The Romulan Prize: Star Trek — The Next Generation | Simon Hawke

In The Romulan Prize, a squad of rogue Romulan scientists and military operatives ambushes and commandeers a Federation research vessel carrying an extraordinary prize: a breakthrough, highly classified warp-propulsion technology. With the U.S.S. Enterprise-D miles away and unable to launch an immediate full-scale attack without risking the ship's destruction and the execution of its scientific crew, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge must execute a high-stakes tactical rescue mission to retake the ship before the Romulan Star Empire can reverse-engineer the tech.

The novel heavily features Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, putting his technical brilliance and tactical problem-solving under extreme pressure. Subverting standard space-battle tropes, Hawke constructs a tense, ground-level infiltration story where La Forge must use his deep knowledge of Starfleet systems, improvised engineering tricks, and stealth to sabotage the Romulan occupiers from within the hostaged vessel's maintenance shafts.

Published in August 1994 as Book #31 in the numbered Pocket Books Star Trek: The Next Generation novel series, the narrative takes place during the height of the television series' final seasons (aligning with Season 7). It stands as a fast-paced, self-contained expanded universe adventure focused on the ongoing cold war tensions between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire.

The Romulan Prize is well-regarded among 1990s Star Trek tie-in fans for its tight focus on action, covert ops, and engineering lore. Readers appreciate Hawke's crisp pacing, sharp depiction of Romulan political intrigue, and authentic characterization of the core Enterprise crew.

Simon Hawke (born Nicholas V. Yermakov) is an American science fiction and fantasy author known for his prolific work across original and media tie-in universes. Best known for his popular 12-book Time Wars series and The Psychacle trilogy, Hawke has also penned acclaimed tie-in novels for major franchises—including Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons (Dark Sun setting), and Friday the 13th—earning a reputation for fast-paced plotting and detailed action choreography.

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