A review by aughadan
Excelsior: Forged in Fire by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels

4.0

I'm really picky with my five star ratings; the book has to actually change my life to get one, but rest assured this was a fabulous, solid 4 and a half stars. Yes, it's long (especially for a little mass market paperback, which made it awkward to hold sometimes), but I can't blame the authors since they covered so much ground. I got the feeling from the back cover and the beginning that it wasn't really just a Sulu book, which turned out to be entirely accurate. Very nice. In fact, it was not just a Sulu book, but also a Klingon book, a Dax book, and a Excelsior book. Did I miss anybody? This is my favorite kind of Star Trek novel: the sort that introduces a ton of backstory, and weaves it in to the existing canonical framework in a way that enriches both. (Plus references to everything. I love references.) Overall, a great sprawling epic of a tale that might take you a while to get through, but will end up being very satisfying.