Star Trek Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire
{4.5/5} “What do you propose I do about it? Do you expect the warrior caste to intimidate the local star into better behavior?”
The starship Titan under the command of Captain Riker has discovered evidence that an ancient civilization had technology like the Genesis device to convert planets from lifelessness to life. Meanwhile the Gorn Hegemony has suffered a catastrophe — the crècheworld for their warrior caste has been destroyed. One Gorn ship has discovered a device, which Riker suspects exists, that can rapidly change the biosphere of a world. They are now looking for a suitable planet for a new crècheworld — and they don’t care if they have to wipe out a civilization that’s currently there to get it.
Seize the Fire by Michael A. Martin was published in 2010. It’s the second book in the Typhon Pact miniseries after Zero Sum Game. Whereas Zero Sum Game focussed on Dr. Bashir as well as Ezri Dax aboard the Aventine, this book features Captain Riker and the crew of the Titan. So it’s not really a sequel but rather a look at what other people are doing around the same time.
Along with Riker on the Titan are Deanna Troi, formerly of the Enterprise, and Tuvok, formerly of Voyager. The Gorn first appeared in the original series episode “Arena” and have appeared in several books.
The characters of Riker, Troi, and Tuvok seem like themselves, and there are other interesting new characters. There is some humour here and there.
The Titan has many different species onboard, and a lot of the book is about interactions between different species — those who are allies and those who are not. There are decisions to be made about technology that could be used for good or not-so-good. And there’s a first contact situation. These aspects are worked out in an interesting way, and if you thought the previous book didn’t feel quite like a Star Trek story (it was somewhat atypical but I still liked it a lot) you’ll think this one feels more like one.
Martin wrote the first two Titan novels with Andy Mangels. He’s written several other Star Trek books, with and without Mangels.