Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements

Starfleet was everything for Cristóbal Rios — until one horrible, inexplicable day when it all went wrong. Aimless and adrift, he grasps at a chance for a future as an independent freighter captain in an area betrayed by the Federation, the border region with the former Romulan Empire.His greate

I really wanted to like this book, but while it has some amazing spaceship inclusions, it also includes in no certain order:

The Iotians, which IMHO are truly the bottom of the barrel of TOS species, they’re the ones that emulate 1930’s American gangsters because a printed book was left behind after first contact. Yet another example of why the second contact teams ala Lower Decks is often more important than the first contact ones!
Tree transplants from other planets going to new planets, Why not just replicate them on site?
Antiquities from Romulus being sold off in trade markets, which makes sense, but it introduces a character that I absolutely despised from TNG.
Fanny flaps, which means something much different if you’re reading this outside of the US.
A Tucker car, which is used as a torpedo. Yes, I’m serious. If you’d like to learn more about the “Tucker Torpedo”, there’s a great movie that I own that I would suggest.

One thing I did like:
The mention of “Moriarty Protocols” designed to keep holograms from taking over your ship and trying to kill you. Seems useful in this day and age of actual Professor Moriarty coming back for Season 3 of “Star Trek: Picard”.

To wit, this is not a bad book, in fact, it’s very well written! I just don’t care for the subject matter and wish there was more Trek in it than what we got. I know that John Jackson Miller can write some darn good Trek stories and that what I was hoping for. Instead, we got an accountant pal’n around with a Rios, a character I didn’t much care for in the TV show.

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