Teaser

The Federation has weathered the storm that was the Borg’s final onslaught, and now there is peace. Yet displacement, hunger, and supply shortages still plague the Alpha Quadrant. And something, in the shadows, is advancing plans of its own . . .

Review

People often point to David Mack’s Destiny trilogy as the books that changed Star Trek. They have good reason to do so. Destiny was the series that folded together all of the storylines and characters, and most people would say it laid the foundations for what was to come next. I disagree slightly on that point. Destiny was an incredible trilogy, but it was more of an ending than a beginning. if the Litverse had ended then and there, there would have been broad agreement that it was a fitting end. It is Keith R. A. DeCandido’s A Singular Destiny (which, confusingly, bears the Destiny banner on the front page) that really put in motion everything that came next. This is, after all, the book that gives us the Typhon Pact.

Despite being wedged between the Destiny trilogy and Typhon Pact series in terms of chronology, A Singular Destiny works pretty well as a standalone. It’s largely concerned with the fallout of a catastrophic invasion, and so we follow a fair few characters as they try to rebuild. There’s President Nan Bacco of the Federation, who in terms of Star Trek canon is possibly the only competent holder of that office. There’s Soren, a teacher of history, who is brought into the political world to broker new treaties. There’s cameos from Chancellor Martok of the Klingon Empire, and a whole bunch of new characters. At the center of it all, however, is Ezri Dax.

Okay, arguably it’s Soren who is the real protagonist, but Dax is the best thing about this book. I still don’t quite understand why the powers that be never commissioned an Aventine series of novels, but it’s a ship I’m always happy to see. Dax and the Aventine play a crucial role in Destiny, Typhon Pact, and Coda series, as well as putting in a string appearance in the TNG novel Takedown, but this might be as close as we get to a starring novel for ship and crew. I love every page of what we get, not least because the crew feels as fleshed out as any we’ve seen on screen or page elsewhere. If only we’d had more time with them.

The other thing about this book that really works for me is the use of found documents. The snippets of in-universe text appear between chapters, and really bring a sense of immersion to the future. Some are news broadcasts, some are personal letters, and one is simply a list of casualties that covers four pages. It’s a stark reminder of the price the Federation has paid for victory, and allows DeCandido to hint at the larger state of affairs without committing to a thousand page monolith with a dozen more characters.

A Singular Destiny is the perfect wrap-up to Mack’s trilogy, and does all the important work of setting up the future of the Litverse. More than that, however, it’s a really enjoyable story in its own right.

Book Stats

• A Litverse Novel
• Published by Pocket Books in 2009
• Space Opera
• 378 pages