By GustavoLeao / 11:30, 19 November 2007 / Trek Books

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Review by Jeff Ayers

According to the Wikipedia, the Sword of Damocles is "used to denote a precarious situation and sense of foreboding thereof, especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. Moreover, it can be seen as a lesson in the importance of understanding someone's experience." Author Geoffrey Thorne's Star Trek Titan novel, Sword of Damocles, juggles these themes and more.

From the opening epilogue, Thorne takes the reader on a mystifying journey that is both intriguing and compelling (Yes, the book ends with the prologue).  The Titan encounters a civilization fiddling with warp drive, but for a power source instead of interstellar travel.  This project proves volatile in this section of space and one ship has already been lost. Will Titan disappear as well?  And to make things right, will Captain Riker violate the Prime Directive?

What makes this novel one of the best-written Trek novels in the past couple of years is Thorne's strong use of imagery and emphasis on the characters.  For the first time in this series, a flow chart is not needed to keep track of who's who.  That's not to say that the first three Titan novels were bad - in fact I gave each of them three stars.  Thorne takes these characters and creates realistic and interesting ones that I want to read more about.  So much so, that I was disappointed the novel was not longer.  Truthfully, considering the fascinating storyline, it could have easily been two novels without sacrificing anything.

The Titan series succeeds because it combines the Trek universe with a love of the old science fiction novels that I devoured growing up.  Saying that, Sword is a strange anomaly.  Usually I would say that you should read the first books in a series before you pick the next one up. Instead, I say grab this book regardless if you have read the others or not. Geoffrey has written that rare book that stands alone so well that reading the others is not a prerequisite.  I can hear the clamoring for a Titan TV series escalating now.

***1/2 out of ****

Reviewer Jeff Ayers is the author of Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion trade paperback, and webmaster of VoyagesOfImagination.com,