With season two of Star Trek: Discovery in production now, it’s likely it’s still a few months off. Thankfully, James Swallow is here to rescue us from this Disco desert with the third entry into the Discovery novels with “Fear Itself,” released today.
I know Star Trek books aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but they’ve always held a special place in my heart. I grew up in The Next Generation era before Netflix. It wasn’t possible to watch an episode on-demand, and the books are what helped get me my fix between airings. It’s been a while since I’ve read any, but they were sometimes fun, but always inconsequential.
The books in the Star Trek: Discovery series are shaping up to be something else entirely.
The Fear Itself Basics
Set four years before the Battle at the Binary Stars, “Fear Itself” is the third Discovery book to not actually feature the starship Discovery. Instead it has us back aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou, a gorgeous ship that was taken from us too soon. The first Discovery book by David Mack focused heavily on Burnham and Spock, and the second book by Dayton Ward focused on Lorca and Georgiou. Swallow’s novel is the story I’ve really been waiting for. The other two are both excellent books that you should definitely read. But due in no small part to how amazing both Sonequa Martin-Greene and Doug Jones are in their respective roles, the story I craved is one that explores their relationship further.
And it is the Saru / Burnham relationship that starts this book right out of the gate. Saru watches Burnham’s meteoric rise through the Starfleet ranks and realizes his career has plateaued. His insecurity causes him to act in a very un-Saru-like way and channel his inner-Burnham. Much like it did for Burnham in the season one episode “The Vulcan Hello,” it causes a big mess.
And Swallow uses that mess to show us the first command situation that Saru is put in, and how he actually evolves his leadership skills. As the story unfolds, we see the tension between his Kelpien instinct to always play it safe resolve itself with the inherent risk of Starfleet and being in command. This unfolds naturally throughout the novel and doesn’t conclude with him trying to mimic Burnham’s uniqueness. Rather it sees him starting out as someone who sees anyone he cannot read to “automatically be considered a danger” into the Saru we see in the series, where he “embrace[s] caution, but not a coward.”
This is an outstanding entry into the library of Star Trek novels. It accomplishes what is so difficult for novels to do in a property where they can’t meaningfully change the characters because most changes are reserved for the screen: It feels meaningful.
Errant Thoughts
- Felt weirdly nice to see Ensign Danby Connor again. Based on his prominence in the promotional materials, I thought that character was going to be a regular part of the show. This goes a small way to remedying my feelings of loss.
- Same with Doctor Nambu! He wasn’t sucked out into space, so hopefully he escaped the Shenzhou just fine. But still. I worry.
- There’s a Tholian threat looming large over this entire book and I love it. Over on the Star Trek podcast we’ve only encountered them once so far, and that’s almost criminal.
- Fun shout out to Wil Wheaton with the introduction of Ensign Wheaton.
- This is the first Discovery book to not feature a connection to a character in the broader Star Trek universe. David Mack’s Desperate Hours had Spock, and the second book, Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward, features a young Kirk and Governor Kodos. I enjoyed those books immensely, but I’m happy Discovery is now standing on its own.
The third Star Trek: Discovery novel earns an unequivocal perfect five mics:
Fear Itself by James Swallow is on Amazon here.
Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward is on Amazon here.
Desperate Hours by David Mack is on Amazon here.
Also, check out our review of Dayton Ward’s Headlong Flight.