I'm developing a couple projects that could be described as Trek fan fics, but I've never been a big fan of them myself. I'd like to dive into some of the better ones! So, besides Axanar, aaaaaand The Orville, what are the most respected Trek fan creations?
I am using the term "fan fic" somewhat loosely in relation to my own projects. One is more of a parody/homage, the other is a project I'd like to pitch to IDW, a story about Jake Sisko that I'd like to see realized as a graphic novel. If I thought there was a path to getting it noticed by beginning it as a fan-fic, I might try that route. So, I am curious about the different shades of fan fics that Trekkies (yes, I prefer that one!) have created, what the best ones are, and what the community is like.
Fanfiction is very subjective, as to what is deserving of respect, and if this genre deserves respect, period (obviously I think it does). One of the most notorious pieces of Star Trek fanfiction (in the '70s) is a novel-length 'zine called Spock Enslaved. The title is self-explanatory, and it was considered risque at the time. The link in my sig will take you to one of my favorite Trek fanfic universes, Valjiir. This is a series that's been going on for something like 40 years. Some of the people who wrote for it decades ago are still creating new material. And no, this isn't self-promotion; I'm just a fan who enjoys it. My own fanfic efforts are (mostly) not Trek-related. The best advice I have at this point is that you visit the Fanlore.org website. It's like the Wikipedia of Star Trek fanfiction. There are also plenty of websites where some of the older material has been uploaded (sadly without the original artwork and comics and poetry that was included in the original print versions).
Straight up, it does. It's quiet on Ad Astra right now, but we're still there and we've got everything? I mean, if you like Expanded Universes with original crews, we have the best of those. If you like canon!based stuff, we also have those.
(Oh shit-- I think I've got a new fan fic concept! Captain Lorca as a Timothy Leary-type character with a crew of mushroom cultists!)
Man, I'm currently writing a Red Dwarf/Prisoners of Gravity/Star Trek Mirror Universe fusion thing. So, one might argue I don't even need the stinkin' spores. XD
Just as I read “stinkin’”, the word “smuckin’” popped into my head. Tell me that isn’t a perfect future swear word!
For written fanfic, I'm currently working my way through the old Kraith series. It's got a very different take on Vulcan customs than what canon Trek later established. This free ebook is an awesome history and reference for early Trek fanfics. Many old fanzines are available now online for free. "Axanar" and "respected" in the same sentence? Yikes. For visual works, Star Trek New Voyages and Star Trek Continues.
I tried to read Kraith, but developed too many Opinions(tm) to continue it. Heh. As for my favorite original crew Trek: Anything by the United Trek authors is going to be high quality. Gibraltar up there is one of them. CeJay's another. mdgarcia. One of my very favorites ever is MirandaFave's Kestrel series, which isn't under the UT banner, but it has McGregor which makes it transcendent. XD If you're looking for series with a lot of heart, Terilynn's Heritage and trekfan's Chronicles are both more upbeat and optimistic. kes7's Tesseract gets pretty damned intense at points. As for canon flavored fic, Ad Astra's got something from everything but Discovery (just 'cause no one's really used that tag but jespah, who is both prolific in Enterprise content especially, and also super awesome at coming up with well-drawn OCs). Like-- swing a cat, hit at least a few good fics from any of the series.
Ad Astra has some of the best I've ever read. A wild gamut of stories from every possible angle and style.
I have a couple of on-line friends who write Star Trek fan fiction well. Here are the links. http://www.stbts.net/ https://usssurefoot.blogspot.com/