This needs to be read before Star Trek: Picard (the new TV series), or at any time after you begin watching it and wonder what happened to Picard that lead him to becoming an Admiral and then leaving Star Fleet.

This is a very well written story covering everything we need to know to more enjoy the series including how Picard met Raffi and their history; when and why Raffi started hitting the booze; Picard's history with Elnor; the Romulan exodus, supernova and Picard's part in it; the synth rebellion on Mars including Bruce Maddox and Agnes' history; and many other things besides.

There are a few glaring omissions in this book: it becomes very clear that the Romulan sun did not go bang naturally, that there was something nefarious going on which was deliberately covered up by the Tal Shiar.   I can only imagine one reason for not exploring this further in this book and that is because it will be dealt with in further seasons of the TV show -- or another Una book?   Whichever it is it certainly has the potential to stir up a huge bowl of gagh for our future Trekkie entertainment cravings.

So yeah, a must for all Trekkies. ( )

Well paced prequel to Star Trek:Picard. Fits neatly into the story as it has been unfolding.
Clearly well matched to the story arc as it has been rolling out, and clearly influenced by our world and current events (climate change denial, immigrant and refugee crisis) - very well done. ( )

An unusual Trek novel. First off, it's a tragedy, explaining the backstory to Picard. Una McCormack also took advantage of the comparative fanciness of Picard to get spicy with her style - it's markedly more literary than your average Trek novel (though that fades towards the end). I liked it and felt it gave lots of good context, despite not actually liking PIC that much.

Starts off strong--Captain WORF!--but gets a bit bogged down with the limitations of not being able to extend too far out of the confines of the TV show continuity. A big 1 for Trek with swearing though :) ( )

This is essentially a story about the logistics of a whole planet migration, and I found it quite boring. ( )