"The Needs of the Many" (A STO Book Tie-In)

[BlueBard]

I saw a book based on Star Trek Online in the bookstore and picked it up.  The title is "The Needs of the Many" and it examines STO history from the perspective of the war against the Undine.

The gimmick is that the co-author is supposedly Jake Sisko, who has grown up from his DS9 days and is now a noted journalist.  Most of the book follows an interview format, where Jake Sisko is interviewing key people who were involved in events surrounding the Undine's infiltration of the Federation.  Other little nuggets involve the Hobus supernova, the aftermath of the Dominion War, and some context around Data's resurrection.  Reproductions of intercepted communications reveal some of what was going on outside the Federation.

If you're a trekkie who's also into STO, then you might find this book interesting.  Otherwise, the book contains no obvious spoilers and has no first-person action.  If you pick this up hoping for fast-paced Trek action or a story about the main characters actually doing something, you will be disappointed.

If, however, you're interested in the STO backstory and would like some context for roleplay in-game this book is an excellent 'historical' resource.  You might think it would be a dry read, but it isn't.  The interview gimmick mostly works, connecting the reader with the characters and providing enough imagery to picture the events talked about.  The official STO timeline is given in an appendix in the back of the book.

Personally, I think they should have made all of this material available online rather than publishing it as a novel.  But, I guess "Jake Sisko" has to make a living so I won't carp about it.  I just wanted to let all of you know what you're in for if you decide to buy it.