I decided to create a new thread for this one. I did find two very old threads reviewing it from 2007/08 but that seemed too old to resurrect (usually the moderators here are ok with resurrecting semi-old book review threads but that seemed like it was going back TOO far).
Anyway, it was originally released back in 2002 and is a crossover event. For some reason I missed these when they first came out and when I finally picked up the Gorkon books I found out Book 2 of this series includes an early Gorkon adventure--and I generally enjoy KRAD novels anyway so I figured I'd pick up this duology.
Book 1 starts during the first season of Enterprise. That's just the first chapter. Then the timeline moves ahead to the original series timeframe, just prior to "Balance of Terror" and the 2nd half of the book moves ahead to DS9 just prior to "The Jem'Hadar".
Captain Archer and his crew find evidence of 4 deadly weapons known as the "Malkus Artifacts" and Starfleet creates General Order 16 that orders any of these artifacts that are found should be taken into custody and placed in safe keeping. So we shift ahead to the 5YM era. The Enterprise and the Constellation under Commodore Decker receive a distress call of a plague breaking out on a colony planet. They find out it is caused by one of the artifacts and they have to cure the plague and find the artifact. Then in the 2nd part of the book the terrorist Orta (from TNG episode "Ensign Ro") is convinced to return to the Bajoran system and help turn one of Bajor's moons into a farming colony. Having no interest in peace he is already plotting to take of the Odyssey (from "The Jem'Hadar") and use it for his own ends. They he comes across another of the artifacts, this one that is a weapon that instantly can dematerialize anything it is aimed at. So they have to stop Orta while again confiscating the artifact.
Being that each story is half of a book they have to move quickly so they are fast paced stories. However, KRAD still does a good job fleshing out Commodore Decker and Captain Keough of the Odyssey pretty well, as well as some of the other characters of the two ships. I'm not sure how he managed to do all that while addressing the main plot at the same time. It's one reason I miss his novels and am glad there are still a few left of his that I have yet to read (namely the last 2 Gorkon books, and one or two others I believe). There is a concluding 'interlude' at the end of the two stories noting the demise of the Constellation first and then the Odyssey after "The Doomsday Machine" and "The Jem'Hadar" respectively where Kirk, then Sisko, makes a special note of the characters who were lost who had helped in the novel story.
So overall I thought it was a great read. The only thing maybe that might have been sacrificed a bit was some of the regular secondary characters in the original series and DS9. There's plenty of Kirk, Spock and McCoy in the first story, and Kira and Dax feature prominently in the second. But maybe a tad light on some of the other characters. But you can't do everything, and I guess I can't say it bothered me. After all, I'm an avid reader of the litverse and they feature many original characters not seen on the shows so not really a big deal at the end of the day.
The only thing I found maybe a bit odd is Archer is never named in the later stories in Book 1 as the one who originally found evidence of the Artifacts. Vague mentions are made of the mission itself but nothing about the characters or the Enterprise being involved. Not a big deal but I always liked when Archer is mentioned by Kirk and co. or some of the later series characters, bringing Enterprise more into the family (since the series came out after those shows that could obviously never be done in the shows).
Anyway, it was originally released back in 2002 and is a crossover event. For some reason I missed these when they first came out and when I finally picked up the Gorkon books I found out Book 2 of this series includes an early Gorkon adventure--and I generally enjoy KRAD novels anyway so I figured I'd pick up this duology.
Book 1 starts during the first season of Enterprise. That's just the first chapter. Then the timeline moves ahead to the original series timeframe, just prior to "Balance of Terror" and the 2nd half of the book moves ahead to DS9 just prior to "The Jem'Hadar".
Captain Archer and his crew find evidence of 4 deadly weapons known as the "Malkus Artifacts" and Starfleet creates General Order 16 that orders any of these artifacts that are found should be taken into custody and placed in safe keeping. So we shift ahead to the 5YM era. The Enterprise and the Constellation under Commodore Decker receive a distress call of a plague breaking out on a colony planet. They find out it is caused by one of the artifacts and they have to cure the plague and find the artifact. Then in the 2nd part of the book the terrorist Orta (from TNG episode "Ensign Ro") is convinced to return to the Bajoran system and help turn one of Bajor's moons into a farming colony. Having no interest in peace he is already plotting to take of the Odyssey (from "The Jem'Hadar") and use it for his own ends. They he comes across another of the artifacts, this one that is a weapon that instantly can dematerialize anything it is aimed at. So they have to stop Orta while again confiscating the artifact.
Being that each story is half of a book they have to move quickly so they are fast paced stories. However, KRAD still does a good job fleshing out Commodore Decker and Captain Keough of the Odyssey pretty well, as well as some of the other characters of the two ships. I'm not sure how he managed to do all that while addressing the main plot at the same time. It's one reason I miss his novels and am glad there are still a few left of his that I have yet to read (namely the last 2 Gorkon books, and one or two others I believe). There is a concluding 'interlude' at the end of the two stories noting the demise of the Constellation first and then the Odyssey after "The Doomsday Machine" and "The Jem'Hadar" respectively where Kirk, then Sisko, makes a special note of the characters who were lost who had helped in the novel story.
So overall I thought it was a great read. The only thing maybe that might have been sacrificed a bit was some of the regular secondary characters in the original series and DS9. There's plenty of Kirk, Spock and McCoy in the first story, and Kira and Dax feature prominently in the second. But maybe a tad light on some of the other characters. But you can't do everything, and I guess I can't say it bothered me. After all, I'm an avid reader of the litverse and they feature many original characters not seen on the shows so not really a big deal at the end of the day.
The only thing I found maybe a bit odd is Archer is never named in the later stories in Book 1 as the one who originally found evidence of the Artifacts. Vague mentions are made of the mission itself but nothing about the characters or the Enterprise being involved. Not a big deal but I always liked when Archer is mentioned by Kirk and co. or some of the later series characters, bringing Enterprise more into the family (since the series came out after those shows that could obviously never be done in the shows).
. In Book 2, Cmdr Voyskunsky noted that one ships she served on was called Discovery. Granted it can't be the same Discovery unless she is over 150 years old, but still, one could argue it's part of the Discovery legacy much like the Enterprises were 
.
