The Trades - Book Review: Star Trek Signature Edition: The Q Continuum

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Book Review: Star Trek Signature Edition: The Q Continuum
by R.J. Carter
Published: October 12, 2003

Title:	Editor:	Genre:	Publisher:	Price:
Star Trek Signature Edition: The Q Continuum	Greg Cox	Science Fiction	Pocket Books	$9.95 US $14.95 CAN
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Cover design by James Wang. Click here to order from Amazon.

Of all the ancillary characters introduced through the Star Trek franchise, Q is by far one of the most intriguing. God-like powers and omniscience coupled with a quirky sense of humor make him the Enterprise's own personal Mr. Mxyzptlk.

But when a scientists devises a plan to breach the Galactic Barrier, Q and the entire Q Continuum find little to chuckle at. For beyond the galactic border lies an entity with the power to rival the Q... and an insane hatred for the Q with whom we've all become familiar.

In order for Picard to understand the severity of the problem the universe faces should the Glactic Barrier be breached, Q takes the Next Generation's captain on his own version of a brief history of time. From subatomic realms to prehistoric times on other planets to the very pool of primordial ooze from which life would eventually evolve on Earth, Picard is eventually brought to the point where Q first meets the being beyond the barrier--a Q-like entity known as 0. And Picard witnesses how the younger and lesser experienced Q rebelled against the Continuum, and freed 0 from his prison, an act that threatened the totality of all existence.

     His younger self could not articulate his feelings so clearly. Distraught and disoriented, he wavered in the face of 0's snow of words. 0 sounded so calm, so reasonable now. "But you killed them all," he blurted. "What's the good of testing them if they all end up dead?"
     "An occupational hazard of mortality," 0 pointed out quite matter-of-factly. "You can't let it get to you, Q. I know it's hard at first. Little helpless creatures can be very appealing sometimes. But trust me on this, the testing gets easier the more you do it. Isn't that right, comrades?" The ohter entities murmured their assent, except for (*), who maintained his silence. "Pretty soon, Q, it won't bother you at all."
     Q thought that over. The idea of feeling better later was attractive, offering the promise of a balm for his stinging conscience, but maybe you were supposed to feel a little bad after you blew up some poor species' sun. Is this what I want to do with my immortality? he wondered. Is 0 who I really want to be?
     "Let me ask you something," he said at last, looking 0 squarely in the eye. He knew now what he needed to know. "Aside from the Coulalakritous, has any species--anywhere--ever survived one of your tests?"
     0 didn't even bother to lie. The predatory gleam in his eyes and the smirk that crossed his face were all the answer Q required.

     It was the beginning of the first Q war....

Greg Cox's stories, such as Assignment: Eternity and The Eugenics Wars, contain black holes; these are almost always hidden at the end of the book, and their gravity-wells draw the reader inexorably into them from the very first page. Be warned: The Q Continuum is one of those storylines, and it is an extremely difficult book to stop reading.

Reprinting the Q-Space, Q-Zone, and Q-Strike novels, this special compilation also includes a several page interview with the author, conducted by Kevin Dilmore, in which Cox discusses his approach to writing Star Trek, as well as how his original plans for a "Kirk-vs-Q" story evolved into a "Kirk-vs-Gary Seven" novel.

Even if you've read the stories before, these Signature Series" novels are a must-have for any fan of Trek.

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