This is the second part of Sherman and Shwartz's Star Trek series Vulcan's Soul. So you would be best of reading part one before picking up this book. It really isn't the kind of book that you could pick up cold and get the most from unless you have read the first part. Okay, it's well written enough to be enjoyable but you'd miss so much if you started here. But it is a good enough book that you will want to go get a copy of book one.

This book tells of the Watraii, a previously unknown race who have arrived in the quadrant and seem intent on causing the usual brand of mayhem you see in Star Trek stories. This time however it's main objective seems to be Star Fleet's newest ally – the Romulan Empire.

So in the timelines current age (that of Next Generation/Deep Space 9 – pre Star Trek: Nemesis) Admiral Uhura has despatched a covert mission to uncover more about the Watraii – and so Spock, Saavik, Ruanek, Scotty and Data head off to attempt to infiltrate the Watraii and discover more of their intentions.

Meanwhile, in the distant past – in the time of Surak a pivotal era in the history of Vulcan when the race was at the brink of total self-annihilation – we follow the exiles of Vulcan, the ships who departed the ravaged Vulcan to give a chance for a future elsewhere. Their departure was not as smooth as hoped, and in the confusion of the moment their contingent now comprises a mix of Surak's followers (disciples of logic), still emotional Vulcans determined to make a clean start, and a final group of people opposed to the plans of exile.

This makes this a dangerous mix of groups trapped inside the close confines of generational Star Ships, and with no idea of where they might end up.

Being part two of a trilogy is always a bit of an awkward read. These books are past the set up of book one when everything is still fresh, yet they are before the conclusion, and so the most important action is never going to happen in these pages. As books they are the journey from the get-go to the crux of the action.

That a deal of this book actual describes a journey just makes this a little more tricky for the authors to pull off. A little harder for them to turn this section of the story into something we as readers want to read. So how did they do?

Well for the most part I can say that they acquitted themselves reasonably well. Okay there is definitely the feeling that nothing major is going to happen here, as book three Epiphany is still to come. But it is not a bad read by any means. Certainly the sections in the distant past of Vulcan's history are interesting – after years of watching emotionally-repressed Vulcans practising their logic on the various Trek shows it makes a pleasant change to meet these passionate characters.

This has set up book three in good style, it drops enough hints to lead you to your own conclusions as to the connections between the events of the past and the current activities of the Watraii. Now to wait until book three so I can see if my suspicions are correct.

Synopsis
Following on from the events of Vulcan's Soul: Exodus, a bloody war is raging between the Romulans and the mysterious Watraii. Ambassador Spock, pursuing his dream of ending the centuries-old enmity between Romulus and Vulcan, must find and penetrate the home base of the Watraii, where long-hidden secrets that link this newly-discovered people to the ancient Vulcan race are finally revealed. Through masterful use of flashbacks to an earlier time in Vulcan civilization, Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz bring the history of Vulcan to life as never before in a stirring tale of explorers who took their chances amidst the cold and distant stars