Una McCormack returns to Star Trek: Picard to deliver the exceptional Second Self, the fourth Picard novel — and best so far.
 
Second Self is taut, creepy, thoughtful, and propulsive, and the book includes a big legacy character who meets a surprising fate. This novel is by far the most adventurous of the Picard novels to date, seeking not only to explore the Picard characters in more detail, but also to expand upon the world of the early 25th century — and to pull back the curtain on the state of the galaxy two decades after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.
 
Published in September, Second Self has been out for a few months now, so this review is going to contain full spoilers. Consider yourself warned!
 

Second Self s a Raffi Musiker novel, set between the events of Picard’s first and second seasons. It continues to build upon the No Man’s Land audio drama from earlier this year, and explores Raffi’s re-emergence into the world, and return to Starfleet, following the events of Picard’s first year. At the behest of Admiral Picard, Raffi is sent to the planet Ordeve to track down a Cardassian who is wanted for crimes committed during the Bajoran Occupation.

It is also a planet where Romulan refugees have settled following the destruction of their homeworld, and a planet that has history impacting the Bajorans, Cardassians, and Romulans alike. A Bajoran colony world that was taken over by the Cardassians during the Occupation, the planet was later taken over by the Romulans at the end of the Dominion War — before eventually being returned to Cardassian control.

Raffi also has a history with Ordeve; while at Starfleet Intelligence’s Romulan Affairs division, she was sent to the planet to observe Romulan control of the world at the end of the Dominion War.

Second Self explores the planet’s history through three time periods: during the Occupation of Bajor, in the aftermath of the Dominion War, and in the “present” of 2401. The novel tells a story of a planet with a dark history and a lot of conflict between different factions, reminiscent of Eastern European countries in the 20th century who traded one foreign power for another.

McCormack deftly pitches Raffi into the middle of this mess in the two time frames, where the aggressors switch sides: the Romulans oppress the Cardassians following the Dominion War, while the Cardassians oppress the Romulan refugees in the present.

Raffi is required to navigate these shifting sands, and the lack of a clear right and wrong in many instances, to make the best choices possible. Raffi is a great character — probably the best original Picard character — because of her troubled personality, and McCormack makes good use of Raffi’s foibles to help support pushing the story forward.

Second Self is also an Elim Garak novel. It wouldn’t be an Una McCormack novel without a hefty dose of Cardassians, and in this book she returns to one of her favorite subjects from the Cardassian race. It’s a big swing for a Picard novel to take on such a big legacy character, particularly because the events of this book effectively reveal Garak’s final fate, but I appreciated it.

Some of the other Picard novels have felt a little too enclosed because of a desire not to tell a story that will be overwritten by on-screen events. But honestly, I’d rather the books take big swings that the show might later contradict, instead of trying to skirt around telling us anything interesting about galactic events — or including legacy characters — where it makes sense. This book is so much better because the Cardassian fugitive from justice is Garak, and not some new character who fits the same profile.

McCormack’s new history of the Garak character is not as triumphant as his role in the now defunct literary continuity of the First Splinter that ended last year with Star Trek: Coda. Rather than becoming the leader of the newly democratic Cardassian Union, Garak tops out in the Prime Timeline as ambassador to the Federation… that is, until the Bajorans discover evidence about his role in killings during the Occupation as a member of the Obsidian Order, and seek his extradition to face his crimes.

It is here we find Garak — on the run from Bajoran authorities — and it’s a much more ignoble place for the character to end up than in the old book timeline, which McCormack had a big hand in creating. But somehow, it feels more fitting and more appropriate for a character who, as much as we like him, does have an evil past that he should have to atone for in some way.

And the book’s final resolution, in which Garak uses the newly discovered Orb of Restitution to go back in time and save the Orb and the Bajoran colonists’ children from a younger version of himself to seek cosmic forgiveness for his crimes is fitting and poignant.

As McCormack explains, it’s another exile for the Cardassian tailor. His first exile was aboard Deep Space 9, and his second is on a Bajoran colony world under control of the Cardassians — where his charge is to protect Bajoran children from himself. Describing it back it sounds a little absurd, but when you’re reading the book you are totally hooked. I raced through the final hundred pages of the novel at warp speed, and found the resolution of the novel to be emotional and cathartic.

In addition to the Raffi and Garak storylines, there are a lot of other great characters dotted throughout the story. Admiral Picard makes a number of brief appearances and frames the novel, Captain Rios of the Stargazer is Raffi’s ride to Ordeve, and she brings Elnor with her, who has a lot of chemistry and fun exchanges with Garak.

It is a real shame that the supply chain and other factors forced Second Self to be delayed from it’s original pre-Picard Season 2 publication date, because this would have landed even better in the build up and excitement to the new season. But regardless of that, Second Self is an excellent Star Trek novel, and an even better Picard story

It’s a shame, though, that we close 2022 with only two tie-in Star Trek novels getting to readers hands — this and December’s just-released Harm’s Way. What’s up with that?!

Star Trek: Picard — Second Self is in stores now.