This is an EXCELLENT prequel to TNG, and creatively retcons many things you see on the series that wouldn’t otherwise make sense. It takes you from Picard’s final day aboard the Stargazer right up to his first day on the Enterprise, and it is an INCREDIBLE ride. This book is adding to a list of novels that are starting to convince me that Star Trek novels are better than the TV series or movies. You won’t regret this read.

Really filled in the gap of what Picard did before the Enterprise.

I am an avid star trek fan. TNG is my favorite series. I've read well over a dozen novels, own the series, geek-like knowledge of it and TOS too -- I have NEVER read such a gripping, well-told Star Trek novel! WAY better than ANY of the many others I've read!! For specific reasons: 1. Good characterization true to characters -- We've all read those novels where e.g, Picard is speaking and we just can't imagine him saying the words being put in his mouth. His characterization, and that of Data, Troi, Guinan, etc, is done SO well, you'll never find yourself having to suspend disbelief. I don't know how this author did it! The scene where Data meets Picard actually choked me up it was so believable and lock-step with the true characters. My wife too. 2. Author sticks to the mysteries of the universe as his main plot focus None of the cheap switcheroos where the plot starts out intriguing, then devolved into one of (a) cheap soap opera & romance, (b) story about strategic space battle, or (c) story where all the potential of uncovering some super advanced civilization doesn't get explored because the characters are too tied up doing other boring nonsense. 3. Unbelievably thorough and accurate storytelling across a range of situations, with unusually perceptive insights: How a Vulcan would think and act as a lawyer, accurate theoretical physics, ridiculously thought-out detail about how civilizations would evolve over hundreds of millions of years, how a being with a certain type of power would come to think about the world. IF YOU ONLY EVER READ ONE STAR TREK NOVEL IN YOUR LIFE, THIS MUST BE IT. I write this out of sheer passion for what I've just spent 2 days reading out loud to my wife. It was like watching the very best episodes of the series again! I can't believe how this guy did it ...