Star Trek: Section 31 (novel series)

Production

Editor Marco Palmieri told Jeff Ayers in Voyages of Imagination (2006) that from the moment the concept was introduced in the Deep Space Nine episode "Inquisition", he knew he wanted to do Section 31 stories. The controversy that erupted in fandom over Section 31 did not surprise him; in fact, it only fueled his desire. Some fans argued that it goes against the fundamental ideology and the basic philosophical assumptions that Star Trek is built upon.

Palmieri's desire to develop a series was to explore the organization's effects upon different crews beyond the Deep Space Nine milieu. According to Palmieri, readers would have to sometimes read four, six, or more volumes in order to get a complete story. Section 31, in contrast, was conceived as four standalone novels, with no connecting story.

The novels are only thematically linked, and have no specific reading order. The idea was to give the reader the option to read as many or as few of the novels as he or she wanted, in any order. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Rogue was written by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin. Martin told Ayers that Mangels and he worked out their prose collaboration process for the first time with this one.

They work out the plot details more or less together until the story makes them happy. Once everyone has signed off on it, they decide where to put the chapter breaks and agree which of them is to write which chapters. Then they write, trade their chapters, and make editorial suggestions, and struggle to make all the joins between chapters dovetail.

Reception

Michelle Erica Green of TrekToday said of Rogue and Shadow that both do a fine job illustrating the demoralizing dangers of Section 31. However, Shadow failed to offer the substance of Rogue in terms of both complexity and interest. In an interview with StarTrek.com, Mangels believed Rogue will always be considered one of his and Martin's best works. Ayers noted that Rogue was the single bestselling mass-market Star Trek title of 2001.

After rereading Shadow, Green said she came to understand Section 31's reasoning behind their actions, but that this does not make the organization any less despicable nor any more logical. Green said Cloak does a good job capturing the humor of the original series, though Dr. McCoy is subdued. This is because Cloak is set shortly before "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", and he has just discovered that he is dying of a blood disorder, and is frantic to track down a woman he knew at Starfleet Medical who may be able to cure him. Of Abyss and the Section 31 series, they are both superbly done, certainly one of Pocket Books' better Trek miniseries.

She recommended the books be read in order which events occurred: Cloak first, then Rogue, then Shadow, which is not terribly substantial, and finally Abyss. A staff writer at TrekCore said Disavowed is another incredible tale from David Mack, telling a story that incorporated many of his favorite elements from recent Trek lit: Julian Bashir, the Mirror Universe's Galactic Commonwealth, action, suspense, and superb writing. The novel was then declared to be among the Star Trek novels of 2014. In his review of Disavowed, Patrick Hayes of SciFiPulse said Mack could write a novel focusing on a Tribble's life and make it stunning. He went on to say the novel was an exceptionally exciting, surprising, wonderful trip to the Mirror Universe with Doctor Bashir trying to destroy an organization that won't quit.