Star Trek novels, for the most part, have always stood about a head taller than any of the TV shows or films. This particular trilogy titled “Star Trek Destiny” stands a head taller than many of the Trek novels I have read, and I’ve certainly read my fair share over the last 40-plus years.

From author David Mack, his trilogy brings the United Federation of Planets and the entire Alpha, Beta, and Delta Quadrants to a point they have never really been before — total annihilation from literally thousands of mega Borg cubes containing millions of Borg, all driven by the insatiable desire of their Queen to eliminate humanoid life from the Milky Way Galaxy once and for all. Not assimilation but complete and utter desolation.

Everything has changed in Destiny. Familiar faces have changed dramatically, and notable characters are killed, MIA or assimilated. This is a Trek saga on the order of the darkest possible BSG.

On hand are Captains Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker and Ezri Dax, leading the seriously dilapidated Federation force that is supported by every available Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, Ferengi, Breen, Gorn vessel and more – all former enemies, now allies in one last desperate war of survival.

Mack captures the very voice and nuance of all these familiar characters and takes the reader on a rollarcoaster ride of excitement, adventure, mystery and scientific discovery that covers nearly 800 years of human history.

At the center of it all is one lone early pioneer of going where no one had gone before, Captain Erika Hernandez, commanding officer of the missing-in-action crew of the starship NX-02 Columbia.

Star Trek Destiny – Book One “Gods of Night”; Book Two “Mere Mortals” & Book Three “Lost Souls” is an astounding achievement in Trek storytelling that could only have been accomplished by a sci-fi author of Mack’s caliber.