Star Trek
Articles of the Federation
by Keith R.A. DeCandido
We've gotten glimpses of the politics of the Federation onscreen: we saw the Federation president in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and another in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (which established the president's office as being in Paris), and a third was seen in the Deep Space Nine episodes "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost." There have also been repeated mentions of the Federation Council, which was also seen in Star Trek IV. And we've gotten looks at non-Federation governments -- indeed, we've learned more about how the Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, and Bajoran governments have functioned than we ever did the Federation.
Articles looks to change that. Chronicling the first year of Nan Bacco's administration, which is also the year following Star Trek Nemesis, we'll get a good look at how the Federation government functions, and what kinds of issues have to be addressed by a totally free and open society that has a moneyless economy -- but also has the needs of a hundred and fifty or so worlds to accommodate.
The book was, I freely admit, heavily influenced by the first four seasons of The West Wing. What Aaron Sorkin did superlatively when he was the show's primary writer was put a human face on government. Another useful reference was Bill Clinton's My Life; whatever one may think of the man and his presidency, his autobiography is a fascinating first-person insight into the day-to-day of being the leader of the free world, and it was an invaluable reference tool.
This novel has its share of new characters, though some have appeared in other novels, as well as many familiar faces from the screen. All five TV shows are at least referenced, and characters from four of them appear (there was no good way to contrive to have an Enterprise character, though again, there are references).
In addition to showing us the fallout from Star Trek Nemesis (in which there was a coup d'état in one of the quadrant's major powers, shortly followed by the coup's leader being killed), Articles also picks up on themes, not only from A Time..., but also from the novels Titan: Taking Wing and TNG: Death in Winter.
The book is available from the good folks at Amazon.com.
NEW FEATURE: You can now read annotations for the novel that explains the references and other things in the book.
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