Star Trek Coda is a three-novel epic conclusion to the
Trek-lit timeline of books that picked up the Starfleet story after 2002’s Star
Trek: Nemesis and has developed it in depth for the past 19 years. With new
24th-century canon being created by Star Trek: Picard and other new Paramount+
Trek series, the Trek-lit series is being retired with an epic three-part
finale: Coda.
With an emphasis on Deep Space Nine characters, James Swallow’s The Ashes of
Tomorrow picks up after Moments Asunder by
Dayton Ward.
Having no longer kept up with Trek-lit
continuity for some time, I did find some of the changes interesting. We
have the return of Benjamin Sisko from the Celestial Temple who is now the
captain of the Galaxy-Class USS Robinson. Garak is no longer plain-and-simple
but is the Castellan of the Cardassian Union. Julian Bashir at one time worked
for Section 31, but his instrumental role in the downfall of that organization
and its clandestine leader, the AI named Control, has left him catatonic. Kira
Nerys is a Vedek called “The Hand of the Prophets” by the Bajoran people. Deep
Space Nine has been destroyed and but has been rebuilt as an entirely Starfleet
space station, commanded by Ro Laren. Nog is XO on a starship, Miles continues
to get promoted, but remains a noncom. There are other changes as well, most
seemly logical and proper. Spock is still alive as well, and Data has resurrected
his daughter Lal and play like Time Lords watching the galaxy flow by.
Like all middle chapters in a trilogy, Swallow must set-up the final pieces for the concluding volume. But as the action continues, the scope of the novel is bit less than its processor. Too much time is spent dealing with Riker and whatever has overtaken him (clearly we’re dealing with some alternate version of him, or once potentially under the influence of…those bug aliens from Conspiracy? I mean, why not?) Still, it seems Starfleet’s inaction is also out of place –but this book and previous one points out how much Trek-lit has really changed the Starfleet. They’ve become stuck in their ways, afraid to do the right thing, to send things through committee. Much like the first book, The Ashes of Tomorrow does start sacrificing legacy characters as the tale progresses. This is fine, in some respect. But we are dealing with time and alternate universes. So in the back of my mind I can’t help but feel the Magical Candy-Like Reset Button –coined by Star Trek writer Bryan Fuller- will rear its ugly head by volume three.
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