In 2018, rumors of a new Star Trek series hit the holos. Not long after, Star Trek: Picard was announced and fans everywhere rejoiced. Fast forward to 2020, and Picard, the first Trek series in years to capitalize on and continue the massively popular franchise we all knew back in the 90s, premiered and was met with rave reviews.

Published halfway through the show’s inaugural season, Picard: The Last Best Hope (by Una McCormack) is a prequel to the TV series, which itself is a kinda sorta sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Check out our recaps of the show here.)

Given that 26 years had passed since the TNG finale, “All Good Things…”; the relative meh of most of the TNG movies; and the fact that we hadn’t had many solid, canon books in nearly 20 years, filling in some gaps seemed a wise decision.

I’m happy to say the show and the book provide a welcome and much needed refresh of the entire Star Trek franchise. In some respects, the franchise hasn’t aged well; many of the regular plot lines have become formulaic, the characters have turned predictable, and the warp speeds are negligible.

Picard, however, represents a dramatic right-hand turn from the traditional Trek tropes. The show tackles some hard issues, and the book is a difficult read (in a good way), delving into subjects such as ageism (old age obsolescence), life as an AI, self-determination, and xenophobia.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

Overall, the plot of The Last Best Hope is a bit predictable because it’s a prequel. Two of my favorite plot lines were understanding what happened to Bruce Maddox and the story (depressing as it was) of Romulan scientist Nokim Virtet. Una McCormack also provides some remarkable insight into Qwot Milat, Romulans, and Raffi.

Of all the cultures and worlds Star Trek has explored over the years, the Romulan culture was the one that interested me the least. Their secretive nature, hyper-paranoia, and elitist attitude never landed for me… until I met the Qowot Milat. This group of warrior nuns is intriguing, and I would love to see them get a spinoff series either on screen or in print. The episode “Absolute Candor” and the parallel story arcs in this book provide for some of the best moments of the larger whole.

After watching the show, I still had a lot of questions about Raffi. I didn’t really understand her until I read The Last Best Hope. McCormack’s expansion of Raffi’s tale was so well done, I finally felt connected to her overall journey and loss, even though she wasn’t a primary character on the show.

Having finished the series, I knew what happened between Picard and Raffi, but I didn’t feel the full emotional impact. And even knowing what was coming, the build-up to the climax in the book was a stomach drop. The end of the book was just so powerful.

Picard (the series) and The Last Best Hope are both treasure troves of good stories and callbacks to TNG, but oh my replicator, I needed more information about a few specific things:

7 of 9: How can we not even talk about her work with the Fenris Rangers? Her story is so damn rich, I hope she gets her own novel.

Laris and Zhaban: If there were a perfect forum to tell us where they come from, who they are, and how they became honor bound to Jean-Luc Picard, this was it. Instead, we get a single  reference to Zhaban on the very last page of the book. #RagePanda

Romulus: So, if not now, when? This was a great chance to spend some real time on Romulus, but I wanted more. We also needed more on the potential conspiracy, but maybe that’s just me.

Unearthing childhood memories is a dicey proposition, but between the amazing settings and characters the show established and Una McCormack’s meaningful prose, The Last Best Hope just works so well. I’m ready for more books set in this universe and cannot wait for the show’s next season.

After all, this is my favorite fictional universe, populated with my favorite characters… I just hope they don’t Bob Newhart the whole thing. Until season two, Roarbots…

Live long and prosper.

Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack is available now from Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster).