Star Trek S.C.E.: Aftermath Book

I admit it, I'm this big a geek.

However, that said, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series has been very good - the characters are well written, and the original cast of them way back in the first stories were about half gleaned from previous books or secondary (and tertiary) characters on the various Star Trek television series episodes. But then the authors went further, crafted really smart stories around these characters - finally included a gay fella - and continue to serve up interesting stories set in the Trek world.

So I do not apologize, I merely admit that I'm a geek.

Were these the best stories yet? Not really. I'm being a bit harsh, though - in the previous stories to this one, more than half the crew was killed on a mission, and thus a lot of the stories in this book serve double-duty as introductions of new characters, realignment of relationships, and the like. I must say, I rather enjoyed the new second officer - an arrogant Tellerite with absolutely zero social skills - and continue to enjoy what they've done with Soloman - the Bynar who lost his matched partner and now is navigating life alone. The introduction of a Betazoid security officer was also fresh, and I like where they're going with him.

All around, I enjoyed this - it didn't pack a story with the emotional punch of 'Hard Crash' by any stretch - that one will go down in my personal history as the only Star Trek story to ever really get me choked up - but there were very good moments in here. Just make sure you stock up on apple flavored jolly ranchers before you begin.