'Toward the Night': A Star Trek Novel That Revives the Franchise's Golden Days

TOWARD THE NIGHT 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, #3 

by James Swallow 

Gallery Books, 2025 

★★★★★

While patrolling the borders of the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise record a series of subspace echoes from a planet orbiting a volatile flare star—and when Lieutenant Spock and Commander Una Chin-Riley lead a landing party to learn more, they discover the ruins of a dead civilization and evidence of starship-grade metals…quite possibly a crash site.

As they continue to investigate the strange signals, Spock and Una find shocking signs of dangerous alien life and remnants of what can only be Federation hardware. The trail soon leads Pike and Enterprise’s helmswoman, Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, deep into the mystery of a lost Starfleet vessel, missing in action for over ninety years—and to a terrible dilemma that will challenge the crew to question their past...and their future.

Dear Readers,

Star Trek has historically maintained a niche status, and its fanbase continues to age day by day. Currently, the franchise feels as though it is on life support. The universe of novel tie-ins is even more of a niche. In the past, there were numerous books released monthly by Pocket Books across a variety of series. However, this has dwindled to just a handful of titles each year, now published under Gallery Books. The latest release, Toward the Night, marks the third entry in the Strange New Worlds series, a reimagined prequel to the original Star Trek series. Unfortunately, it launched with minimal buzz, and I would be surprised if anyone outside of the most dedicated Trekkies, the ones who delve into the fiction lit-verse, even knew it existed. 

Written by returning author James Swallow, Toward the Night is set in 2259, right after the Enterprise receives orders to head to Reigel VII in SNW "Among the Lotus Eaters" and before Spock briefly becomes fully human in SNW "Charades."

Toward the Night stands out as one of the better offerings from the Kurtzman era, largely due to its complex time-travel plot, in which the Enterprise crew meets the U.S.S. BALDWIN NX-316, a ship long believed lost along with its crew. Notably, Erica Ortegas, the Enterprise's helmsman, plays a larger role in this story than she does in the television series, as her ancestor served on the Baldwin, leading to a sort of family reunion. 

The book is filled with technical Star Trek jargon; some of it flows well, while other parts exist solely to support the story's mechanics. Each character has a role, with varying degrees of involvement, and they all remain true to their established personalities, thanks to Swallow’s writing skills. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night. It’s a well-crafted tale that employs the familiar time-travel trope, evoking the essence of classic TNG-style episodes. It's a page-turner, and I would definitely recommend it to fellow Trekkies.

⁓B.J. Burgess

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