Star Trek The Next Generation; Q-Squared by Peter David

In all of his travels, Captain Picard has never encountered an opponent more powerful than Q, a being from another continuum that Picard met on his very first mission as captain of the Starship Enterprise. In the years since, Q has returned again and again to harass Picard and his crew. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes merely obnoxious, Q has always been mysterious and seemingly all-powerful. 

But this time, when Q appears, he comes to Picard for help. Apparently another member of the Q continuum has tapped into an awesome power source that makes this being more powerful than the combined might of the entire Q continuum. This renegade Q is named Trelane - also known as the Squire of Gothos, whom Captain Kirk and his crew first encountered over one hundred years ago. Q explains that, armed with this incredible power, Trelane has become unspeakably dangerous. 

Now Picard must get involved in an awesome struggle between super beings. And this time the stakes are not just Picards ship, or the galaxy, or even the universe - this time the stakes are all of creation...

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I am big fan of Star trek and have been since I saw the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager many years ago. From there I branched out into the Next Generation series and have found them both highly entertaining. Out of all the characters I have to say Q is one of my favorites and I find him very amusing. Which is why I decided to read this book. I knew that if the author succeeding in writing Q well it would be a fun story to read. 

The author had Q down perfectly, he was exactly as he is portrayed in the television series. Funny, calculating, irresponsible, irritating, powerful, slightly unbalanced and possible crazy. It is difficult to write a character with so many sides to his personality but it was done perfectly in this book. 

The story itself was fantastic it followed the Straship Enterprise and crew as they are introduced by Q to his 'pupil' called Trelane. This character was taken from the original series of Star Trek which I have never seen but it didn't prevent me from understanding or enjoying the story. Trelane is a child and his spur of the moment behaviour and lack of caring makes Q appear well mannered and a true gentleman. Add to this child unlimited strength and the ability to alter time and you know that it is going to get interesting to say the least. 

I really enjoyed the book and found it very entertaining. I do think that it is helpful if you have seen Star Trek The Next Generation television series as it is based on the characters from that show. I'm sure you could read it without but you may not understand some of the underlining storyline, personalities or conflicts.  The story was exciting and I really enjoyed jumping between the different possible futures. It was different and worked really well. 

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. 
It was a fantastic read and a perfect story for escaping the pressures of life for a few hours. It was simple entertainment at its best.