On an unusual survey mission to a sentient carbon cluster of planets the Starship Rhea comes under attack from the USS Einstein, a former Starfleet vessel now under the control of the Borg. On the planet's surface the landing party are helpless to aid their comrades who are being assimilated, when their turn comes the half Vulcan Lieutenant T’Ryssa is horrified at the thought of being assimilated until she is instantaneously transported to another planet, naked. Only Slipstream technology can do this and with the Borg orbiting the carbon planets Starfleet sends the Enterprise to investigate...

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater Than the Sum, is a new novel by Christopher L. Bennett. I guess I must have missed a lot of the recent Trek books, as the Trek Universe seems to have undergone a radical transformation. Janeway is dead, having been temporarily a Borg Queen, and the Borg, although isolated from the collective, have adapted in other ways. Picard is finally married to Dr Crusher, though everyone knew that this was on the cards at some point, and Worf has transferred from his ambassadorial duties to the Klingon Empire to rejoin his old crew, or at least what’s left of them. I know this as Bennett spends a lot of time showing various characters mulling and re-mulling over past events.

I’m personally a big fan of the Borg, though their real threat has been watered down over the years and so was looking forward to reading a Borg tale, this however was not it. The actual parts of the story, which involve the Borg can’t be more than thirty pages out of the whole three hundred and fifty-three-page book. Depending on what you want from a Trek book this is either a massive disappointment or a feast for your eyes.

So, if the book isn’t full of Borg bashing what is it about? This is very much a book, which concentrates on the characters, and their various takes on families and relationships. Beverly and Picard have got to that sticking point about whether to have children - not an easy decision for Picard who knows the danger that living on a Starship entails. La Forge spends much of his time lamenting his lack of luck with the ladies. Much of this is reflected by the carbon planet's interest in the various methods of procreation employed by the crew, being a single entity it has little understanding of the concept of children.

Mostly Trek books are constrained by canon, though as time goes on and no more shows are being made, thankfully this stranglehold on the writers imagination appears to be loosening. This allows the characters to develop and new characters to be introduced. The most enjoyable new character here, or at least to me, was Lieutenant T’Ryssa - a feisty, irreverent half Vulcan, whose believable character very much jumped out of the page, making you want for more.

So, if you're looking for hundreds of pages of Borg action, then this book is most probably not for you. However, if you're looking for a thoughtful set of character studies, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better book.

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Charles Packer