I've been rewatching the Animated Show lately on Netflix, and really enjoying it. I was just curious if there are any novels that continue or pick up on any of the storylines explored in TAS? More than just name-dropping crew we've seen in the show, but I'm not necessarily expecting full sequels to episodes.
The Chimes at Midnight in Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions is a followup to the alternate timeline from "Yesteryear," exploring how the events of The Wrath of Khan and its sequels might have unfolded in a world without Spock (although how they managed to save Earth from V'Ger without Spock around is never explained). A younger Carter Winston ("The Survivor") appears in The Final Reflection by John M. Ford (although I'm not sure the chronology works, because he would've had to be a few decades older than he looked in the episode). Howard Weinstein's first Trek novel The Covenant of the Crown reuses choriocytosis, the disease from his TAS episode "The Pirates of Orion," though that's a tenuous link. The Delta Triangle from "The Time Trap" is revisited in SCE: Where Time Stands Still by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, and briefly referenced in DTI: Forgotten History by yours truly. Forgotten History also fleshes out the background of "Yesteryear," gives a supporting role to TAS engineer Gabler, and makes some other TAS references. Excelsior: Forged in Fire by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels has some flashback chapters revealing what happened to Koloth after "More Tribbles, More Troubles."
Arex and M'Ress wound up in the 24th century, on board the USS Trident in New Frontier. Although so little was established about them in TAS, they were pretty much blank states to fill in rather than building on prior story.
Have you found Alan Dean Foster's 22 adaptations over ten volumes of "Star Trek Logs" (or the more recent set of five trade-sized volumes, with a serialized essay as introductions)? Linking the TV scenes, he teases out much new material. There are flashbacks to previous events in the careers of Arex and M'Ress, lots of participation from Gabler, a story that involves Kirk and a Klingon, Kumara, he once roomed with during an Academy exchange program (based on a two-part episode ADF was encouraged to write in case TOS was renewed for a Season Four), a flashback to Robert April's first command, what happened to M'Ress and three other Caitians on the Enterprise while Spock, Uhura and Sulu were captured by the kzinti, and an adventure with Uhura's family when she was young. There are sequels to episodes, too: following up "Bem", "Eye of the Beholder", "The Counter-clock Incident" and even one to the Kumara story. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Logs Oh yeah! Kor is seen to be now married to Kali (from "The Time Trap") in the Melinda Snodgrass TOS novel, "The Tears of the Singers". Elysia's citizens (also from "The Time Trap") are featured again in the S.C.E. adventure, "Where Time Stands Still". Jan Grey and Loom Aleek-Om (of "Yesteryear") appear in "Crucible: Spock" and "DTI: Forgotten History". Paul Bates and (briefly) Anne Nored appear in "Crucible: McCoy".
I think I'm going to have to read all those Logs one day. I love TAS and and an even better, more filled out version of it is pretty compelling.
Do that. You'll gain an appreciation for ADF's writing style, perhaps to the point where you start seeking out his Humanx Commonwealth novels, his Spellsinger novels, his four short story anthologies, and his other novels. I know that's how I got hooked on his stuff. And if his books seem to start a bit slowly, well, stick with them, and you'll be rewarded.
I though the probe didn't find what is was looking for, ravaged Earth's atmosphere and simply left again (in this story)? Or was the planet's existence itself threatened?
We were really tempted to establish in The Tears of Eridanus that without Spock, Earth was destroyed by both V'Ger and the Probe in that timeline.
I know you asked for novels, but the IDW comic Series Star Trek: Year Four and Star Trek: Year Four - The Enterprise Experiment contain references to the Animated Series, Arex in particular is a major character.