What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Trek: The Lost Era #1
The Sundered
The hidden history of the Star Trek universe is revealed in this new series charting the seventy years between Captain Kirk's disappearance and the beginning of The Next Generation. Nearly a decade after Captain Kirk vanished, his protege, Captain Hiraku Sulu of the USS Excelsior, leads a dangerous mission into uncharted political waters. Unprecedented peace talks with the violently xenophobic Tholian Assembly trigger a deadly confrontation aboard the Excelsior. Now Sulu and his crew - including Chekov, Rand, Chapel, Tuvok, and Akaar - are thrust into an unexpected conflict between the Tholians and a mysterious new enemy, the Neyel... whose origins, if revealed, could lead to war with Earth itself. As the Tholians weave a web of vengeance, the Excelsior is flung beyond the galaxy and the crew discovers the hidden truth about the alien Neyel, forcing Sulu to question where his responsibilities lie - with the fragile peace he must preserve, or with the victims of his own world's tragic past.
387 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
42 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Michael A. Martin
92 books54 followersMichael A. Martin's solo short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. He has also coauthored (with Andy Mangels) several Star Trek comics for Marvel and Wildstorm and numerous Star Trek novels and eBooks, including the USA Today bestseller Titan: Book One: Taking Wing; Titan: Book Two: The Red King; the Sy Fy Genre Award-winning Star Trek: Worlds of Deep Space 9 Book Two: Trill -- Unjoined; Star Trek: The Lost Era 2298 -- The Sundered; Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Mission: Gamma: Vol. Three: Cathedral; Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31 -- Rogue; Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #30 and #31 ("Ishtar Rising" Books 1 and 2); stories in the Prophecy and Change, Tales of the Dominion War, and Tales from the Captain's Table anthologies; and three novels based on the Roswell television series. His most recent novels include Enterprise: The Romulan War and Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many.
His work has also been published by Atlas Editions (in their Star Trek Universe subscription card series), Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Visible Ink Press, The Oregonian, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books for young readers. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Portland, Oregon.
His work has also been published by Atlas Editions (in their Star Trek Universe subscription card series), Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Visible Ink Press, The Oregonian, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books for young readers. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Portland, Oregon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 31, 2021
A very memorable story that serves as a terrific start to the Lost Era series. The Neyel are a fascinating exploration of a branch of humanity that is nearly unrecognizable, but still ultimately human for good and for ill. There was also a great deal of insight into the Tholians, which I really appreciate, as they are a species that I always love to learn more about. I enjoyed the authors' efforts at reconciling various accounts of the Tholians into a cohesive version of them for this novel. A strong story featuring interesting characters and a setup from which to launch future stories, The Sundered really is Martin and Mangels at their best, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying every aspect of the book.
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/03/Sunde...
Full review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/03/Sunde...
September 16, 2011
A great "Star Trek" book. Fans of the original series will love the return of so many characters and brings in in depth look at the Tholian Empire.
April 13, 2015
I'm a little conflicted by this book. While I enjoyed the small (and not so small) references to an episode of Voyager and the other series, the whole premise didn't really do it for me. Keeping track of four different storylines became annoying, and when lessons learnt from all of them coalesced into a climax, it felt stilted and obvious. Sadly, the resolution was also obvious, but in part it was rehashing revelations from the episode of Voyager. I am not certain if I will continue with this series.
July 7, 2025
a very strong 4.5 - I think in the end what kind of hurt it a little bit for me was so recently reading another Trek series where long lost people from the past became new adversaries for future heroes to deal with. Admittedly I think this novel was published before those, but eventually this concept I think reaches into nearly overuse. It doesn't mean it isn't fun however and I am a big fan of Captain Sulu and the crew of the Excelsior.
October 10, 2013
It has been a long time since I got a tear in my eye at the end of a Star Trek book, but it happened today. Don't get me wrong, I was not bawling. It was one of those "Ahhh" moments. It was good. The story was good.
There were a few moments where I thought it was wandering around a little too much, but it got back on track and threaded it's way around my heart and gave a little squeeze at the end.
I enjoyed the new characters that the author introduced and had a laugh remembering where they came from. (See the comments in my status updates for more on this). I would enjoy meeting them again as well as visiting Captain Sulu, ExO Chekov, Commander Rand and Doctor Chappell. I really liked Sulu as Captain of the Excelsior.
This story is about Tholians and the Excelsior on a diplomatic mission to forge an alliance between the Tholians and the Federation. During the negotiations, they find a new race of "human" cousins called Neyel, who are at war with the Tholians. Their story was well done, if not a little over the top. I did not like the human ambassador very much, until the end.
Live long and prosper...
There were a few moments where I thought it was wandering around a little too much, but it got back on track and threaded it's way around my heart and gave a little squeeze at the end.
I enjoyed the new characters that the author introduced and had a laugh remembering where they came from. (See the comments in my status updates for more on this). I would enjoy meeting them again as well as visiting Captain Sulu, ExO Chekov, Commander Rand and Doctor Chappell. I really liked Sulu as Captain of the Excelsior.
This story is about Tholians and the Excelsior on a diplomatic mission to forge an alliance between the Tholians and the Federation. During the negotiations, they find a new race of "human" cousins called Neyel, who are at war with the Tholians. Their story was well done, if not a little over the top. I did not like the human ambassador very much, until the end.
Live long and prosper...
March 11, 2020
This is my fourth work I’ve read by the two authors who wrote this book here. All Star Trek books. All but the short story were 3 star works (short story got an extra 0.77 so would have been a 4 star work if it wasn’t a short story in a short story collection that ended up receiving an overall rating of 3 stars).
This is also something like my 168th (or 188th? I forget if I include fanfiction on my Star Trek shelf) Star Trek work I’ve read. Some are interesting, some aren’t, and most aren’t that difficult or annoying to read. Some I’ve really enjoyed like those Star Trek Voyager fanfiction works by Fletcher DeLancey which later because the basis for a separate lesbian science fiction series (technically LGBT since one stars an asexual instead of a lesbian).
This specific book is set in between the events of the Star Trek The Original Series and Star Trek The Next Generation. Actually this book takes place five years after the end of Star Trek Generations, that film that mixed the TOS and TNG cast together. I know because that’s literally the first line in the book description (well, the five years part).
Sulu is the captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior and his mission is to go visit some antagonistic insects who have reached out for possible peace. The Tholians are quite distrustful of all those critters filling the universe who aren’t like them, which basically means the rest of the critters in the universe. They also look like spiders in space suits, or environmental suits. There’s a very very angry woman who is aboard the Excelsior who will act as diplomat. Though she’s the kind who’d sell out the humans for a ham sandwich. You know, like that human who helped the lizards in Battlestar Galactica (what, the original series had the aliens be lizards, though they were never seen, their robots were seen). I think the human in BG helped because the lizards were nice to him. Also, he wanted power.
While near the Tholian space, Sulu also has the task of sending probes deeper to see what they can see. Oh, and if anyone finds out, the Admiralty will pretend Sulu stole the Excelsior, or something. The probes reveal a ‘rift’ or something, in space. During a cooling down period after talks kind of break off for a moment, Sulu takes his ship deep into Tholian space. Secretly. How? No clue. Star Trek swore off cloaking technology back in Sulu’s era.
Whereupon we find a different storyline that’s been running along beside the Star Trek one. This one involves a race of aliens who look nothing like humans. Yet, they share the same DNA . . . or something. Not really, they’ve been so heavily modified they are probably as close to Human DNA as a banana (which is shockingly close to human DNA - depends on if you read a science article or a business article, but about bananas and humans share about 50% to 60% of their DNA - think of that the next time you eat a banana). But still, apparently they ‘share the same DNA’. Then again, most other species in the galaxy shares human DNA (you know, so that a human/Vulcan could have an off-spring that is fertile). So the shocking revelation that these aliens have Human DNA is . . . not exactly that shocking when you consider that the reader is reading a book set in the Star Trek universe where everything can mate with everything else and have viable off-spring.
Right, so. If you know anything about Star Trek history, a third world war occurred and humanity almost got wiped out. At some point in the rebuilding stage, James Cromwell built a warp capable space-ship and rode around in it. Aliens saw him do it and thought that humans were now, because of this, fascinating enough to look at. These aliens being Vulcans. I mention all of that because the other story-line follows one of those colonies that were floating above earth when earth went all nuclear war like. Because of a science experiment, the colony ended up rocketing out of the Sol system. And they are the ancestors of these Aliens that Sulu and ship encounter. (This might seem like spoiler, but all of what I’ve written is basically revealed within the first few chapters of the book . . if I recall correctly).
The human colony that accidentally ended up far from earth and starting a new human line story line was interesting. The Star Trek part, the Sulu part, wasn’t that interesting. And the ‘other humans’ story line less than quickly also started to get a little less than interesting. Still, book was good enough to get a 3.25 rating.
Rating: 3.25
March 11, 2020
This is also something like my 168th (or 188th? I forget if I include fanfiction on my Star Trek shelf) Star Trek work I’ve read. Some are interesting, some aren’t, and most aren’t that difficult or annoying to read. Some I’ve really enjoyed like those Star Trek Voyager fanfiction works by Fletcher DeLancey which later because the basis for a separate lesbian science fiction series (technically LGBT since one stars an asexual instead of a lesbian).
This specific book is set in between the events of the Star Trek The Original Series and Star Trek The Next Generation. Actually this book takes place five years after the end of Star Trek Generations, that film that mixed the TOS and TNG cast together. I know because that’s literally the first line in the book description (well, the five years part).
Sulu is the captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior and his mission is to go visit some antagonistic insects who have reached out for possible peace. The Tholians are quite distrustful of all those critters filling the universe who aren’t like them, which basically means the rest of the critters in the universe. They also look like spiders in space suits, or environmental suits. There’s a very very angry woman who is aboard the Excelsior who will act as diplomat. Though she’s the kind who’d sell out the humans for a ham sandwich. You know, like that human who helped the lizards in Battlestar Galactica (what, the original series had the aliens be lizards, though they were never seen, their robots were seen). I think the human in BG helped because the lizards were nice to him. Also, he wanted power.
While near the Tholian space, Sulu also has the task of sending probes deeper to see what they can see. Oh, and if anyone finds out, the Admiralty will pretend Sulu stole the Excelsior, or something. The probes reveal a ‘rift’ or something, in space. During a cooling down period after talks kind of break off for a moment, Sulu takes his ship deep into Tholian space. Secretly. How? No clue. Star Trek swore off cloaking technology back in Sulu’s era.
Whereupon we find a different storyline that’s been running along beside the Star Trek one. This one involves a race of aliens who look nothing like humans. Yet, they share the same DNA . . . or something. Not really, they’ve been so heavily modified they are probably as close to Human DNA as a banana (which is shockingly close to human DNA - depends on if you read a science article or a business article, but about bananas and humans share about 50% to 60% of their DNA - think of that the next time you eat a banana). But still, apparently they ‘share the same DNA’. Then again, most other species in the galaxy shares human DNA (you know, so that a human/Vulcan could have an off-spring that is fertile). So the shocking revelation that these aliens have Human DNA is . . . not exactly that shocking when you consider that the reader is reading a book set in the Star Trek universe where everything can mate with everything else and have viable off-spring.
Right, so. If you know anything about Star Trek history, a third world war occurred and humanity almost got wiped out. At some point in the rebuilding stage, James Cromwell built a warp capable space-ship and rode around in it. Aliens saw him do it and thought that humans were now, because of this, fascinating enough to look at. These aliens being Vulcans. I mention all of that because the other story-line follows one of those colonies that were floating above earth when earth went all nuclear war like. Because of a science experiment, the colony ended up rocketing out of the Sol system. And they are the ancestors of these Aliens that Sulu and ship encounter. (This might seem like spoiler, but all of what I’ve written is basically revealed within the first few chapters of the book . . if I recall correctly).
The human colony that accidentally ended up far from earth and starting a new human line story line was interesting. The Star Trek part, the Sulu part, wasn’t that interesting. And the ‘other humans’ story line less than quickly also started to get a little less than interesting. Still, book was good enough to get a 3.25 rating.
Rating: 3.25
March 11, 2020
September 21, 2025
Set during the Lost Era of Star Trek (between the end of the original series films and the beginning of The Next Generation) we get to see what Captain Sulu gets up to now he finally has his own ship.
We get to see the Tholians again as well as a new threat in the Neyel, both groups posing a potential threat to the Federation.
It was a pretty quick read, and always good to see some familiar characters, although aside from the Ambassador character I really didn't feel anything for the "new" characters. Not that there was anything wrong with them, they just didn't hit in the same way that Sulu, Chekov, Rand and Tuvok did.
We get to see the Tholians again as well as a new threat in the Neyel, both groups posing a potential threat to the Federation.
It was a pretty quick read, and always good to see some familiar characters, although aside from the Ambassador character I really didn't feel anything for the "new" characters. Not that there was anything wrong with them, they just didn't hit in the same way that Sulu, Chekov, Rand and Tuvok did.
December 28, 2020
I could quibble and say I'd give this closer to 4.5 stars for feeling a bit over-long...but in the end, the world-building, the character work, the use of continuity and fanwank, and the intensity of the conflicts & emotions all combine to make an exceptional story that lives the Trek philosophy on every page.
February 28, 2024
4.5 stars.
I had some misgivings early into this book, but it won me over later on. Mostly it was my fault for misinterpretation of certain signs.
This was a very well crafted story, I enjoyed it immensely in the end.
The authors did a good job keeping the known Star Trek characters styles intact, and fit this book in with known storylines perfectly.
I feel like this would have made for a very interesting mini series, too long for a movie.
I had some misgivings early into this book, but it won me over later on. Mostly it was my fault for misinterpretation of certain signs.
This was a very well crafted story, I enjoyed it immensely in the end.
The authors did a good job keeping the known Star Trek characters styles intact, and fit this book in with known storylines perfectly.
I feel like this would have made for a very interesting mini series, too long for a movie.
January 18, 2024
Another spectacular Sulu story
This book follows Captain Sulu as he ventures into Tholian space on a diplomatic mission, but things aren’t what they seem. There’s a mysterious new species, and its identity is a pretty big twist. This author duo did a fantastic job on Forged in Fire, and their brilliant work continues in this book. Something I really loved about this book is that we get lots of flashbacks to a post WWIII earth, and subsequent flashbacks do a great job of filling in some earth history around First Contact.
I think I would still recommend Forged in Fire over this book, but The Sundered is a great sequel if you enjoy Forged in Fire.
This book follows Captain Sulu as he ventures into Tholian space on a diplomatic mission, but things aren’t what they seem. There’s a mysterious new species, and its identity is a pretty big twist. This author duo did a fantastic job on Forged in Fire, and their brilliant work continues in this book. Something I really loved about this book is that we get lots of flashbacks to a post WWIII earth, and subsequent flashbacks do a great job of filling in some earth history around First Contact.
I think I would still recommend Forged in Fire over this book, but The Sundered is a great sequel if you enjoy Forged in Fire.
June 18, 2008
The best Trek fiction these days isn't coming from within the established series themselves, but instead in novels set outside of the events we see on TV. One only has to witness the brilliance of Peter David's New Frontier series or the on-going continuation of the DS9 story to see this.
And this month, Pocket books attempts to expand the series of original Trek fiction even further--this time by answering the questions of what happened between the death of James T. Kirk in Generations and the first time we saw the Enterprise in Encounter at Farpoint. It's an intriguing idea, if not necessarily an original one (TOS did it with the underrated Lost Years saga) and its really the type of thing the Trek fiction should be doing.
The first entry is the Sundered, written by the phenomenal writing team of Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. The story is one of Captain Sulu and his time aboard the Excelsoir, negotiated a peace treaty with the Tholians. But along comes a new race of aliens who hold a secret that just may unravel the delicate peace process and drag not only the Excelsoir but the entire Federation into war. Along the way there is a murder, some space battles and some guest appareances by Trek characters we've all heard of before.
Martin and Mangalis take a page from the DS9 re-launch and allow the story to be character driven as well as dependent on the plot to move forward. We get moments to enjoy gettting to know the crew of the Excelsoir--both old and new friends--and we also get some exploration of the societies of the Tholians and the new aliens. It's the character moments that make the story a real page turner and help it rise to the level of quality that has been achieved by the DS9 relaunch.
That said, the story does fall prey to some rather heavy-handed foreshadowing. There are flashbacks that take place within the story to certain events that will impact the plot later. Unfortunately, by doing this, I was able to guess the plot twist that was coming about fifty or so pages before if happened. Also, the authors suffer from something that a lot of modern Trek writers are falling prey to these days--novelizing scenes from classic Trek episodes. While it's not nearly as bad as the Michael Jan Friedman trilogy "My Brother's Keeper" it's still annoying enough to take you out of the novel for the few pages its include (also, thankfully they don't fall into Friedman's trap of novelizing the entire episode for us).
But the good points far out weight the nitpicky points in this novel. This is one of the more enjoyable Trek novels I've read in a while and it's got my interest up not only for the next book but the entire Lost Era series. It also makes me wonder if a series featuring Sulu and his Excelsoir crew wouldn't be welcome. I know there are already a lot of on-going Trek fiction series out there, but if the stories for Sulu and company are going to be this good, I think I could make a bit more space on the bookshelf for more such stories.
And this month, Pocket books attempts to expand the series of original Trek fiction even further--this time by answering the questions of what happened between the death of James T. Kirk in Generations and the first time we saw the Enterprise in Encounter at Farpoint. It's an intriguing idea, if not necessarily an original one (TOS did it with the underrated Lost Years saga) and its really the type of thing the Trek fiction should be doing.
The first entry is the Sundered, written by the phenomenal writing team of Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. The story is one of Captain Sulu and his time aboard the Excelsoir, negotiated a peace treaty with the Tholians. But along comes a new race of aliens who hold a secret that just may unravel the delicate peace process and drag not only the Excelsoir but the entire Federation into war. Along the way there is a murder, some space battles and some guest appareances by Trek characters we've all heard of before.
Martin and Mangalis take a page from the DS9 re-launch and allow the story to be character driven as well as dependent on the plot to move forward. We get moments to enjoy gettting to know the crew of the Excelsoir--both old and new friends--and we also get some exploration of the societies of the Tholians and the new aliens. It's the character moments that make the story a real page turner and help it rise to the level of quality that has been achieved by the DS9 relaunch.
That said, the story does fall prey to some rather heavy-handed foreshadowing. There are flashbacks that take place within the story to certain events that will impact the plot later. Unfortunately, by doing this, I was able to guess the plot twist that was coming about fifty or so pages before if happened. Also, the authors suffer from something that a lot of modern Trek writers are falling prey to these days--novelizing scenes from classic Trek episodes. While it's not nearly as bad as the Michael Jan Friedman trilogy "My Brother's Keeper" it's still annoying enough to take you out of the novel for the few pages its include (also, thankfully they don't fall into Friedman's trap of novelizing the entire episode for us).
But the good points far out weight the nitpicky points in this novel. This is one of the more enjoyable Trek novels I've read in a while and it's got my interest up not only for the next book but the entire Lost Era series. It also makes me wonder if a series featuring Sulu and his Excelsoir crew wouldn't be welcome. I know there are already a lot of on-going Trek fiction series out there, but if the stories for Sulu and company are going to be this good, I think I could make a bit more space on the bookshelf for more such stories.
May 10, 2018
Check out The Sundered by Michael A. Martin
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Just finished this one. It was not at all what I expected (in a good way). Having read The Red King (Titan novel) already it was fantastic to see how the situation evolved in this novel.
I didn’t think I would be a fan of a novel that didn’t feature Kirk, Spock and McCoy but seeing Sulu in charge with Chekov as first officer was delightfully new and fresh from my perspective.
Seeing younger versions of Akaar and Tuvok after being well acquainted with their elder self’s in later novels helped see how they became the people they did.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Just finished this one. It was not at all what I expected (in a good way). Having read The Red King (Titan novel) already it was fantastic to see how the situation evolved in this novel.
I didn’t think I would be a fan of a novel that didn’t feature Kirk, Spock and McCoy but seeing Sulu in charge with Chekov as first officer was delightfully new and fresh from my perspective.
Seeing younger versions of Akaar and Tuvok after being well acquainted with their elder self’s in later novels helped see how they became the people they did.
September 10, 2015
The book was good. I loved how they are developing the Captain Sulu character. They are turning him into a brawler like Captain Kirk was. The sword fight at the end was unique to say the least. Especially if they are in environmental suits. Sulu same ask Kirk always seems to rise to the challenge and be successful. This was just another extension of the movie characters and done rather well.
September 4, 2023
Short review: the plot is hack and the more you think on it, the less sense it makes. The Neyel are laughably poorly thought out, and you can skip their entire back-section without it impacting the plot at all. The new characters are one dimensional and border on tropes. The established characters from the TV series do not feel like the characters you know, save for Sulu and Tuvok.
Longer review: I really wanted to like this book, a lot. I love Trek so much, and wanted more Trek stories, so I finally decided to start with the novels. I started with the Lost Era books, as I love this time in Trek. It still feels like there is exploration to do, and the politics of the Alpha & Beta quadrant are changing rapidly. I was worried that, as with almost any intellectual property based writing, you can simply slap the title of “Star Trek” on any drivel and it will sell. That’s what happened here. This is bland, generic, boring sci-fi that’s poorly thought out and blandly written, and was likely only published because it said “Star Trek.”
The mainline plot of the Excelsior and the Tholians is actually good. I liked it. That’s where my enjoyment stops. The Neyel, newly introduced in this book, are incredibly poorly thought out. The more you think about their supposed development, the less sense it makes. It is entirely possible to skip the sections with the Neyel background and this will have zero impact on your ability to follow the plot (if you do read this book, I suggest you skip these parts). This is a problem for your “plot”: if you can skip a third of the book with no impact on the reader’s ability to understand what is happening, that’s bad. The authors further pad out the book by having recollections and cut scenes from other Trek that serve absolutely no purpose. It reads like a desperate plea from the authors, “no, seriously, we understand and like the source material! Really!” These references do nothing to further the plot or build characters. Why do we have to have multiple pages re-telling scenes from First Contact with literally nothing changed? Who knows!?!
Sulu and Tuvok are written well and feel like the characters you know. This is one of the saving graces of the book. The Tholians are well developed and their characters are interesting, and they feel alien. The Neyel remain terrible. The other established TV characters, especially Chekov, do not feel like the Characters you know. The characters who are new to this book are one-dimensional and boring. Almost all of the dialogue in the book is hack and flatly written.
Perhaps, for me, one of the worst parts of the book was the newly introduced ambassador Character. She is written, at times, as a bumbling buffoon, and at other times, somebody who willingly impedes the crew of the Excelsior. It bothers me a great deal that the ambassador, and her attempts at diplomacy, are scoffed at by the characters in the book and the plot of the book itself. The ideals of Trek always prioritized peaceful solutions, and to have the peaceful character maligned was a problem for me (similar issues exist with Lojur as well).
Longer review: I really wanted to like this book, a lot. I love Trek so much, and wanted more Trek stories, so I finally decided to start with the novels. I started with the Lost Era books, as I love this time in Trek. It still feels like there is exploration to do, and the politics of the Alpha & Beta quadrant are changing rapidly. I was worried that, as with almost any intellectual property based writing, you can simply slap the title of “Star Trek” on any drivel and it will sell. That’s what happened here. This is bland, generic, boring sci-fi that’s poorly thought out and blandly written, and was likely only published because it said “Star Trek.”
The mainline plot of the Excelsior and the Tholians is actually good. I liked it. That’s where my enjoyment stops. The Neyel, newly introduced in this book, are incredibly poorly thought out. The more you think about their supposed development, the less sense it makes. It is entirely possible to skip the sections with the Neyel background and this will have zero impact on your ability to follow the plot (if you do read this book, I suggest you skip these parts). This is a problem for your “plot”: if you can skip a third of the book with no impact on the reader’s ability to understand what is happening, that’s bad. The authors further pad out the book by having recollections and cut scenes from other Trek that serve absolutely no purpose. It reads like a desperate plea from the authors, “no, seriously, we understand and like the source material! Really!” These references do nothing to further the plot or build characters. Why do we have to have multiple pages re-telling scenes from First Contact with literally nothing changed? Who knows!?!
Sulu and Tuvok are written well and feel like the characters you know. This is one of the saving graces of the book. The Tholians are well developed and their characters are interesting, and they feel alien. The Neyel remain terrible. The other established TV characters, especially Chekov, do not feel like the Characters you know. The characters who are new to this book are one-dimensional and boring. Almost all of the dialogue in the book is hack and flatly written.
Perhaps, for me, one of the worst parts of the book was the newly introduced ambassador Character. She is written, at times, as a bumbling buffoon, and at other times, somebody who willingly impedes the crew of the Excelsior. It bothers me a great deal that the ambassador, and her attempts at diplomacy, are scoffed at by the characters in the book and the plot of the book itself. The ideals of Trek always prioritized peaceful solutions, and to have the peaceful character maligned was a problem for me (similar issues exist with Lojur as well).
July 6, 2017
The gap of time between the launch of the Enterprise B (and supposed death of James Kirk), and the launch of the Enterprise D spans a solid 60 years. There are a lot of stories to tell in that time. The first novel to focus specifically on it has Sulu, Checkov, Janice Rand, and Christine Chapel from the original series serving on board the USS Excelsior, on a diplomatic mission with the Tholians. There are a host of assorted other characters that make up the crew, including the Denobulan chief engineer and science officer Tuvok. Also on board for the mission is the Federation’s Tholian specialist, Ambassador Burgess.
Complicating issues are the echoes of WWIII and the loss of the L5 O’Neil stations just prior to Cochrane’s first warp flight, and a new alien species.
It was an interesting premise with a fair number of moving parts that mostly kept it interesting, but it never came together, and I had 2 main gripes about it. First, the authors never managed to capture the voices of the characters. I had to work to hear Sulu and Checkov’s voices in my head when reading their dialogue. These iconic characters have very clear voices, and while it would be easy to make caricatures of them, the authors managed to avoid that. But I think in trying to avoid that, they corrected too hard, and lost their unique voices.
My second issue is with Ambassador Burgess. She was introduced in a way that made you feel for her, a character you’d be able to relate to, someone who started life with dreams and wanderlust, and after years of experience, is mostly jaded and cynical. Almost right away that’s trashed, when this experienced diplomat turns out to be a hot headed, reactionary, and undiplomatic menace to everyone around her. There is no way that the Federation Diplomatic Corpse sends her to negotiate with anyone, let alone the xenophobic Tholians.
On top of all that, this didn’t need to be a 400 page book, and in some ways felt like 2 books that the 2 authors stitched together.
Complicating issues are the echoes of WWIII and the loss of the L5 O’Neil stations just prior to Cochrane’s first warp flight, and a new alien species.
It was an interesting premise with a fair number of moving parts that mostly kept it interesting, but it never came together, and I had 2 main gripes about it. First, the authors never managed to capture the voices of the characters. I had to work to hear Sulu and Checkov’s voices in my head when reading their dialogue. These iconic characters have very clear voices, and while it would be easy to make caricatures of them, the authors managed to avoid that. But I think in trying to avoid that, they corrected too hard, and lost their unique voices.
My second issue is with Ambassador Burgess. She was introduced in a way that made you feel for her, a character you’d be able to relate to, someone who started life with dreams and wanderlust, and after years of experience, is mostly jaded and cynical. Almost right away that’s trashed, when this experienced diplomat turns out to be a hot headed, reactionary, and undiplomatic menace to everyone around her. There is no way that the Federation Diplomatic Corpse sends her to negotiate with anyone, let alone the xenophobic Tholians.
On top of all that, this didn’t need to be a 400 page book, and in some ways felt like 2 books that the 2 authors stitched together.
December 20, 2020
This book is set after the original series but before the The Next Generation. Captain Sulu of the USS Excelsior is charged with taking an ambassador to forge a treaty with Tholians. Like any good Trek story nothing is ever easy.
I really enjoyed visiting old friends Sulu, Chekov, Rand, Chapel. I especially liked the friendship between Sulu and Chekov who is serving as his first officer. They were always friends but their friendship now is deeper there is a trust that reminds me of Kirk and Spock, Picard and Riker, Janeway and Chakotay. Sulu knows Chekov has his back and he needs it on this mission.
Sulu as a captain reminds me a lot of Kirk he is willing to take calculated risks and he puts a lot faith in his abilities and his crew to get him through tough spots. Not surprising since he served for years under Kirk.
It was also nice seeing more of young Tuvok before he resigned from Starfleet.
We get to know a lot about the Tholians their society how they exchange information.
As a Trekkie books like this are wonderful for filling in the niches the show and movies didn't.
The book itself is well written you have to pay attention there are several different plots threads plus flashbacks it can be easy to get lost.
I really enjoyed visiting old friends Sulu, Chekov, Rand, Chapel. I especially liked the friendship between Sulu and Chekov who is serving as his first officer. They were always friends but their friendship now is deeper there is a trust that reminds me of Kirk and Spock, Picard and Riker, Janeway and Chakotay. Sulu knows Chekov has his back and he needs it on this mission.
Sulu as a captain reminds me a lot of Kirk he is willing to take calculated risks and he puts a lot faith in his abilities and his crew to get him through tough spots. Not surprising since he served for years under Kirk.
It was also nice seeing more of young Tuvok before he resigned from Starfleet.
We get to know a lot about the Tholians their society how they exchange information.
As a Trekkie books like this are wonderful for filling in the niches the show and movies didn't.
The book itself is well written you have to pay attention there are several different plots threads plus flashbacks it can be easy to get lost.
September 10, 2022
This was a great Star Trek novel. It focused on the time period directly after James T. Kirk was lost in action, presumed dead while actually in the Nexus. Well, five years or so after that.
It follows Captain Hikaru Sulu and his crew of the USS Excelsior as they take on a diplomatic mission to open continuing dialogues with the Tholian Assembly. Up until this point, the Tholians have been hostile, suspicious, and xenophobic. Now, they have had a presumed change of heart and reach out to communicate with the United Federation of Planets.
The book also introduces and elaborates on the Neyel, a mysterious alien race that have been appearing in Tholian space. The book spends a fair amount of time incorporating snippets of their important historical events. These chapters are presented in flashbacks interwoven into the story. I found it a bit reminiscent of the storytelling in The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Fans of Star Trek will recognize many members of Sulu's crew. Original Enterprise 1701 crewmen including Chekov, Chapel, and Rand are in it. Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager and others are there too.
It follows Captain Hikaru Sulu and his crew of the USS Excelsior as they take on a diplomatic mission to open continuing dialogues with the Tholian Assembly. Up until this point, the Tholians have been hostile, suspicious, and xenophobic. Now, they have had a presumed change of heart and reach out to communicate with the United Federation of Planets.
The book also introduces and elaborates on the Neyel, a mysterious alien race that have been appearing in Tholian space. The book spends a fair amount of time incorporating snippets of their important historical events. These chapters are presented in flashbacks interwoven into the story. I found it a bit reminiscent of the storytelling in The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Fans of Star Trek will recognize many members of Sulu's crew. Original Enterprise 1701 crewmen including Chekov, Chapel, and Rand are in it. Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager and others are there too.
May 13, 2022
I was delighted to find a book where Sulu has a starring role and even more delighted when Checkov, Christine Chapel (Dr Chapel by now) and Janice Rand turn up on the bridge. And finally, a young Tuvok struggling to cope in a post where he is surrounded by emotional humans.
This is set in the period after the film Generations. The familiar characters from Kirk's crew are all experienced, high ranking officers - there's no Spock or Kirk to lead them, and they do very well on their own.
Old enemies appear too, the Tholians, except now they are suing for peace even though they find diplomatic relations somewhat difficult, being so quick to take offence at everything. Sulu suspects they have a very strong reason to need peace with the Federation so he sets out to discover why and stumbles upon something very unexpected.
I thought this was a great read, well paced with historic elements that help to explain some of the other novels. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
This is set in the period after the film Generations. The familiar characters from Kirk's crew are all experienced, high ranking officers - there's no Spock or Kirk to lead them, and they do very well on their own.
Old enemies appear too, the Tholians, except now they are suing for peace even though they find diplomatic relations somewhat difficult, being so quick to take offence at everything. Sulu suspects they have a very strong reason to need peace with the Federation so he sets out to discover why and stumbles upon something very unexpected.
I thought this was a great read, well paced with historic elements that help to explain some of the other novels. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
February 5, 2023
Star Trek: The Lost Era #1: the Sundered
Excellent, excellent book as I continue my Trek lit journey. Continuing my exploration of the Lost Era from Vulcan’s Forge, I come to the Sundered. I enjoyed Section 31: Rogue from the same author but this was a major step up from their previous effort and I was immediately pulled in from the first few pages. Dealing with the Tholians and learning more about their culture was great. Beyond Vanguard, I don’t know how many books there are about them or in the TV shows. So it was great to get a look at them.
Also, it’s great to let Sulu have a book and it’s a shame he didn’t get more. The Neyel were also interesting and their origin was also great. Also, visiting outside the Galactic Barrier is something I always like so this book scored brownie points with me for that. Overall a 10/10 book. A great solo adventure for Sulu, great exploration of the Tholians,tie backs to earlier continuity and a great sequel to the Tholian Web.
Excellent, excellent book as I continue my Trek lit journey. Continuing my exploration of the Lost Era from Vulcan’s Forge, I come to the Sundered. I enjoyed Section 31: Rogue from the same author but this was a major step up from their previous effort and I was immediately pulled in from the first few pages. Dealing with the Tholians and learning more about their culture was great. Beyond Vanguard, I don’t know how many books there are about them or in the TV shows. So it was great to get a look at them.
Also, it’s great to let Sulu have a book and it’s a shame he didn’t get more. The Neyel were also interesting and their origin was also great. Also, visiting outside the Galactic Barrier is something I always like so this book scored brownie points with me for that. Overall a 10/10 book. A great solo adventure for Sulu, great exploration of the Tholians,tie backs to earlier continuity and a great sequel to the Tholian Web.
March 5, 2025
Captain Sulu of the Excelcior finds himself brokering peace with the Tholians, a reclusive insectoid race who want nothing to do with the Federation. They're only talking because some other race is attacking their borders and they need to be sure the Federation won't do the same while they're occupied.
Ambassador Aidan Burgess seems to be more obstructionist than assistant, but she's determined to broker the peace even as she butts heads with Captain Sulu and his crew. As she forges ahead with her negotiations, she and the crew learn something about the Tholians' attackers.
Sulu and his crew find themselves trying to establish peace with a previously unknown race, the Neyel, who turn out to be lost and genetically altered humans. It takes all their diplomatic skills and a desperation move by Burgess) to win the day and send everyone their separate ways in peace
Ambassador Aidan Burgess seems to be more obstructionist than assistant, but she's determined to broker the peace even as she butts heads with Captain Sulu and his crew. As she forges ahead with her negotiations, she and the crew learn something about the Tholians' attackers.
Sulu and his crew find themselves trying to establish peace with a previously unknown race, the Neyel, who turn out to be lost and genetically altered humans. It takes all their diplomatic skills and a desperation move by Burgess) to win the day and send everyone their separate ways in peace
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2017
The original Star Trek cast never fails to excite. Sulu and Chekov in action are always a delight and Tuvok has been a personal favourite for a long time.
However, I did have trouble getting into the story, at first. Without wanting to reveal too much, the first few flashbacks were rather jarring. While an interesting glimpse into Star Trek history, it wasn't very clear how the two stories were related.
In the end, the Federation and Neyel storylines wove together beautifully, and the story came to a satisfying end, but there were a few rough patches in the plot.
A good read, but not a mind-blower.
However, I did have trouble getting into the story, at first. Without wanting to reveal too much, the first few flashbacks were rather jarring. While an interesting glimpse into Star Trek history, it wasn't very clear how the two stories were related.
In the end, the Federation and Neyel storylines wove together beautifully, and the story came to a satisfying end, but there were a few rough patches in the plot.
A good read, but not a mind-blower.
September 16, 2020
I started reading this while I was reading Star Trek: Titan The Red King. I didn’t know until I started reading The Red King that this book sets up the events of that book. It was interesting to read them that way.
The Sundered was my first Lost Era proper novel that I’ve read. It was damn good! I read quite a bit of Star Trek novels. It was a nice to take a break from Kirk, Picard, And the rest. Sulu, Chekov, Rand and Chapel, the senior officers. Akaar, Tuvok and Lojur are the junior officers. Two of which are older and wiser in The Red King.
Really well done. Pacing was on point. Learning, slowly about the origins of the Neyal was on point. Very enjoyable novel!
The Sundered was my first Lost Era proper novel that I’ve read. It was damn good! I read quite a bit of Star Trek novels. It was a nice to take a break from Kirk, Picard, And the rest. Sulu, Chekov, Rand and Chapel, the senior officers. Akaar, Tuvok and Lojur are the junior officers. Two of which are older and wiser in The Red King.
Really well done. Pacing was on point. Learning, slowly about the origins of the Neyal was on point. Very enjoyable novel!
August 15, 2024
You know that feeling of frustration when someone pulls a shitty move but it still pays off and everyone wants to ignore the shitty move? That's how the ending of this one felt, at least in part.
However, the story was fantastic. A complex situation which seems to get more and more twisty right up until the end. We're treated to a deep dive into Tholian culture while we're simultaneously introduced to a strange new species.
The story reaches a wide range of timelines. The exciting cast includes Cochrane with Troi and Riker, and Kirk with the original Enterprise crew, but the main story involves Sulu's Excelsior with Chekhov, Tuvok, Chapel, Rand and Akkar among the crew.
However, the story was fantastic. A complex situation which seems to get more and more twisty right up until the end. We're treated to a deep dive into Tholian culture while we're simultaneously introduced to a strange new species.
The story reaches a wide range of timelines. The exciting cast includes Cochrane with Troi and Riker, and Kirk with the original Enterprise crew, but the main story involves Sulu's Excelsior with Chekhov, Tuvok, Chapel, Rand and Akkar among the crew.
May 21, 2024
An interesting premise, but didn't consistently sustain my interest. Use of 2 different calendars is logical, but easy to miss, and the idea that the Neyel would not have any record of the physical changes undergone in the course of their purposeful genetic manipulation, or any images retained of life on their planet of origin seems unlikely. I don't regret reading the book, but am unlikely to spend money for full price editions of subsequent volumes, as only one is owned by my local library system.
May 15, 2021
A solid 4. It seemed to me that parts of the story eluded to perhaps a past or future story. I think it was a bit too long and keeping track of the story lines can be a bit much. That being said, I always love reading about TOS characters and having Tuvok in the mix is great.
April 11, 2023
I read this for context before continuing onto the second Titan novel The Red King. The Sundered features a type of people who appear in that and features Tuvok serving on the Sulu-commanded Excelsior. A neat story in an era not explored very much onscreen.
July 1, 2025
The world-building in this was SO good. I took multiple linguistic courses in grad school and the authors definitely nailed the details for the linguistic drift and adaptation of the Neyel. This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year and in my top five for Star Trek novels.
November 24, 2019
Captain Sulu and the crew of the Excelsior mix it up with Tholians and a mysterious new race with ties to Earth. A good, easy bit of fluff to spend a quiet day reading. 🖖
June 22, 2020
I continue to enjoy these stories. They seem to be the perfect bridge between the Original Series and The Next Generation. Look forward to reading the next one. Well worth your time......
June 28, 2020
Another great story
This is what I hope the history of the future is really like. The world needs more Trek. Go boldly.
This is what I hope the history of the future is really like. The world needs more Trek. Go boldly.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews