Star Trek: Picard: Firewall

by David Mack, January LaVoy (narrator)

A thrilling prequel adventure based on the acclaimed TV seriesStar Picard!

Two years after the USS Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds herself rejected for a position in Starfleet and instead finds a new home with the interstellar rogue law enforcement corps known as the Fenris Rangers. The Rangers seem like an ideal fit for Seven—but to embrace this new destiny, she must leave behind all she’s ever known, and risk losing the most important thing in her her friendship with Admiral Kathryn Janeway.

Genres: Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published February 27, 2024

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

[Ronin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the overall story though there were details that I struggled with despite trying to keep an open mind as a die-hard fan. The obsession with Seven’s name made sense to me as an issues with individuals but not something that the federation government would see as disqualifying for citizenship considering how varied our understanding of identity should be at that time (e.g., joined trills, time displaced individuals, transporter clones, etc). Seven’s inner struggles and her interactions with Janeway stood out to me a lot, in a good way. While relying too much on too may Voyager crew or anecdotes may have diluted the story, it would have been interesting to put some more interactions with The Doctor (her instructor on all things human) or even a reference to her special friendship with Naomi Wildman, just to round things out a bit.

There were also some u fortunately common pitfalls that we see in New Trek like a TON of references to the 20th/21st century and trying to update common phrases of this time as opposed to creating something new to sit within the evolved reality of the book.

Again, trying not to nit-picky. The story was interesting (though how they got away with Seven experiencing now consequences from or drama with the other rangers for originally joining with the intent to be a spy kind of baffles me).

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this one. The plot wasn’t super original, but it did further Seven’s development and that was enjoyable to read. I’m not sure I’m a fan that everyone not part of the federation still uses idioms from the 20th century. But it did add to the separation between those in the federation and those outside. With all that I really am not bothered that Seven is gay. What I wondered was how did this come about. I know people are born this way, but with all the borg voices in her head did any of that guide her towards that kind of relationship. Would some assimilated culture hate her for dating a woman. I thought there was so much more to explore. Maybe this isn’t the type of novel to do it but Star Trek has touched on this topic before. I was disappointed that it wasn’t explored a bit more. Still overall this Voyager novel was a swift and interesting read.

[Mark Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make no mistake: It's in the "Star Trek: Picard" series, but this is 100% a Voyager continuation in the best way. Using the lore established in Picard, it gives us the story of how Seven of Nine became a Fenris Ranger.

✅ Seven's queer identity (and how the loss of a "collective" feeds into it)
✅ Janeway features heavily
✅ Icheb mention

I think – despite whatever you may think of what Picard did with the lore – even if that didn't exist, this is a fantastic standalone addition to the canon and natural growth of Seven as a character.

The audiobook in particular deserves big props for casting January LaVoy, because she manages to perfectly capture the distinct vocal qualities of both Seven and Janeway, whilst making sure every other character feels lived in.

[Tristin Lehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Star Trek books but this one didn’t keep my interest through as much as others. I did appreciate learning more about Seven.