Mere Mortals

Star Trek: Destiny #2

by David Mack

The second novel in an epic crossover trilogy uniting characters from every corner of the Star Trek universe, revealing the shocking origin and final fate of the Federation's most dangerous enemy—the Borg.On Earth, Federation President Nanietta Bacco gathers allies and adversaries to form a desperate last line of defense against an impending Borg invasion. In deep space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Ezri Dax join together to cut off the Collective’s route to the Alpha Quadrant. Half a galaxy away, Captain William Riker and the crew of the Starship Titan have made contact with the reclusive Caeliar—survivors of a stellar cataclysm that, two hundred years ago, drove fissures through the structure of space and time, creating a loop of inevitability and consigning another captain and crew to a purgatory from which they could never escape. Now the supremely advanced Caeliar will brook no further intrusion upon their isolation, or against the sanctity of their Great Work. For the small, finite lives of mere mortals carry little weight in the calculations of gods. But even gods may come to understand that they underestimate humans at their peril.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek The Next Generation, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Media Tie In

450 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

David Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of 39 novels of science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies.

Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for produced episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), games, and comic books.

Follow him on Twitter @davidalanmack or like his Facebook page.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The destiny of the Federation continues!


This is the second novel in a “Star Trek” book trilogy named “Destiny”


TIME TO BE AFRAID

It’s the first time Picard’s called for reinforcements since the Klingon Civil War.

The investigations of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Ezri Dax come to a common point.

The USS Enterprise-E, under command of Picard, was searching for an explanation of how the Borg were reaching the Federation space without early warnings.

The USS Aventine, under command of Dax, was looking for clues to clarify how the Columbia NX-02 was found in a far distant world of the Gamma Quadrant.

While not explaining all, both ships found a nebula where several subspace tunnels were created leading to unknown locations…

…in the entire universe!

Picard calls for help, since having found the backdoor access of the Borg is only the beginning, now they must make a defense front, and for doing that they will need all vessels available, Federation’s and from the other political powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, since everybody is in peril due the Borg menace.

Also, there is the situation that since there are several subspace tunnels, they still don’t know which of them is the one that the Borg are using. And there is only one way to find out that…

…entering to each tunnel!

So, the Enterprise-E and the Aventine must take turns to enter to each tunnel…

…but what they will find seems to be more frightening than even the Borg!

The universe is too large and full of all kind of malevolence and they are realizing that boldly going to where no one has gone before is just becoming more dangerous than ever before!


CHAINED TITAN

Every failure teaches us something new

In an ironic twist, Captain William T. Riker is finding out what Captain Ezri Dax was investigating, the final fate of the Columbia crew. However, that mystery is so complex and expanding into multiple paths that this is barely the peak of the iceberg.

The USS Titan, under command of Riker, while investigating a cloaked planetary system, now they are unable to leave from it.

An away team, including Cmdr. Christine Vale, Tuvok and Deanna Troi are kept as “forced guests” of the alien race there, and they aren’t the only current guests, there is also Erika Hernandez, looking even younger than how she was when reported missing two hundred years ago!

While the Titan is also a “forced guest” unable to break orbit or even to communicate with the away team.

Erika Hernandez has lost so much: Her ship, her crew, her chance to make a life with Jonathan Archer, and now she is afraid that she may also lose her entire race, since she is getting to understand the horror about the Borg.


O VOS, QUI INTRATIS, OMNI SPE AUFERTE

Everything we do today define us – because tomorrow might never come.

When more starships from many political powers arrived to the nebula, the Enterprise-E and the Aventine are able to join forces to open quicker the subspace tunnels and also to go into them with the support of each other to increase their chances against anything they might find at the other side of each tunnel. Even other couples of vessels are chosen to speed up the search of the tunnels and finding the one that the Borg are using to infiltrate into Federation space.

The rising fleet is left in command of Captain Chakotay and the USS Voyager due their own long experience with the Borg.

Many subspace tunnels have been explored and so far, while finding, in some cases, disturbing things, still the tunnel used by the Borg hasn’t been identified.

But the answer will come soon…

…but they would wish never to know it!!!

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting space opera.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story picks up seamlessly where the previous book leaves off. There's quite a bit of backstory on the Columbia's crew and her captain, Erica Hernandez. Intriguing, but perhaps a bit too much, though details on the organic/synthetic hybrid, highly advanced and reclusive Caeliar alien species are fascinating. Their god like dominance of space, time and matter are jaw dropping, yet their civilization has some very obvious flaws. The story also see Deanna Troi become totally unhinged, emotionally fragile to an extent which seems out of character, though perhaps the circumstances will become more clear as the story continues. Things ends with some unbelievable battle sequences, including Worf in hand to hand combat with the Hirogen and Star Fleet coming up against some impossibly grim odds. Moving right on to the third and final book!

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The middle book in a trilogy about star fleet’s final showdown with the borg….again !
This is good stuff for a Star Trek book, it brings together several post nemesis book series like the titan books as well as the enterprise and moves the story forward in that regard. It also includes characters from the nx-02 in archers era. There’s war, there’s time travel, trans humanism, thirsty star fleet women trapped on a world with no men (captain Kirk would have cleaned up in this book) and a fistful of wormholes! One more to go.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK read 2.5 stars.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mere Mortals is the second in the Star Trek: Destiny series. It's also my favorite of the three books, nicely ratcheting up the tension while preparing us for the big finale. The Borg have fully invaded the Federation and things are crumbling down our heroes' heads. I admit, part of my joy from this book comes from the glee of seeing Worf fight a Hirogen in a completely unnecessary but quite amusing side-adventure.

Digression: I feel terrible for Worf. Worf is a bit like Wolverine in that he's constantly trying to fight the latest monster of the week but he always gets beaten up by it. It's nice to see him actually win but, against the Hirogen, Worf may be outmatched again! Read to find out if I'm right!

Mere Mortals' premise is that Captain Picard and Ezri Dax have found a series of subspace tunnels which have the potential of shifting the tide of the war. Captain Picard wants them destroyed but the other members of Starfleet are aghast at this discovery's potential destruction.

It's an interesting moral dilemma. The Borg aren't actually using the subspace tunnels, but they could, and this would make it even easier for them to wipe out humanity. On the other hand, destroying them for a relatively minor strategic advantage is an immense waste. It's a bit like finding a bunch of high-ranking Nazis hanging around in the Sphinx.

This dilemma is contrasted against Captain Riker and Deanna Troi's situation. Due to their investigations, they've become prisoners of the Caeliar just as the crew of the Columbia became two centuries ago. Despite the advances the Federation has made, they might as well be guests of Q for how powerful the Caeliar are.

Worse, due to the events of the previous book, there's no chance of persuading them to leave. Ultimately, the choice Riker has to make is agonizing but reminds me of "Best of Both Worlds", illustrating exactly why Number One has it in him to sit in the Captain's chair.

I will say the continuing pregnancy plot of Deanna Troi annoys me. Her refusal to terminate her pregnancy despite the potential to kill her and unsustainable nature of the fetus seems like bad medical advice. In Star Trek, of course, miracles are possible but this is a bit like a Star Trek character refusing to do surgery on a child because he's sure space magic will cure him.

My favorite part of the book, though, is watching Captain Erika Hernandez cope with being a prisoner of the Caeliar for the rest of her natural life. The book shows the agony of the Columbia's surviving crew as they are forced to watch months turn into years turn into decades as any hope of escape is ground down.

Erika Hernandez is a complicated character as she's able to bond with the Caeliar in a way her crew can't and this occasionally makes her an unsympathetic character. Erika Hernandez might have decided to stay with the Caeliar of her own free will but the others hate them for holding them indefinitely, despite there being no malice. Erika, herself, starts to comprehend this only after her crew begins dying off. Watching her rediscover her humanity at the end was genuinely heartwarming. At the end of the day, she's a human not a Caeliar.

Speaking of the Caeliar, I like how this book expands on their perspective a bit. They're a deeply flawed race. Whereas other science fiction authors might portray them as perfect or hopefully flawed, their xenophobia and arrogance are nicely balanced against their more positive qualities. They're an obsessive, almost machine-like, race whose desire for perfection doesn't make them bad but unlikeable. We never get the impression they're not worthy of life, but we do acknowledge they're not saints or as smart as they think they are.

Another part of the book I absolutely adored was watching President Bacco attempting to find a diplomatic solution to all of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant's disparate problems so they can face the Borg together. In this, President Bacco remains blameless but you'd think she'd murdered the Tholian hatchery worlds by the way some of the "enemy races" react to her actions. While Star Trek is a poor place for moral ambiguity, I do find the consequences of these actions rather peculiar in the face of the Borg invasion.

The grand finale of the book nicely sets things up for the series' conclusion. Everything seems lost and there is only the barest hints that things will turn out for the better. Of course, we the audience know they're not going to destroy the Federation and replace it with a Borg-run universe but the NJO warped everything decent about Star Wars so you never know.

In conclusion, I'll say I'm anxious to see how things turn out. Bravo!

10/10

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing balance between the huge, apocalyptic big-picture events and the smaller character moments that are at the heart of this novel. As the middle novel in a trilogy, the danger exists that it could feel like it is treading water or acting as "filler," but that is never the case with Mere Mortals. This entire trilogy is tightly plotted, using all of its characters to its advantage to tell a meaningful, heartfelt story. A wonderful middle chapter in this epic Star Trek trilogy by a masterful author.

Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2020/04/Desti...

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second volume in the Star Trek: Destiny series was, if anything, more annoying than the first. But I keep reading because I want to see how they're going to survive since the Borg have started channeling their inner Dalek.

And the whole time paradox thing, though done to death, still fascinates. For that I can put up with Deanna Troi and Jean Luc Picard being even more whiny and illogical than usual.

[Drew Widney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Done with it. Hated it. Can’t believe I️ spent money on these books. Was sold on the concept that this was about the war with the borg. That is barely a topic as the main plot is this annoying alien race who imprison a handful of crew members and blah blah blah nothing happens. Horrendous. So disappointed

[Derkanus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: 2381: In the Azure Nebula, the Enterprise destroys 2 Borg cubes with transphasic torpedoes, but a 3rd cube knocks out targeting sensors and they're forced to retreat. They send a distress signal knowing there's likely no chance of it being answered.

The Aventine comes to the rescue just before the Enterprise's shields collapse. Picard tells Dax to use her ship's targeting system to aim the transphasic torpedoes. The Borg destroy most of them, but 1 gets through and the cube implodes. Afterwards, Picard asks her to beam aboard to help with their urgent mission.

Dax explains that they used a subspace tunnel to travel from the Gamma Quadrant. Picard says he can sense another imminent attack; they must repair, then find and close any other tunnel apertures. Dax worries that Worf is upset that she has her own command, since he likely never will; he he disobeyed orders to save Jadzia's life during the Dominion War.

1519: On Axion, Captain Hernandez, XO Veronica Fletcher, CMO Dr. Johanna Metzger, and Ensign Sidra Valerian are the sole Columbia survivors. Inyx says the Caeliar are using all their power to repair the city and find a new world for the Great Work.

The Quorum put the humans on trial for the destruction of Erigol. Inyx pleads that their interference did not disrupt the Great Work's transmission; the hostile response was intentional. One of the other Caeliar cities that escaped traveled back to the dawn of time, built a new civilization, then waited 14 fourteen billion years to smite them in order to create themselves--a causal loop. The Quorum agrees that the humans were victims too, and they may remain as guests.

2381: Hernandez welcomes the Titan to New Erigol, then says the Caeliar will not permit them to leave or have any external communications.

Inyx says the Quorum wants to exile the Titan crew to remote settlements on New Erigol and segregate them to stop procreation. He opposes this in favor of grouping those that are genetically incompatible instead. She asks why they let Titan come here, and he says the Federation is too large to displace without drawing attention.

Erika has been on New Erigol for 860 years. She can control the catoms and listen in on the gestalt.

The Enterprise analyzes the sensor data from the Aventine and finds 27 subspace conduits. Picard insists that they destroy them; Dax suggests self-replicating mines. Kadohata finds that there's space-time distortion when exiting the tunnels that would disperse the mines; also, closing one would cause a feedback loop that would cause quadrant-wide damage to space.

Admiral Nechayev orders Enterprise and Aventine to open each of the tunnels, which all have their own frequency, then scout ahead to find which ones the Borg are using. The Federation will setup a new front line at the other end and take the fight to the Borg.

President Bacco meets with ambassadors from 9 different worlds to garner support against the Borg. The Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, and Talarians vote in favor; she detains the Gorn, Breen, Cardassian, Tholian, and the splinter Romulan sect to politic for their support.

Seven tells the security council to recreate the Romulan thalaron weapon to destroy the Borg. The council says genocide is out of the question; Seven says the Borg will exterminated them then.

1519: Hernandez asks Inyx for a job, but he says she would need to use the gestalt, which would likely kill her. The Caeliar determine that the timeline is intact, and they do not need to undo what occurred. Inyx agrees to let Erika help search for a new planet on which to complete their Great Work.

2381: Ezri confides to Bowers that she feels like she's faking her way through as CO. He says she deserves to be in charge.

Chief Engineer Leishman teaches Geordi how the Aventine's advanced sensors work so he can modify the Enterprise's. She flirts with him and says after the mission he can take her on a date.

Dax tells Worf she's worried he resents her for making captain before him; he says he would save Jadzia over again given the chance, and he's glad Ezri has been successful. He says he belongs on the Enterprise.

Riker's team tries to use a folded-space transporter to bypass the Caeliar's planetary shell, but they can't break through the scattering field. He says they'll never give up rescuing the away team and going home.

Counselor Huilan tells Pazlar that she needs to spend less time using the holopresence system, or her muscles will atrophy. She disagrees, and he deactivates the system, revealing that she's not in her quarters, but in stellar cartography--where she's been for 39 hours. He says to come to his office when she's ready to talk.

The Caeliar warn the Titan away team that they will strictly monitored, since their last dealings with Starfleet resulted in the deaths of millions. The city, and the Caeliar themselves, are made from programmable matter; they are synthetic life-forms, though their catoms mimic their original biology.

Hernandez tells Troi that the Quorum will see her, but warns that they are selfish and xenophobic.

1525-1573: Hernandez enjoys helping Inyx search for viable planets, but is shocked when he says it will take decades. She says humans can't live their whole lives in space, so he creates a holographic simulation for them. Hernandez enthusiastically takes the other women to the simulated world, but they reject it as a gilded cage.

Eventually the women do use the ersatz beach, but never forget it's a simulation. Metzger kills herself by jumping from a balcony. When Valerian finds out, she becomes catatonic. The others decide to let her stay in a coma and die, slowly and painlessly.

At the last minute, Hernandez decides she can't let Valerian die and asks Inyx to save her, despite protests from the others. Inyx infuses Valerian's body with catoms, then connects her mind to the gestalt. She awakens screaming in horror, then claws her own face off as her body dissolves. Fletcher leaves without a word to Erika, who is filled with shame and rage.

Inyx confides to Erika that when he no longer wanted to go on as chief scientist after the destruction of Erigol, she was his inspiration; her desire to help him, despite her captivity, reminded him that helping others can often help oneself. She asks what he'll do when she dies, and he says she doesn't have to die if she chooses not to.

Eventually, Fletcher starts talking to Erika again. Hernandez says they'll be arriving at New Erigol soon, and the Caeliar will let them live on the surface. Fletcher is apathetic; she's dying.

2381: The Aventine exits the subspace tunnel in the Delta Quadrant to find the remains of hundreds of thousands of starships. They investigate while working out the frequency to open the tunnel from this end, and detect ships heading towards them.

Worf limps into sickbay and tells Beverly he injured himself in the holodeck. Soon after, Lt Choudhurry arrives in even worse shape. Crusher says their secret is safe with her.

The Aventine's scans reveal that the debris field consists entirely of Borg ships. They are intercepted by an energy-sphere vessel. The aliens communicate by psychically hijacking the conn officer: they say they're the children of the storm, and since the Aventine are not Borg, they won't be destroyed if they leave now. They head back to the subspace tunnel.

President Bacco meets with Ambassador Garak. He says it will take the Cardassians decades to find, colonize, and cultivate new worlds in the wake of the Dominion War. Bacco offers him 3 star systems if the castellan will commit her forces to the Azure Nebula as a public show of support. He says she'll have an answer soon.

Seven tells the admiralty that the Borg will sacrifice hundreds of cubes to adapt to the transphasic torpedoes. She suggests the entire Federation evacuate through a subspace tunnel to another galaxy, then collapse it behind them; everyone laughs. She chokes Admiral Jellico and threatens him with her assimilation tubules to make a point; he has her removed.

Ferengi Ambassador Derro meets with Bacco. She says the Gorn have reversed their position, but to prevent the Tholians from allying with the Breen, she wants the Ferengi to subcontract the Breen as mercenaries, leaving the Tholians without allies. He agrees.

The Tholian Ambassador is irate at Bacco's machinations. She asks him to set aside old hatreds and form a new alliance, but he simply storms out.

1574: They land on New Erigol. Inyx makes Fletcher and Hernandez a house, and Fletcher picks out a hilltop spot for Erika to bury her. When the time comes a few months later, Erika tries to get Inyx to save Fletcher, but he refuses, per Fletcher's wishes. After a week alone in their home, Erika asks Inyx to take her back to Axion.

The Caeliar start building a shell around the planet and its sun to maintain their privacy. Aside from Inyx, the other Caeliar regard Erika as a nonentity, and she's more alone than ever. She climbs to the top of a flight of stairs and throws herself off.

Erika awakens with Inyx looking over her. He says that the Quorum ordered him to stop researching human physiology, but he disobeyed them; he can stop her from aging and dying. She declines at first, but he tells her that he can't stand to see her die, and she changes her mind. He says the Quorum will forbid it, so he's not telling them until it's done.

Inyx says the catoms in Erika's body won't stabilize unless they can form a bond between her mind and the gestalt; if she doesn't surrender her mind to it, she will die like Sidra. She awakens to hear millions of voices in her head, and her body is fully restored. She can form objects with thoughts and fly through the air, as long as she stays within the limits of Axion's quantum field. Her joy turns to despair as she realizes she's made herself an eternal prisoner.

2381: The Enterprise gets word from Admiral Nechayev that reinforcements should start arriving in 36 hours.

Commander Kadohata contacts her husband and insinuates that he needs to take the kids and get away ASAP.

The Enterprise exits the tunnel into an icy void of one of the first proto-galactic clusters. All of the stars and planets were used up to build neutroniun spheres around a planet and sun. Their hails go unanswered, and Worf suggests they stick to their mission.

The Quorum rejects Troi's proposals. She asks why they don't go to another galaxy if they want privacy, and they say they need the protection of the galactic barrier, as there are great malevolent forces in the universe.

Huilan asks Xin to deactivate the holo-presence system so Melora stops hiding in her quarters. He also questions why Xin made it for her in the first place; perhaps because he treats his own relationships as holograms.

Vale and Keru work up an escape plan. Troi suggests they talk to Hernandez, but Vale orders them not to talk to Erika. She also orders Troi to see Dr. Ree; she can tell how much pain she's in.

Xin and Pazlar tell Riker that the Caeliar signals are soliton pulses creating narrow subspace tunnels, likely so the Caeliar can see across the galaxy. Riker tells them to find the frequencies so they can see what the Caeliar are spying on.

Ree tells Troi that the synthetase inhibitor isn't working; the fetus will rupture her uterine wall in 2 days. Troi tells Vale to get her back to Titan, because she's not having the procedure done without her Imzadi.

1574-2095: Hernandez never tires, never needs to sleep or eat, and has perfect memory recall. She tells Inyx she can't hear the gestalt, but she's lying--though she can't fully understand their language yet. She misses home, and vows to act when the time is right.

500 years pass. The Caeliar are ready to resume their Great Work, but are procrastinating for some reason. In 73 years, Erika will catch up to her own history. She begins to plan her rebellion.

2381: Tuvok mind-melds with Vale and Keru so the Caeliar can't overhear their escape plans. They use a tricorder to shatter a glass tower as a distraction, then Keru beams onto the shuttle and checks for the gap in the planetary shell; it's closed. Inyx appears and escorts him back, then destroys everyone's tricorders.

Hernandez tells Troi that they can't escape; Troi says if they don't, Earth will be destroyed. Erika says she needs to think.

The Aventine and Enterprise become more efficient at it opening tunnels; they should find the Borg within a day. 342 ships have joined them in the nebula.

Aventine and Enterprise exit a tunnel into a plasma stream between a binary pair and are nearly destroyed. Picard hears the Borg Queen in his head, who says they'll meet again soon. Sensors pick up a pack of Hirogen ships heading their way, giving them 2 hours to repair and leave.

2168-2381: While the Caeliar watch the destruction of Erigol, Erika breaks into Inyx's lab to learn about Earth's history: the Romulan War ended with the creation of the Neutral Zone; the Federation was formed; her love Jonathan Archer became an admiral, and is now ambassador to Andoria. Ordemo cuts her off and summons her to the Quorum.

The Quorum tells Inyx that he will be held accountable for Erika's actions; she cannot be trusted and will try to contact Earth. She tells them their isolation is making them narrow-minded, and it's contradictory that they seek out new worlds but hide from the ones around them.

Erika tries for decades to send out a message, but Inyx always catches her. He says he can't bear to see her banished to grow old and die alone. For his sake, she surrenders the last of her fighting spirit--until the Titan arrives. She can't stand the thought of being both a prisoner and their jailer.

Hernandez listens in on the gestalt as they discuss the subspace tunnels they've found leading to the former site of Erigol. The passages have been opened and primitive civilizations have been traveling through them. Inyx is working on closing them.

Troi becomes very sick and Ree says he needs to operate or she'll die. She punches him and tells him to stay away, hallucinating from fever. The others run in and try to stop the doctor, but he says there's no time; he sinks his teeth into her chest.

Sheild repairs won't be completed before the Hirogen arrive, so the Enterprise and Aventine are forced into combat. They destroy 2 of the 10 attacking ships, but the others ram the Federation vessels and send in boarding parties. The Hirogen use dampening fields to knock out lights and prevent phasers from working, so ballistic weapons and blades are the only option.

The Hirogen attackers eventually make their way to the bridge, brutally killing numerous security guards before they're dispatched. The tunnel has become unstable, and they have to go through now or never. They still don't have shields, so they detonate transphasic torpedoes to create a gap in the plasma stream, giving them 6 seconds to make it through.

Both ships make it into the tunnel, but it starts to implode. They make it out just in time, but find a starship graveyard waiting for them in the Azure Nebula. The only ship still in-tact is Voyager; Chakotay says the Borg rammed straight through all the whole fleet. Scans reveal over 7000 Borg ships in Federation, Klingon, and Romulan space.

All the subspace tunnels have collapsed. Dax tells Picard she's going after the Borg, despite his insistence of its futility. He tells Worf to follow her.

President Bacco asks Seven how they can stop the Borg; she says they can't.

Ra-Havreii and Pazlar (back in her exosuit) manage to tap into the Caeliar's soliton pulses. They watch an armada of Borg ships plow through the allied forces. Hernandez appears on the Titan's bridge and says she can take them to the Azure Nebula, but can't free the away team. Riker reluctantly tells her to take them home.


Review: 4.5 stars. It starts and ends with intense Borg action, but it's a bit slow in the middle, focusing on Hernandez/the Caeliar, the Enterprise/Aventine going down various warp pipes, and the Titan crew trying to escape New Erigol. The impending Borg attack seemed like it was never going to come, especially with the Hirogen subplot thrown in there. [Reading this a second time, I still felt like "come on already" about halfway through the book.]

Despite my qualms, this was a great book that I couldn't put down, and I can't wait to start book 3! (Actually, I did immediately after finishing book 2, despite the fact that it was 12:30 PM on a work night.)

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was a step up from the first novel in the series so maybe a 3.5 and the ending is certainly bang on for a trilogy "the dark before the light" type of feeling. However, I just feel like after reading 60 Trek books there is certainly better out there and while this is good it certainly isn't 4 or 5 star Trek material in my honest opinion.

[Jeremy Bonnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one started out slow, but it definitely did not finish that way! At first, I found the time shifts annoying because they took me out of the story, but they slowly started to blend and paint a clear picture of what was going on. I kept thinking of how fantastic this would be as a movie or, better yet, a high-budget streaming show with multiple episodes. Excellent story. I'm just glad that I can jump right into the next book immediately.

4.6 out of 5 stars

[Jonathon Laudinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy but I gave Mere Mortals 5 stars becasue of the Hirogen boarding party attack on the Enterprise...Worf is awesome.

[Hex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better written and more enjoyable than the first book, even when it still has many of the same pitfalls

Story-wise, most of it is centered around the Caeliar and Hernandez. I liked this, since this part actually has you wondering about what's going to happen, features very futuristic technology and overall just feels more interesting than what happens on the Titan, Enterprise and Aventine.

The crews of said ships, just as in the first book, still mostly meddle in interpersonal drama, some of it on TLC cringe levels. A lot of the characters still feel off, and at times just very wierd (LaForge? wtf man). But, barring that, at least they get more to do this time around.

Not great, but better, and not much of an ending.

This hovers somewhere between a 2,5 and a 3/5, I'll round it up.

[Lance Schonberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: this short review will be attached to all three of the Star Trek: Destiny books, and I’m trying not to think about how long I’ve been putting this off.

Star Trek: Destiny is trilogy set in the expanded universe of post-Nemesis Star Trek. It involves, to varying degrees, the crew of the Enterprise, Titan, Aventine, and the NX-02 Columbia, as well as a few other viewpoints to give you a more wide ranging view of what is essentially a giant conflict.

The conflict? The Borg have decided that the Federation (and its nearby neighbours) has been a pain in its Collective butt for too long. Assimilation is no longer on the table. It’s time for extermination.
It’s a huge story involving far too many characters and far too much crossover. Saving it is the fact that long term trekkies will be familiar with most of the viewpoint characters. The ones that are new or come from recent novels are generally well written and add to the story line.

On the down side, events in this story (and others referenced in the recent past of the timeline) seem to have turned Picard into an introspective, depressing wimp, and I very much didn’t like it. Every scene with Picard as the POV character made me grind my teeth. Yes, quite probably the emotional response the author was looking for, but not one that I found satisfying at all.

Other characters were more satisfying. Worf worked very well. Riker and Troi, in the midst of their own turmoil over the fate of their unborn child, worked apart and together in a big way. Dax, well, I could have done with less Dax, but I can see how she worked for the story.

I also feel like we spent a little too much time with the back story of Captain Hernandez and surviving crew, interesting as it was, and I didn’t find the actions of some of them reasonable, even considering the circumstances they found themselves in, although those actions were crucial to the plot.

But it’s really a story about the Borg. Where they came from, how they were created, and what happened to them as a result of the events in Destiny. It’s a big, dangerous universe with lots going on, but the Borg are at the heart of everything even if they don’t get a lot of direct screen time in the story.

And don’t worry. The Federation survives.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is getting better and better.

The Enterprise and the Aventine are in the Azure Nebula trying to find the Borg's staging ground for their recent attacks. They work feverishly to find out which subspace aperture there is the one the Borg use so they can take the fight to the Borg. On Earth, Federation president Nan Bacco organizes a huge armada of ships from many civilizations, including the Klingons, the Romulans, the Ferenghi, the Cardassians, the Talarians, the Gorn and the Breen and sends them to the Azure Nebula to join the fight.

The Titan is trapped at New Erigol, as was the Columbia 200 years ago. Erika Hernandez is among the group of Caeliar who greeted the away team, looking younger than when she vanished. She has their powers and now helps them in their Great Work- to find a more advanced civilization and make contact. They are still xenophobic and reclusive, and still will not allow any ship to leave once it arrives. Commander Vale now has the unenviable task of finding a way to escape and return to the Titan before Counselor Troi's unviable pregnancy kills her.

Erika recalls how she came to be the last survivor of her crew, and how she passed the 800 years after they were stranded in the past following the destruction of Erigol. Now that she has their power, she wonders if there isn't something she can do to help the Titan crew avoid what happened to hers.

On one of their scouting runs, the Enterprise and Aventine find themselves in battle against a Hirogen hunting pack. They were unable to get back through the aperture before the Hirogen arrived, and had to stand and fight. Ten destroyed Hirogen ships later, the two ships returned to the Azure Nebula to find that the battle against the Borg happened without them. It did not go well.

The Titan is faced with either taking an opportunity to escape and leaving their away team on New Erigol or staying until they could all leave together. Once again, a powerful cliffhanger leads into the third installment of this trilogy. Can't wait to see how this ends!

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Mack is just a really good writer. "Mere Mortals" really plays well off of "God's of Night" and, in my opinion, is a much better book. However, it never quite delivered on the huge epicness that I expeted. I'll get to that in my review. But it should be noted that this is a really good book.

The flashbacks with Erica Hernandez of the Columbia and the Caeliar were much more interesting in this book than in the last one, for me. I was really interested in seeing how she progressed 800 years. It did not dissapoint.

The best storyline in this book however was the Enterprise storyline with the Aventine, which had action and excitement. It ended fantastically, and really makes me excited for the final book. My only complaint is that the Borg action happened offscreen and this is pitched as the end all be all Borg trilogy and that's not really what we've gotten yet.

Also, I loved the political intrigue(shocking, I know) with President Bacco and Seven Of Nine. I've been told that other books focus on the politics and I hope thats true, because the diplomatic back and forths were just fascinating.

The Riker/Troi stuff and everything else on Titan was ok, but none of it was amazing. It was the weakest plotline in the book for me. Thankfully, the third book shouldn't have many flashbacks, so I should love all the action(I hope).

Overall, this is still a great series, but it's not as good as some of the best Star Trek books I've read. I give this book a 8.5 out of 10!

[Tanya Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review for the whole 'Destiny' trilogy.

I read a lot of Star Trek books and tend to rate them internally, so 5* for what I think is a good Trek novel, doesn’t mean it is necessarily a good novel for anyone who isn't a fan. These three books are 1* Trek novels for a reason entirely related to the story, not the quality of the writing. I like Trek when it deals with a whole range of alien cultures, and does not put humankind at the centre of the universe. These novels are absolutely guilty of putting humanity at the centre of every problem, not just as the species resolving the issue but as the species who cause the issue, even when it originates in a different quarter of space. As even the creation of the borg is due to human error I really can't recommend these books.

As I say, its a reason specific to my enjoyment of Trek, but it means I read these books with increasing frustration and couldn't recommend them even to another fan. This is no reflection on David Mack, whose work I have read and enjoyed in the past, but this time, it didn't work for me.

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to love in the second novel of the Destiny trilogy, but also some padding as well. Just to get this out of the way, the Borg barely appear in this novel. Weird right? The book borders on boring in a couple places as well.

Okay so just about everything involving the Enterprise, Aventine and Titan is great (well except for bloody Deanna Troi and her subplot) and most of the stuff involving Erika Hernandez and whats left of her crew as they're prisoners of the Caliear is good.

There is a but though and its this....

The Caliear portions start of really strong and the story is sad and heartbreaking. It's also too long and halfway through the book I just found reading another 30 straight pages of it a slog. After that the book rushes to an exciting action packed finale and teases in book 3, what I kinda hoped would have happened in book 2; a Borg invasion. I was also hoping to find out some about the Borgs origins. I can only hope Mack is able to juggle everything he has set up in a satisfying way.

A tiny step down from Lost Souls, but Mere Mortals is still a worthy read. Recommended.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second book in the series doesn't disappoint. Action-packed to the brim, both with ship to ship battles and hand to hand ones. The final step of the Borg invasion of known space has commenced, with enough Borg cubes to destroy all the inhabited worlds and starbases at the same time. All hope rests on the shoulders of three iconic characters: Picard, Riker and Dax and the Caeliar Hernandez.

As an added bonus we receive glimpses of what Erika Hernandez's life among the Caeliar had been like for over 800 years.

An amazing and extremely entertaining book, recommended for all trekkies out there!

[Jenny T · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review for Gods of Night. David Mack brings the Star Trek universe to life in amazing ways -- the sheer scope of this book (and its predecessor), effortlessly juggling characters, ships, worlds, and timelines, and the depth of detail (from Klingon insults to Romulan politics, to cameos from old friends who have come a LONG way since I saw them last) is incredible.

Now that the Federation has gathered its allies, Book Three promises a war with the Borg armada and some insight into the origin of the Borg. And I can't wait.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than book #1 -- the realpolitik is more devious, the battles are more visceral, and the terrible exile of the Columbia crew on the Caliear ship is brought home with incredible sadness. The middle entry of the Destiny series is a far more emotional, exciting & poignant read than its predecessor...and is a much more satisfying novel as a result.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suffers a bit from middle child syndrome, and I’m a bit pissed to see yet another plot that hinges on a mortally dangerous pregnancy, but overall this was an engaging read. Still can’t believe they completely removed B’Elanna from the equation though. It’s like they’re personally out to attack me.

[Crystal Bensley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good continuation of the series- the action scenes were the only bits that dragged a little.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mere Mortals kicks off straight after the previous book with Picard under the orders of Admiral Jellico putting together a somewhat large fleet in order to counter the Borg Armada that they expect to turn up via the subspace routes discovered previously! :D

At the same time the crew of the USS Titan finds themselves as 'guests' of the Caeliar! This neatly dovetails with the flashbacks of Erika Hernandez which busily fill in the blanks regarding her story and catching her up to the present day! :D This establishes how they find her alive and well but at the same time works as a narrative structure mirroring the differences of Hernandez and the Titans crew! :D Back on the ship Riker is busily trying to extract the ship and Away Team and the decision he reaches with Hernandez really gives the story an edge and set up further plotlines! :D

Picard and Ezri on the Enterprise and the Aventine respectively are busily scouting the subspace corridors that have appeared in Federation space which leads them to all sorts of intriguing systems such as one the represents the more advanced Caeliar and this in turn neatly dovetails with the Caeliar own theory of one of their cities ending back at the beginning of time! :D Interestingly though Inyx makes a reference directly from what could have come from the Guardian of Forever 'it means all is as it was, as it should be.' certainly hinting at the possibility that his race or descendants in the past created the Guardian or had a hand in it! :D A neat Easter Egg that also possibly sets up new plot lines there for sure! :D We get to see the beginning of the Borg Invasion with literally thousands of ships streaming into Federation and Allied space! :D This is on a gigantic scale that is staggering and the immensity knocks characters for sure but the attitude of we can win this is prevalent throughout the book in spite of the staggering losses that the Milky Way is taking! :D

The neat side tours through the subspace corridors that you see are also fill with tension as the Aventine and the Enterprise have to confront he Hirogen in one such encounter and the brutal battle is brilliantly displayed and and a real visceral quality to it and an edge of the seat dynamic as you really don not know which way it is going to fly but the Hirogen suffer severe turn around though I the form of Worf on the Enterprise and Lieutenant Kedair over on the Aventine really give them a sound thrashing! :D In fact the cold blooded way that Worf and Kedair do it is certainly eye opening and excellently handled though it raises the all encompassing question of how do you get all that blood off carpets, walls etc! :D

The continued expanding of New Erigol and Axiom is neatly handled as well the Vale, Tuvok and the rest of the Away team trying to find their way out! :D This leads to leads to very clever humour as the Caeliar seem more amused as this point with the antics of the Federation officers! :D At the same time the dichotomy and self delusion in there society of 'Pacifists' comes through strong and clear and you can see that not all Caeliar agree with their leader Ordemo Nordal such Inyx and his scientists who as the book goes on seems to be rising in their frequency which is neatly pace but you get the impression that it certainly building to something!:D

Riker and Hernandez's escape with the Titan is cleverly done and the way in which are able to use the subspace conduits to reach the Azure Nebula where they meet up with Enterprise and Aventine in neatly handled and what has gone before neatly set it up as more than a fortuitous meeting between all three captains Picard, Dax and Riker! :D We also throughout get to catch up with the crew of Voyager who find themselves holding the fleet down while Aventine and Enterprise are off hogging the exploration but if does show how far Paris and Chakotay have come since Janeway left!

Mere Mortals blazes along at an incredible, pace jumping all over the Milky way dropping hints, Great Barrier, Guardian etc all over the place, time travel and grand fleet battles but at the same time remains coherent,setting up new plot lines and dynamics as every stage! :D If is filled with character right down down to Riker and Troi's family issues and Dr Ree and unorthodox medicine and we get to see the Federation President Bacco as she wrestles with the enormity of the situation! :D Throughout there is humour though with Jellico trench foot advice from Nechayev to why things never are discovered on Alpha Shift! :D Mere Mortals is brilliant on all fronts, displaying great depth of characters, adventure, moral choices, heroics and is action packed throughout! :D Brilliant. Highly recommended crisp high five! :D Plot lines are set up all over the place make sure you have next one! :D

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the events of "Gods of Night," "Mere Mortals" is yet another riveting tale. At once I found myself glued to the book, although I felt like it was a slightly weaker installment than the first.
I'll try not to spoil anything, but Captain Erika Hernandez (who I just learned moments ago was an on-screen character in Star Trek: Enterprise, a show I've watched very little of) is still a captive of the Caeliar. And once again, the feeling of helplessness and despair is very palpable in this story. As a result of a cataclysm at the end of the first book, the Caeliar city is flung back in time to Earth year 1519. This adds to the helplessness tremendously, because now, Earth isn't even worth returning to. Hernandez's transformation to basic immortality, which allows her to live to the point she encountered the Caeliar in the first place, was a brilliant device. Centuries later she meets Titan...read the book for more. I was just floored by this story.
Enterprise and Aventine are still exploring the subspace fissures trying to find the one the Borg are using, but not much happens here. This is where the story was a bit of a slog. They travel through each of them and find cool things, but it got a bit tedious after a while. There are some shipboard activities as well. Ezri Dax talks to Worf again. Speaking of Worf, I had a very, very hard time believing that the Enterprise's female chief of security, Choudhury, would be enough of a match for him in unarmed combat to send both of them to sickbay. Yet another agenda-driven strike against the Litverse.....
Oh, and Nan Bacco's back. I appreciated how Mack tamed her a bit compared "Articles of the Federation." She still has some spice, but it's used in the right way this time.
So that's my basic summary. It's a very entertaining novel but not quite as good as Gods of Night. Slow in places, faster in others, but still has that personal, human element that makes David Mack's writing click. The climax is exciting, but not exactly relevant to the story. With all the shaping up so far, the next book should be incredible.

[Alicea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Trek Destiny #2: Mere Mortals by David Mack continues the trilogy that I began discussing on Monday. We find our crews separated across not only vast distances but also by time itself. Hernandez and 3 members of her crew are stranded with the Caeliar in the 1500s trying to find a suitable planet to inhabit without any hope of returning to their lives back on Earth in their time. Riker and the crew of Titan have reached the homeworld of the Caeliar in the present day and things do not go according to plan...in fact events quickly snowball out of Riker's control. Meanwhile, Picard and Dax are going through subspace tunnels in the style of eeny, meeney, miney, moe trying to find the one which will lead them to the Borg's point of origin and hopefully onto a path of defeating them.

The best parts of this installment were those which followed Hernandez's struggles to adjust to her new existence and the glimpses of the Federation President scrabbling to put together a formidable force to defeat the approaching Borg Armada. There are two reasons I think that I preferred these two storylines: I still haven't watched Nemesis and still feel confused by this reality and Mack's depiction of familiar faces did not sit right with me particularly in regards to Picard. Sometimes I find that the best Star Trek novelizations are the ones where the author focuses more on the storyline element and less on the characters which the audience typically knows really well. In this case, Mack's description of the Caeliar race and their culture coupled with the (unknown to me at least) Captain Hernandez and her never-ending quest to escape/understand her captors was exactly what I wanted in a great sci-fi novel. Conversely, the dramatic characterization of Riker's faltering marriage and Picard's inner struggles against the Borg felt stilted and forced.

By this point, I was way too invested not to continue so if you're wondering how I felt about the conclusion you can check back next week for that (although hopefully you're checking every day (-:). 7/10 for book 2 in this trilogy.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said in my review for “Gods of Night,” I’ll write a complete review of the trilogy once I finish the third book.

I am still annoyed that this series is three books instead of a single long book. The stories are not standalone at all, there’s no arc that runs its course in the span of the individual novels. This is like the difference between the way that DS9 handled serialization — with self-contained episodes containing a beginning/middle/end that nevertheless connected to tell a longer story — and how DSC and PIC mostly handle serialization, where you feel like there’s no resolution until the end of the season.

This entire trilogy isn’t even as long as “The Stand” or “Infinite Jest.” David Mack could’ve easily trimmed down the Caeliar parts of the story, combined the three books together, and had an epic but manageably-sized novel.

****** EDIT ******

Now that I’ve finished the third book in this trilogy, I’m going to review the story as a whole and append this to the end of my semi-reviews of the first two books.

…which leads me to my only real gripe with the Destiny trilogy, which is that while I understand that they are part of a longer story arc, they do not have self-contained arcs with a beginning, middle, and end. I realize this might feel like a bizarre nitpicking criticism to get hung up on, but when I read three books, I want to feel like I’ve read three books, not a single long book.

That being said, however, the story is fucking phenomenal. This was my first experience with the Star Trek novels, and it’s everything I wanted: sci-fi-scale problems, interesting new alien races, crossover between lots of series, and the return of a lot of fan-favorite characters. I loved hearing what Simon Tarses has been up to since The Drumhead, and I loved getting to spend so much time with Ezri Dax.

Some of the middle section with the Caeliar dragged a bit in the moment, but I realized later why it was necessary.

David Mack did a great job with the macro and micro scale stuff, taking breaks from the larger action to “zoom in” on the individuals in the thick of that action.

I’m not sure if I’d necessarily recommend Destiny as anyone’s first Trek novel, though, because I am worried about how I will return to smaller-scale stories after this huge epic one. But maybe if you’re only planning to ever read a single Trek novel, this (meaning the entire Destiny trilogy, which I would argue is just a single long novel) might be my pick.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book in print through Interlibrary Loan from Wilmington, DE.

This is the second book in the series, so I have one more to go. This was a good middle volume in a trilogy. There were several story arcs.

I particularly liked the story of the 4 women from the Columbia who traveled to the past with the Caeliar. Seeing them evolve over the human years provided a compelling story line as each of them followed different paths. The issue of what to do in old age presents itself. Inyx reveals that the Caeliar oppose euthanasia, which I found odd for such an advanced race of aliens.

An arc that I did not care for was the one about Troi and Riker's fetus. It seemed drawn out and Troi seemed particularly unreasonable to me. The tension between the couple was painful to read about.

When the Titan's main officers get stranded with the Caeliar on the planet's surface, I had to laugh. Who sends their most important officers down when you don't know what reception you will receive? This has always been a flaw of Star Trek.

The power of the Borg is again presented well. The conversations between Locutus and the Queen are scary. Seven of Nine has a great role in this volume as well.

I was impressed with the author's techno talk in describing weapons systems, the Caeliar creations, and starship features. The description of the wormholes and their physics was also good. Battle scenes were well described.

It will be interesting given the denouement in this 2nd volume to see how the Federation copes with the continuing Borg threat. I am looking forward to reading the last volume in this trilogy.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek: Post-Nemesis - Mere Mortals by David Mack - Second book in the Destiny trilogy

Adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional,
hopeful, informative, inspiring, mysterious,
reflective, sad, and tense.

Medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25 Stars

This was the episode of Star Trek, that would be the last episode of the season, with the next episode being the first one fo the next season...and it's a doosy.

I really like the character arc of Erica Hernandez. I don't want to say too much, but she is amazing in this story. Simply amazing.

The antagonists of this book are vaired and many, so be prepared to be attacked by so many of the "bad guys" of the TNG, DS9 and VOY eras. So good, and well "executed", plus one that is new to this series.

The interpersonal relations that we experience in this book...are so well developed and revealed...under the pressures that each of the characters are under. No one is having a "good day", not one of them, unfortunately.

The coming together of Captainn Picard, Captain Riker and Captain Ezra Dax, with their crews was wonderful, with the addtion of one more...so well done. Indeed.

Still not a fan of the admiralty in Star Trek. Ugh. They seem to ALWAYS make things worse.

The one organization that I am really impressed with (not because they don't make mistakes...'cause they do, but they have heart...and are willing to put EVERYTHING on the line...to do what's right, not convenient...and that is the president of the United Federation of Planets, Nanietta Bacco. So good, too.