Patrick Stewart on one draft treatment of the script:
In the story I have been reading this weekend we are enmeshed in a context of Federation politics, fine interpretations of The Prime Directive and ancient history – as ancient as Star Trek – of conflict between two members of The Federation. In the middle of all this there is a vaguely defined, characterless, uninteresting civilization who seem to have attended too many performances of Siegfried and Roy. [..] what I have read would have hardly composed a moderately interesting episode somewhere in the middle of season five of TNG.
I’ve only skimmed the first bit of it, but if you’re interested in screenwriting, this looks like a terrific insider-read. Plus, it’s funky to be reading this book posthumously. It’s like a love-letter to fans from Piller, frustrating to see the result that ended up on screen. Find the PDF of the text here: Fade In.
He seems like a pretty honest guy. From the introduction, page 6:
I was the writer from start to finish. … Had it been any other circumstance, there’s no question in my mind that, before the final draft was completed, I most certainly would have been fired.