David Mack, a tie-in Treklit author well known for tense drama, sometimes darker but strong portrayals of legacy characters, will be bringing us the tale of Seven’s journey to the Fenris Rangers. Mack’s consistently been nominated for the award for best genre fiction tie-in novels, and has recently won. He seems to be exactly the right author to take on this one.
From his @[email protected] presence on Mastodon:
Rejected by Starfleet Denied by the Federation SEVEN IS A WOMAN WITH NO HOME
Two years after Voyager returns from the Delta Quadrant, ex-Borg Seven of Nine embarks on a long-overdue journey of self-discovery — one that leads her to join the Fenris Rangers … but this choice might herald the end of her friendship with Kathryn Janeway.
COMING FEBRUARY 27, 2024 Available Now for Pre-Order in Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook
Mack’s books are on my autobuy list so I preordered when the book was first announced. I can recommend.
It’s Mack’s first hardcover tie-in Trek novel, but that seems to be a thing now for all new books tied to the ongoing streaming series. Simon and Schuster know who their best, established tie-in authors are and they are matching them well with books for the new shows. There hasn’t been a lemon in the bunch.
I can’t find myself getting any excitement up for the new books like I did for the novelverse stuff. I know some of that was a bit fan-wanky small universe stuff that connected things that didn’t need to be, but I liked how it could blaze its own trail and not have to skip between the new shows as supplementry material.
I’m a Relaunch novelverse fan myself so I understand where you’re coming from.
I grieve the end of the novelverse, especially when I feel it often outshone the serialized writing that the new live action Trek shows have been struggling with. (I do note that some of the shows have been incorporating parallel plot and character evolutions and events to both the novelverse and STO.)
All of the new books, with the exception of the ones continuing to build on Vanguard/Seeker suffer from the requirement that the writers must “put all the toys back where they found them.” That is, they have to slide within canon and, by form, not have any lasting impact on the characters or universe. I think that’s why Mack’s latest Vanguard-related offering ‘Harm’s Way’ was considered by many to be the best new novel of last year.
That said, with Mack, McCormack, Swallow, and Miller writing the Picard-related books, they’ve all been better than I had ever expected them to be. Working off the bible for the show, they have dove deeper and often made what came on screen much more coherent.
All to say, I expect this one to be very strong.