines, but one counts as being also on TNG (Worf), and the other was a last minute addition to DS9 (Erzi, sure, Dax was there from the beginning, but not Erzi - heh, that looks insane, eh? Well, Dax is a symbotic species, and the worm, Dax, was there from the beginning, just in a different body than Erzi). If anything, this is more of a TNG book than anything else. But, still, the author seems to loath Voyager.
(side note: cameo mention, just mention, of characters author was involved with in that Corps of Engineers series)
Rating: 4.98
March 17 2023
Read
December 11, 2022This book was my favorite in the trilogy. It had some of the same problems the first two books had for me, especially in the first half of this novel.
This book, and the whole Destiny trilogy, really focuses in on the, "US Military in Space," aspects of Star Trek. Those elements are my least favorite things about Star Trek.
And also, the three book pregnancy narrative centering around Dianna was just kind of obtuse. I didn't like it and it felt to me at times like anti abortion propaganda.
I also found it a little goofy at the end of the novel, when Picard declares he believes in a higher power.
I guess that makes sense. The trilogy is called Destiny. Given how the plot develops and resolves, it doesn't not make sense. That's fine. Maybe it's just that coupled with what felt to me like anti abortion propaganda and a lot of hyper masculine tones throughout this trilogy it just didn't quite do it for me.
Regardless. About halfway through this novel get's really good. And the last half is really good. It's paced nice and slow but also fairly aggressive, too. All three novels end up working together really well.
And I'm really glad I read all of them. They end up being quite a good narrative, all together.
I guess I do wish there was more Voyager and DS9 characters throughout this trilogy. A lot of people were missing which is unfortunate. But one has to limit scope with hard and set limits sometimes. And it's also entirely possible I missed books where definitive events write some of these characters out of this timeline.
All in all - I still prefer the Picard timeline. I like the way Jean Luc is developed in the lead up novels to Season 1 of Picard and his character throughout seasons 1 and 2. I also prefer the way Seven of Nine is developed in that timeline as well.
However.
This timeline is also very good. And filled with so many rich stories and rich possibilities for stories.
This book, and the whole Destiny trilogy, really focuses in on the, "US Military in Space," aspects of Star Trek. Those elements are my least favorite things about Star Trek.
And also, the three book pregnancy narrative centering around Dianna was just kind of obtuse. I didn't like it and it felt to me at times like anti abortion propaganda.
I also found it a little goofy at the end of the novel, when Picard declares he believes in a higher power.
I guess that makes sense. The trilogy is called Destiny. Given how the plot develops and resolves, it doesn't not make sense. That's fine. Maybe it's just that coupled with what felt to me like anti abortion propaganda and a lot of hyper masculine tones throughout this trilogy it just didn't quite do it for me.
Regardless. About halfway through this novel get's really good. And the last half is really good. It's paced nice and slow but also fairly aggressive, too. All three novels end up working together really well.
And I'm really glad I read all of them. They end up being quite a good narrative, all together.
I guess I do wish there was more Voyager and DS9 characters throughout this trilogy. A lot of people were missing which is unfortunate. But one has to limit scope with hard and set limits sometimes. And it's also entirely possible I missed books where definitive events write some of these characters out of this timeline.
All in all - I still prefer the Picard timeline. I like the way Jean Luc is developed in the lead up novels to Season 1 of Picard and his character throughout seasons 1 and 2. I also prefer the way Seven of Nine is developed in that timeline as well.
However.
This timeline is also very good. And filled with so many rich stories and rich possibilities for stories.
December 20, 2018
Star Trek Destiny #3: Lost Souls by David Mack concludes the trilogy that began with Gods of Night and continued with Mere Mortals. If you've been following along with my reviews over the last several days you'll recall that I wasn't completely blown away by the last two books and a lot was riding on the final installment. *drumroll* My faith was justified and I was not disappointed! While it did take me ages to read, I definitely enjoyed this one the most. My suspicions about the Borg were confirmed (don't worry no spoilers here!) and all of the loose ends were neatly tied up. (As in any good Star Trek episode!) It's pretty much impossible for me to go into any details about the plot of this book without completely giving away everything from the first two so if you haven't read them read no further. Essentially, Erika Hernandez has essentially joined the crew of the Aventine and the Federation is in a much better position to counteract the Borg attacks since the Caeliar's powers have adapted her to telepathically link to the hive mind and impersonate the Borg Queen. O_O Things get super serious super quick and the puzzle pieces really start to fall into place about the Borg origin. It has it all: tearful farewells, emotional death scenes, close calls, and happy reunions. I personally think this would have worked better with two books instead of the three but if wishes were horses I would definitely never have gone horseback riding. 9/10 for Lost Souls.
PS Picard finally starts to resemble himself and I like him again.
PPS I still haven't watched Nemesis but I know a key plot point and I am not happy.
PS Picard finally starts to resemble himself and I like him again.
PPS I still haven't watched Nemesis but I know a key plot point and I am not happy.
August 13, 2021
Now that I’ve finished the third book in this trilogy, I’m going to review the story as a whole and append this to the end of my semi-reviews of the first two books.
…which leads me to my only real gripe with the Destiny trilogy, which is that while I understand that they are part of a longer story arc, they do not have self-contained arcs with a beginning, middle, and end. I realize this might feel like a bizarre nitpicking criticism to get hung up on, but when I read three books, I want to feel like I’ve read three books, not a single long book.
That being said, however, the story is fucking phenomenal. This was my first experience with the Star Trek novels, and it’s everything I wanted: sci-fi-scale problems, interesting new alien races, crossover between lots of series, and the return of a lot of fan-favorite characters. I loved hearing what Simon Tarses has been up to since The Drumhead, and I loved getting to spend so much time with Ezri Dax.
Some of the middle section with the Caeliar dragged a bit in the moment, but I realized later why it was necessary.
David Mack did a great job with the macro and micro scale stuff, taking breaks from the larger action to “zoom in” on the individuals in the thick of that action.
I’m not sure if I’d necessarily recommend Destiny as anyone’s first Trek novel, though, because I am worried about how I will return to smaller-scale stories after this huge epic one. But maybe if you’re only planning to ever read a single Trek novel, this (meaning the entire Destiny trilogy, which I would argue is just a single long novel) might be my pick.
…which leads me to my only real gripe with the Destiny trilogy, which is that while I understand that they are part of a longer story arc, they do not have self-contained arcs with a beginning, middle, and end. I realize this might feel like a bizarre nitpicking criticism to get hung up on, but when I read three books, I want to feel like I’ve read three books, not a single long book.
That being said, however, the story is fucking phenomenal. This was my first experience with the Star Trek novels, and it’s everything I wanted: sci-fi-scale problems, interesting new alien races, crossover between lots of series, and the return of a lot of fan-favorite characters. I loved hearing what Simon Tarses has been up to since The Drumhead, and I loved getting to spend so much time with Ezri Dax.
Some of the middle section with the Caeliar dragged a bit in the moment, but I realized later why it was necessary.
David Mack did a great job with the macro and micro scale stuff, taking breaks from the larger action to “zoom in” on the individuals in the thick of that action.
I’m not sure if I’d necessarily recommend Destiny as anyone’s first Trek novel, though, because I am worried about how I will return to smaller-scale stories after this huge epic one. But maybe if you’re only planning to ever read a single Trek novel, this (meaning the entire Destiny trilogy, which I would argue is just a single long novel) might be my pick.
August 12, 2017
The amazing conclusion to this excellent trilogy was, by far, the best Star Trek novel I've ever read, and among the best sci-fi I've ever read. The seemingly disparate storylines that went on throughout the trilogy were weaved together for a truly fascinating conclusion. We learn the origin of the Borg and the nature of the Queen, at least in the Litverse. I think that this is a much better story than anything screenwriters could come up with. I was glued to this book the entire time I read it, and had a hard time putting it down.
My only gripe is that the climax seems quite unlikely, and is too ethereal. Up until that point, it had been pretty fast-paced and filled with some amazing action sequences. I really can't describe it without spoilers, but suffice it to say that the Borg get within minutes of a knockout blow and then abandon it immediately. To take out the Borg, someone has to get inside their mind. That's fine, but it's hard to write in a way that's exciting.
Putting aside those shortcomings, every Trek fan with even a remote interest in the Litverse needs to read this trilogy, and this book in particular. As I said, it's easily the best Trek literature I've ever read. Up until now, I thought the post-Nemesis novels were pretty much doomed to mediocrity, but this renewed my zeal to continue seeing where the Pocket Books authors took the franchise. Of course, the downside is that I doubt many other books will equal or top this trilogy, but nevertheless, my interest is renewed.
Bravo Mr. Mack!
My only gripe is that the climax seems quite unlikely, and is too ethereal. Up until that point, it had been pretty fast-paced and filled with some amazing action sequences. I really can't describe it without spoilers, but suffice it to say that the Borg get within minutes of a knockout blow and then abandon it immediately. To take out the Borg, someone has to get inside their mind. That's fine, but it's hard to write in a way that's exciting.
Putting aside those shortcomings, every Trek fan with even a remote interest in the Litverse needs to read this trilogy, and this book in particular. As I said, it's easily the best Trek literature I've ever read. Up until now, I thought the post-Nemesis novels were pretty much doomed to mediocrity, but this renewed my zeal to continue seeing where the Pocket Books authors took the franchise. Of course, the downside is that I doubt many other books will equal or top this trilogy, but nevertheless, my interest is renewed.
Bravo Mr. Mack!
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