Recently read "The Buried Age", a Star Trek novel by Christopher L Bennett.
Not only does he fill the time between the destruction of the Stargazer and Picard taking command of the Enterprise, but he does it with science, archaeology, technology, and adventure. We see the Battle of Maxia, the revenge seeds planted by Daimon Bok, the court-martial, and then what Picard does after that. Plus, Guinan's backstory is filled in, including a close approximation of her age, and we see Picard's meetings with Data and Troi.
Bennett's books have been heavy and dense, with lots of science and lots of interesting alien characters, and this one's no exception. Plus, he plays the bad guy very well, and you don't see the twist coming until it's almost upon you. Then you do see it and you wonder why you didn't.
MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW:
If I have any real complaints, it's that Picard and Ariel end up together too easily.
As for the ending, Bennett's last two books haven't had knock-down drag-outs, but instead, the bad guys realize what they've done and look to Our Heroes to correct the problem. That happens in this book too.
One of the great things about the books is that they can explore deeper topics, such as what happens when the Federation and Starfleet take the wrong actions. This happens in this book, and I like the way it's done. Good stuff.
END MINOR SPOILERS
If you like ST books, you might like this. It's not a rollicking Peter David adventure or an "everybody dies" David Mack story. But it's a very deep, very full story, and if you can get past Bennett's tendency to expostulate overmuch, you'll do all right.
