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VALIANT As the picture on the cover shows Picard with hair you can guess that this story is set well before his captaincy of the Enterprise. This is the story of how young Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Stargazer is left in charge of the vessel when his captain is killed and the first mate injured. Three hundred years before the SS Valiant was destroyed as it tried to cross the Galactic Barrier but now two human-appearing beings have appeared and are claiming to be the crew’s descendants. Worse still they are insisting that an alien species called the Nuyyad are about to cross the barrier and invade our own galaxy. With a shape-shifting alien who appears human but has a habit of changing back into his true many-tentacled form tinkering with the equipment it is hard for Picard to know who to trust, and who is possibly a saboteur. This novel is unexpectedly something of a whodunit as Picard has to find out what is going on and who is friend and who is foe. The plot kept me guessing and it was entertaining to meet a new crew and see how young Picard – of course – saves the day. With plenty of action as well it put me in mind of a sea story at times and I thought that the author made the tale just long enough. A suspenseful tale. |