Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Asylum
{4.5/5} “What I’m saying is you don’t want to find yourself locked into a particular course of action because of rules. Sometimes, you have to follow your instinct. You work the situation that’s unfolding before you, not look for an example in the book.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Asylum by Una McCormack, published in 2024
When Una Chin-Riley meets Christopher Pike at a lecture he’s giving, she goes up to him afterward and tells him he made a mistake. Years later the Enterprise is escorting Ambassador T’Maal to talks with the Chionians to discuss shipping routes through their space. The Chionians are concerned about security, as they have had a couple of very recent terrorist attacks. Una realizes that the Chionians have a minority group, as she encountered them when she was a cadet — they were asylum seekers.
This novel is about figuring out the true story when people are hiding it from you. We see the origin of Chris and Una’s friendship — and the origin of the Kobayashi Maru test.
Other characters who show up include Pelia and La’an. Uhura, Ortegas, and Spock have a delightful conversation about language.
I’ve read 12 books by McCormack. I previously reviewed Star Trek: Picard — Second Self.