Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages

Star Trek: Rihannsu #1-4

by Diane Duane, Peter Morwood

THE HISTORIC SAGA BEGINS

Born in the twilight years of Vulcan's violent and passionate past, those who declared themselves Rihannsu chose to reign free in the unknown reaches of space rather than to serve under the new tyranny of logic. Having severed themselves from their homeworld, they survived the perilous voyage across the stars to wash ashore on a distant planet, there to begin the civilization that would one day flower into the Romulan Star Empire.

Now, after millennia of wars and conquests, that empire is decaying from within, surrendering its noble heritage to reckless ambition, abandoning honor for kidnapping and murder. The corruption is so great that the Rihannsu's finest military officer -- Commander Ael t'Rllaillieu of the warbird Bloodwing -- believes she can save her people only by joining forces with her greatest enemy: Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise™.

Meanwhile, on the Romulan homeworld, a Federation deep-cover agent has been posing as a household servant named Arrhae i-Khellian -- but her operation takes a strange turn when a captured Starfleet officer is brought to her home . . .

The lives of Ael, Arrhae, and the crew of the Enterprise come together in these astonishing adventures -- originally published in four volumes: My Enemy, My Ally; The Romulan Way; Swordhunt; and Honor Blade -- that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the Romulans.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek Original Series, Media Tie In, Space, American

769 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Diane Duane has been a writer of science fiction, fantasy, TV and film for more than forty years.

Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.

She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.

Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."

(From her official website)

Reviews

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Romulans as they should have been, not what The Next Generation turned them into. This is an omnibus, containing 4 previously published books. I REALLY wish they would have included the last, and final book as well.

As for the story: The two first books are by far my favourites. They contain a look on the Romulan empire from the inside. A society ruled my "the ruling passion", that dictates the need to give your last water to your enemy, or kill your own child in the name of honor. We get to see some really interesting clashes between humans of the Federation, and the "enemy" Rihannsu. (Romulans)
And the meaning of Jim- well it is NOT a dirty word. In fact it means something Jim is captain of... Both the A and B...
I'd definitely recommend it to Star Trek- and Sci Fi fans in general...

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread of one of my favorite sci-fi series to date. Best of all: You don't need any prior knowledge of Star Trek to enjoy The Bloodwing Chronicles. It works just as well as a standalone series.

The Rihannsu omnibus contains 4 out of 5 novels in the series and has obtained cult status among Star Trek fans of the Romulan Empire. This series was written BEFORE the Next Gen series aired, so don't expect it to follow canon. It is also true, though, that Diane Duane's take on the Romulans is so outstanding that many fans have petitioned for it to become canon.
Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

If you want to read a five book series about the Romulans as they should have been portrayed, this is the omnibus for you.

Expect to meet captain Kirk, Spock, Bones - and the brilliant Romulan commander; Ael; a woman who is his equal in every way.
Next; dive into a culture very different from our own as a human undercover operative learns what it means to be torn between her own culture - and the alien culture she has grown to love.

I love, love love this series, but there's no denying that the two first novels are the best.

Overall rating: All the stars in our galaxy!

Wanna know what Jim means in Rihannsu? This is a spoiler, so if you want to know WHY Ael is snickering, do NOT proceed..
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[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects four Star Trek novels by Diane Duane, and should absolutely contain a fifth as well. The first two have recurring characters (and their ship). The third, fourth and fifth bring them together into a full story of Romulan civil war.

The first two books stand alone. I won't review them here - I reviewed each individually when read in 2019 and 2020.

The third (published as Sword Hunt) is directly continued in the fourth (Honor Blade), and those end with a "to be continued" message leading to The Empty Chair. How to review two-thirds of a story?

There are a lot of engineering shenanigans. Duane brings in a character from The Wounded Sky to work with Scotty, and in addition to that they acquire some interesting technology from certain Romulans.

There is a lot of grand space battle stuff, with Kirk as the Federation Admiral. While this doesn't directly fit his character, it is a lot of fun to watch - and surprisingly, his plan does mostly survive contact with the enemy.

There are a lot of Romulan politics and an excellent connection to the previous book. "Take me out to the ball game" though? Secret meetings and a foiled assassination are all well told.

None of the above is concluded, though. One must have The Empty Chair near to hand to finish the job.

[Peter Rydén · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Enemy, My Ally
En mycket bra start på en sammantaget spännande berättelse om romulanerna. Karaktären Ael käns trovärdig och hennes kamp mot den korrupta romulanska regimen som tappat sin heder är episk. Boken gör romulanerna rättvisa och visar på den heder som ännu är stark i det romulanska folket.

The Romulan Way
Som fortsättning på den föregående Rihannsu-boken är även denna episk i sitt berättande. Oerhört medryckande och man önskar få komma till berättelsens slut så snart som möjligt, för att finna upplösningen. Som alla "mitten-böcker" i en serie så tappar denna fart något, men det medryckande i bokserien står fast beslutet kvar. Omistlig bok för att förstå romulanerna.

Swordhunt
Nu börjar bokserien ta riktig fart igen - Ael är verkligen en stark karaktär och jag älskar det förbrödrande som finns mellan henne och James T Kirk, trots skilda kulturer. Personligheterna är väldigt lika och det är mycket det som tilltalar i denna bok.

Honor Blade
Bokserien närmar sig sitt slut och även denna bok kan inte missas om man vill förstå romulanerna. Karaktären senator Arrhae får vi en fördjupad bild av i denna bok - oerhört komplex personlighet, det kunde jag inte se lika bra från början (även om jag varit hemligt förtjust i konceptet med Arrhae från första stund). Nu väntar jag med spänning på den absolut sista boken. Hela bokserien har ju tagit tid att skrivas, med den första boken 1984 och den femte boken 2006.

[Millie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly one of the best star trek books I've read!!! I've read most books in all Star Trek series but this storyline I continue to come back and read again and again! The portrayal of the Romulans is like no others and by far the best. Romulans like the ones shown in TOS Balance of Terror episode. Wanted even more of the Intrepid's Vulcan Captain Suvuk and crew and the Bloodwings crew storyline! Maybe the author will someday return and continue their stories. :)

[Melvin Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable trilogy but...

One book was almost entirely with Romulan characters and the usual heroes almost nowhere to be seen. I understand that it was to set up for the third book, but would have liked to see more Enterprise crew action. Otherwise I guess I need to see The Empty Chair to see how it all ends.

[Anne Schelhorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is four books in one dealing with Captain Kirk and his crew and their interaction with the Romulon Commander Ael. Adds a lot of background and founding history to the Romulan. Far better than any of the tv shows or movies dealing with Romulans.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book! A must read for any/all that are interested in the Rihannsu (what the Federation calls 'Romulans'). It is, unquestionably, the definitive resource on all things Rihannsu!

[Paschalis]

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[Robert Capp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun an seriously enjoyable as the Rommulans have not been covered a lot in detail like this. The sections in Romulan were a bit annoying but you get used to it.

[Златко Андоновски · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually a compilation of four Star Trek books that focus on the Romulans, fleshing out some details that were never made canon. I read somewhere that Gene Roddenberry himself disliked Diane Duane's version of things, but don't let that hold you back, because this is an awesome, awesome Star Trek book. Dare I say it, it's probably better than the TV series it's based on, at least from today's point of view. It somehow manages to be clever and offer far more satisfying details and logical explanations than you expect out of Star Trek and still stay true to the spirit of it all.

Having praised it and given it a five-star rating, there are a couple of things I should warn you about so that you don't hate me after you pick this book up.
First, the Romulans speak untranslated Romulan (Duane made up most of the language) amongst themselves, especially in the early books. There's a glossary at the end of the book, but it's limited to some of the more common terms that you may encounter throughout Rihannsu. Don't let this put you off - it's pretty easy to infer what's going on even if you can't understand the language.
Second, I mentioned that this is a compilation of four books. Book four ends on a massive cliffhanger, as the series actually ends in a fifth book (The Empty Chair), which I can't find in any online bookstore that delivers to here.

[Samuel Lubell]

Star Trek: Rihannsu by Diane Duane. SF. 677 pages. This claims to be a collection of four of Diane Duane’s Star Trek novels. In reality, the last two “books” are one book (the second continues the chapter numbering from the previous one) and even combined are only two-thirds of a story. In the first book, the Enterprise is pulled away from a scientific mission to investigate problems in the neutral zone with the Romulans. This leads to a daring plan by a Romulan commander, who has become disgusted with the Empire’s growing lack of honor, to fake the capture of the Enterprise so Kirk and company can rescue prisoners. In the second book, the history of the Romulans alternates with the story of a Federation spy who has gone native on Romulus until Dr. McCoy is captured. The third/fourth book involves an attempt to prevent a war between the Federation and the Romulans that bring together all the characters from the previous two books as well as a special sword the Romulans brought with them when they left Vulcan. Too much of the second book read like a dry text book (although the idea of a deep cover agent struggling to maintain her identity in the face of pressures to go native was interesting.) The rest felt like too much Star Trek and not enough Duane. However, she did convey the sense of real aliens, not just humans with forehead makeup.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book if you enjoy the Romulans, or Rihannsu, as they call them in this book, you will love this book. I came into it as a minor fan of the Rihannsu, not really under standing them, but intruiged with the scociety. This book has several parts, the first book, is soley an adventure with the Enterprise. The second book really delves into the history of the Rihannsu, from the first disagreements with their brothers, the Vulcans, until the present time. It also has an intreging story intertwined with the history lesson. I must admit, when I discovered it was mostly history, iI thought I would d be bored out of my mind. But the second book, The Romulan Way, was the most interesting book I have read in a long time. The book itself (all three books)is incredibly interesting, and has a complex story line.

[Mark Freed · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I finally finished reading this book; all 760-some-odd pages of it. I find that it ends... in a cliff-hanger?!?!?!?!?!?! With an advertisement on the last page to buy the conclusion, "The Empty Chair"!!!

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise, it is a well-written story. I enjoy reading Diane Duane's books. She spins a good yarn of the continuing struggle between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. I look forward to reading the epic conclusion to find out the fate of the crews of Enterprise and Bloodwing...

[Paul Pautler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting, if non-canon view of Romulan culture. It bridges the gap between TOS and TNG elegantly, explaining the honourable Romulans of Kirk's time as compared to the treacherous Romulans of Picard's time.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating would be 3.5 stars. The series stands together very well and has a great balance of familiar characters, new figures, history, and action. I wish it included The Empty Chair so the entire story were complete in this volume.

[torque · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first exploration into Star Trek. I was positively surprised, although my bar was probably low. I might read more Star Trek in the future. The conclusion, "The empty chair" is mission from this collection.

[Jim Heivilin]

"Honor"

I love her take on the Rihannsu (Romulans) and all the stories she's crafted for us. Based on those glimpses we get during TOS. Rather more meat, story wise, than we get in TNG.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites were definitely, "My Enemy, My Ally" and "The Romulan Way", but "Honor Blade" and "Swordhunt" were also good.

[Chris Szitovszky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three books in one. The first one was excellent. The second one was good. The third was ok. Are you sensing a pattern here?

[Brenda (aka Grandma) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars