Nested between episodes of the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, this novel, “The High Country” by John Jackson Miller has the crew of the Enterprise following the travels of an exploration vessel that disappeared near a nebula, only to find themselves almost trapped near an inhabited planet.
Based as a follow up of “North Star”, an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, they attempt to follow the missing vessel only to find the landing party shuttle crashing down after they lost all electrical equipment. And so it is that Captain Christopher Pike, Spock, Uhura and Una Chin-Riley are scattered through the planet.
What they find is an enormous planet housing a pre-industrial civilization, resembling Earth’s old West. Technological progress has stalled, but not out of the population’s volition, but through the enactment of anti-invention policies, and the apparition of a strange fire that only burns any clever artifact that tries to circumvent those edicts.
The crew, each one encountering a different faction, or portion of the civilization, will collide in a grand revelation that could destroy not only the Enterprise above the planet, but also all civilizations nearby.
Miller weaves a great tale, with enough action, suspense and a grasp of politics that made this a page turner. It’s probably one of my favorite Star Trek novels in recent years, and of course, now I want the new season available as soon as possible. One of my highest recommendations!
Korpilandia 