Is there a good book detailing Kirk's Kobayashi Maru test from the original timeline? I'm watching Wrath of Khan and am interested in seeing his try.
Yeah, check out the novel, "The Kobayashi Maru" by Julia Echlar. You'll also see Sulu, Chekov and Scotty's go at it.
Thanks! One other question - is there one for Kirk's, Pike's, and/or April's first mission on the Enterprise? Or perhaps for the other crew joining Enterprise (Spock, Scotty, et al)?
Several, but not in continuity with each other. Two different "Kirk's first mission as Enterprise captain" stories came out in the same year, one in novels -- Enterprise: The First Adventure by Vonda N. McIntyre -- and one in comics -- DC's ST Annual #1 by Mike Barr et al. Personally I prefer Mike's version. My Brother's Keeper: Enterprise by Michael Jan Friedman is set very early in Kirk's captaincy, but I don't recall if it's his first mission. D. C. Fontana's Vulcan's Glory depicts Spock's first mission on the E, and Scotty's as well. Marvel's Early Voyages comic offers a different version of how Spock began his service under Pike.
April's first mission on the Enterprise is depicted in Diane Carey's "giant novel" Final Frontier. Perhaps surprisingly, there's no depiction of the Enterprise's first mission under Pike.
Not in prose. But Early Voyages #1 has a flashback to April turning command of the Enterprise over to Pike, while issue #4 of John Byrne's Crew takes an alternative approach and depicts Pike's first mission as Robert April's first officer on the Enterprise.
Although totally contradicted totally by Star Trek: Enterprise, this is one of my favourite Trek reads. It's Carey's version of George Kirk (from this and it's sequel, Best Destiny) that inspired the version in Star Trek.
What's interesting is how the Interplay Trek games with FMV and voice acting adopted those. There's a segment from Starfleet Command II where Sulu talks about the No-Win Scenario, and there's a bit in Starfleet Academy where you get to cheat at the Kobayashi Maru the way Kirk did. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuYgp01pv8Q clip here) Can't find the Sulu lines, but I'm sure they're there somewhere. He basically discusses his solution of not rescuing the Kobayashi Maru and going back and writing a letter to each of the families of the crew.
Didn't "Burning Dreams" by Margaret a Wanderer Bonanno have a little bit about Pike assuming Command, as that has been, essentially, Pike's major Trek novel, as it goes through his life, sort of like "Best Destiny" went through Kirk's story. But another Pike novel I really enjoyed was "Where Sea Meets Sky" from the Captain's Table mini-series.