Legacy by Michael Jan Friedman

Legacy by Michael Jan Friedman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Landing parties beam down to Alpha Octavius Four for a brief survey, Spock is attacked by a huge subterranean dwelling tentacled creature and is fortunate to be rescued before being eaten and is beamed back to the ship. Kirk then finds himself in an earthquake and as the world around him collapses the Enterprise receives a priority order to rush to a colony in the Beta Cabrini system which under attack. Scotty is forced to leave his missing Captain and landing party behind and deal with the threat of Merkaan pirates.
Spock is suffering from a toxin delivered by the creature that attacked him and McCoy is unable to find a cure so Spock imposes his own control on his metabolism to allow him to function. Spock is indeed the best man to deal with the Merkaan threat as years earlier serving under Christopher Pike he was a principal player in their defeat when first encountered.
Legacy chooses to split the main characters between two storylines, this makes sense to allow Spock to take center stage in dealing with a threat he is familiar with and for the "flashback" elements of his time with Pike not to feel out of place along with current Pike and Vina on Talos IV. It is a tricky juggling act and that's where Kirk's narrative fighting for survival along with three of his crew counterpoints the main story very well.
An enjoyable Star Trek novel made more so for the inclusion of a Pike both then and now and the focus on Spock without ignoring the regular characters as well as a villain with some substance and a mystery for Kirk to solve.



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The Furies by Jo Graham

Stargate Atlantis: The Furies by Jo Graham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The threat of Queen Death escalates not only to every human in Pegasus but also to the factions of Wraith who she is alienating thanks to her scorched earth policy and together they face a stark truth. There is no help or salvation but from themselves and they all know in their hearts that the current dynamic within Pegasus has been shattered forever, for Pegasus to survive will take not only a military alliance but a fundamental shift in attitudes from everyone. This is the situation which has Teyla once again embracing the part of her which is Wraith and taking her place as a Queen for only a Queen can influence and manipulate the events in the direction which could mean a future for all.
The Furies by Jo Graham once again gives its all to lovers of Stargate Atlantis while enhancing and massaging the established canon from the tv series, some may see this as a bad thing but Legacy has to evolve the characters, it would have happened on the tv show and maybe in a similar direction. I still adore diving deep into the Wraith culture and the introduction of Waterlight was beautiful as is how the Wraith see the humans. The overlay of their worldview on the Atlantis command structure and personnel is inspired and makes so much sense and as is often the case it's the lack of understanding and insight which blocks potential solutions from being seen.
With the revelations and events in The Furies we can only look forward to their consequences in the next Legacy novel "Secrets", can't wait.

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Stargate Atlantis: The Lost

Stargate Atlantis: The Lost by Jo Graham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Lost is the second book in the Stargate Atlantis Legacy series and the story quickly picks up from the first novel where McKay was captured by the Wraith. The fate of McKay was unexpected but in hindsight perfectly in sync with events as seen in the television series. The complexity of dealing with Todd and the Genii added some depth to the novel which did feel a little like a staging story, moving pieces into places ready for a more hard hitting events to come.
That said I am loving how the Wraith are being written and the creation and expansion of their world is one reason why this Legacy series needed to exist and while I've never been a fan of the Genii their presence in this story certainly gave counterpoint to dealing with Todd and the threat of the uber Wraith Queen. Overall a good addition to the series, not every book is going to be all action and suspense and the series will need to balance things out but so far the first two novels are proving well worth the time to read.

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