Q-Squared
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| Q-Squared | |
| Author | Peter David |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Star Trek: The Next Generation |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Publication date | July 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-671-89151-0 |
Q-Squared (full title Star Trek: The Next Generation – Q-Squared) is a Star Trek novel by acclaimed author Peter David.
Q-Squared was released in July 1994 as one in a series of "Giant Novels" for the Star Trek line from Pocket Books. Although the novel was primarily based on and around the characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation, this book was particularly notable for bringing together the characters of Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Trelane from Star Trek: The Original Series.
[edit] Description
Trelane, who is established as a renegade member of the Q Continuum, taps into the power of the continuum and uses this ability to tamper with time and reality, resulting in the intersection of three different parallel universes. Q, who had been charged with the task of "mentoring" Trelane (a task each "adult" Q must accept at least once for an "adolescent" Q), enlists the aid of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D in the three different timelines in order to stop Trelane. The alternate universes used throughout the story allow the return of many characters considered dead at that point in the continuity, including Tasha Yar and Beverly Crusher's long-dead husband Jack Crusher. In some of these timelines, several of the main characters from the show have died, including Beverly Crusher and Wesley Crusher. Notable is the clash between the "Yesterday's Enterprise" crew, who distrust Klingons, with the regular Worf and the Tasha who admired him.
[edit] Further notes
The plot of this novel continually shifts among three different parallel universes, or 'Tracks', each identified by a letter:
- Track B is the normal Star Trek universe.
- Track A is a variation of the Trekverse, with several differences:
- James Kirk's middle initial is R. This is an attempt to explain the "James R. Kirk" reference in the original episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", said to take place in the Track A universe.
- Jack Crusher, who did not die under Picard's command, is commanding officer of the Enterprise-D. He and Beverly are divorced; their son Wesley died in an accident while still a toddler.
- Geordi La Forge is a nurse in sickbay with cloned eye implants instead of his VISOR.
- Jean-Luc Picard, broken in rank by a court-martial after his failure to defend the Stargazer at Maxia, is Enterprise's first officer. He and Beverly become romantically involved, with disastrous results when Jack discovers their affair.
- Data is a "human-oid" (a positronic brain in an organic body), and is engaged in an ongoing affair with Tasha Yar.
- William Riker and Kira Nerys have been prisoners of the Romulan Star Empire for several years. Riker and Deanna Troi were married prior to his capture, and have a son who has never met his father.
- Worf is a Klingon warrior, who rescues Riker and Kira and kills the Romulan torturers. Unlike the Worf of track B, he struggles to find courage and is extremely paranoid.
- Track C is a variant of the "Klingon war" timeline as seen in "Yesterday's Enterprise", but one in which the Enterprise-D came across the Enterprise-C several hours after it passed into the future, and thus could not be sent back to Narendra III in 2344 to prevent the war with the Klingons (the rift had closed and the C's crew were all dead).
The role of Q was originated by John de Lancie in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint". John de Lancie also provided the reading of the novel in the audio book edition.
Trelane first appeared in the original Star Trek episode "The Squire of Gothos", where he was played by William Campbell.
Peter David previously wrote the novel Q-in-Law for Pocket Books. This novel also featured the main character of Q and was based in the continuity of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Due to its use of alternate universes and the return of the dead Tasha Yar, this novel is frequently compared with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise". In one scene in the novel, the Tashas of Track A and C encounter each other; Tasha-A expresses amazement at her counterpart's militaristic appearance ("My God, I look like a boy!" she exclaims).
In one sequence of the novel, Trelane brings to life the character of Winnie the Pooh, who was originally created by A. A. Milne and is perhaps best known through the films, television series, and merchandise produced by Disney.
The character of Jack Crusher also frequently appears in Michael Jan Friedman's Star Trek: Stargazer novels, which take place several decades before the events of this novel.
In the universe of Track A, the bartender in Ten-Forward is named Caryn Johnson, replacing the usual character of Guinan. In real life, Caryn Johnson is the birth name of Whoopi Goldberg, who played Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Q-Squared spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1994.
Among the connections made in this book between The Next Generation and The Original Series:
- Trelane's origin as a renegade and immature member of the Q continuum.
- A heavy intimation that Q is Trelane's true father, rather than the member of the continuum believed to be his father (who was heard as a disembodied voice in "The Squire of Gothos").
- The events of the Original Series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" were caused by Q, mentally impaired and sent backwards in time by the wrath of an insane Trelane. In the episode, two members of Captain Kirk's Enterprise crew are mutated into beings with godlike powers (much like the Q), supposedly by the energies of a barrier at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy; the book asserts that the impaired Q's essence had been scattered into the galactic barrier, and it was Q's desperate attempts to regain his former faculties that resulted in the Enterprise crewmembers' mutations.
Events depicted in Q-Squared and other Star Trek novels are not considered to be canon by producers of the films and television series.
The hardcover edition of Q-Squared is ISBN 0-671-89151-0. The paperback edition is ISBN 0-671-71897-5.
