Mind Over Matter: Dream on Data

"Data...sometimes a cake is just a cake..." 

Season seven's Phantasms is among my favourite The Next Generation episodes ever. I spent a whole weekend in my teens transcribing the script from VHS volume 79 and typing it up. In some respects it makes Schisms look like a trip out to the seaside for utter weirdness yet it has me enthralled thanks to its unique plot and imagery. Then real shame is that the basis for the story is only explored in two episodes of The Next Generation and tragically never gets any more airtime due to the demise of Data in Nemesis. 

I guess it was one if those things that really would need it's own episode to talk about and I guess coming up with plots surrounding a dream programme aren't the easiest of things to come up with. This breakthrough in Data's programming was unleashed about half a season earlier in Birthright, Part I which I now think is a great little story. While the plot around the activation of the dream programme is only explored in the first part, it's one of the strongest indicators that Data is capable of becoming so much more and gets to keep an improvement for once rather than having it bestowed as a thank you or stolen from him. 

Now, Phantasms. I would absolutely love to wax lyrical over this one... Oh go on then, I will. Twenty years since it first aired (Really?! That long?) it's one of those classic The Next Generation moments for me. As an immediate successor to Birthright, Part I,  it does the story of Data's dreams the justice they were ill-afforded and ignored by the concluding part of the sixth season instalment. Brandon Braga is of course the man behind the script while Patrick Stewart held the directorial reins for the episode. This could easily have mutated into a schmaltzy "Data-learns" story as he comes to terms with his dreams and what they mean it goes as opposite in direction as possible. 

While saving the ship from some slug-like hitchhikers, we gain a troubling entrance into Data's psyche. Perhaps placing it against the recent emotions he experienced due to Lore in Decent would be as justified as relating it back to the more understandable visions that were realised in Birthright. There it was about Soong as creator, forging Data using his own hands and then letting him loose to explore and evolve. It was evidence that Data could make significant jumps in his understanding and abilities but there is a far more poignant moment in the sequel of Phantasms. When I rewatched it I still got the tingle of amazement that this line made it into the final version. When Data awakes from his second dream sequence he speaks to Geordi in engineering and starts to say that when he woke up he..... And never finishes the sentence. 

Is it that eventually the emotion chip he finally receives in Generations (and conveniently turned on and off for First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis) would not have been required? Was Soong's surprise in his appearance to Data in Birthright to do not only with the fact that his ultimate creation had managed to access such a deeply ingrained programme that he knew it could lead to self-development of emotions without external assistance? For me it's one of the most jaw-dropping cast off lines of the entire series, even more "argh" inducing than the Picard/Crusher romance that never quite happened. Had we explored the dreams of the android some more would this have been an eventual outcome?

The benefit of hindsight, hmm? I actually think we'd never get an answer to that unfinished question and it's important to remain on target here. Phantasms perhaps highlights how far Data has come since the beginning of The Next Generation while perhaps showing that he still has a great distance still to complete. His dreams bleed into reality and while it eventually becomes clear that there is a purpose to his "waking dream state" which reveals the existence of the creatures feeding on cellular peptides, it genuinely emotes some of the most chilling sensations I've ever felt within an episode of the series, specifically the sequence with Troi in the turbolift which was originally trimmed by the BBC when they first aired the episode. While Data is able to dream and thus be a step nearer to his goal of becoming human he still has the ability to turn it on and off at his will - there is still that last hurdle to overcome where it will "play" automatically rather than being instigated when desired. While the Troi incident is naturally chilling, the reminder of the dream sequence which repeats itself through the story is as bizarrely imagined as it is apparently logical by the tale's end and it would be more than criminal to avoid at least one reference to the "Troi Cake". All signs of consumption - and did you notice that the slice Worf is eating is cut into the Starfleet delta shape?

Anyway, let's look more like at what these stories say about Data. I actually think that the dream programme is far darker than we sense here. I I personally don't think Data really understands the power of the visions even when realises the significance of the visions at the conclusion of Phantasms which ultimately leads to the salvation of the Enterprise crew. In fact it could be seen that this addition is a weakness. I look at it this way, not only does he oversleep but there is the attack on Troi to consider. In Birthright, Data is wiling to effectively self harm to experience the programme again and becomes fanatic to the point of obsession with recreating images from the initial vision. While he might see it as some kind of Holmesian mystery to solve there is genuine danger to reach that goal and learn what it might all mean. It is perhaps more of a lost opportunity in Phantasms to push Data to yet another level that would be artificially provided in Generations. Maybe this belays that Data's personal evolution is not finite and that he simply does not understand how the dream programme could aid the ongoing development of his humanity even when there is moment that could define his future and is (almost) missed. 

While the choice of location for both of Data's dream experiences are firmly on the Enterprise (budget limitations i expect) is limited his dreams relate firmly to his past with fantastical embellishments - Riker's straw, Soong as a blacksmith. This latter vision has a thread carried into the sequel with the workmen i dressed in equally period garb. Interesting that such a futuristic being as Data would hark back to such an age - maybe hints of his preference for the odd Sherlock Holmes mystery coming through his android subconscious here! The very unsophisticated look of the workmen as well as Dr Freud's involvement perhaps are even further suggestions that Data's dreams and possibly his evolution are still in their infancy - he has yet to evolve to a more high-tech age and is still regarded by his now-deceased creator as a child in so many ways. 

While the workmen and Freud, like all the aspects of the dream are in some way symbolic, they are the most memorable aspects of the story. Where else would you find three manual labourers attempting to dismantle a plasma conduit in the office of a famed psychologist in the dream of an android lieutenant commander on a starship (souonds even more bizarre when you read it back). The addition of that emotion chip back in Brothers might have been a bit early given some of Data's nuances over the later seasons (particularly when fed emotions from that very chip in Descent).

Just to take a few moments to indulge in Phantasms it is more unusual when you look at the structure of the story. The Data plot is also aligned with a faulty warp core, the Annual Starfleet Admirals' Banquet and a love-struck young ensign in Engineering. It's packed to the saucer section with great moments which all intertwine into one strand at some point along the way whether we realised it or not. Data's dreams act as the core to the narrative with all these elements packed around it seemingly separate but yet all fundamental to the solution - even if that solution is keeping the captain busy for a few minutes elsewhere.

While the dream in Birthright is all about expression and growth, the second tale of Data's mental state is much darker and unnerving as a whole. Birthright is more open and inviting to Data, making him want to explore the possibilities buried within his cranium but that's totally flipped by the surrealism and haunting melodies that are played throughout Phantasms.  You're never quite sure what the visions mean right up to the close of either installment and it's the deciphering of the experience which helps us to not only, perhaps, get to grips with the story but also understand how Data deals with a new experience, function or program. How we would have seen this expanded further we will never know. Interestingly after Phantasms there is only one more throwaway reference to Data's dreams in a single line at the end of Masks near the middle of the season. 

Not only that, but while it's one of my favourite episodes I would really like to find out how the cellular peptide eating critters manifested themselves into Data's dreams in the first place. Maybe it was one of the great misfires of the latter years of The Next Generation alongside the cringe-worthy Force of Nature's warp five speed limit. I think an even more mind-bending third story would have been necessary to top these two pieces. Data as a bird and Troi as a cake? Surely Picard as the White Rabbit had to be the logical next step?

The Lure of Lore

Cut the cake and let's celebrate!

So this week saw Brent Spiner celebrating one more year and the internet will be awash with glowing reminiscences of how AMAZING he was as Data and that the character should never have been killed off in Nemesis and he was like, well, like the most AMAZING character ever in Star Trek. Dude - he was The Next Generation's Spock!

Cool. Yeah he was pretty good but let's not tread that path again. I want to talk, instead, about the other one. If you read the title it's fairly obvious - Lore. Quick stat-down for newcomers; he's Data's bro, uses contractions, bit mental, appears in four episodes (just) and introduces us to the Crystalline Entity. Y'see and we didn't even break the golden Thou Shalt Not Plot Synopsize rule. Tick that box.

So what about Lore? Well I like the guy if we cast aside that hideous Power Ranger costume the Borg made him wear in Descent. If Data had a family car, Lore would be tearing up the dust in a Ferrari with the law in hot pursuit. He's on the edge, sneaky; the Loki to Thor if you will. It's not that Lore is evil, he's a bit unhinged and it's not really his fault is it if we think back to his origins.

I suppose it's the classic evil twin story regurgitated to begin with but Lore is more than that - it's an unforgiving programming element, the seduction of emotion and just that little bit more human essence than his successive, less perfect brother. Indeed, Data's self-sacrifice in Nemesis is the final marker against his brother. While Data is willing to die for others, Lore remains a survivor, looking for another way out of a fix, the resourceful one of the pair (or three if you count B-4). It's Soong's desire for that perfect synthetic child which draws out the worst in Lore, creating a monster from the dream of android perfection. Indeed, Data could hardly be seen as perfection and maybe that's the point - perfection is impossible.

Maybe that's what marks him out as a more natural leader. He is willing to experiment, attempt new things that are a little bit dubious but help him personally. Ok, he's pretty selfish in that respect especially when it comes to his mutilation of the Borg in Descent, Part II however Data is far more neat and childlike in his investigations - comedy, beards, comedy beards, sneezing, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare are all taken in as though through the eye and the understanding of an infant grasping them for the first time.

That might be more true in the earlier seasons and +Alex Boag-Munroe said the other day to me that it really ground just how much Data smiled in the first two years. Lore however always had that opportunity. What he lacked was the family and the fall-back. There was only ever himself he had to look out for and essentially it was down to Soong's programming he was a bit, well, psycho wasn't it?

Datalore introduced us to the "evil twin" and while it's not a classic we do get the understanding of what went "wrong" with the first model. Lore is the angry teenager of the Soong family, cast aside by his father and takes advantage of the less developed, younger sibling - but yet he's the exciting one, living on the edge and taking risks and doing deals. He thinks nothing of the safety of others to fulfil a goal and this seems to be a common factor if we look at the typical evil twin story that numerous TV series have done in the past. Hey, let's even give a nod to The Enemy Within and the twin Kirks.

Brothers on the other hand layered the Lore character nicely, showing him as even more slimy and deceitful than before. Not only does this absolutely showcase the brilliance of Spiner playing a trio of roles, mainly in the same scenes, but where he truly marks out the differences in Data and Lore. The darker twin has not necessarily evolved rather he's survived, clawed through existence to this moment.

Lore is the injured son (or plays as such for a short while) but there's always another motive, something he's calculating at the back of his mind that makes you just a little uneasy - and why the heck is everyone apart from Data always so happy to see him?! Lore himself mind is always happy, gaining another tactical edge over his brother with the theft of that shiny little emotion chip. While Data has no emotional (!) attachment to the item it's another moment that gets logged but you have to give credit to Lore and maybe in turn to Soong for creating a being that can deal with the range of human emotion and motivations so effortlessly. 

While it's not the best installment of the show, the seventh season opener Descent, Part II does bring finality to the loose Lore trilogy. Here that self-importance and singular determination to spread his wonderousness to others is truly fulfilled. He has followers, he has emotions and he has ultimate control over his lesser, more controllable brother. He is the true cult leader and when the story completes it is as though he has completed a journey as he is deactivated once more. Data's journey might be to become more human and finally grasp emotions however Lore's in this area should be to understand the emotions and gifts he has but his jealousy and selfish nature are always there, chiseling away to overrule him.

The role of Lore certainly lets Spiner open up the acting wings a little more and display just what he's capable of when given the chance. Data was perhaps the role for which he will more prominently be remembered but as excitement and intrigue go, Lore is the much more multi-faceted. He's the Equinox to Janeway's Voyager if you will and certainly for Spiner an opportunity to chew some scenery - and himself along the way. 

So yes, hope you had a great day there, Mr Spiner and let's not forget that Data wasn't all you brought to the Star Trek universe. 

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Cold Equations Book Three: The Body Electric

David Mack's conclusion to the Cold Equations trilogy is both epic and brave - and there might be spoilers!

Brave because there are no Tholians,  Gorn, Breen or mention of the Typhon Pact; epic because this really is the ultimate mission for survival. Very little of the Alpha Quadrant gets a look in here and if you're looking for "more of the same" then this is certainly a curve ball I didn't see coming to round off David Mack's latest three-book foray into Trekdom.

If it wasn't for the ongoing tale of the resurrected Data and his search for the Immortal, you could be forgiven at times for thinking that this is a standalone novel. That thread is in greater evidence here than before and certainly more than in Silent Weapons so if you were wondering where it had gone, never fear.  While there is a larger threat and storyline played out in The Body Electric, you cannot help but be reminded of the events and narrative that have reintroduced us to Data 2.0. The overall arc has very much been the story of his return and the quest that he takes on to locate Akharin (aka Emil Vaslovik aka the Immortal). This was almost skated over in the previous novel with scant reference to the arc until the last few chapters which essentially set up this finale.

As I've said, if you're expecting something similar to Silent Weapons then you'll be surprised. as The Body Electric is different again showing that Mack is a dab hand at at least three genres and is not fond of sitting back and allowing his readers to get too comfortable or dug into the rut of "same old, same old" storytelling. The Persistence of Memory was autobiographical for the most part; Silent Weapons a political thriller and here in The Body Electric it's all about action and (Im)mortal danger. The stakes have, to use a cliché, never been higher.   

Finding a terrible galaxy-destroying machine at the heart of the Milky Way, Traveler Wesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise seeking help to save civilisation from imminent destruction when he is left with no other option and abandoned by his associates. While all this kicks off at one location, Data makes contact with the Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence in order to gain access to the Immortal, Akharin. Mack takes us to the very heart of our galaxy for the climax to the Cold Equations trilogy. Changing the style of novel maintains the focus and has kept this series from becoming stale. Here the story elements are drawn together from different locations to the arena where the showdown for this saga is ultimately set - and the centre of the galaxy can be no bigger a stage!

Now I'll give Mack this; until their mention right at the end of Silent Weapons I had completely forgotten about Noonien Soong's visits from the Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence. In The Body Electric we really get to understand their significance within the overall framework of this trilogy and what their ultimate goal is. The android characters we meet are wide and varied; tentacled, bipedal, tread-rolling, multi-eyed and exceptionally loyal to their cause. Once more the benefit of the written page allows Mack to create much  more than we would have been able to experience on the screen which in turn gives these stories something of a cinematic quality - the writers of a few Enterprise episodes could have learned a thing or too from this.

Tyros, the second-in-command(roid) we have met before, attempting to lure Soong to their ranks in the pages of Book One. Now we see him as the right-hand to Gatt, a more hard-line android who has, shall we say, been through the mill. I loved reading the sections where these two characters were present as they aren't maliciously evil and, as Tyros points out, it's more about obsession. I found Gatt quite interesting namely due to his beliefs and determination. Gatt's path through the novel is certainly one of the more interesting and is perhaps not what you might expect. Tyros however doesn't come across quite as sinister or shadowy as he did in The Persistence of Memory and it's a shame that this is lost, possibly due to the nature of the story more than anything else - at some point we had to "get to know" him.

In relation to this pairing, Mack handles several duets through The Body Electric and there are certainly a few to explore.  While Silent Weapons highlighted the bond between Picard and Crusher, Mack goes to town with Worf and the captain being the only ones to seemingly slip the net. Central is the relationship triangle of Data, Akharin and Rhea McAdams. The way in which these three deal with each other while in the company of the Fellowship is crucial to the book and to bring about a conclusion to this piece of Data's rebirth. This is a Data determined to succeed with his own goals especially where family is concerned (make sure you take note of the prologue, readers). If that's not enough for you then there are a few secondary stories building on this relationships theme. . We have seen Taurik and T'Ryssa Chen before, but I'm not sure if their story brings much to the novel overall. It acts as a distraction from the intensity of the main plot but whether it's necessary at all is debatable as the arc story and the danger posed by the Machine are more than enough here to fill out near-350 pages. In some ways this additional "C" story feels like filler which is interesting as I didn't get that sense with either of the previous books. It is all wrapped up well but I would have preferred Data's search for the Immortal to have taken a bit longer to build up and intensify. The way in which it all happens early on just seems a bit easy! I had expected there to be more time spent finding Akharin and travelling to the Machine (as it is called) but there seems to be a lost opportunity to explore what Wesley has been doing and some more investigative workings from our favourite resurrected android. The speed at which Data locates the Immortal is break-neck especially when you consider that it looked like it was going to be a long process going by the investigations he was undertaking at the beginning of Silent Weapons.

As with the previous books, readers will hopefully be drawn in by the wealth of cross-referencing to Trek of days past.  At some point within The Body Electric we are pointed in the direction of TNG (very, very important),  DS9 and the original series and it's movie sequels (very, very, very important).  All credit to the author here as everything is slotted in and has a use.  As I've noted before it's all important and don't forget a thing.  It's likely to be significant further down the line! What we also get here is the return of Wesley Crusher and I have to take Mr Mack to task here because I didn't find him annoying! In fact I enjoyed reading the character and it felt like there had been a maturing period since we last spent any time with him on screen (I would class that as TNG's "Journey's End" rather than the fleeting appearance in Nemesis although we are reminded of that here). He's all grown up and acts as a major driving force to get this story moving. He's learnt a lot but we don't get the arrogance that plagued his last TNG visit. Time has changed him to a more reasonable individual who, it has to be said, has been perhaps modelled just a little on Wil Wheaton - if only in physical appearance - but you can still imagine the old Wesley at times, especially when he's speaking to Beverly, mother to son.

It's very hard not to divulge too much of this book without ruining potential enjoyment of the trilogy because there are so many strands from Books One and Two that are tied up here, as well as a few from some time earlier and any reference would surely give it all away. I would say that there is one part of the concluding section of the book which I wasn't too thrilled with and after the amazing roller-coaster that we've been through over the course of 900 odd pages I did feel a little bit let down while still in some ways expecting that something like this would be on the cards. While I'm mentioning this, I'm not sure whether we needed a blink-and-miss appearance by Q early on. A visit that forms the snapshot taster page at the start of the book. A little misleading to what is coming perhaps and it left me wondering if he would be turning up at some point even though it is made clear he has been left unable to intervene by the Continuum,

Now hopefully I've managed to avoid wrecking the plot and your enjoyment of The Body Electric.  If you've not read any of the previous books  I thoroughly recommend you do so before attempting this final narrative. I've even put in an order for the Star Trek: Destiny omnibus to help bring me back up to speed. Right. The overall opinion bit. It's a good conclusion to the trilogy and leaves enough open for Mack or other authors to continue the expanded universe saga, developing a wealth of characters who could end up in their own novels given further development. I preferred the political nature of the second book over both The Persistence of Memory and The Body Electric. What swayed it for me was the disappointment that nothing was made of the discovery made at the end of Book two in the following volume. I still prefer Secret Weapons as a story and would rate it as the best volume out of the three as the omission of that central story factor greatly affected my judgement over the final book. There should have been some kind of follow-up but I guess that wasn't in the big plan. So, The Body Electric, good, but like many an odd-numbered Trek movie, it left me wanting for that little bit more. May be the next book from David Mack will answer some of those niggling questions and I certainly look forward to finding out.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations Book Three: The Body Electric is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99 ISBN 9781451650747

You can read my review for Book One: The Persistence of Memory and Book Two: Silent Weapons now at Some Kind of Star Trek

Cold Equations Book Two: Silent Weapons

Silent Weapons picks up a short time after the events of Book One, The Persistence of Memory and from the off this is a very different beast to its predecessor.

Now before we go any further - SPOILER ALERT. If you haven't read the first book, be warned as I WILL be referring to it during this review!

While The Persistence of Memory skipped through time to provide the autobiographical narrative of Doctor Noonien Soong, this is a much more linear affair but much more complicated in the nature of the plot. It does require a bit more concentration to keep track of events right from chapter one - yep, David Mack kicks this sequel off with a lot of balls in the air and the art here is very much in the catching.

I was hesitant as to where this was going to go as Book One really left things open for interpretation. After getting into the heart of the book at about 150 pages I realised that it's as close as Star Trek could come to a taut political thriller. While the Vaslovik plot is carried over from the first novel in the trilogy, it spends a considerable amount of time on the proverbial backburner in favour of political machinations which I found to be more interesting but we'll come to that in turn. Book Two focuses more on the discovery of the android factory from the concluding section of The Persistence of Memory and the way in which the Breen are utilising this find for their own devices. There are numerous locations for the action, namely the Breen homeworld, a control centre for their acquired androids, a secret conference on Orion and then the Enterprise itself. Now you know that at some point they will all come together, the fun is in working out just how Mack will achieve this by the last page. I can assure you it does and - well, I'm not going to ruin it! I will say that it's a "thinker" and you need to be on your toes to keep up with who is doing what, where, when and how otherwise you might be in a big narrative mess by about page 160. 

My interest in this novel was piqued more than with the first not just for the multi-faceted thriller but also thanks in no small part to its supporting cast. The Gorn, one of my favourite alien races in the franchise (kudos for that, Mr Mack), are heavily featured and we get name-checks for the Tholians and the Tzenkethi too as part of the shadowy Typhon Pact. Even the Romulans manage an appearance to remind us that they're still a power to be reckoned with in this quadrant. I hope that Mack utilises the Gorn again in the future and that we get to see the Tholians in action and not just as a technology reference.

Reading this purely on my journey back and forth to work could have been a nightmare due to the strands that Mack lays out but I kept up with a couple of flick-backs to earlier chapters and previous pages so it was well worth it. Occasionally there are plot reminders from the cast which helps keep you in the picture. Everything has a purpose (as we know!) and no action is there for the sake of filling a page. As with my first review I don;t want to give too much away as it would ruin the experience that I was lucky to have upon opening chapter one - needless to say the Breen are up to no good here and Data gets implicated very early on, bringing the Enterprise to the Orion homeworld. Some of the initial chapters might seem irrelevant in some of the details described and you are left wondering - but persevere and you will not be disappointed. If there's one thing I'm learning from David Mack is that everything has a purpose!

One thing that I do enjoy within Mack's work is that he just loves playing with known Star Trek concepts. It happened in The Persistence of Memory and it's in action once again here. We're reintroduced to Captain Morgan Bateson, formerly of the USS Bozeman and it was impossible NOT to think of him as anyone other than Kelsey Grammer in "Cause and Effect" from The Next Generation. Orion was never visited in the multiple TV series but Mack builds on his visual impressions littered into Book One and fleshes them out further, even to the point of taking us deep into their slums and teaching the reader about the nature of their society. Fascinating stuff but my hat truly has to come off for his insights into the Gorn who have only managed two story appearance across the five series and ten films.  In particular their view of art is intriguing and I was quite envious of how Mack has established their culture, hierarchy and motivations within this story. While you would think it would be enough to focus on providing an insight into just the one race as part of the narrative, don't be deceived as the Breen get their own fair amount of page time in which we learn much more about the structure and taboos of their society while we watch them unfold their plans section by section.

Twisting thriller into mystery into action, Mack weaves the after-effects of The Persistence of Memory into this new story with deadly androids doing their masters' bidding, secretive Breen and even the UFP President thrown into the soup for good measure - one gripe; why did the President's bodyguards have to verge on the cliched CIA-style agent with dark glasses and a suit? Minor point but it's the 24th Century....! 

This new Data is something of an oddment and whenever I was reading this character I felt about as uneasy as Geordi - it's Data but it's not. The memories are there but this is Data version two and while you can see the character is there, if only through the absence of contractions in his speech, he feels different just in the way he carries himself through the narrative and on more than one occasion I made myself question who this character was. David, if this is part of the plan, I applaud you because it worked. The "new" Data is centre-stage for a good portion of this novel as are Picard, Geordi and Worf and all four characters are well defined and seem to work better within this story than they did in Book One. While the latter three characters are familiar the resurrected Data really is intriguing and slightly eerie. Indeed  it is his predicament which drives the story initially and the trail of crumbs and events from that which power the story along.  The pacing is great as we move from one set piece into investigation, to diplomacy, to private moments and then back into action once again - there's no let up so if you have to put this book down beware of what point you take a break - what you've just read may be very relevant in a few pages time or you might need to recall it in a few chapters!

Anyway, a lot of this book as you will have gathered, is focused on androids and Soong-type androids to be precise. They instill a great deal of paranoia into the story because you just don't know where or when they will turn up, what will happen when they do and whether or not they will succeed in their actions. Some of the descriptions of their actions are brutal and we can see that they are focused solely on their mission's goal. The androids are expendable but there is definitely more to them than you first think considering what they are capable of doing and who is in control of their minds. Manipulation is the name of the game.

Alongside the main story is a sub-plot revolving around Picard and Crusher which does link into the main thread at one point later on. I felt this was a particularly effective thread as it dealt with the nature of their relationship as a family and as shipmates. Mack drops in a note about the age difference between La Forge and Smrhova at one point - because these guys aren't getting any younger and it does waft up scents of nostalgia because of the length of service we have seen the main characters over. 

The Jean-Luc/Beverly plot reminds us that they are human and that at some point things have to change, especially as the captain is no longer single and there are important matters to consider for their future and the safety of his son. I'll be interested to see if this transitions into the final book, The Body Electric. I'm also fascinated to know how the Vaslovik plot is going to be continued in the finale as we have effectively skipped over it from the first few chapters of Silent Weapons. It was the reason for Data's presence on Orion but other things got in the way!

Overall I probably enjoyed this story much more than I did with The Persistence of Memory, possibly because I understood a bit more about the expanded Trek universe and also because the first book had "broken" me back into the TNG universe. Looking back, the first novel is very much a set up piece which lays a lot of seeds and possibilities for the second book and doubtless the third will bring all the threads together neatly (I say that now!). Not a book to pick up on its own but if you've pounded through the first book this is certain to satisfy your curiosity and leave enough questions unanswered (again) to ensure that the concluding book is an essential purchase.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations Book Two: Silent Weapons is now available  from Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781451650730 priced £6.99

Cold Equations Book One: The Persistence of Memory

They say honesty is the best policy - so here it goes. I haven't read a Star Trek novel for a long, long, long time. Even then that might not be enough to cover it.

The last Trek novel I read was probably something from Voyager while it was still on TV so that gives you an indication of how long it's been. Now, to be fair I've been much more of a fan of the background material such as Action!, Where No One Has Gone Before, numerous companions, technical manuals and the like but I felt now was the time to start getting back into something meatier; I was starting to have withdrawals for new Star Trek stories.

So that's brought me to this point and just to be a bit different, here's how it all began a week or so ago....

Admittedly I don't think Spielberg is quaking in his boots after that, but hey, it's the first attempt and something a bit different - oh yes, and that is me; no stunt double or pre-recorded audio I can assure you.

I have the perhaps enviable benefit of a bus journey to work and back five days a week which gives me ample opportunity for a good read and in the case of this book I was not disappointed. What I would add here is a SPOILER ALERT - it is very, very likely I am going to mention plot details in here so if you haven't read it, skip to the final paragraph for my overall opinion!

Set over a time period of 16 years, numerous planets and including several major races, there is one thing I can say without doubt after just the first few chapters of The Persistence of Memory - David Mack knows his material and of that fact alone he should be very proud. The time period of 2367 to 2384 covers events from the last few minutes of The Next Generation's "Brothers" to a point a few years after the credits rolled on Star Trek Nemesis but not in a linear manner.

Mack has split this trilogy opener into three sections with the first and last set in the "present" of 2384 while the central - and perhaps more substantial third - is an autobiographical account of events from one of the novel's main protagonists. Let's first summarise the plot here before we get into the meat of this story.

The Enterprise is called to the Starfleet Annex of the Daystrom Institute on Galor IV by Captain Bruce Maddox but upon arriving discovers that the facility has been attacked and the Soong-type androids under the cybernetics expert's care have been stolen including Lore, Data's daughter Lal and B-4. Worf, now first officer of the Enterprise leads search teams across the planet to locate the missing androids before they can be secreted from the surface...

As an opening section and probably due to the fact that it's been a while since I last read a Trek novel I was wow-ed and at some points confused.  Mack does an excellent job of introducing us to the story.  The first chapter or so is a nice mini-potted history of both Maddox ("The Measure of a Man") and the various droids that were in his care. Fans will no doubt remember Lore, Lal, B-4 and Juliana Tainer but I admit it took a few moments to recall the three early non-functioning prototypes mentioned back in "Inheritance". Now it's been a while since we last actually saw this crew on the screen so there have been a few changes in the faces; no more Troi, Riker or Data (of course), instead we have a Cardassian exchange officer Glinn Dygan at Ops and Jasminder Choudhury at Tactical. Worf now takes his place as Number One next to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I think David Mack has done an excellent job of recreating the Enterprise crew and adding his own flavourings including the fact a certain captain and doctor are now married with a son. Significantly, and it's something that is evident throughout the expanded Trek universe is that continuity is a massive factor and cross-referencing is vitally important - kind of unusual when you consider that TNG was probably one of the series less concerned with having ongoing narrative threads unlike its shadowy relation, Deep Space Nine.

Sadly I can't compare it to his earlier Destiny trilogy so I can't say if these are details carried across and that's one of my niggles from early on. There are occasionally bits which are inaccessible to newer readers, namely the crew alterations and also the peppering of references to the "recent" Borg attack. It can make you stop and think about whether you've missed something but for those of you who have followed the author's earlier works I don't think you'll have a problem joining the dots. In truth while it did confuse me it has made me inquisitive over the earlier novels so they might get added to the reading list (after the next two in this series) just to fill in these gaps in my post Nemesis knowledge. Anyway, Mack does a good job of recreating our regulars and introducing his own assorted group of cast members. While Geordi, Picard and the blink-and-you'll-miss-her Doctor Crusher receive accurate portrayals which meant I could concretely envisage them in my mind I do have reservations to some degree with the character of Worf. As probably the most documented Star Trek character of all time I'm not convinced that some of his dialogue works or that some of his character motivations, particularly in reference to personal relationships, are totally believable considering what this Klingon has been through since Farpoint Station. This is not levelled at Worf as a character for the whole of the novel mind, only one or two occasions but they do take a bit to adjust to and seem out of alignment with my understanding of the character.

As the chase for the missing androids continues we are privy to Mack's extensive Trek standing with name drop/guest appearances from Admiral Nechayev, Captain Sisko and Lieutenant Barclay among others (two of whom appear within about the same number of pages) but that's not where this is heading.  What is evident from section one is that this story would have cost an absolute fortune to film what with Starfleet security squads, planet-hopping, cityscapes and even a wink to a lost Generations scene with an orbital skydive are all within a matter of pages and packed tightly into the story. The pace is break-neck at times but progresses in a very logical and easy to follow manner up to its conclusion and the identity of one of the main protagonists is revealed.  Interestingly this is essentially a massive set-up piece for the second and third portions of The Persistence of Memory and while I thought this was a really good intro I never expected what came next.

Now, for those of you who kept reading after I said that there were likely to be spoilers, this is your second and final warning. There are DEFINITELY things here that will ruin your enjoyment of the book so turn away now.

Whether I agree with the revelation that Noonien Soong isn't dead is neither here nor there as sci-fi always requires something of a leap of disbelief and it's actually an essential part of the experience that anything can happen.  If I thought Mack was in his element in the preceding 85 pages then I sorely misjudged him as the fast pace is set aside and we get a marvellous and intimate narrative from the perspective of the cybernetics genius.

So he didn't die at the hands of Lore and we get to follow him across the galaxy, setting up a complex web of businesses to support him for the future as he explores, settles, evades and spies on a number of people and planets. David Mack does a great job here of creating a character we have previously only seen as a dying old man, a hologram and as part of a dream program. I can see the nuances that were part of the character here but I found myself far more fascinated with the story of the doctor himself and the tragic past that is interwoven with his androids and Juliana Tainer; his one true love. 

At first I was a little tepid over where this section was heading - was it going to be a "What Dr Soong Did Next" or was there a bigger point to it all?  Of course there's a point! Moreover I suspect that the introduction (or is that re-introduction?) of another canon character will be a key move that will echo through all three volumes of the Cold Equations trilogy. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this section as Mack provides extensive detail to the doctor's actions while reminding us of how it fits in with events in Data's life through the final seasons of TNG and into the subsequent movie series. Very cleverly done - I even felt that Soong became overly obsessive with his creations as even in death he follows them everywhere, never completely moving on with his life, searching for the answer to keep them alive forever more. For the doctor it's all set up and preparation, back up plans and out-thinking his opponents although ultimately there is one person he can't outwit who manages to do for one of his androids the very thing he has been hoping to master himself. What I didn't get was any real emotional resonance around Soong even as each of his sons is declared dead and then he realises that Juliana too has passed away. 

Now the clever bit through all this is the relationship we are witness to only by proxy that existed between Ira Graves, Soong and Emil Vaslovik. This is key to the book and Mack weaves it within the narrative almost unnoticed and natural while it will evidently become key to everything that is happening in relation to one individual in particular. As viewers we know all three of these characters to some extent but once more Mack has pretty much free reign to develop Vaslovik if only, at this point, from a distance and from one perspective.  Let's not forget that, for a good portion of The Persistence of Memory we are getting one person's viewpoint and subsequently one person's viewpoint.  I'll be interested to see how this has potentially jaded our view of Vaslovik by the time we will no doubt meet him again.

While I won't give anything away about the final section of the book I have to say the conclusion left me a bit uneasy and I wasn't as satisfied as I thought I might have been. It is most certainly action-packed and to a much greater degree than the first section however the scenarios that play out left me a little cold and I felt that David Mack wanted me to have a much more emotional response than I did on a couple of occasions however because these events were not involving more familiar characters it perhaps didn't catch me in the right place. 

There are unanswered questions too; lots of threads left for us to follow into Book Two and this is a good thing. It certainly worked in my case because I wanted to pick up the following volume immediately. In fact, I did because I had it with me on the bus in preparation for finishing Book One!

Mack has done a first class job here and although, as admitted, I've been a bit out of the loop for a few years in terms of Star Trek novels this was a great reintroduction to the series (and I've now got an understanding on the Typhon Pact - cool idea and more in Book Two please!). The difference in pace over the course of nearly 400 pages works well to balance the character and temperament of Soong against the action and adventure that he ultimately finds himself in during 2384. While not a central character at the beginning, Soong is very much the cornerstone of the final section and the showdown which takes place in a most unusual setting. His legacy appears to be the thing that will drive the narrative in Book Two, Silent Weapons, and probably beyond that into the final novel too.

I must congratulate the author here once more referencing the extensive TNG back catalogue while still making many of the characters, situations and settings very much his own at the same time - which no doubt will add weight to the sequel, Silent Weapons. I can only hope that the remaining two books live up to the hype and the buildup that David Mack has moulded here. It's controversially something of a new beginning that could well ignite a good round of heated debate amongst TNG fans. I never thought you could play with canon as much as is here and get away with it however the author does and to some extent, begrudgingly, I must admit it makes The Persistence of Memory a damn good page turner.

Good work there, Mr Mack; let's see what Book 2 has to offer.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "Cold Equations Book 1: The Persistence of Memory" is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99. ISBN 9781451650723

You can read my review for Book Two: Silent Weapons now!