ten milestone Trek novels on What Culture

[Desert Kris]

And Imzadi wasn't the first book to delve into characters' backstories; arguably that was Planet of Judgment, which told the story of McCoy's divorce for the first time.

Stuff like this is why I keep visiting here. I didn't know any of the books went into detail over McCoy's divorce. Thanks for mentioning that, now I'm curious about Planet of Judgement. You said it's the first time it's touched on, what other books go into detail about it? I assume there are differing, contradictory accounts, but that's not off-putting.

I'm surprised that The Final Reflection isn't on the list, but then I don't know how it counts in the context of when it came out as a milestone or innovative book.

The link to the original article in the OP seems to be broken.

 

[Stoek]

Have to admit I don't know these books. What is it about them that makes them milestones in Trek literature?

Spock's World was the first hardcover Trek novel from Pocket, kicking off the ongoing hardcover line. The only previous hardcover Trek novel had been the very first one, Mission to Horatius.

As for Strangers from the Sky, it was the second of the three "giant" paperback novels that were the forerunners of the hardcover line, but I don't know why it would rate as more of a milestone than the first giant novel, Enterprise: The First Adventure. Perhaps because it was the first attempt to portray first contact between Earth and Vulcan?

While Christopher's assessment regarding Spock's World is not incorrect, I will admit that it was not what I was thinking of. Rather to me the novel represents the first time that a Trek novel attempted to grow beyond merely replicating the what was shown on the television and movie screen. With its divided structure, one chapter featuring a very atypical political story, featuring the Enterprise crew, wherein not so much as a shot is fired, but rather it is a rousing planetary debate and mystery story that holds all the action. Then the alternating chapter explores a period in Vulcan's history, starting literally with the planet's formation. Then we are shown pre-history, early history, a period akin to the renaissance, then the life of Surak is explored, and then the courtship of Spock's parents. Personally I feel that it is the first Trek novel that can legitimately be considered Literature. As for its influence on TrekLit it is still the standard that all such novels today are measured against. When DS9 did a quartet of stories digging into the cultures and history of Trill, Bajor, Cardassia, and Ferenginar they were promoted with the phrase "In the tradition of Spock's World!"

Also I do not believe that things like Articles Of The Federation, or A Singular Destiny, or A Stitch In Time, or even the DTI novels, would have been possible without Spock's World having blazed the trail and proving that there was an interest in stories that presented the Trek universe from a unique perspective.

As for Strangers From The Sky, while Christopher's thought is again not wrong, in this case it is incomplete compared to my own assessment.

First of all because the events contained in the book are referenced briefly in Spock's World, it represents the first time so far as I know that one author took anything in such a direct way from the work of another, foreshadowing the rather amazing interbook continuity that we have today. But more than that it is so far as I know the first time the books dove deeply into the history not just of the Enterprise and her crew as Enterprise did, but into the history of The Federation. The powers that be could have chosen to play it safe and not given permission for something so important to be shown in a novel, knowing that at some point in the future one of the movies or tv shows might contradict it. But they chose the power of good story telling over playing it safe and as a result a novel of considerable depth and intelligence was the result. Also it is another example of an author playing with structure and delivering something that breaks out of the Here's The Ship, Here's The Problem, Here's The Solution formula that was still more the rule than the exception.

Without Strangers ... I personally do not believe we would have gotten The Eugenics Wars, or Dayton Ward's novels following the fate of Mistral, or the Rise Of The Federation novels. Strangers proved there was in interest in stories showing how the universe we love so much came to be.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

I'm surprised that The Final Reflection isn't on the list, but then I don't know how it counts in the context of when it came out as a milestone or innovative book.

The link to the original article in the OP seems to be broken.

What would be your reasons for including it on the list? I really did have to pick and choose to limit it to 10, but I'm really enjoying hearing what other people would have included, and why.

The new link is http://whatculture.com/tv/10-milestone-star-trek-novels What Culture isn't the best at maintaining its older content.

 

[The Original Series]

Are these particular mile stones that added something new to Trek literature, or do you just consider them to be great reads?

Both. Diane Duane gives us Romulan society, first time for me to know that there's more to them then just a cloaking device and a seductive Romulan commander and the Spock books tell us that there's more to Vulcan than plomeek soup, the Pon Faar and T'Pau.

 

[Christopher]

Stuff like this is why I keep visiting here. I didn't know any of the books went into detail over McCoy's divorce. Thanks for mentioning that, now I'm curious about Planet of Judgement. You said it's the first time it's touched on, what other books go into detail about it? I assume there are differing, contradictory accounts, but that's not off-putting.

I guess the main one is Shadows on the Sun by Michael Jan Friedman, although that's building on the version of McCoy's ex-wife (named Jocelyn) that was introduced in Vonda N. McIntyre's Enterprise: The First Adventure (in which the couple is already bitterly divorced, but there's some background at least hinted at). It's also peripherally addressed in Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson, which features Joanna McCoy. There are also some early comics that deal with McCoy's daughter and probably touch on the divorce -- Gold Key #40 & #43 dealt with a version of McCoy's daughter named Barbara, while Joanna McCoy appeared in #13 of Marvel's post-TMP series, possibly the best issue of that short run.

I'm surprised that The Final Reflection isn't on the list, but then I don't know how it counts in the context of when it came out as a milestone or innovative book.

It's certainly innovative -- the first Trek novel told as an in-universe work of historical fiction (a precedent later followed by Strangers from the Sky to a partial degree), and the first in-depth exploration of a major alien culture from Trek, a precedent that would be followed by The Romulan Way and Spock's World.

While Christopher's assessment regarding Spock's World is not incorrect, I will admit that it was not what I was thinking of. Rather to me the novel represents the first time that a Trek novel attempted to grow beyond merely replicating the what was shown on the television and movie screen. With its divided structure, one chapter featuring a very atypical political story, featuring the Enterprise crew, wherein not so much as a shot is fired, but rather it is a rousing planetary debate and mystery story that holds all the action. Then the alternating chapter explores a period in Vulcan's history, starting literally with the planet's formation. Then we are shown pre-history, early history, a period akin to the renaissance, then the life of Surak is explored, and then the courtship of Spock's parents.

Actually Spock's World was the second consecutive Diane Duane ST novel to alternate between present-day and historical chapters, the first being The Romulan Way (in which the historical chapters were actually presented as a nonfiction monograph written by the main character featured in the present-day chapters). And its Vulcan history was expanding on what Duane had already established in TRW. They're essentially companion pieces.

And it certainly wasn't the first book to grow beyond replicating a TV episode or to tell an atypical story. The Final Reflection absolutely counts in that respect.

First of all because the events contained in the book are referenced briefly in Spock's World, it represents the first time so far as I know that one author took anything in such a direct way from the work of another, foreshadowing the rather amazing interbook continuity that we have today.

Again, Spock's World was far from the first book to do this. The inter-novel continuity began to emerge at the start of 1985, when Uhura's Song referenced the felinoid security officer "Snarl" from The Entropy Effect, and Shadow Lord referenced Sulu's backstory from the same novel. Later that year, Dwellers in the Crucible drew heavily on both Duane's Rihannsu and Ford's Klingons, and in fact I believe it was the first time that Ford's or Duane's versions of those species were utilized by a different author. 1987's Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese was a loose sequel to Lee Correy's The Abode of Life and included security chief Ingrit Tomson from J.M. Dillard's novels (who also appeared in Spock's World). And A.C. Crispin's Time for Yesterday, in April 1988, was the book that really tied the '80s continuity together, with references to the books of Diane Duane, Brad Ferguson, John M. Ford, Jean Lorrah, Vonda N. McIntyre, and Howard Weinstein. Spock's World came out shortly after that, in September '88.

But more than that it is so far as I know the first time the books dove deeply into the history not just of the Enterprise and her crew as Enterprise did, but into the history of The Federation.

I hate to keep doing this to you, but no. The fictional-nonfiction Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology from 1980 offered a version of Earth and Federation history that was the basis for The Final Reflection's events a few years later. Killing Time also delved briefly into the formative era of the Federation, in a different way.

The powers that be could have chosen to play it safe and not given permission for something so important to be shown in a novel, knowing that at some point in the future one of the movies or tv shows might contradict it.

That wasn't really a consideration back then, when there was only the occasional movie coming out. The early Trek novelists were a lot freer to imagine or redefine the larger universe however they wanted, because so much of it was still a blank slate. The attitude that tie-ins had to restrain themselves to avoid contradicting new canon didn't emerge until TNG was on the air and adding new canonical material on a weekly basis -- and until Richard Arnold started cracking down on the tie-ins to make sure they stayed in line with "Gene's vision."

Without Strangers ... I personally do not believe we would have gotten The Eugenics Wars, or Dayton Ward's novels following the fate of Mistral, or the Rise Of The Federation novels. Strangers proved there was in interest in stories showing how the universe we love so much came to be.

I'll grant that it was a formula-breaker and somewhat influential, but you're totally wrong to call it the first book to do any of these things.

 

[Therin of Andor]

@Therin of Andor will probably be able to explain it - I know he's mentioned it before, I think there's something about it being either the actual first Trek novel but always ignored, or the one people say is the first one but isn't... Therin's the Trek history expert

Yeah, it was aimed squarely at kids, so isn't usually counted as "a novel". It was the first ST licensed tie-in fiction in book form.

Well, the reason they were in hardcover is because it was more of a "prestige" format, and they were written to be bigger, standout stories.

Yes indeed. At time of publication, "Spock's World" was a Very Big Deal. "Star Trek" isn't on the spine, and yet here was a science fiction novel with dustjacket that stood proudly on the Hardcover New Releases shelves in the science fiction section of bookshops.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Yes indeed. At time of publication, "Spock's World" was a Very Big Deal. "Star Trek" isn't on the spine, and yet here was a science fiction novel with dustjacket that stood proudly on the Hardcover New Releases shelves in the science fiction section of bookshops.

I wrote the article mostly as a means to educate/introduce Trek's new audience to the whole world of Star Trek that was out there alongside the Abram's reboot. As much as I can see how being printed in hardback was an honour (in fact I mentioned it in a university essay about Star Trek fiction), I hope you won't mind if I say it's probably not the most headline grabbing aspect to hook a potential new audience

 

[Desert Kris]

I guess the main one is Shadows on the Sun by Michael Jan Friedman, although that's building on the version of McCoy's ex-wife (named Jocelyn) that was introduced in Vonda N. McIntyre's Enterprise: The First Adventure (in which the couple is already bitterly divorced, but there's some background at least hinted at). It's also peripherally addressed in Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson, which features Joanna McCoy. There are also some early comics that deal with McCoy's daughter and probably touch on the divorce -- Gold Key #40 & #43 dealt with a version of McCoy's daughter named Barbara, while Joanna McCoy appeared in #13 of Marvel's post-TMP series, possibly the best issue of that short run.

Thank you, that's helpful! I snagged some trade paperback collections of GK comics, but I can always fall back on the CD ROM comic collection. Crisis on Centaurus is a few books away in my planned read through, with E:TFA a little further along (I've gravitated to a more publication order for reading through 80's Trek). I never got Shadows on the Sun because I've struggled in the past with Friedman's work; it's been many years though, so maybe it would be worth it to give him a spin and see if perspective changes the experience of reading his work.

It's certainly innovative -- the first Trek novel told as an in-universe work of historical fiction (a precedent later followed by Strangers from the Sky to a partial degree), and the first in-depth exploration of a major alien culture from Trek, a precedent that would be followed by The Romulan Way and Spock's World.

That's pretty much my thinking for recommending it for the list being discussed, plus the minimalist usage of the Enterprise crew in favor of mostly original characters in the spotlight.

Actually Spock's World was the second consecutive Diane Duane ST novel to alternate between present-day and historical chapters, the first being The Romulan Way (in which the historical chapters were actually presented as a nonfiction monograph written by the main character featured in the present-day chapters). And its Vulcan history was expanding on what Duane had already established in TRW. They're essentially companion pieces.

This is the kind of thing that made me re-think my approach to reading order. I thought it would be fun to see the gradual emergence of all the different author's drawing on each other's work more and more as the books go on.

What would be your reasons for including it on the list? I really did have to pick and choose to limit it to 10, but I'm really enjoying hearing what other people would have included, and why.

The new link is http://whatculture.com/tv/10-milestone-star-trek-novels What Culture isn't the best at maintaining its older content.

Thanks for providing an updated link. Christopher's elaboration above touches on my impression of why The Final Reflection is a trailblazing novel; the way it focuses on a different time period, develops an alien culture through total immersion, and the narrative follows original characters in an alien setting. To add to these points is my gut reaction to reading The Final Reflection, which left me feeling that it wasn't just a great ST novel, it's a great novel regardless of franchise affiliation. I think the original list presented looks like a promising list, just based on what I hear and read; many of those books I am very much looking forward to eventually getting to, down the road.

 

[Christopher]

I never got Shadows on the Sun because I've struggled in the past with Friedman's work; it's been many years though, so maybe it would be worth it to give him a spin and see if perspective changes the experience of reading his work.

I'd say Shadows on the Sun is probably one of his best. Although, well, it's not one of the more upbeat Trek novels out there, to put it mildly.

 

[Stevil2001]

I'd say Shadows on the Sun is probably one of his best. Although, well, it's not one of the more upbeat Trek novels out there, to put it mildly.

Yeah, Shadows on the Sun is his very best in my opinion.

(A book called A Choice of Catastrophes also has some material devoted to McCoy's divorce.)

 

[JD]

Just an FYI, Shadows on the Sun's e-book is only $1.99US on Google Play, and $0.99US for the Kindle and Nook version. A Choice of Catastrophes is $2.99US from all three stores.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Thanks for providing an updated link .... I think the original list presented looks like a promising list, just based on what I hear and read; many of those books I am very much looking forward to eventually getting to, down the road.

You're welcome, glad you're enjoying it, and finding it useful.

 

[E-DUB]

I think that "Final Reflection" and "Entropy Effect" belong on that list.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

I think that "Final Reflection" and "Entropy Effect" belong on that list.

What would be your reasons for those choices?

 

[Christopher]

We already talked about why The Final Reflection could count as a milestone. As for The Entropy Effect, its main significance is that it was the first original Pocket Trek novel. Oh, and that it established Sulu's first name as Hikaru, which was later made canonical -- the first time that was done with something introduced in a tie-in.

 

[Therin of Andor]

As much as I can see how being printed in hardback was an honour (in fact I mentioned it in a university essay about Star Trek fiction), I hope you won't mind if I say it's probably not the most headline grabbing aspect to hook a potential new audience

Depends on who your headline is trying to intrigue. I recall that general science fiction book readers, at least here in Australia, were very impressed with "Spock's World" making it to hardcover, and a lot of them were curious enough to buy it. I think, for fandom, the legitimizing of media SF was strengthened in the eyes of the wider SF community.

As for The Entropy Effect, its main significance is that it was the first original Pocket Trek novel.

It was also serialized in "Starlog", and created a minor controversy by some fans ("How dare Vonda McIntyre kill off Kirk!", even though it was explained that the novel happened before the events of TMP - we saw similar controversies over Spock's death in ST II and Janeway's death in the novels) but then TEE was delayed due to Bantam's contract allowing them to keep publishing all the Trek novels they had in production. TEE was definitely eagerly awaited by many, and Vonda got the gig for the ST II, III and IV novelizations, and "Enterprise: The First Adventure", on the strength of her work (and sales) on TEE.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

it established Sulu's first name as Hikaru, which was later made canonical -- the first time that was done with something introduced in a tie-in.

Certainly a milestone but, in the interest of being devil's advocate, is that something the novel intended, or something the films producers just picked up on at a later date?

Depends on who your headline is trying to intrigue.

That said, essentially I was trying to intrigue Star Trek fans (mostly those new to the franchise, but also older fans too) who might not have considered reading any novels, assuming them to just be mere gap fillers or throw away adventures, when, especially with the relaunch, are often anything but.

 

[Christopher]

Certainly a milestone but, in the interest of being devil's advocate, is that something the novel intended, or something the films producers just picked up on at a later date?

Well, of course Vonda McIntyre had no idea that it would be picked up canonically later on (nor that her coinages of George and Winona as the first names of Kirk's parents in a later book would eventually be canonized as well). And it's only by chance that it happened at all -- IIRC, Peter David happened to be on the set of ST VI that day and he and George Takei mentioned it to Nicholas Meyer, and Meyer agreed on the spot to use the name in Sulu's log entry scene.

That said, essentially I was trying to intrigue Star Trek fans (mostly those new to the franchise, but also older fans too) who might not have considered reading any novels, assuming them to just be mere gap fillers or throw away adventures, when, especially with the relaunch, are often anything but.

Frankly, I think that by this point the conversation in this thread has gone beyond your list and is more just people sharing their opinions about what they consider milestone books. So you don't need to defend your own choices every time.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Well, of course Vonda McIntyre had no idea that it would be picked up canonically later on (nor that her coinages of George and Winona as the first names of Kirk's parents in a later book would eventually be canonized as well). And it's only by chance that it happened at all -- IIRC, Peter David happened to be on the set of ST VI that day and he and George Takei mentioned it to Nicholas Meyer, and Meyer agreed on the spot to use the name in Sulu's log entry scene.

Had no idea that's how it happened. I love it when transmedia authors are involved, even just consulted in the making of on-screen Trek though, no matter how small a part they play.

Frankly, I think that by this point the conversation in this thread has gone beyond your list and is more just people sharing their opinions about what they consider milestone books. So you don't need to defend your own choices every time.

And I'm really enjoying people's own books and reasons, but in this case I was just taking the question of "Depends on who your headline is trying to intrigue" as not a rhetorical one.

 

[Therin of Andor]

... older fans too) who might not have considered reading any novels, assuming them to just be mere gap fillers or throw away adventures...

Which is exactly what "Spock's World" in hardcover achieved. It demanded attention from the shelf, from Trek fans who'd never bothered with a Trek novel before, and was noticed by the wider science fiction community.

But with any "ten essential" list, someone's important one is going to be overlooked.

BTW, i think i read a few weeks ago, a forthcoming book is to be called "The Star Trek Book of Lists"?