Probe (1992)

I've read this before, but I picked it up because I didn't own it and I hadn't reread it since I'd heard of the infamous "Probe debacle"-- I was interested to see what I'd think, knowing it was actually the work of J. M. Dillard and Gene DeWeese. I enjoyed it. It's a pretty lightweight and inoffensive book, but it's still a pleasant enough read. The origin of the Probe is interesting, though the titular object feels pretty shoehorned into the plot about the death of the Praetor and the resulting Romulan peace conference, which I think could have been interesting enough to sustain a novel on its own. The regulars are pretty much spot on, and most of the additional characters are fine; Commander Hiran is the best of them. Now I'm finally reading Music of the Spheres to compare Bonanno's original book to what we ended up with.

The probe from the fourth Star Trek movie, "The Voyage Home", returns to threaten the Romulan Empire. Kirk and crew intervene, perhaps laying foundations for a future cessation of hostilities between the two peoples. A quite good expansion of events from possibly the best Star Trek movie, and a good read in its own right. ( )