The start of this book will be very, very familiar to anyone who has watched the film Star Trek: Nemesis, for this book leads on quite smoothly from that film. Riker has left the Enterprise to take up the captaincy of the Starship Titan - a vessel intended for exploration, which Riker finds a welcome change after years of warfare.

Things however do not always go to plan, as the situation on Romulus following the events of Nemesis is rather precarious and the Titan is required to take part in a mercy mission, delivering vital aid and assistance to Romulus. And their mission will see the Federation ships accompanied by Klingon vessels - an inclusion that can only heighten the tensions of being so deep inside Romulan space.

Whilst Titan is in the Romulan system, tensions build between the new Praetor Tal'Aura, a military faction lead by Donatra (an ally of the Enterprise in the fight against Shinzon) and the Remans - a people long oppressed by the Romulans.

And so far from his first voyage as Captain being a peaceful exploratory one, Riker and his crew are caught in the middle of a vast array of Romulan and Reman ships each just looking for any reason to open fire at each other.

Well this is one book you have to concentrate on - there is such a lot going on. Mangels and Martin have populated this ship with a wide range of species and you will need your wits about you to maintain who all these new characters are. But it is definitely worth the effort, the interactions between the species are one of the great strengths of this book.

Not that the plot is poor by any means, it isn't - there is a lot of tension in these pages. The situation in the Romulan Empire is one very much in transition, and with the power vacuum left after Shinzon's assassination of the entire Romulan Senate followed by his own death, a civil war seems inevitable. And unlike a great deal of media tie-in novels there is a feeling here that anything could happen, nothing is certain and no one's survival is guaranteed.

Whew, it's good stuff!

Anyway, back to the species on the ship. This crew has Vulcans, Bolians, Ferengi, an Elaysian (Melora Pazlar, the humanoid from an extremely low-gravity world who appeared in an episode of Deep Space Nine), a Cardassian - the first to enter Starfleet - and many other species, including several non-humanoids. The reptilian Raptor-like Chief Medical Officer is a particularly good example.

And in having these different species aboard, the authors have explored how they would interact and how certain adaptations need to be made to the ship to accommodate their needs. With the conversion of a tall but narrow internal space to low-g quarters for Melora, and the reactions of many people to their Doctor being a large scary looking monster being two rather nice touches.

One thing that the authors do to make all this easier to involve yourself with, is that they have included a few old friends from the various series. As mentioned, Melora Pazlar is part of this crew, as is Riker's wife Deanna Troi as the ship's Diplomatic Officer, Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, and Commader Tuvok - who is on Romulus as part of an undercover mission to make contact with Ambassador Spock (oh, yeah - he's in it too). These familiar faces ease the burden of keeping track of all the new.

This is a great read, one that I feel will satisfy the vast majority of Trek fans, and the ending is quite splendid - containing a pleasing resolution to the main story and leading instantly into Book Two...

Synopsis
After the wholesale assassination of the Romulan senate in the feature film Star Trek: Nemesis, the Romulan Empire is in disarray, with rival factions fighting to pick up the pieces and seize the reins of power. After several factions separately contact the Federation Council - each laying claim to legitimate political power - Starfleet Command sends Captain William Riker and the USS Titan to Romulus to set up a forum for power-sharing talks. But even as the factions take their first faltering steps towards building a new Romulus, civil war looms. Meanwhile the remnants of the Romulan intelligence service, the dreaded Tal Shiar, are regrouping behind the scenes, taking advantage of the political vacuum to mobilize ships and soldiers, threatening to touch off a conflict that would tear Romulus apart. With no other help available, Riker and the Titan crew are all that stands between the shattered Star Empire and a bloodbath.