Resistance

Star Trek: The Next Generation

by J.M. Dillard

Captain Jean-Luc Picard, his ship repaired, must now reassemble his crew. With the departure of both William Riker and ship's counsellor Deannna Troi, the captain must replace his two most trusted advisors. He chooses a Vulcan, a logical choice, and for his new first officer, Worf. But the Klingon refuses the promotion and the new ship's counsellor appears to actively dislike Worf. A simple shake-down mission should settle everything. Except that once again, the captain hears the song of the Borg collective. Admiral Janeway is convinced that the Borg have been crushed and are no longer a threat. Picard believes she is wrong, and that if the Enterprise doesn't act the entire Federation will be under the domination of its most oppressive enemy.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek The Next Generation, Fiction, Media Tie In, Ebooks, Adventure

306 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

J.M. Dillard is the pseudonym under which Jeanne Kalogridis (b. 1954) publishes her Star Trek novels.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resistance to read this is futile!


This novel is set in the “Relaunch” Expanded Universe of Star Trek, close after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis”.


A NEW CHAPTER…

This isn’t the novel set right after of Star Trek: Nemesis, that one is Death in Winter, but it’s quite close and you can feel it as the real starting point in a new chapter in the adventures of the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, after the events in the already mentioned theatrical film.

Data is gone. Riker and Troi left to the USS Titan. But the mission of the Enterprise-E continues and Captain Picard needs to find replacements for the crutial vacants in his senior crew, however that it won’t be easy.

Picard is choosing Word as his new First Officer, however Worf considers that he isn’t the right choice.

Picard wanted another Betazoid as the new Counselor, however there wasn’t any available and Starfleet sends a female Vulcan, Lieutenant T’Lana, petite, beautiful but she isn’t hesitant to take the opposite side in all Picard’s decisions.

The family isn’t the same anymore and Picard is feeling it and missing the absent friends.

In a positive note, Picard already expressed his feeling towards Dr. Beverly Crusher and finally they are enjoying a steady romantic relationship.


IN PICARD YOU CAN TRUST

Captain Picard is hearing the Borg again, and they aren’t happy. Through this “voices” of the Collective, Picard is finding out about a remnant party of the Borg, trapped in the Alpha Quadrant, and they are trying to “reborn” the Queen to engage into an all-out attack against the Federation.

Picard tells all this to Admiral Janeway, but he is unable to produce any tangible evidence but only his word.

Of course, it’s the word of Captain Jean-Luc Picard!

However, Janeway doesn’t share our trust in the word of him, so she ordered to wait for Seven of Nine, and only then, the Enterprise would be authorized to make an inspection where he believes is the rising new Borg cube.

But Picard is certain, in his mind, that he can’t wait until Seven of Nine would be able to reach the Enterprise. The Federation is in peril and he can’t waste any minute!

And you could think that you can put your money on Picard, until he started to came out with this insane strategy of becoming willingly into Locutus again!!!


THE BORG THAT YOU (DON’T) KNOW

This novel, Resistance, is quite entertaining and I enjoyed to read it a lot. J. M. Dillard, the author, was responsible to make the novelization of Star Trek: First Contact, so the Next Generation crew and the Borg weren’t anything unfamiliar to him.

However, the author exposed some very odd elements about the Borg that they didn’t make any sense.

He established that all the Borg drones were masculine and they need to do certain process to create a new Queen, turning a male drone into a female drone…

…what the heck did you smoked, man?!!!

Seven of Nine. She was a Borg drone for like 20 years or so. She was a female child, Annika Hansen, when she was assimiliated by the Borg. And 20 years later, when she is separated from the Borg Collective, she remains to be a female human. So, there are female Borg drones! Seven is the proof of that, and to make this even odder, the author mentions Seven of Nine in the narrative, so…

…how in the name of the Prophets, can he postulated something so senseless?!!!

Even having aside the issue of sexual genres in the Borg, the author also exposed an innecesarily process to came out with a new Borg Queen. Based on how the bees behave, he delivered an scenario where a Borg drone is chosen and then he (or she) suffered a transformation process to become a new Borg Queen.

Say, what?!

Come on!!! The author is showing to be a three-dimensional thinking human!

The Borg assimilated thousands of civilizations, taking all the relevant technology for them. The Borg Queen isn’t an individual. The Borg Queen is an embodiment of the Borg Collective Hive Mind. Why the Borg need a queen? Well, they don’t! We do! We, three-dimensional humans need a body to be the villain that we can fear. So, if a queen dies, easy! The Borg Collective Hive Mind could just download again the queen program into organic material easily to be cloned and to construct a new armor body, in a matter of minutes (if not seconds) since…

…they are The Borg!!!

So, if you are forgiving about those absurd concepts of all-male Borg drones and crazy making Queen processes…

…you can enjoy one heck of entertaining adventure, with several cool scenes (specially for Trekkers, like me), with a crew working in its new teamwork chemistry while fighting a merciless enemy…

…The Enterprise-E against the Borg, what else do you need to engage into this book?

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not quite amazing, I have to give this book serious credit for being a vast improvement over the other Trek books I've read lately.

[Elizabeth Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This TNG Novel is about how Enterprise is operating after Riker and Troi leave and a few new crew members arrive. Then Captain Picard thinks he hears the Borg...

This book just sucks you in, it has a lot of action and an intricate story that is pretty easy to follow. I felt like I learned a lot about Wolf, but the story really centered around the whole crew. There were a few times it felt like this author has his go-to phrases, but other than that I think it was a really fun read.

I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes Star Trek novels. J.M. Dillard has to be one of the best ST authors out there.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This almost felt like a second go round at First Contact, picard exorcising the Borg once again. Despite new crew being mentioned, I didn’t feel as connected with them as I had in the other recent books I’ve read set a few years after this. Resistance in fact very much felt like the Jean-Luc and Beverly show, which was fine as far as it went, but not what I was really expecting.

janeway’s cameo also felt quite out-of-character, which was a shame. SO all-told, this felt like just another Borg story really.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Resistance was an interesting read with plenty of action and high stakes, but at times the story felt rushed and a bit aimless. Some things in the plot seem to happen because they seem like a cool idea, rather than an organic plot dictated by the personalities of the characters. Contrived situations such as Picard's choices seem to be a bit out of left field, but there are enough saving graces that allowed me to enjoy the novel. Not stellar, but entertaining enough.

Review: https://www.treklit.com/2019/07/resis...

[Michael Prelee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to pick up a Star Trek novel once in a while and this one was pretty good. J.M. Dillard usually produces great Star Trek so it's nice when her name comes up with a cover or title that catches my eye. This one has the Borg and follows the last Next Generation movie so it concentrates on Picard, Crusher and Worf. It was nice to see her devote some time in the book to Worf dealing with the loss of Dax. I enjoyed it.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first look at the Enterprise after the departure of so many of Captain Picard's senior staff. With Riker a captain, Troi and Commander Christine Vale with Riker and Data dead, the captain had to replace most of his senior staff. He was lucky to get Dr. Crusher back after the events of Death In Winter or he would have needed a new Chief Medical Officer as well.

Commander Worf is now first officer- and doesn't think he should have the job. Second officer was not noted, but Lt. Lionardo Battaglia is now chief of security, his lover Lt. Sarah Nave (a recent transfer from security chief to command) has the conn and T'Lana of Vulcan has replaced Counselor Troi. As Picard gets used to his new crew, he is beset by a familiar mental refrain: the voices of the Borg.

He hears them as they build a new ship, transform a drone into a new queen and prepare not to assimilate the Earth, but to attack. And he knows that by the time Admiral Janeway sends him Seven of Nine for consultation, it will be too late.

I enjoyed the tense action as the Enterprise flew once more into the breach against their most implacable foe. Lives lost? Yes. Drama? Yes. Borg showing just how relentless a foe they really are? Definitely yes.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comfortable.
No real surprises but a true to the beloved TNG.

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abysmal. A dull, unbelievable (in the worst way) story that lacks a fundamental misunderstanding of its core characters.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the launch to a vast new time line, it's almost surprising they gave this book to JM Dillard, who has been off handling novelizations of movies, and hadn't written solo Trek novels since the early TOS days. But she doesn't disappoint -- this is a stripped down action adventure, that still manages some interesting character development between Worf and the new Vulcan ship's counselor. It's all warm up for the big Peter David-written epic that follows, but it's excellent warm up.

[Excel Lifestyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great borg story - mix of Best of Both Worlds and First Contact. Rather unimportant in comparison to other post nemesis stuff but a quick read.

[Carl Bussema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resistance is futile... unless you're Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise.

Part Best-of-Both-Worlds, Part First-Contact, this is an enjoyable tale of how the Enterprise comes to be made aware of the remaining Borg in the Alpha Quadrant (remember they were dealt some serious blows in First Contact and in Voyager's "Endgame") are attempting to rebuild their power base by growing a new queen.

Naturally there are no other ships around, but at least (unlike in First Contact) Starfleet is willing to let Picard go, so long as he's chaperoned by the Borg expert, Seven of Nine. Unfortunately, deux ex plot clock occurs and she won't arrive until it's Too Late (TM), so off we go in violation of direct orders.

Once you get past that and accept that we are going to be once again, enterprise vs. single Borg ship, it's a pretty decent story. There's some new wrinkles to the Borg, and Picard makes some... interesting... choices. We also get some decent background on the ship's new Vulcan counselor (she doesn't say "fascinating" nearly enough though) and a permanent first officer appointed.

Recommended-for: Borg drones (this is what happens when you mess with Picard), Picard fans, Worf fans.

[Derek Moreland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was just delightful.

After the poorly written, dreadfully paced, tic-off-the-plot-point-boxes mess of a novel that was Death in Winter, and the perfectly functional but joyless and sterile first two Titan offerings, I was afraid that the post-Nemesis tie-in fiction was an utter waste of potential. Thankfully, Resistance is a spritely, energetic read that both advances the characters beyond the boundaries of traditional tie-in fiction and tells a solid story to boot.

Part of me wonders if this is due to the primary source material: Resistance is, more or less, a sequel to First Contact, while the other books I've mentioned by necessity had to deal with the fallout of Nemesis more directly. But I think a lot of credit goes to Dillard, whose prose style reads like a solid action script, and put me in mind of some of the better episodes of the titular series. For this kind of work, I can't think of higher praise.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

[1.5/5] It reads like fan fiction nonsense, throwing the characters into ridiculous situations and having them behave nothing like the people we've come to know, along with whiplash inducing changes of tone within the space of pages. I have no idea why it was decided that Picard would relive his Borg nightmare again, as if he had processed nothing. Both he and Worf are particularly out of character here.

Janeway's small appearance is similarly baffling and hypocritical. And don't get me started on the fact that all modern Federation ships now have a certain secret technology that just needs a special code to activate.

But I'll take a dumb and fun book over a clever and boring one any day, and this is a super quick read that barely pauses for a breath. If you can accept the fact that this is every previous Borg story turned up to eleven with no thought behind it, you may find something to enjoy.

[Jeremy Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was fine just not great. The characters felt a little out of sorts to me and the resolution a little too easy.
2025 Reread: I really enjoyed this novel. I’ve read it a few times and this was my favorite reread of it. It has some great callbacks to both First Contact and other episodes relating to Worf and taking the first officer’s job. While this book was short it had a ton of different elements ranging from Picards continued fear of the Borg, Crusher’s relationship with Picard and what she may have to give up on the mission, Worf accepting the first officer’s role and the duties that come with it and some new characters while their time was short made an impact on this story. I wish the First Contact novelization had been given this much thought and detail but I’m glad this book felt like a bit of a redemption.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough novel and a continuation of the storyline from Death in Winter and introduces some new characters into the TNG universe, although I'm still unsure how I feel about them because seriously, no one talks back to Picard! Worf gets a promotion that's was long overdue, and the ending between him and Picard was classic. Obviously I'm a huge fan of the Borg (and it appears that when the Borg come every officer is a redshirt), but their inclusion in this novel was a bit to ancillary. Also there wasn't enough Picard/Beverly moments like in Death in Winter, but overall this is the second book I've read of the TNG re-launch and while not all that great, it has me looking forward to reading the next three direct sequels.

[John Kirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing: Dillard has written far better Trek novels than this. The basic plot is ok, and it stands alone as a complete story while linking in to an ongoing series. However, almost every time she mentions bees she gets her facts wrong. For instance, it's physically impossible to turn a male drone into a queen! (What actually happens is that female eggs can turn into workers or queens.) I don't mind her comparing the Borg to an insect colony, and she can make up whatever Borg rules she likes, but if a writer wants to use real-world concepts then they should do some basic research first.

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most emotional books in the return of the Borg story arc. Picard is forced to make a horrifying choice, how far are you willing to go to defeat an enemy bent on destroying you. This book really demonstrates strength, courage and a willingness to never give in, from both Picard and his crew as well as the Borg. This book, more than many others apart from the Destiny trilogy, shows the issue of the Borg's penchant to destroy anything both from their perspective and the Federations

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of the third great Borg invasion, was a good set-up and look forward to the remaining books of series.

Only faults I really see is that Picard thinks Seven is "too human" now and why he is best to go undercover in the hive. This is very odd since he has much more "humanity" than she did.

Aside from that, Worf's story about his doubts about command were good. Geordi unfortunanty did not have much.

New crewmembers added to Enterprise E were a mixed back. Curious to see how many stay.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun adventure dealing with the Borg. The story flow was pretty good, and the tale had a few new faces. It was pleasant enough. =)

[Jarrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angst-filled Borg Adventure. The Borg Queen and the return of Locutus.

Worf vs Locutus

Into to T'lana

[Crystal Bensley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting Borg focused story which leads us into the troubles brought to a head in the Destiny trilogy. And we get a new vulcan councillor on the Enterprise E!

[John Cipolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a library book. Feb 4 started feb 5th

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a bad command decision. It kept me engaged and at times was exciting. A good read for a Star Trek fan.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holding on, her father had called it. When things were so impossible that all you could do was keep breathing, keep taking that next step, keep going until finally you were somewhere else, where things weren't so terrible.

3 stars This quote was very powerful to me, and it very much shows the darkness and the pain of it all that in this case was inflicted by the Borg.

The Borg was, as you can imagine, a main enemy in this story. In a way they were also what made me not like it as much as I might have otherwise. Don't get me wrong. I do like this book, but as I was contemplating the darkness and the Borg of it all it also felt kind of like more of the same concerning the Borg. I remember when I first saw the TNG episode where the Borg was first introduced and how I was so utterly fascinated and terrified by them all at the same time, but along the way that has gotten lost a bit, which it can as you get introduced to something more and more. In this case it just felt more of the same, though. More bland. Even though there were differences in how the Borg acted and how the crew were fighting them, and some of these differences were interesting. I think that maybe I felt like that because with Picard going back to being Locutus I felt that it became somewhat repetitive. And as I loved seeing Janeway mentioned and being a small part of the story I also felt like a part of me agrees with another review mentioning her being out of character.

What I liked the most about this book was how the TNG characters were written in general, and with Riker and Troi now gone there were some new characters to get to know. Out of the new ones I especially liked Sara Nave. A bit of her backstory and what she went through in this book felt powerful to me. So having said this I was sad to see her and Lio Battaglia die, but I also acknowledge that their deaths show the horror of the Borg and I do think that there was a sad poetic beauty as to how it happened.

I do look forward to more Borg stories in the future, though. I've been especially looking forward to reading Gods of Night and the rest of that trilogy. :)

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Trek: TNG - Resistance by J.M. Dillard (aka Jeanne Kalgridis) - Second book in the Second Decade series (and second book in the Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart by the Trek Collective)

Adventurous, challenging, emotional,
hopeful, inspiring, reflective, sad, and tense.

Medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0 Stars

It is interesting to see this crew, and especially Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher at this time in their career...being put to the test...against the Borg.

In this story, SO many things could've/should've gone wrong. Our hero makes a decision, and the crew (most of them...back him up), and what follows was truly scary to think about.

The Borg are STILL a formidable adversary. The idea put form by Dr. Crusher seems to have merit, but there's a part of me that is worried about the future. Ugh. I am conflicted.

Really enjoyed Worf's arc in this story. Seeing him from TNG S1 to S7, then the movies...it is a fitting contiuation. You can see the formation of what we eventually get in Picard S3. There MAY be "some" continuity in Star Trek. Hmmm.

The ship's new Counselor being a Vulcan (T'Lana)...seems to be an odd choice. You would think that a counselor would be empathetic, not just purely logical. 

Again, like the previous novel (Death in WInter), the use of Dr. Crusher was good...though, I do hope that she eventually becomes the main protagonist in a future book. She's such an amazing character.

I also enjoyed the "boots on the ground" character of Lt. Sara Nave. Her perspective was well executed. I'm thankful for her tenacity and grit.

Now that I've finished the second book in the Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart (Second Decade series), I am going to be reading Q & A by Keith R.A. Decandido. Two down and 73+ novels to go!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Borg are back, because when you have antagonists as successful as these have been, they never, ever, get to die. Picard and company go up against them again, and the most interesting part of the story for me is Worf. He's refused the position of first officer because of a bad decision he made back in DS9, one which left him feeling he was not fit for command. His working through this was compelling.

The subplot with Admiral Janeway was not. This was a good book, but it would have been better without the idiot plot. When Picard senses the return of the Borg, she tells him to wait several days to investigate, dismissing the urgency of his concerns because of an admittedly valid suspicion that Picard's trauma is causing him to hallucinate things that aren't there. The thing is, if Picard is right and he does not investigate, the worst consequence is that the Borg take over everything. And if Picard is wrong and does investigate, the worst consequence is that Starfleet has to recall one of its captains for medical treatment. These things are not equivalent, and expecting readers to believe that Janeway can't reason it out is idiot plot. I hate idiot plot. I very nearly gave this book two stars because of it.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book, but felt it was too predictable, and in some ways a bit silly. Pucarda actions, disobeying orders etc, how many time can you roll that out without someone sacking him? Despite this I did enjoy it. Illogical captain but true.


Spoilers
The conversation with Janeway was one of the weakest points of the book for me. The biggest threat to the Federation turns up and you spend a minute talking about it. Either Picard is mad, in which case theres no harm him going to investigate, or relieve him of command. Or he's right in which case by the time 7 turns up it will be too late to stop them. The decision Janeway made was purely so Picard could disobey her and not at all what she would have done. She had no choice but let him investigate or relieve him of command. Despite this it's still a fun book, though entirely predictable.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid sequel to Nemesis and a good jumping on point for the Post-Nemesis ST litverse. I was hoping for a bit more from this one but as a standalone adventure that seems to be setting up stuff for down the line this was pretty good. I rewatched Nemesis in preparation for reading this one and I'm glad I did as it felt like this book picked up nicely where that movie left off. There are some really nice character moments where you get a nice insight to how everyone is doing Post-Nemesis (sans Riker/Troy and Data for obvious reasons) and the author did a good job tying in stuff from Voyager/DS9 as well. You also get a fun little adventure with the Borg with some pretty good action scenes as well. I'm looking forward to reading more in the Star Trek litverse as this mainly seems to be a primer for what's to come. 3.7 stars rounded up.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally, I don't read too many Next Generation novels but I am glad I picked this book up. Amazing, well written, action packed book that stayed true to the characters as well as adding depth to them. It can be seen as an extion of First Contact with the Picard having another go at the Borg, only this time it he isn't the hero but it is up to Worf and Crusher to save the day. I really loved Worf's storyline and how he had to come to terms with his grief over his wife and decisions made while married to her. Well done novel and worth the read.