02.09.09
Star Trek: Destiny by David Mack
When I began reading this trilogy, I considered tackling each volume individually. I discovered, soon enough, that it would be a mistake to see this as anything other than one massive tale. This is more than just the culmination of the recent Next Generation relaunch; this is the culmination of several years worth of novels published in the post-“Nemesis” era.
As many know, I’ve grown tired of the Borg as the stock villain of the modern Trek era. They had become ravaged by internal contradictions of purpose and watered down by the vagaries of convenient depiction. In the wake of a few disappointing efforts to restore them as a threat, notably “Resistance” and “Before Dishonor”, I was disappointed when “Greater Than the Sum” failed to bring the Borg to their final and deserving end.
The Borg were also the subject of the initial attempts at a “Voyager” relaunch. Those books stalled before they had a chance to find their own identity. Instead, the threads that began in those novels were ultimately subsumed or ignored in the Next Generation relaunch.
This trilogy takes all of that into account, adds unexpected connections to the “Deep Space Nine” and “Enterprise” relaunch novels, and brings it all together into one unifying concept. The resulting conflict not only brings about the best depiction of the Borg since their original appearance, but manages to resolve their threat and expose their origins in one fell swoop. More impressive by far is the deft management of those aforementioned contradictions; the nature of the Borg now makes sense, as compared to those muddled depictions of the past.
There have been some complaints about characterization in the novels, but I disagree. What is often forgotten is that the characters have grown and changed since their last on-screen appearance. They’ve evolved. And frankly, this trilogy places them in the worst crucible imaginable, with no expectation of success (except, of course, on the part of the reader). Who wouldn’t seem out of character under that kind of pressure?
And that was another thing I found remarkably about this trilogy. It’s impossible not to recognize this as a major cataclysm for the Trek universe. It reminds me, in a good way, of “Unity”, the novel that culminated a few years worth of books in the “Deep Space Nine” relaunch. Everything since “Nemesis” has been leading to this. The trilogy delivers on that promise.
Rating: 9/10
