[Review] — "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country" is a Strange Western Steampunk Adventure

Available to buy on Hardcover and Kindle. 

The High Country, the first standalone book based on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: A Strange New World, was just released by Gallery Books. The first Captain Pike novel set in the "Discovery" timeline is technically Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller, who also authored The High Country. 

Captain Christopher Pike, First Officer Una Chin-Riley, Science Officer Spock, and Cadet Nyota Uhura have to abandon ship after the unsuccessful test run of an experimental shuttlecraft, in a risky move that disperses their party across the strangest new world they have ever encountered. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, commanded by Security Chief La'an Noonien-Singh, encounters inexplicable shipwide malfunctions that prevent them from contacting the shuttlecraft party.

First Officer Chin-Riley struggles to survive in a dangerous environment with perils at every corner. Nyota Uhura, a young cadet, is left in a barren volcanic wasteland where nothing is as it seems. Spock, the science officer, has vanished entirely. Also, Captain Pike has the opportunity to realize a boyhood fantasy by living the life of a cowboy in a world where the tools of the twenty-first century are obsolete.

Even while driving shotgun, Pike is first and foremost a starship captain, with all the responsibilities that come with it. He discovers that one person's utopia may be another person's damnation when he stumbles across a shockingly familiar face from his past while looking for his crewmates. He must lead an exodus to escape a galactic catastrophe that even the Starship Enterprise cannot stop.

The good news is that The High Country feels like an episode of "Strange New Worlds," even though it is a sequel to the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "North Star." Pike is the protagonist of this story, with Chin-Riley, Spock, and Uhura serving as supporting characters. John Jackson Miller is a fantastic science fiction author who uses his magic wand and conjures a story set on a planet without technology. Well, sort of. You have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about.

I enjoyed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country overall. While it's well written, the narrative grew sluggish halfway through, and I struggled to finish it. Although the book isn't extremely long, cutting 50 to 75 pages might have improved the pace. You might like reading this book if you enjoy a western-steampunk fusion. Despite its flaws, it's at least entertaining. ╌★★★½✰