Star Trek The Next Generation: The Genesis Wave #2, Vol. 2 Book

Part two of The Genesis Wave continues to deal with the fallout of the rampaging protomatter force which is wreaking havoc in the Alpha Quadrant, however a split narrative in the book slows the pace somewhat and makes for a less enjoyable follow up to the first installment.

As Geordi, Delores, Mot and a few hundred thousand Bolians struggle to adapt to the radically transformed planet Myrmidon, Leah Brahms and her motley crew attempt to strike a blow at the source of the Genesis Wave before it can be unleashed again.

John Vornholt's split of the narrative in this book between the fallout from the Genesis Wave on Myrmidon and Leah Brahms' revenge mission to Lomar was always going to be tricky balance to strike. Each story has a very different pace and doesn't directly impact on the other. As a result, I felt like I was reading two different books on occasion, so much so that my initial read through stalled completely and 8 months went by before I attempted the series again from scratch.

The Myrmidon storyline is downright harrowing, but Vornholt's decision to chronicle the fallout through the eyes of Geordi and Enterprise's Bolian barber Mot leads to some rather clunky characterisations which aren't effective at communicating the sense of horror required. Mot is a two-dimensional character who I have little empathy with, and so the sequences focusing on him fighting the moss-creatures from around the sanctuary left me wanting. I had slightly more time for Geordi's experiences as he struggled to keep the Bolian troupe together. The scenes of him being duped by Delores in her moss-controlled state were rather terrifying despite my misgivings about the nature of the enemy. However at its core, the Myrmidon storyline is one which goes nowhere. It is a planet of fire and death: condemned by Starfleet's inability to foresee the presence of the parasitic moss creatures after the Genesis Wave had passed, and the wanton destruction that they could bring about. No matter how hard the author tries to advance the plot here, each chapter brought with it a creeping sense of futility: Myrmidon is doomed.

The moss-creature takeover plot set on the Enterprise was thankfully brief, but I did get a kick out of seeing Troi save the day. Having her confront her own Imzadi was a brutal twist of the knife, especially after the horrors she witness in Book 1. Vornholt slips into unfortunate Indiana Jones clichés at time, having Troi barrel down Jefferies Tubes and plant bombs under the bridge, but it's still a lot of fun to read. There are quite a few inconsistencies as to just how much control the moss-creatures can assert on their hosts, and I confess to getting lost in the exact nature of the enemy here. Is it a moss? A fungus? A parasite? The non-specificity of the threat makes it very hard to visualise and understand from the reader's perspective.

Leah Brahms and Maltz's revenge crusade covers most of the latter half of the book, split between a drawn-out mission to the mining colony of Protus and a subsequent voyage to barren and grey planet Lomar. The Protus mission dragged for me - and often felt like I was reading extraneous filler. As Brahms is drugged by human rogue Colin Crayford, her Klingon allies must rescue her. The resulting pandemonium they cause is a lot of fun to read, but did little in advancing any plots. This whole section left me waiting for Vornholt to hurry up and get to Lomar already. Just before they do, Maltz and Brahms pick up "Herbert", who is so blatently not who he says he is that I audibly groaned reading his dialogue. A totally disposable character.

Set the scene: LOMAR. A grey, barren planet with strange vegetation and tar pools. Yet all is not as it seems! The Lomar chapters were a whole lot more interesting to read than the preceding scenes on Protus. The aliens' facility is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying - reminiscent of the alien corpse ship in Enterprise's "Fight or Flight". Vornholt excels at his descriptive prose here, and as momentum picks up I found myself enjoying it more and more.

The final chapters hurtle by far too quickly for my liking, leaving an unbalanced feel to the book. As Maltz sets on a collision course to confront Carol Marcus and the moss creatures, I was left thinking "surely things aren't going to be wrapped up in Book 2?" Yet that, on initial inspection, appears to be what's happened. It's a wholly unfulfilling end, as we get no direct answers from the aliens, and no grand confrontation. It didn't leave me satisfied, especially on account of the amount of destruction and death wrought in Book 1. I understand there's a third book in the series, so it remains to be seen if Vornholt gives us a bolder endcap to this saga.

All in all, an unbalanced affair for Book 2. Still a whole lot of fun, but sandwiched between a LOT of filler.