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I already covered (and gave 4 stars) to the series overall in my review of the first book in this series. I am docking this 3rd installment one star for the fact that every time someone can really build a relationship with Geordi, they have be a hologram or they're a nausicaan with no lips. Geordi's awkwardness on the show always felt really forced and weird. It only came up when it was important to his narrative. He was maybe a little shy and reserved, but they could have worked with that to show that romance happens between all sorts of people with all kinds of personalities. They had the chance in this book too and they just skipped it.

I pretty much covered how much I enjoyed this whole series in my review of the first novel, and all three novels are pretty consistent in quality. I am docking the second in the series 1 star for one important point of contention: William Riker belongs under the command of someone who can control him or in the brig. Who made him an admiral? Am I the only one who remembers his arrogance towards Captain Jellico? He should have been court-martialed for that or at least note put on his record detailing that he was unreliable and contentious with his direct superior in front of others during a deadly military conflict.

This was my first Star Trek novel series, and I basically expected something on the caliber of the usual popular franchise novel - probably fun but pulpy. I have to say that this was better than I was expecting. Yes, these books depend on you being familiar to a certain extent with the characters from the TV shows, but I feel like the narrative stands pretty well on its own. It was incredibly adventurous in its narrative choices, but it was creative and I felt pulled to read the series all the way through.

Klingons sometimes remind me people I couldn't stand growing up. People who are pointlessly belligerent and blame it on a "code" usually make me roll my eyes. I have a moral code, but I don't constantly have to talk about it for it make sense to people around me. There was a bit of that in this book, but they keep it at manageable levels for my particular tastes. When they pull back just enough things land in the good ol' fashioned camp zone, and who can dislike that?

How does Star Trek manage to make a goofy book about manly man aliens and their warrior culture and not make me reflexively pull back? It's too pure and wholesome to be toxic masculinity, but I don't know if I can put my finger on why it works where similar works leave me sickened.

I'm not always a fan of sequels or spin offs, but I can't get enough of The Iliad franchise. Not a ton of action in this one, but the dialog is solid.