Decades ago, then-Commander Spock risked a court martial to bring his former captain, Christopher Pike, to Talos IV, in hopes that it would allow Pike to escape his body, so ruined by delta radiation. Now Spock is returning, called to Talos for reasons unknown beyond his loyalty to Pike. In Burning Dreams, Margaret Bonanno offers readers a chance to get to know the man who inspired so much loyalty and devotion from Spock and others. We meet him as a young lad on a frontier planet, grooming horses on a volcano-based homestead, and follow him through adversity and tragedy — growing through his pain to become Starfleet’s finest. Although I was predisposed to like this because Anson Mount’s performance of Pike has thoroughly impressed me, Bonanno’s ending added a wonderful final flourish that does real justice to the character of Pike as a whole. Although this was written a decade before Strange New Worlds was created around Anson Mount’s masterful interpretation of Pike, SNW fans as well as classic Trek fans will find it a great read, as it establishes certain aspects of his background later used by other authors, and creates a version of Pike quite consistent with SNW’s character.

Most of the story is framed in Pike & Vina’s growing relationship upon his original return to Talos IV: now, he is a guest rather than a captive, and the two humans — both suffering from ruined bodies, both freed from them by the Talosians’ telepathic abilities — can now begin to get to know one another, no longer distracted by Pike’s need to find a way to escape the Talosians’ cage. They both begin sharing their pasts, though in this narrative we’re mostly hearing from Pike. We learn that his mother was an architect and his stepfather a geoengineer, making a home for themselves near the base of a volcano. Theirs was a frontier world, a colony world, peopled by a mix of Federation normies as well as neo-Luddites. One character, a horse groomer, proves to be a vital character in Pike’s life after disaster befalls– and it is he who puts Pike on the path to Starfleet. From here, we witness Pike’s growth as a young officer, standing fast on principle and growing in the estimation and affection of his peers. One of the longer section involves Pike being surprised and captured by some reptilian aliens, which cements Spock’s affection for him. Although my estimation of this book is partially inflated because of how much I’ve grown to like Pike, this was a solid story and the ending was superb.

Related:

Child of Two Worlds, a Pike’s Enterprise story.
The High Country, the first SNW novel.
The Enterprise War. A Pike novel set during early ST Discovery.
My Brother’s Keeper, tracking Kirk’s career and friendship with Gary Mitchell
Captain’s Oath, looking at episodes in Kirk’s career that made him.