Book Review: ‘A Good Day to Die’ by Keith R.A. DeCandido

January 16, 2024 at 4:44 pm | Posted in Books, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Star Trek | 2 Comments
Tags: i.k.s. gorkon, keith r.a. decandido

Star Trek: A Good Day to Die is the first book in the IKS Gorkon series by Keith R.A. DeCandido. It was published by Pocket Books from Simon and Schuster and was released in November 2003.

This is a very entertaining and unique book! Normally Star Trek books follow the Federation and Starfleet. We are on a ship that is on a mission to seek out new life forms and new civilizations. We usually only get short chapters from the other civilizations, and never a whole book from their perspective.  

However this book follows the Klingons exclusively, and it follows their ship the IKS Gorkon as it is tasked with adding new planets to the Klingon Empire.

This book provides excellent similarities and differences between Starfleet and the Klingons. Both are seeking new life and new civilizations. Both have motley crews that have to work together to build their future. However the Federation comes in peace. The Klingons come to conquer.

The Klingons intend to conquer the San-Tarah, a warrior species that challenges the Klingons to five challenges. It provides nice stakes, even though most of it is fairly predictable. 

The main character that we follow is Captain Klag. However there is an excellent supporting cast including Wol, Toq, B’Oraq, and Kursk. They each were able to have unique personalities and character development. 

DeCandido does an excellent job of naturally infusing Klingon words into the book, and I was able to figure out what they meant based on context clues without them being explained. Something very difficult to do in fantasy/sci-fi books. 

There are themes about honor and duty, as you’d expect in a Klingon focused book, but there are also themes about revenge, pettiness, and sacrifice. I thought DeCandido handled these themes well.

Overall, this is an incredibly well written and exciting book. It’s definitely part one of an overarching story, and I’m excited to see where it goes. 4.5 out of 5

Reviewed By: Jonathan Koan for Roqoo Depot.