Best Books for Each Series' Major Characters

[JD]

I've started reading The Light Fantastic, which is focused pretty heavily on Data, over the last week, and it got me wondering what my fellow Trek Lit readers would say are the best books for each of the main characters from the series, and some of the major recurring characters who've made a lot of appearances in TrekLit. I'm listing the characters that come to mind for me, but feel free to include others.
TOS:
Kirk: The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (this is the only realy Kirk focused book I've read, but it's great so it would be up there even if I've read others)
Spock: Troublesome Minds (I'll admit, I haven't read a lot of TOS)
McCoy:?
Sulu: The Sundered
Checkov:?
Urhura:?
Chapel:?
Rand:?
Sarek:?
Amanda:?

TNG:
Picard: The Buried Age
Riker:?
Data: The Immortal Coil
LaForge: Indistinguishable From Magic
Troi:?
Worf: Diplomatic Implausability
Crusher: ?
Yar:?
Pulaski:?
Q: Q-Squared/ Q&A (tie)
L. Troi:?

DS9:
Sisko:
Kira: This one is hard, she was a big part of most of the early DS9R books, I don't think I can narrow it down to one
J. Dax:?
E. Dax: Same problem as Kira
O'Brien:?
Bashir: Zero Sum Game
Quark:?
Rom: ?
Nog:?
Dukat: Day of the Vipers

Voy:
Janeway: The Eternal Tide
Chakotay: Full Circle
Paris: Protectors
Torres: Full Circle
Seven of Nine:
Kim:
Neelix:
Seska:
Borg Queen: Destiny
N. Wildman: Atonement
Icheb: Atonement

ENT:
Archer:
T'Pol:
Tucker: The Good That Men Do
Sato:
Reed:
Mayweather:
Phlox:

I'll leave it at the TV series for now, we can expand to the lit only series later.

 

[Stevil2001]

This is an interesting and difficult question. TOS novels are pretty ensemble-y but not character-driven, which doesn't help. But I'd say:

Kirk: Federation
Spock: Vulcan's Forge
McCoy: The Better Man
Scotty: The Kobayashi Maru - this one was probably the hardest, not a lot of Scotty-focused books I can recall
Sulu: The Sundered
Uhura: Rough Trails
Chekov: Traitor Winds

I'll think about the other series later.

 

[VDCNI]

Kira, maybe Unity. All the early relaunch are great for her but Unity sums it all up.

Ezri, probably Destiny.

Crusher, really tricky. Death In Winter isn't that great a book but it's a decent spotlight for her. Reunion has great character stuff. Resistance is another book which isn't great but Crusher gets to be the hero who saves the day for once.

Yar, she's not in many! Can't remember the name but the 4th of the early books is a spotlight on her isn't it. Been years since I read it.

Pulaski, again not many books. The Missing was good for her though.

Troi, Imzadi probably as none of the Titan books really stands out.

 

[JD]

Oh duh, Imzadi for Deann couldn't have been more obvious.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Yar, she's not in many! Can't remember the name but the 4th of the early books is a spotlight on her isn't it. Been years since I read it.

Pulaski, again not many books. The Missing was good for her though.

The Yar book was Survivors. And yeah, that's pretty much the only real Tasha focused story.

I'd also cite the second Double Helix novel (Vectors, I believe) as a Pulaski focused story, involving her going to Terok Nor right after Doctor Crusher returns to the Enterprise.

 

[Csalem]

I'd also cite the second Double Helix novel (Vectors, I believe) as a Pulaski focused story, involving her going to Terok Nor right after Doctor Crusher returns to the Enterprise.

I really liked that book. One of the better ones in the Double Helix series.

 

[F. King Daniel]

My picks for the bare ENT entry, keeping in mind I'm way behind on the Rise of the Federation series:

Archer: ?
T'Pol: ?
Tucker: Daedalus
Sato: Rosetta
Reed: By the Book
Mayweather: LOL who?
Phlox: ?

 

[borgboy]

For McCoy, the first book in the Crucible focuses on him and is excellent. It's not in continuity with the main TrekLit range, but it's still great.
While not a main character, Lwaxana gets a great spotlight in Q in Law (and nice fun characterization in guest spots in Imzadi, Imzadi II and Q Squared, although two out of three of those are alternate timelines. All three written by Peter David who has a strong affinity for the character apparently)
Also not a main character, but for Pike I recommend Burning Dreams. It's Pike's life story and I found it a great look at life in Federation outside of Starfleet for his childhood, and then his adulthood is a great story in Starfleet. It's just beautifully written. I've read it twice and anticipate I'll read it again someday.

 

[Jinn]

While Pike is not a main character and my "best book pick" (next to Burning Dreams) is not a book the Early Voyage comic book series was great.

 

[Thowra]

I came on to say Crucible for McCoy. I loved it - I loved the way the author took it.

 

[borgboy]

For McCoy, the first book in the Crucible focuses on him and is excellent. It's not in continuity with the main TrekLit range, but it's still great.
While not a main character, Lwaxana gets a great spotlight in Q in Law (and nice fun characterization in guest spots in Imzadi, Imzadi II and Q Squared, although two out of three of those are alternate timelines. All three written by Peter David who has a strong affinity for the character apparently)
Also not a main character, but for Pike I recommend Burning Dreams. It's Pike's life story and I found it a great look at life in Federation outside of Starfleet for his childhood, and then his adulthood is a great story in Starfleet. It's just beautifully written. I've read it twice and anticipate I'll read it again someday.

Small correction - Imzadi features an alternate future Lwaxana, but also features a younger "real" Lwaxana.

 

[BRT]

For Uhura, "Uhura's Song." I haven't read it in decades, but I do remember enjoying it at the time.

 

[tomswift2002]

Enterprise:
Archer - By The Book
T'Pol - Surak's Soul
Sato - Rosetta
Trip - Daedalus/Daedaluses's Children
Mayweather -
Reed -

TOS:
Kirk - Spectre
Spock - Unification
McCoy - Doctor's Orders
Uhura -
Chekov -
Sulu - Kobayashi Maru

TNG:
Picard - Starfall
Riker - Crossfire
Data - Descent
Troi - The Battle Of Betazed
Wesley Crusher - Boogeyman
Dr. Crusher - The Death Of Princes
Yar - Survivors
LaForge - Capture The Flag

 

[JD]

Have the Rise of the Federation books managed to do anything interesting with Reed and Mayweather?

 

[Markonian]

Reed and Mayweather in Rise of the Federation:

Reed: A Choice of Futures
Mayweather: Uncertain Logic

Imzadi is more about Riker. The Battle of Betazed is very Deanna-centric.

 

[tomswift2002]

Two books that are "must's" on any list about major characters (and for a while were considered by the Voyager producers to be 'canonical') are "Mosaic" that is a Janeway heavy book and "Pathways" that features individual chapters that detail the backstory of each major character from Seasons 1-3. Both were written by Voyager co-creator and co-producer Jeri Taylor.

Special shout-out to "Flashback" as well as it delves into Janeway & Tuvok's past.

Chakotay- Battlelines
Paris - The Garden
Torres -Violations
Kes - Marooned
The Doctor - Captains Glory
Seven - Seven of Nine
Tuvok - Chrysalis
As for DS9:
Sisko- Saratoga
Kira -
O'Brien - Trial by Terror
Jadzia- Antimatter
Ezri- A Ceremony of Losses
Odo - Fallen Heroes
Bash it - Warchild
Quark- The 34th Rule
Word- Heart of a Warrior

 

[Stevil2001]

What Price Honor? is an excellent Reed novel.

 

[tomswift2002]

What Price Honor? is an excellent Reed novel.

Hate to disagree with you, but that book is a mess and I still can't believe that it made it past editing.

 

[Markonian]

O'Brien - Trial by Terror

Can't find that on Memory Alpha. But the title sounds fitting for a story about DS9's punching bag.

 

[Stevil2001]

Can't find that on Memory Alpha. But the title sounds fitting for a story about DS9's punching bag.

Trial by Error is the correct title.