Q-Squared by Peter David: Star Trek the Next Generation hardcover novel, published July 1994.

Commander Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise has agreed with his best friend and commander, Captain Jack Crusher, to be the go-between for normal command communications with the new chief medical officer, Dr. Beverly Howard, Captain Crusher's ex-wife. It's the least he can do, since the captain will handle most dealings with families, as Picard does not deal well with children.

As the ship proceeds on its first mission, they encounter an enormously powerful being who stops their ship cold: Trelane, an odd fellow who alternately seems charming and petulant, and somewhat threatening. As they encounter him again, his level of threat increases to an alarming point. Then, another odd being, named Q, materializes out of a wall, saying, "You have no idea how screwed up this is."

So begins Peter David's novel of the Q continuum and alternate histories, as he returns again to familiar territory. David cut his writer's teeth writing comic books, so exploring origins and alternate time lines is old hat to him. David is also adept at using a dollop of humor to lighten very serious happenings. These things all hold true here.

David makes the very logical leap of tying Trelane, a character who encountered the original Star Trek crew in the episode "The Squire of Gothos," to the Q continuum. At the end of that original episode, Trelane's "parents" reprimanded him for harming lesser species. His father says, "Stop that nonsense at once! Or you'll not be permitted to make any more planets!" It is obvious that Trelane is a child of a very advanced race. In the novel, Q is something of an "uncle" given charge of a part of Trelane's education.

As part of the plot, Trelane manipulates, and brings together, three separate timelines or universes of the Next Generation crew: a timeline with Jack Crusher as captain, Picard as his first officer busted after court-martial following the events at Maxia, and Worf as a member of the Klingon Empire, who frees a captive Will Riker from a prison/torture planet of the Romulans and Cardassians. Riker is then reunited with his wife Deanna and son Tommy; the second, the familiar universe of the Next Generation; and the third, the more militaristic version seen in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," where the Klingons are at war with the Federation and months from victory. David skillfully weaves these timelines together, and shows the similarities and differences between the versions fans know, and other stories that might have been.

It is a well-written novel of excellent characterizations, a twisting plot, and plenty of moments of interest for both those who do not know the series, who can enjoy a book on a surface level, and the deeper levels of continuity for fans of the series. This is good stuff. As David remarks in the introduction, "there is a lot going on in this one."