Exiles

Book follows the first book very well. The entire trilogy provides a great back story for the Sundering that brought about the Romulan Empire.

Life in space is rough for the Vulcans, loss of life, conflicts, and of course when you're all bunch up together in ships after other ships are detroyed infections can spread and dwindle the numbers of the Vulcans. The Vulcans show that they are a hardy people, they try and update their technologies while they look for suitable worlds on which to live. What's also good about this book and the others of this series is that there is the modern situation which is somehow connected with the Romulan's past and the flashbacks which paint the birth of the Romulan race.

Wow! Twists, turns, surprises and excitement! No plot spoilers, but I love origin stories and this is one of the best! A great followup to #1 but alas #3 can be guessed at and appears to be an attempt by the publisher to stretch a two book story into three for the sake of profits. That being said, this book is a must!

In the first book of their Vulcan's Soul trilogy, "Exodus" (Aug. 2004), Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz extrapolated from what little is known of Vulcan history to depict the Sundering. In their newest novel, "Vulcan's Soul, Book Two: Exiles", Sherman and Shwartz portray the long and perilous journey that the exiles undertook and the story is nothing short of remarkable. Just as in "Exodus", the authors employ dual storylines in Exiles: one that illuminates the past and one the present. Almost two months have passed since Admiral Pavel Chekov was presumed dead in an encounter with the Watraii, the mysterious race who claim that the Romulans seized Romulus and Remus from them. When the head of Starfleet Security Admiral Uhura receives word that Chekov is still alive and is being held by the Watraii, who also have in their possession a rare artifact that could hold the truth about the Watraii claims, Uhura calls upon Spock, Saavik, Scotty, Data and Ruanek for a covert mission to recover Chekov and the artifact. Meanwhile Karatek, reluctant leader of the exiles and the keeper of memories, provides the account of the long journey undertaken by those who fled Vulcan, some voluntarily, some not. Along the way many ships and lives are lost and the various factions who boarded the ships become more and more fragmented as time and hardship takes its toil on the survivors. Although the Sundering of the Vulcans and Romulans has been touched on before in a few of the novels, "Exiles" will set what you previously might have imagined on its ear and leaves you anxious to find out where the story goes from here.

This book is an instant Trek classic. The exiles themselves are a wonderfully written group of complex individuals. Talk about your wagon train to the stars Vulcan style! Not only do we have a pioneers' story, there's also a strong flavour of Lord Of The Flies Vulcan style as well. Karatek and family (as well as extended family) all connect with the reader intimately. I really felt for all of them. The struggles to be true to your beliefs, to duty and to survive were overwhelming. Darwin in space. Strong, strong, stuff. Easily Trek book of the year so far, and it's at the top end of my all time favourites list. I enjoyed Exodus. Exiles is a much stronger and brilliant piece. To capture the essence of early and diverse Vulcans cannot have been done any better than this.