Christopher Cantwell’s Star Trek: Defiant Vol. 1, a book so tough it doesn’t have a subtitle, has less overhead to deal with than Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing’s Star Trek Vol. 1: Godshock, and so in that way feels a bit zippier.

Godshock necessarily had to spend a couple pages on Benjamin Sisko returning and on the introduction of a brand-new ship, nor do I begrudge a book about a new ship introducing some new crew members, too. But Defiant in contrast hurtles through its set up, spending just a handful of pages on how Spock joined Worf’s mission to save his son before it mostly elides how Worf teamed up with B’Elanna Torres or managed to abduct Ro Laren. Worf and Spock commandeering the Defiant equally goes by fast. Again, credit to Godshock for doing the hard work of establishing this Trek era and its situations, but Defiant is clearly the beneficiary.