The Borg are back, because when you have antagonists as successful as these have been, they never, ever, get to die. Picard and company go up against them again, and the most interesting part of the story for me is Worf. He's refused the position of first officer because of a bad decision he made back in DS9, one which left him feeling he was not fit for command. His working through this was compelling.

The subplot with Admiral Janeway was not. This was a good book, but it would have been better without the idiot plot. When Picard senses the return of the Borg, she tells him to wait several days to investigate, dismissing the urgency of his concerns because of an admittedly valid suspicion that Picard's trauma is causing him to hallucinate things that aren't there. The thing is, if Picard is right and he does not investigate, the worst consequence is that the Borg take over everything. And if Picard is wrong and does investigate, the worst consequence is that Starfleet has to recall one of its captains for medical treatment. These things are not equivalent, and expecting readers to believe that Janeway can't reason it out is idiot plot. I hate idiot plot. I very nearly gave this book two stars because of it.