After my successful encounter with the tie-in book acting as a prequel to the new Picard TV series on Amazon, and feeling some nostalgia for the world of TNG I enjoyed during its run, I went in search of books that might bring back some of that old “magic” and also fill the hiatus between the last TNG movie Nemesis and the current TV show. My search brought me to this novel that was indicated as focused on that time period and also on the most interesting adversary ever created in the Star Trek universe: the Borg. The book promised to bring the old enemy back, so I decided to take the plunge in the hope of connecting once again with a narrative arc that, highs and lows notwithstanding, had managed to capture my imagination in the past.

In Resistance we encounter a Captain Picard having to adjust to a series of changes in his command staff: Riker, the former first officer now promoted to captain, and his wife Counselor Troi, have moved to their own ship; Worf, the best candidate for the position of XO is reluctant to take the post; a new Vulcan counselor has been assigned to the Enterprise; and the loss of Data, whose sacrifice saved them all, still feels very painful. On top of all this, Picard hears again his connection to the Borg and the voice of the collective, which was not completely vanquished and is now working toward the creation of a new queen and the resurgence of the assimilation program.

Compelled to act quickly, Picard contravenes Starfleet’s orders and heads to intercept the Borg cube before the queen can be activated, and when the first attempt at destroying her fails, chooses a dangerous path to prevent the possibility of a new, devastating invasion.

While the main theme for this novel looked promising, this story unfortunately did not completely deliver on that promise, mostly because it did not add anything new to the concept of this detached enemy following directives like a computer, without personal or emotional motivations. Worse, the plot seems like a mere rewrite of the script for First Contact, with the addition of some outlandish notions bordering on the absurd, like the premise that to build a new queen a male drone is subjected to a special treatment that turns it from male to female. I’m still puzzling over this, since it’s established in canon that Borg drones are captured and assimilated beings - both male and female - and that their inclusion in the collective does not change their gender and at most makes it irrelevant to the hive mind’s goals.

If the writing is good enough and the pacing adequately sustained, the story falters in the plentiful descriptions of characters’ thoughts and feelings with an abundance of telling vs. showing that soon becomes tedious and spoils the overall effect. Not to mention that some of the characters’ decisions feel out of place, namely Picard’s disturbing solution for boarding the cube without raising the alarm: in consideration of his past trauma at the hands of the Borg, it goes against everything we have seen so far about his PTSD.

There are however some positive elements in Resistance, the most significant being the look into Worf’s personality as he still labors under the weight of guilt for the failure of a previous mission: the reasons for not wanting to accept the position of first officer come straight from his psychological makeup and past history, and help to shed more light into what makes him tick. And the newly-minted Counselor T’Lana is a promising addition to the team - should she remain as a canon character and be further developed, of course - because her nature as a Vulcan and her posting as a counselor dealing with the crew’s emotions could lead to interesting developments.

When all is said and done, Resistance ended up being something of a letdown after my successful experience with The Last Best Hope, even though I acknowledge that at least the action scenes held my attention and the book was a fast, diverting read. Still, it had a little “paint by the numbers” flavor that did not completely agree with me, although it did not stop my search for more interesting and promising books: as this “quest” is undergoing during a difficult moment in everyone’s life, I feel in great need of some optimistic stories and I have to admit that Star Trek, even in its direst visions, always had the power to offer at least a glimmer of hope. And a vision, no matter how idealistic, of a better future is exactly what everyone needs when finding themselves in dire straits… ( )

I'm a fan of the novel series continuing TNG, and the evolution of the crews and properties that aren't featured on the screen anymore. These characters are very real to their fans, and the writers even tend to be especially talented at maintaining the flavor of the series.
Resistance is a Borg story, and (as I understand it) the beginning of the Borg story to end all Borg stories (literally?) - but, it works well as a stand-alone. There is without a doubt a good deal of retread here. Going back over the Locutus stories that were a highlight of TNG (maybe it's ultimate peak - resulting in the best seasonal cliff hanger in all ST). Somehow it remains fresh at the same time - with introduction of new characters that feel very real, reflecting on the fate of crew from the last screen stories (at the movies - too few Next Generation movies, IMO), and virtually turning the novels into crack for fans by playing tag with the companion/sister novel series (esp. Titan).
Bravely unafraid to have real consequences and legitimate threats that have lasting impact (something televised stories ultimately shy away from most of the time).
Janeway is a side character who is destined to be sucked into an extension of this storyline in the biggest way possible.
The focus is on Picard, Beverly Crusher, Worf, Sara Nave (comm/security), Leonardo Battaglia (security) and last but not least T'Lana.
T'Lana is the new ships counselor, replacing Deanna Troi - - she's an especially interesting choice because she's Vulcan. This is a beautiful set-up for examining the Vulcan approach to counseling and how it balances logic and handles emotion. I'm sold on this character and very interested in seeing her evolve.
Crusher's contributions are a lot of fun, too - shifting the way we see the Borg in a clever dynamic way that works really well. The Borg preceded the pop culture zombie renaissance, but in reality that's not true at all - in reality they *were* the pop culture zombie renaissance, and Trek producers and fans were just ahead of the curb in their tastes. This also makes for a timeless horror-themed candy feeling for this story arc. The Borg became a nuisance in Voyager - and were too-often front and center to the point of weakening their brand. This novel arc seeks to remedy the blandness of that overuse by giving them a Borg story to end all stories. ( )

Very exciting book with tons of action. Great continuation of the story of the borg. The only negative was that there were a couple of characters who were not voiced well by the author. ( )

http://tpi-reads.blogspot.com/2011/02/resistance-by-jm-dillard.html ( )

I read this book in three days, which is a much, much faster time than I have read a book in decades, probably. I was concerned, though, because on my nook, it showed around 189 pages--short for any novel, but particularly a Star Trek novel. Then I looked online and saw that it said book was supposed to be over 300 pages which would make more sense. I was worried that the book was just going to cut off and I'd be unable to read to continue reading. But it did seem like it took more page flips for my page count to rise, so I think the page numbering on the nook version is different from other versions.

In Resistance, Captain Jean-Luc Picard must face the Borg again, and disobey Admiral Janeway's orders to do so. Of course, I think Janeway in this novel was out of character and unbelievable. Eventually he decides that he must once again become Locutus in his effort to defeat the Borg. It is true that this is all in the first half of the book, as another reviewer commented. I disagree with that reviewer that the pace of the book slows down in the second half, though. It continues at the same frantic pace as it did in the first half, or perhaps moves a little bit faster, as this is when the actual battles with the Borg begin.

I think there could have been more to this book--as there was very little actual long-term character development. Instead, it played out much like an episode of Star Trek, with lots of action. ( )