best star trek books and novels

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by tmosler, Apr 5, 2013.

  1. tmosler

    tmosler Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2012
    Hi I was just wondering if people could give me there thoughts on good star trek books? I have already read the destiny series, q in law, and imzadi and loved them so does anyone no any other good star trek books like those?
     
  2. Garrovick

    Garrovick Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2012
    Location:
    wallowing in a pool of emotion
    Well, there have been more than 500 Star Trek novels published over the years, and everyone's got their favorites. Here's some books that I'd recommend, in more or less chronological publication order:

    Spock Must Die!
    Star Trek Log Eight
    Star Trek Log Ten
    Star Trek: The New Voyages
    Trek to Madworld
    The Galactic Whirlpool
    The novelizations of The Wrath of Khan/The Search for Spock/The Voyage Home
    Web of the Romulans
    Yesterday's Son
    The Wounded Sky
    The Final Reflection
    My Enemy, My Ally
    The Tears of the Singers
    Crisis on Centaurus
    Chain of Attack
    How Much for Just the Planet?
    Spock's World
    The Lost Years
    Survivors
    Doctor's Orders
    Vendetta
    Sarek
    Fallen Heroes
    First Frontier
    The Captain's Daughter
    Dragon's Honor
    Q-Space
    Q-Zone
    Q-Strike
    The Lives of Dax
    Avatar: Books One and Two
    Section 31: Abyss
    Immortal Coil
    Ex Machina
    Orion's Hounds
    Troublesome Minds
    Full Circle
    Unworthy
    Synthesis
    The Sorrows of Empire
    Children of the Storm
    The Cold Equations trilogy

    It should probably be noted that many of the earlier books on this list (and in Trek literature in general) have been contradicted by later TV shows/movies and also by subsequent novels. Still, a good story is a good story and as long as you bear this in mind, there's a wealth of good Trek stories out there.

    If you're primarily interested in the ongoing 24th century books that are set after the various TV series, there is an excellent flow chart here:

    http://www.thetrekcollective.com/p/trek-lit-reading-order.html
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2013
  3. tomswift2002

    tomswift2002 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2011
    In line with Q-In-Law, you might want to check out How Much For Just The Planet? by John Ford (same author who wrote The Final Reflection).

    You should also check out the early Voyager numbered novels (ie. The Escape, Ragnorak, Violations, The Murdered Sun, Echoes...).

    Vendetta is also a very nice Borg story that was released in 1991. The events of that book are mentioned in Before Dishonor ,which helps set up the Destiny trilogy.

    Another book to check out is TNG #25 Grounded where the Enterprise contracts a "disease" that is slowly dissolving the ship.
     
  4. zarkon

    zarkon Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2011
    The Final Reflection(TOS) by John M. Ford
    - The best star trek book there is. Totally at odds with any trek from TNG onwards since it was written in the eighties.

    Where Sea Meets Sky(TOS) by Jerry Oltion
    - A very enjoyable cap'n pike exploration tale with a nautical feel. Was part of the "captains table" series, but doesn't require reading any of them.

    Federation(TOS,TNG), by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens.
    -It spans three eras and focuses on Zefram Cochrane(based on his TOS appearance, First Contact hadn't come out at this point). It feels like the kind of epic "The Motion Picture" tried and failed to be.

    Yesterday's Son/Time for Yesterday(TOS) by Ann C Crispin
    A couple of great books that focus on spock and a rather surprising relationship.

    Spock's World(TOS) by Diane Duane
    Deals with Vulcan -its past and what they think it's future should be. Includes an absolutely barnstorming McCoy speech.

    Doctor's Orders(TOS) by Diane Duane
    Kirk puts McCoy in the captains chair, and things spiral out of control from there. Some great aliens to boot.

    The "Errand" series(TOS) by Kevin Ryan
    -It's made up of two trilogies, Errand of Vengeance and Errand of Fury, which tell the story of the TOS era conflict between the federation and the klingons, split into basically four viewpoints - a starfleet command officer on earth, a security officer aboard the enterprise who is a klingon infiltrator, an officer aboard a klingon warship, and finally kirk.
    One of the best flowing, and most satisfying trek stories I've read.
    Book order if you're interested:
    The Edge of the Sword
    Killing Blow
    River of Blood
    Seeds of Rage
    Demands of Honor
    Sacrifices of War

    Masks(TNG) by John Vornholt
    Away mission on a human colony which eschewed modern technology and cut itself off from earth and ended up going back to a sort of feudal system - but with an interesting twist guided by some of the original colonists. The thing I like most about this book is how well the world and its people is put together. Characterisation(mostly Picard) can be a bit off since this was a very early novel.

    Q-Squared(TNG) by Peter David
    - An incredibly intelligently written book that weaves together alternate dimensions into a very interesting story.

    A Rock and a Hard Place(TNG) by Peter David
    - Delves a bit into Riker's past as he goes on leave to help a friend. The other half of the story is his replacement, who is the star of this story. Don't want to go into him as that's the best part of the book.

    Dark Mirror(TNG) by Diane Duane
    - deals with the mirror universe, written before ds9 went back to it so expect gaping discontinuity - as with Federation, I enjoyed the authors version a lot more then what would later transpire.

    Intellivore(TNG) by Diane Duane
    - feels like a mystery where the crew are slowly trying to find a creeping horror. the tension in this book amps up very well through to the conclusion.

    Possession(TNG) by J.M. Dillard and Kathleen O'malley
    - a sequel to a pretty poor TOS book which thankfully isn't necessary reading(I read this one first and never even realised there was a prequel). Great tension as the pressure builds throughout.

    Objective: Bajor(DS9) by John Peel
    Really fun book, has aliens with a rather interesting fundamental problem.

    The 34th rule(DS9) by David R George & Armin Shimmerman
    -Brilliant book focusing on quark and how Ferengi tick, with a superb payoff
     
  5. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    If you liked Q-IN-LAW and IMZADI, you should probably check out Q-SQUARED by the same author: Peter David. (His VENDETTA is also very good.)
     
  6. Mysterion

    Mysterion Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2001
    Location:
    Suburban Mos Eisley
    Well, I won't claim these to be the "best" necessarily, but they are some of my favorites:

    The Wounded Sky; My Enemy, My Ally; The Romulan Way - Diane Duane - Three of the better TOS-era novels. The Wounded Sky especially captures a sense of wonder that few other Trek novels seem to. Diane Duanee captures the voices and personalities of the TOs characters better than any other writer has.

    The Galactic Whirlpool - David Gerrold - from a story he orginally pitched to the TOS production staff. A TOs story from someone who actually wrote TOS we saw on-screen. This book has a lot of really fun little details in it.

    How Much For Just The Planet? - John Ford - TOS as a musical comedy. Really.

    Ishmael - Barbara Hambly - TOS meets Here Come The Brides. Really.

    Prime Directive - Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens - Would have made a really good finale to TOS. Epic story.

    The Entropy Effect - Vonda McIntyre - Best of the early Pocket publishing era. A couple shocking plot twists. If you don't read any of the other books I've listed here, be sure to read this one.
     
  7. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2011
    Location:
    Washington State, USA
    A lot of my favorites have been mentioned, but I'll add the Department of temporal Investigations books (Watching the Clock and Forgotten History). They're great books involving the Federation organization that investigates time travel events and helps protect the timeline.
     
  8. Mike_King

    Mike_King Ensign Newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2006
    Location:
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
    Just one series to add - The 3-book Crucible series by David R George, especially Provenance of Shadows, which is my favorite all-time trek book.
     
  9. donners22

    donners22 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2001
    Just what I was about to say!

    While we're on Peter David books, I'd add in Excalibur: Restoration and Once Burned as outstanding novels. I enjoyed Imzadi 2, though I know PAD had some frustrations with it.

    For other entertaining books with a sense of fun and humour (which tend to be PAD signatures) I'd recommend Mudd in your Eye and Q & A.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2013
  10. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2001
    Location:
    America, Fuck Yeah!!!
    Gulliver's Fugitives by Keith Sharee
    A Time to Kill/A Time to Heal by David Mack
     
  11. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Ugh, I couldn't stand Restoration.
     
  12. chris_masters5

    chris_masters5 Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2011
    Location:
    Manchester, England
    The thing that got me back into reading Star Trek were the Lost Era stories (set inbetween Kirk's death on the Enterprise-B and TNG Season 1). Especially; The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins, The Art of the Impossible, and The Buried Age.
     
  13. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2008
    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Buried Age was my hook, too. (That was June '08, I read that, and since then I've read another 237 more Star Trek novels. Good hook!)
     
  14. Defcon

    Defcon Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 9, 2003
    Location:
    Germany
  15. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    I've heard a lot of people say that, but it was a page-turner for me.
     
  16. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2012
    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Vanguard Series, is my personal favorite:bolian:

    Cast No Shadow By James Swallow, is my fav stand-alone novel.

    Children of The Storm by Kirsten Beyer, is the best Voyager book I have read.
     
  17. NightJim

    NightJim Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2013
    Location:
    Dundee
    Way back when I started with Federation, Sarek and DS9: Fallen Heroes but a few other lacklustre DS9 ones I backed off again.

    Start of this year New Frontier got me hooked again.
     
  18. PKS8304

    PKS8304 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2011
    Location:
    NY
    Michael Jan Friedman's "Reunion" has always been a favorite of mine, in fact Ive read it about 6 times now and each time is as good as the last if not better.
     
  19. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2005
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    The best Star Trek novels are the ones with the words.