Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin are back for the second installment in what's being called the "Enterprise" relaunch. Their first story ret-conned the events of "These Are the Voyages" in a satisfying, interesting way and set up the "Enterprise" to tell the story of the long-alluded and long-anticipated "Romulan War."

"Kobayahi Maru" is the story of the opening salvo of the war and the events leading up to hostilities between the Planetary Coalition and the Romulans.

It all sounds exciting.

Too bad, "Kobayahi Maru" is one of the most disappointing novels from the "Trek" line in a while. The story is simply trying to have too many irons in the fire all at once and seemingly goes no where for pages on end. And even when it does introduce a new plot thread, familiarity with the history of the "Trek" universe negates any real driving suspense since the twists and turns then become telegraphed. In the end, it's more a matter of waiting for the eventual and known outcome without any of the usual "maybe it was different than you originally thought" points that drove the previous entry in this series.

I've heard this novel serves as a starting point for events in the "Star Trek: Destiny" series. Maybe after I get to those novels, this one will be better. Until then, it's a disappointment.