Cadet Babyface, reporting for duty!
Star Trek: The Lost Era, 2355-2357: Deny Thy Father
Author: Jeff Mariotte
Pages: 351
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Published: November 12, 2003
Publisher: Pocket Books
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: August 16, 2024
My rating: 
Thoughts
These “Lost Era” novels are meant to bridge the gap between Captain James T. Kirk’s apparent death on the Enterprise-B during the events of the film Star Trek Generations and the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
This book has two storylines involving a Riker and they alternate every one or two chapters.
In one storyline, we see a young Cadet William T. Riker. He’s smart, not very good with women, and just wants a chance to get off the planet for some training. We get little snapshots from a couple of his later years at Starfleet Academy, as well as a brief glimpse of his very first mission on his very first posting, the U.S.S. Pegasus.
Meanwhile, in the other storyline, we follow Will’s estranged father Kyle Riker. He’s basically a contractor for Starfleet and works as a strategist. He’s smart, not very good with women, and just wants to get to the bottom of who’s trying to kill him and why.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Icarus Factor,” we learn a little about Will and Kyle’s relationship, or lack thereof. In fact, that episode states it had been 15 years since they’d spoken. But this book takes place 8 years before that episode’s events. How… how does the author bring these storylines together into a satisfying conclusion without breaking canon?
Best just to listen to the Literary Treks podcast episode (episode 379: The Series’ Dad) to get my full thoughts, but suffice it to say that this was a fun book to read.
This book may not have been the story we thought we needed, but Jeff Mariotte definitely understood the assignment when he sat down to write this gem. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars, but honestly, this is really more of a 4.5; especially when compared to the previous couple of Lost Era books I read.
