Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements

Star Trek Picard: Rogue Elements is the third novel in the Picard series. It was written by John Jackson Miller and was released in August 2021.After nearly 6 years, John Jackson Miller returns with his third Hardcover novel...although this time, it is his first Hardcover for Star Trek. As such, Miller has made this quite the full story, tapping the full book out over 400 pages, a new longest novel for the illustrious author.I had a really difficult time with the Picard series. As such, I was nervous that I wouldn't like the books involved. However, if the Discovery novels have taught me anything, it is not to judge a book by it's tie-in property. Earlier this year I read and absolutely loved The Last Best Hope. When it was announced that John Jackson Miller was going to be writing a Picard novel, I knew I had to read it.This book follows Cristobal Rios, the captain of La Sirena(it is so hard not to type "the La Sirena"). You could probably tell from the show, but Cristobal Rios is really the Star Trek version of "Han Solo". Both are starship captains who gather eccentric crews to go on fun adventures. I really felt like I was reading one of the old Star Wars Han Solo novels, except this book was much better.Miller throws in a lot in this book. He has stated in the past that this was intended to be a fun book, and a fun book it is. The shenanigans that Rios gets involved with are so much fun that I was racing through each chapter to find out what would happen. In typical JJM fashion, there are plenty of twists and turns that shocked me. I can totally see how he laid out the pieces in the beginning, but I did not see it coming as I read the book. Excellent execution of a mystery plot within the overall narrative.Miller ties into a lot of different Star Trek episodes and lore. I won't spoil them all here, but there were some great references to TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and of course, Picard. There were some other references in there as well, including a "Knight Errant" reference which made me giggle when I read it.Part of what makes this book so great is it's characters. All of the cast is easily distinguishable from each other, and yet they all work together so well. Ledger served as a great foil to Rios, and yet he played off all of the Holograms and crew members very well.In the first half of the book, I was really feeling let down by Miller. It was a fun story, but I couldn't see the depth, the purpose, the pure HEART that all of his other books had. All of Miller's best books have something that I can hold onto and say "That's why you should read this book!". However, I just couldn't figure out what that missing piece was.Until I got to the end of the book. Let me tell you, JJM knows how to write a climactic ending! I thought that not only was the ending of the book brilliantly executed, but it had that added depth and purpose that made the book so worth it. It truly turned around my thoughts for the better. Unfortunately, if I even danced around that theme, it would be a potential spoiler, so you'll have to read and find out.I will say that I believe that Miller is best in the Star Trek universe when he is writing about Klingons. The "Sto-Vo-Kor" scenes were the absolute best in the book and I could've read a whole book about them. John's "Prey Trilogy" is one of the best, if not THE best Star Trek series, and it features Klingons heavily. Miller has definitely become my favorite Klingon writer. He also blends the histories of the 23rd and 24th century timelines well with the Discovery/Picard timelines. It all fit into place very well.Recently I critiqued Miller's use of Ferengi in "Takedown". Mr. Miller informed me that he took another stab at them here, and he has very much improved his craft. He balanced all of the new species and characters well and they felt like they would have on the show.I do have critiques though. One thing I've always enjoyed about Mr. Miller's books is that they are, for the most part, free of swear words and sexual scenes. This book had more swear words than everything else I've read by Mr. Miller combined(I'd have to check the math on that, but I don't believe it's much of an exaggeration). In addition, there are several moments of sexual innuendo(and not even innuendo, but straight up sexual scenes) that really took me out of the book and frustrated me. I expect this type of thing from authors like Dayton Ward and David Mack, but certainly not from Miller. It might have been that since the series Picard is rated R and has langauge and sex that the editors required it in the books. Whether that is the case or if Mr. Miller decided to include them on his own, I did not appreciate them and was very disappointed.I will also say that the beginning of the book was a tad too slow for me. I can handle slow books, but this one needed more of a jump start. I don't know how that could have happened, but I'm sure there could have been more of a hook for the book. The true hook doesn't come until about 150 pages in. However, Miller's second 2/3rds of the book more than make up for the first portion, so it all worked out in the end.If I might add one more piece of praise to the book, it is that the book was absolutely hilarious. I laughed out loud many times, and that doesn't usually happen with Star Trek books.Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book by John Jackson Miller. It was definitely fun, but it had a very much unexpected heart at the end. I laughed out loud so much and enjoyed myself a lot. This feels like it could have been a prequel miniseries, but works just fine as a Star Trek book. I give this book 4.5 out of 5(or 9.0 out of 10).In terms of my JJM ST book rankings, I'd say that this is above "The Enterprise War" for me, but is not quite as good as all of his other Star Trek books. If we are counting his Prey Trilogy as 1 single book, I would rank this book #6 out of 11 books that I've read of Mr. Miller.

Rogue is a fast moving cascade of Star Trek memory, adventure, mystery, and character introspection. Kudos to this writer who blends those into a very good stand alone novel.The book is best for those with a fairly extensive memory of multiple episodes of Star Trek, the Next Generation, but ironically , one needs zero watching of Star Trek Picard to get all the references in this book. This was a character created in the second Star Trek Picard season and abandoned there.....since that whole second season was just throwaway junk except the Rios character, it is a loss he was the thing left behind . Do not watch the Picard second season . This book uses the character totally unrelated to anything in Picard....yes, thank you .

I'm glad that I read the acknowledgements at the end of this novel, where author John Jackson Miller states that he wrote this book during the onset of the pandemic and just wanted to write a Trek book that was fun. Now knowing that this was his goal, to write a book in a typically serious series (too serious when we speak about Star Trek: Picard specifically,) I feel a bit better about how this book at times made me question why I was bothering with it. I didn't feel like it was adding anything to the overall Trek mythos. I didn't have any particular dislike of Cristobal Rios, but it wasn't exactly at the top of my list to find out his backstory, either. That being said, I actually had fun reading this novel. The Trek references are spread throughout and actually really heighten the sense of care that the author took while writing it. Minor spoiler, I recommend you watch these episodes/movies before reading this book, or at least refresh yourself on them.TOS: "A Piece of The Action"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered CountryTNG: "Captain's Holiday"TNG: "The Most Toys"There are probably a few more that I missed, but those are the important ones. You'll appreciate the story and some of the characters that pop up a lot more if you're familiar with those.The characters written specifically for this book are also enjoyable and there are definitely some moments to chuckle at, and in the end I found myself with a newfound appreciation for La Sirena, a ship that honestly did nothing for me when I saw it in season one of Picard.Overall, I don't think you'll have to read this to understand any of the episodes of Picard, but if you're looking for a little lighter read for your next Trek novel, I have to recommend this one more than I thought I would going in.

Cristobal Rios sought only dim solitude, but upon his trouble-filled purchase of La Sirena, he soon becomes surrounded by a collection of troublesome, oddball characters. Before he met Jean-Luc Picard, Rios with his makeshift and misfit crew attempts to regain his peace and build a profit margin outside Federation space. Answers how Rios obtained the La Sirena. Narrative draws upon a vintage original Star Trek episode, while presenting a stand alone story. OST and STNG fans will enjoy this story for its many tie-in surprises.

I was very surprised by this book. I love Star Trek Picard, but I'm not a huge Rios fan. I mean, I don't dislike the character, but he's not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination.I wasn't sure if I'd like this book at all, and I admit that it got off to a bit of a slow start to me. However, once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. I liked all the new characters, and I walked away with a lot more affection for the character of Rios. I even found myself kind of sad that we didn't see some of the novel's characters in the show, and I wouldn't mind catching a glimpse of some of them later, if such a thing were possible.I really think this ended up being one of the best Star Trek novels that I've read to date, and I do recommend it!

The Star Trek novel line has a pretty standard approach of focussing on prequels and hats yet backstories when it comes to the new series like Discovery and Picard, and this third Picard novel is no exception - being the story of Rios.Miller has become one of the core cast of Star Trek novelists, and this novel shows him at his best. It’s a really good story, about a rich cast of characters, that ties into what we saw in Picard season one, and makes a lot of really deep references into the back catalogue of Star Trek canon from the full range of the last 55 years.But actually what I think made it enjoyable the most was the pacing. Miller keeps things moving well, moving from scene to scene, almost feeling episodic in the same way the modern TV series do. It kept me really hooked and never felt like my mind wanted to wander.A top Trek novel and one that helps me continue to look forward to what’s to come in this line, despite the wrapping up of the narrative series that’s been running over the past few decades.

I was expecting a Federation jaunt of the 2390's of the USS Ibn Majid. This starts one year after that when Rios goes solo. If you've recently read Star Trek: Wonderlands then you're in for another non-Federation space fest, but this time the Iotians from 'A Piece of the Action' come back. So more of the same which misses an opportunity to fill in Federation history. A bit dull. Sorry.

It was fun finding a bit more about the backstory but this was a rambling affair and so much so that it became a bit tedious. Not awful ; just not great.

I really enjoyed this book, and getting to know more of the backstory for Rios (my favourite character in the Picard series). I felt his character in the book was on par with how he is portrayed in the show.I wouldnt say this is your standard Star Trek book, but I thought the twists and turns throughout were engaging and enjoyable.

I’ve read over a hundred Trek novels and usually it takes a couple of days to finish them. The Rogue Elements took me a month, I just couldn’t get into this book even I was very curious of Rios back story.