Jean-Luc Picard has faced many dangerous missions and met a number of strange and threatening characters but, if asked, he would undoubtedly say that Q is the most frustrating and dangerous of all of them. So when Q's head suddenly emerges from a bulkhead saying "...you have absolutely no idea how screwed up this is" you know that this cannot bode well for the future.

Commander Picard, 1st officer on the starship Enterprise, has great respect for his Captain – Jack Crusher. So when Jack's ex-wife, Beverly Howard, comes aboard as the chief medical officer he is concerned at the possible effect this may have on his long-time friend. But this is no picnic for Beverly either. Accompanied by nurse Geordi La Forge she tries to keep things on a professional level but her relationship with her ex-husband has never recovered from the death of their son Wesley when he was only a small child.

Following the Romulan raid on the Narendra Three, during which his parents were killed, Worf, Son of Mogh, has vowed to seek revenge on the man who ordered the action – a Romulan named Selan. When he finally tracks him down he soon exacts his revenge and shortly after discovers a human prisoner in Selan's cells. As "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" Worf agrees to return the human to his home where his wife and son are waiting.

Deanna Riker doesn't dare to think that her husband could still be alive. Captured before their son was born she has been waiting for him for more than eight years. So when she receives a call from a young Klingon claiming to have rescued Will from a Romulan cell it is almost too much to believe. But the torture and depravation has taken a serious toll on her husband's health and he seems to have no memory of their relationship.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard has encountered Q on a number of occasions so when he comes across a man apparently playing volleyball with himself on the surface of an asteroid he is not surprised when the stranger turns out to be another member of the Q-continuum, Trelane. But, unlike Q, Trelane has the personality of a child and a disconcerting habit of playing childish games. When he learns that Q has been asked to mentor the young Trelane into "adulthood", Picard knows that this can only lead to trouble – but he could never have imagined what kind of trouble.

When it comes to ST:TNG books, and in particular those involving Q, I have a definite preference for those written by Peter David. Somehow he manages to get inside the character of Q like no other author and writes stories that have me laughing out loud.

As you have undoubtedly gathered this is a story of alternate realities and achieves something I love to find in a TV tie-in novel. When I read a Star Trek book I don't want to read something that could easily be made into an episode. I want something more – for me the author needs to create a story that would be too complex or expensive to portray on screen.

This is exactly what I found with Q-Squared. It would be virtually impossible to have so many alternate realities running through a 1hour episode without it all feeling a little rushed. But in the book the cast can include Captain Jack Crusher, Commander Picard, nurse la Forge, Captain Picard, Tasha Yar, a full set of Datas (ranging from a human to a cyborg) and various others. Now, this may all sound a little complicated but the author has thoughtfully identified which chapter relates to which reality thus allowing you to keep a track of the different characters.

This story was great fun and, on a number of occasions, it genuinely made me laugh aloud rather than just chuckling to myself.

Synopsis
Like Homecoming did for Star Trek: Voyager and Avatar did for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Q-Squared picks up the Star Trek: The Next Generation story after the TV/movies are complete and tells all-new stories about favourite Next Generation characters and their subsequent lives. After the fall of Shinzon (as seen in the feature film, Star Trek: Nemesis) the elite of the Romulan Empire are battling over who will seize control. Caught up in this struggle are the Kevrata, a once proud people, now strangled under Romulan domination. When a biogenetic disease threatens to wipe out their race, Starfleet assigns its new Chief Medical Officer, Dr Beverly Crusher, to aid the populace. But when she suddenly goes missing and is presumed dead, Jean-Luc Picard must race to try and locate Crusher and help find a cure for the disease that could kill millions.