Shattered, Part 1

I’m doing this set of book reviews a little different. I’ve read all three books before writing a review, because they are all related. Firstly Peter David ended the last book with basically a cliffhanger. Captain Calhoun was talking and wrapping up the book like one would expect. David quoted Calhoun and the last part of the sentence was, “Said Mackenzie Calhoun, five minutes before the Excalibur blew up….” The Excalibur is the ship by the way. The next three books deal with the aftermath of that event, hence them all being named Excalibur.

First is Excalibur: Requiem that takes place after the disaster and the inquest. The command crew meets in a bar for a last toast and then heads their separate ways for the downtime that Star Fleet allots a crew if their ship is destroyed. It’s a recuperative thing. David has some fun with the reader by dancing around the reason behind the ship being destroyed, because no one wants to talk about it. It’s actually kind of annoying, because he’s so blatant about it. Anyway he splits the characters and follows them as they explore parts of their lives you have gotten hints at earlier in the series. Each chapter takes a limited third person view that has intimate knowledge of the mental workings of the character being followed. David also names each chapter after the character on which you are focusing, which I like in books that jump between characters. It makes it easier to follow. You jump between Soleta going to see her father on Vulcan and then chasing down her biological father, McHenry and Kebron doing a little side mission for Star Fleet that creates more questions about them than it answers, and Si Cwan and Kalinda seeking the cause of one of her visions.

It’s nice and well written. You learn a lot about the characters in the stories, and it compels you to read the next in the series. That review is next.