Star Trek Prometheus: The Root of All Rage  by Christian Humberg and Bernd Perplies 

Her Grace’s rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Genre: sci-fi

I read it as an: audiobook

Narrator: Alec Newman

Source: my own collection

Length: 08:57:00

Published by: Titan Books (22 Aug 2016)

In this second instalment, the Prometheus is still in the Lembatta Cluster, exploring the strange region of space that is home to the terrorist organization called the Purifying Flame. Something in the region is having a profound effect on the inhabitants there, including the crews of the Prometheus and the Klingon ship Bortas. Local radiation is causing crew members with telepathic abilities to lose their minds, and other crew are feeling hyper-aggressive. The Purifying Flame wants to start a galactic war, which the Federation is trying to prevent and the Klingons seem to desire. 

As with the first book in this trilogy, the second, The Root of All Rage, has some interesting elements to it. I thought it was a little more actiony in terms of Star Trek plotlines. However, it still dragged that plot out too long. There are very obvious analogies to modern-day terrorism that got a bit heavy-handed the longer the book went on. It also still employs a LOT of what feels like very racist language. People are judged based on what they look like and are called red-skin murderers and so forth. It is not in keeping with what Star Trek is about. Including things like that just to allow characters to overcome their prejudices is a lazy way to write and I expect better from Star Trek. 

 

Star Trek Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos by Christian Humberg and Bernd Perplies 

Her Grace’s rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Genre: sci-fi

I read it as an: audiobook

Narrator: Alec Newman

Source: my own collection

Length: 09:59:00

Published by: Titan Books (19 Sept 2016)

In this last instalment, the crews of the Prometheus and Bortas are working to restore peace to the Lembatta region, which was impacted by a radiation that makes everyone violent. While the two crews work together, they are trying to trace a secret weapons facility but find instead that an old being from their past is behind the cycle of violence. Now they have to refocus their efforts to stop it from perpetuating violence throughout the quadrant.

Finally! The last book of this trilogy. I’m so glad it’s over. This whole story really didn’t need three books to be told. It dragged out way too long in places, and I think with better writing and editing, it could have been told in one long book, or perhaps a shorter duology. Honestly, I stopped listening to a lot of this since it was fairly repetitive. 

It got old real quick to have more famous Trek characters making cameos or having a role here at all. It felt like it was an afterthought, adding in things fans love because the rest of the plot was lacking. And as I mentioned in my reviews of the other two books in the trilogy, enough with the weird, racist comments. Constantly describing people solely by their looks – his bright blue skin, his jet black hair, his glowy eyes – got really tiresome. Yes, many being in the Trekverse are described by how they look, but in other authors’ hands, it is merely an observation and doesn’t come across as a character assessment based on those looks. 

I regret using Audible credits and my own cash to get these. I wouldn’t recommend it, and if you must read them, don’t waste your money – just pick it up at the library. 

 

Star Trek TNG: Available Light by Dayton Ward 

Her Grace’s rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Genre: sci-fi

I read it as an: paperback

Source: my own collection

Length: 368 pp

Published by: Gallery Books (9 April 2019)

This novel continues the plot that has taken over most of the TNG relaunch books, and much of the relaunch books across Trek series overall. In the fallout from Ozla’s explosive reporting of Section 31 and the multitude of ways in which the rogue agency has influenced the events of the Federation, the President has ordered a complete dismantling of 31 and the arrests of its operatives. It is a far-reaching system and players include Admirals Ross, Nechayev, and Nakamura, as well as Capt Jean-Luc Picard. Attorney General Philippa Louvois is in charge of leading the investigation into the charges against 31 operatives. Meanwhile, exploring in the Odyssean Pass, the Enterprise crew encounters a massive, ancient spaceship. They are on board trying to discover where it came from when a ship full of basically space pirates comes along and claims the derelict ship as their own. This triggers the ship to come to life in some new and surprising ways, including taking Tryssa Chen and a boarding party from the pirate ship into the lost depths of the massive ship. 

It sounds a lot more interesting than it really was. I was about 75% of the way through this before I felt it started picking up the pace. Overall, it was an unexpected disappointment. I felt like the A Plot was too drawn out and, frankly, done before, and the B Plot was more interesting and should have been the A Plot. I saw one reviewer who commented that it felt like DRGIII had made a guest writing appearance, which isn’t a good thing. As it was, it was really truncated by comparison to what it could have been. Maybe the next book will have more on the 31 trials and so forth. Right now, the Trek books that are winning for me are ones by Una McCormack and the Discovery novels, mostly because Discovery is still new and exciting and hasn’t been done to death yet.