The First Virtue

Star Trek: Double Helix #6

by Michael Jan Friedman, Christie Golden

The final book in this great saga is set 30 years ago -- stardate 2350 -- when a young Captain Picard commanded a ship called Stargazer and first encounters the deadly foe that late threatens the existence of the Alpha Quadrant.

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

271 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Michael Jan Friedman is an author of more than seventy books of fiction and nonfiction, half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Eleven of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. Friedman has also written for network and cable television and radio, and scripted nearly 200 comic books, including his original DC superhero series, the Darkstars.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it had the wrong Crusher on the front but it was still pretty good. You get to see how the Double Helix saga begins and it makes sense to leave it to the last book to say where the villain came from which was interesting. I am not entirely sold on the Stargazer crew, it's been a while since I read Reunion so some of the characters I wasn't too sure about but I did like Jack Crusher and seeing a family man in that role and how he perceives his job is something we rarely get to see in Star Trek (Sisko being the first one that comes to mind). Picard's plotline was pretty boring and uneventful in my opinion as everything hinges on Crusher's and Tuvok's mission and even in that they get lucky. Still a good read overall and concluded the Double Helix saga well.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the "book 6 of 6" label put you off; this is actually a prequel to the rest of the series, so you can read it as a stand alone book. In fact, it works much better that way, as just another in a long series of the successful Stargazer-era books written by Michael Jan Friedman. I can't say the diplomatic plot and the alien characters did much for me, but this book is worth it for the fantastic relationship that develops between Tuvok and Jack Crusher. In fact, I was almost ready to skip everything else just to read those portions of the book. A pity it's going to remain an unfulfilled "what if", considering Crusher's ultimate fate.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Double Helix, Book 5 by Peter David was the grand finale for the series. The 6th novel goes back to the beginning and features Picard and the Stargazer with a guest appearance by Tuvok.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final book in the Double Helix saga of six books is actually a prequel to the series. I would have preferred that the saga be delivered/presented in the order events occurred, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Picard is captain of the Stargazer and is ordered by Starfleet to stop two alien races from going to war and plunging a sector into all out chaos. Several terrorist actions make this task difficult and has Picard sending two officers, Jack Crusher and (recently assigned) Tuvok, off on a mission to track down a possible assassin.

Picard's story focuses on the political, which is interesting, though there's not much tension since the reader is aware of which figure is the cause of this trouble from the start. Picard's tale becomes a read of "when is he going to figure this out?" Much more enjoyable are the exploits of Crusher and Tuvok. I loved reading about Jack, whose influence is felt throughout several of The Next Generation's episodes, and a young Tuvok, whose dialogue is so spot on it's impossible not to read it and hear it in the voice of Tim Russ. I would definitely read a book that featured both of them paired again.

However, in regards to the Double Helix saga this is a ho-hum finale as the dangers of the diseases have been thwarted in a previous installment. This was a good Trek adventure, but in regards to the six book saga it comes off as an afterthought.

[Caryn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

And we're back to the start to see why this all happened. It's a fun book with and easily readable, and there isn't some ridiculous incorrect biology to make me upset. I think someone coughed so there's just as much illness as in books 3 and 5.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plot: C
Writing: D-
Vocabulary: D-
Level: Easy
Rating: PG13 (genocide, murder, deceit, torture, slavery, battle, assassinations)
Worldview: Good guys vs bad guys

[Crystal Bensley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not my favourite Double Helix story but I am a sucker for a Stargazer tale and this prequel to the previous books has some fun undercover action and a cool visit from Tuvok!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't ask me why this book has Beverly Crusher on the cover because she's not in it at all, bar a very short conversation with her husband Jack, who is one of the main characters. On the bright side, Jack Crusher - who I am entirely indifferent to - is paired up with Tuvok, who's one of my favourite Voyager characters and who is in clearly the process of getting used to human ways of doing things and thereby being softened up for Janeway. Tuvok, still an ensign although vastly more experienced than most of the people around him, by virtue of a recent return to Starfleet after several decades spent parenting and doing other things, is pretty judgemental. Then again, he kind of always has been and I enjoy that about him, so that was entertaining.

This book, though, is really more a prequel than anything else. It sets up the (thin and not especially compelling) motivation for the genocidal maniac at the centre of all this contagion, and Friedman does his best trying to make it convincing although, as the last entrant in this series, he's probably not responsible for that motivation in the first place.

I'll forgive a lot for Tuvok, though.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 6-book that is Double Helix turned out to be a bit of a dud. Things started rather excitingly with the first two books but began to meander beyond that point. We lost sight of the medical threat of a designer disease more and more and things peaked in book five with a resolution that didn't feel all that sensible.

Book 6 was supposed to provide more context to the conflict that led up to the events in the other book and we ended up with a Stargazer-era adventure that was only nice because of the glimpse of Jack Crusher working with a younger Tuvok but that was it. The actual story and the involvement of the Thallonian Empire behind it all.

It was okay, but it felt hollow and just provided context for the claim that the death of the antagonist's son triggered the whole chain of events that nearly took down the Federation as a whole.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this is a fantastic end to an alright series. It seems that I enjoyed the back story much more than main course of the story. While the scenario is basically a classic one it was still a very enjoyable tale to read.

Stargazer stories are fascinating content and I enjoyed the character given to Jack Crusher. My head was doing a flipbook through Beverley and Wesley every time I read "Crusher" before settling on Jack, Haha.

I have realised that I am a big fan of pre-Voyager Tuvok and I want to read more. My favourite two books in this series both featured Tuvok.

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serviceable, if boilerplate ST book. My biggest complaint is that there is truly no reason for Beverly Crusher to be on the cover, as she only has a brief cameo.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable and not the best of the star trek books in the stargazer series. I enjoyed this the least. There were some good interactions but too many that felt shallow and meaningless.

[Jimyanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the best book in this sub-series, this book is the prequel to the rest of the books in the set. It tells the story of why the villain of the series did the things he did, and why he hated the Federation in general and Picard in particular so fervently. The book was saved for the final entry in the series in order to keep the mystery of his identity throughout the series, and I understand the purpose of doing so, but frankly I think that the value gained from maintaining that mystery was not nearly enough to offset the loss to the flow of the series created by not running this book first. The entire series would have made much more sense, and been a much more enjoyable read, had it been run chronologically, with this book as the first entry.

This book is set in the time period in which Picard is the captain of the Stargazer, but not early in his career as captain of the Stargazer when he's still proving himself. He is an established captain here, almost as respected as he later is as captain of the Enterprise.

I have one very minor quibble with this book: the cover art shows Tuvok and a young Beverly Crusher, yet she has essentially no part in this story; the critical characters are Tuvok (on loan from his normal assignment) and JACK Crusher; apparently, the powers that be did not feel that Jack Crusher was a sufficiently recognizable figure to put on the cover, that his picture would not sell any books. That is possibly true, but that's no reason for putting Bev on the cover; for one thing, I'm not sure how many books her picture will sell, either, and for another, if her picture DID sell any books, whoever bought this book because they were a Beverly Crusher fan would have felt significantly cheated, as she makes only a token appearance as the other end of a video call home by Jack. Perhaps Picard and Tuvok would have been a more appropriate pairing.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book of Double Helix, The First Virtue should have been the first--and in the sense of internal chronology it is. Welcome to the era of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard's first command, the USS Stargazer. Jack Crusher is still alive, and Tuvok has just rejoined Starfleet at the rank he left years prior--an ensign.

The book chronicles the fall of Gov Gerrid Thul, who eventually becomes the 'Big Bad' behind the plagues in the earlier novels. Denied permission to marry into the Thallonian Imperial Family, Thul turns his gaze to an unstable region of space bordering the empire. His plan is to spark a war between the feuding races of the Melacron and the Cordracites. After the war, Thul plans to sweep back thru, restoring order to the area and creating the foundation for what is his true goal, a coup of the Thallonian Empire and the death of Emperor Tae Cwan.

Michael Jan Friedman and Christie Golden do an excellent job of bringing to life the Melacron, Cordracites and Benniari, the major races of the unstable Kellasian sector, as well as give a wider glimpse into the lives and crew of the Stargazer than I was expecting. Unfortunately, despite the cover, Beverley Crusher only has a cameo appearance near the end, and there is no mention of Lodec, the so-called "best friend" of Mendan Abbis, Thul's bastard son. Since that friendship played such a key role in Double or Nothing, I was looking very forward to reading how lowborn Thallonian Abbis met Danteri war criminal Lodec and what formed the basis of their friendship. Since by the end of the series all are dead, I guess that will forever remain a mystery.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

To complete a complementary series, we have a book that takes us back and back again, to well before the first title. to a time when Picard commanded the Stargazer, a time when jack Crusher was still alive, and to a time before Tuvok under the auspices of Janeway infiltrated the maquis cell headed by Chakotay.

We learn in the previous title that Thul blames the Federation in general and picard more specifically for the death of his Son, Mendan, but the only details we have on that insident were that mendan died. not a great deal to go on, so this work steps up to the bar admirably and plugs the gap.

it's odd how Picard has appeared throughout this series, but never as the focus. he stands out more in this title than many of the others, but the focus is yet on Crusher, Tuvok, and of course the thallonians responsible for the virus in the first place.

This book does well at finishing up, for although the how, what and wherefors of the virus are dealt with previously, the why, and all attendant motivating factors are somewhat glossed over. Of course that opens up the floor for this book, so I'm not complaining!

a very enjoyable series to read over a week or so, I must say. So a big thank you to all those authors for that.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

PLOT OR PREMISE:
This is the final in the series of six Star Trek books dealing with an assault with biological weapons on the Federation. This book takes the reader back to the time of Picard as Captain of the Stargazer and adds Tuvok and Jack Crusher to the series. Picard is assigned diplomatic duties for a system on the verge of war. Working together with Tuvok and Crusher, they quickly realize that the war is being primed by someone, but they're just not sure who. Tuvok and Crusher go undercover and they form the majority of the story.
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WHAT I LIKED:
Tuvok's and Crusher's undercover antics are interesting reading, and represent a solid addition to Tuvok's background.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Crusher's character is only superficially developed, as is the character of the man who eventually becomes the assailant for the other five books.
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BOTTOM-LINE:
Not the best in the series
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the authors, nor do I follow them on social media.

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why they designed this series so that the first book chronologically was the last book in the series, except for the idea that they could keep the real antagonist secret until the very end. There wasn't any real significant plot reason otherwise. But this last book in this sequence was decent. Not as powerful or as interesting as the installment by Diane Carey or Peter David (books 3 and 5) but a well-written edition to the series.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, Beverley should not be on the cover because she is not in the book(well, 2 pages only). This is set on the Stargazer, Picard's old ship. A young Tuvok is sent to help on a mission to stop 2 planets going to war. There's a lot of good character bits in this, and we finally find out why the baddie of Double Helix hates the Federation. A good book.

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very solid read...the medical thriller of the ST world.

[Nicola Zunino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carino come libro a sé. Come sesto libro di un'esalogia di rivela un prequel anche loffio che non svela o spiega il senso dei primi cinque libri del ciclo.