The events from David Mack’s Destiny trilogy shook the very foundations of the Federation. Billions of lives were lost and many of those who survived were changed forever. Left to help pick up the pieces of the Borg-decimated United Federation of Planets is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise and his crew; but a darkness lies on the horizon, a storm is brewing even as the post-war Federation tries to pull itself back together. Can Picard and his crew help rebuild the Federation without losing the peace?

The Federation has been left reeling after the Borg invasion. Whole planets were destroyed, billions of people were killed, and millions more are now refugees. While the pregnant Doctor Beverly Crusher volunteers to lead a team in a relief effort, Picard and the others head back to duty on the Enterprise with a search and rescue mission: find survivors of the Borg attack and assist them in any way possible.

While there is a little bit of action, the majority of the story revolves around exploring the characters of the series and their reactions to what has happened to the Federation: Geordi LaForge’s survivor guilt; Beverly Crusher’s memories of coping with the loss of her husband Jack; Jasminder Choudrey’s struggle to cope with the loss of her home planet, Deneva; Sylvana Kadohata’s marital problems when her husband begs her to resign her commission; T’Ryssa Chen’s coming fact to face with her Vulcan heritage; and so on.

The author, William Leisner, has a very firm grasp of the characters in the reboot TNG series; he is able to weave the experiences of the more familiar characters seamlessly into the story, along with giving us a more in-depth look at some of the newer characters such as Choudrey and Chen.

There is a particularly moving part of the novel, near the end, when one of the Starfleet Admirals attempts to promote Picard to admiral — partly because Starfleet needs new leaders, but also to keep Picard, who has a tendancy to do things his own way over Starfleet’s, out of trouble. Picard tells the admiral that a wise man once told him, “Don’t let them promote you. Don’t let them transfer you. Don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge, of that ship. Because as long as you’re there, you can make a difference.” The admiral asks Picard who gave him this advice and is stunned into silence when Picard tells him, “James T. Kirk.”

After a shocked moment, it’s Picard’s turn to be stunned into silence when the admiral tells him that perhaps it’s better that Picard stay Captain of the Enterprise after all; in the aftermath of the Borg invasion, the Federation could use more “James T. Kirks” like Picard. It’s a very powerful moment, a very touching one.

There is a sense of grim reality throughout the book: times are tough, and they aren’t going to get any easier. While there is hope at the end of the book as the citizens of the Federation renew their efforts to help with the relief effort — but it is a bittersweet ending as news reaches the Enterprise that the Romulan Star Empire, teh Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Tzenkethi, and the Gorn Hegemony have formed an alliance under the Typhon Pact. This Pact between the enemies of the Federation does not bode well at all, especially with the struggling state of the Federation.

Overall, this is an excellent book, a great continuation in the world of the novel-based Star Trek universe, and a definite must-read for any Trek fan that enjoyed David Mack’s Destiny trilogy.