Review: ARTICLES OF THE FEDERATION by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Reasons why you should read this book:

1. You are a fan of political dramas that involve multiple main characters dealing with crises and scandals.
2. The television show The West Wing is your favorite of all of those.
3. You are curious about the inner workings of the Federation, a major government in the Star Trek universe, and you remember that Starfleet is really only a branch of the military in the grand scheme of things.
4. You enjoy reading about other inhabitants of the Star Trek universe, not just characters familiar from television and film.

Really, there’s not much more I can say other than if you like the above things, you’ll love Articles of the Federation as much as I did.

This was a dense read, but maintained a fast pace (walking and talking, anyone?) with enough drama that it never dragged. The easiest way to describe it really is “The West Wing set in the Star Trek universe,” and the book presents the best of both worlds. Even though the characters are unfamiliar, they are well-developed and easy to keep track of. The physical setting is also richly detailed and for me was actually a nice change of pace from the starships and alien planets more common to Star Trek stories.

Star Trek is action-driven science fiction at it’s roots, but I’d totally watch President Bacco and her staff take on the Alpha Quadrant, too.

Rating: 5 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.

Currently reading: The Purple Heart Detective Agency by Rock Neelly (and I’m hoping I get to finish it eventually, but there’s this other thing…)

NaNoWriMo progress: 1,844/30k words