Star Trek: TNG — Headlong Flight
{4.5/5} “Before them was yet another plane of existence, separate from their own. How similar was it to the dimension they had left behind? What wonders awaited them here, and what might they find if they were to go exploring?”
Star Trek: TNG — Headlong Flight by Dayton Ward, published in 2017
Captain Picard aboard the Enterprise E discovers a mysterious planet inside a nebula. With an away team on the surface, the planet disappears. In another dimension, Captain Riker aboard the Enterprise D discovers a mysterious planet inside a nebula. In yet another dimension, Commander Sarith aboard the Bloodied Talon discovers a mysterious planet inside a nebula.
The alternate history aspect is fascinating — what if Picard had died as a Borg? There’s a beautiful scene of reunion between people who haven’t seen (other versions of) each other in a while.
There’s a bunch of technobabble, but other than that the conversations between crewmembers are delightful. I enjoyed it a lot.
The previous novel in the story of the 24th century is Star Trek: Prey — The Hall of Heroes. I also previously reviewed Ward (and Kevin Dilmore)’s novel Star Trek: Legacies — Purgatory’s Key.