Star Trek: Picard Rios Prequel Announced

Star Trek: Picard will soon reveal the history of former Starfleet officer and pilot Cristóbal Rios. Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements is a new novel by John Jackson Miller and the latest Picard story following the Riker and Troi-centered prequel The Dark Veil. Fans met Rios in Picard as the La Sirena pilot with a crew of no one other than emergency holograms. Rogue Elements goes back to the time after Rios left Starfleet, but before joining up with Jean-Luc Picard and his motley crew in Star Trek: Picard's first season (where Santiago Cabrera plays him).

We have the cover and full synopsis for the book, coming from Gallery Books in August. Here they are:

"Starfleet was everything for Cristóbal Rios—until one horrible, inexplicable day when it all went wrong. Aimless and adrift, he grasps at a chance for a future as an independent freighter captain in an area betrayed by the Federation, the border region with the former Romulan Empire. His greatest desire: to be left alone.

"But solitude isn't in the cards for the captain of La Sirena, who falls into debt to a roving gang of hoodlums from a planet whose society is based on Prohibition-era Earth. Teamed against his will with Ledger, his conniving overseer, Rios begins an odyssey that brings him into conflict with outlaws and fortune seekers, with power brokers and relic hunters across the stars.

"Exotic loves and locales await—as well as dangers galore—and Rios learns the hard way that good crewmembers are hard to find, even when you can create your own. And while his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard is years away, Rios finds himself drawing on the Starfleet legend's experiences when he discovers a mystery that began on one of the galaxy's most important days."

Jackson's previous Star Trek work includes the Prey trilogy, which celebrated the franchise's 50th anniversary. He also wrote the Star Trek: Titan ebook Absent Enemies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Takedown, and two Star Trek: Discovery novels, The Enterprise War and Die Standing. On Twitter, Jackson described Rogue Elements as his "quarantine novel" and his longest novel ever. "I specifically asked both to write about Rios — and also to write a book that would be FUN, something readers could really look forward to and would enjoy," he tweeted.

Are you excited about Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements? Let us know in the comments. Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements goes on sale on August 17th.