Book Review : Star Trek Titan Synthesis

Star Trek Titan Synthesis

Review by Jeff Ayers

The latest Titan novel has Captain Riker and his shipmates continuing to explore areas of space never seen by the Federation. When they stumble upon a civilization of intelligent artificial constructs, the crew struggles to communicate while also having to deal with a horrible foe called The Null. It doesn't help that the main source of communication between the Titan and the AI's has the appearance of someone from Riker's past. (Or a psychiatrist if you are a Law and Order fan).

The mix of humans and aliens on board Titan continues to develop into characters we care about. Troi's baby could steer the series into bad sitcom territory, but thankfully Swallow avoids that. I'll be honest and say the first section of the book kept reminding me of other Star Trek episodes and novels. But, once the main storyline kicked in, it not only held it's own, but began to surpass my expectations. (Though I'm getting tired of "people getting stranded" subplots).

Author James Swallow has written arguably the best Titan novel to date. The world-building in both the Titan and the AI society would be welcome in any sci-fi novel, not just in Star Trek. I hope the author is under contract for another Titan story.

9 out of 10
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