A graphic novel collecting a series of comics that fill in backstory of one of the more interesting adversaries in the Star Trek universe.

I've always thought the Romulans were the most interesting villains: they were smarter than the Klingons or Feds (invented cloaking technology, the plasma torpedo was one of the most powerful weapons in the original series, etc.) and they had what seemed to be a well-established culture (but perhaps the writers simply based them on the Romans).

This book reveals why the Romulans were testing the waters in the ST:TOS episode "Balance of Terror", and why they were flying Klingon Battlecruisers in the episode "The Enterprise Incident". It also explains how the Klingons ended up with cloaking technology (the films and later series). It covers what the Federation did with the device Kirk swiped, and why the Federation agreed not to use cloaks in the pact that averted another Romulan war.

Beyond all that, this is an enjoyable and plausible story of how politics and personal ambition can produce situations where brilliance is thwarted by ill-conceived manipulations behind-the-scenes.

A flaw in this collection is that the story suddenly jumps at one point as if an issue was skipped. The narrative isn't hard to follow through this but it is a little jarring.

Gaming the book:
Star Trek Online is a free-to-play Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that allows you to play as many of the races in the various incarnations of the show. If you create a Romulan character you play through an excellent series of "episodes" that fill in backstory on the destruction of Romulus, what Sela was up to, the relationship between Romulans and Remans, etc. Eventually, the player will have to choose to side with the Federation-backed (new) Romulan Republic, or the Klingon-backed Tal Shiar. All of the iconic Romulan ships are available (eventually) for free. I even lucked into a free "Mirror Universe" version of that wicked-looking ship from the 10th film "Nemesis". ( )