Regardless of your level of enthusiasm for Star Trek: Picard, if you have any interest at all in the future of the Trek universe in the wake of Star Trek: Nemesis—specifically, the fates of William Riker, Deanna Troi, and yes, albeit tangentially, Jean-Luc Picard himself—you must read this book. I went in having watched, and re-watched, key moments of Picard, and having read and written about the first Star Trek: Picard novel, Una McCormack’s The Last Best Hope. While that knowledge certainly enhanced the reading experience of Swallow’s exemplary work, none of it is needed to have a thoroughly good time.