Best TOS first mission book

[Smitty]

I hope the subject made sense. What I am asking is what people think the best Original Series book that is set within the original 5 year mission would be?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So you're not looking for books that show the actual first mission of the crew, just one that will be YOUR first?

 

[Christopher]

No, I think he means "first mission" in the sense of "original televised 5-year mission as opposed to the movie era." In other words, series-era TOS books.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

My favorite TOS novels were some of the ones that, shall we say, weren't quite 100% popular, such as Black Fire, The Three Minute Universe*, The Vulcan Academy Murders, Demons, The Entropy Effect, that kind of thing.

*How can you go wrong with an alien character having a line like this: "I have been named! Henceforth you will address me as Orangejuiceandwodka!"

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

I'd say my favorites are mix of the less popular and those that made me laugh. Uhura's Song, Yesterday's Son, The 3-Minute Universe, Doctor's Orders, The Wounded Sky, Spock's World, The Vulcan Academy Murders, The IDIC Epidemic....off the top of my head that I'm pretty sure were set during the first 5 year mission.

 

[Smitty]

Yes, what Christopher said. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I remember being VERY creeped the hell out by the very concept inherent in Dreams of the Raven...

 

[KirkSpockTOSFan]

I have few TOS era books but havent got around to reading them yet as Im still reading The Cruicable Series: McCoy book right now. But I plan on reading the others once Im done with this one. However there is one TOS tv series era I read before Cruicable McCoy and it was Troublesome Minds. I really enjoyed that book a lot.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I remember being VERY creeped the hell out by the very concept inherent in Dreams of the Raven...

That was my first Star Trek book. Another one that I really enjoyed was Kobayashi Maru.

 

[Smitty]

I think my first was "Spock Must Die!". I read it when it first came out as a kid and only remembering "isnt there anything better?". As for my best, I dont have one because i have not delved into anything within that timeframe.

 

[JoeZhang]

One I quite enjoyed from that period and is not often mentioned was Crossroad.

 

[Dayton Ward]

The Crucible trilogy and Troublesome Minds are are some good recent offerings that fit the OP's criteria.

I'll also throw in a plug for the Constellations anthology, because I'm shameless that way.

Other favorites off the top of my head:

The Galactic Whirlpool
The Entropy Effect
The Wounded Sky
Assignment: Eternity
Prime Directive

These and the other examples provided should get you started

 

[ClayinCA]

Off the top of my head, I loved:

The Entropy Effect
Ishmael
Strangers from the Sky (OK, I know not all of it is set during the 5YM, but most of it is)
Uhura's Song
Yesterday's Son
Prime Directive
Mudd in Your Eye
Assignment: Eternity
The Three-Minute Universe
How Much for Just the Planet?
Black Fire (so sue me)

 

[ClayinCA]

Off the top of my head, I loved:

The Entropy Effect
Ishmael
Strangers from the Sky (OK, I know not all of it is set during the 5YM, but most of it is)
Uhura's Song
Yesterday's Son
Prime Directive
Mudd in Your Eye
Assignment: Eternity
The Three-Minute Universe
How Much for Just the Planet?
Black Fire (so sue me)

And the Crucible trilogy as well, though again, quite a lot of that falls outside the 5-year mission.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Mudd in Your Eye
Assignment: Eternity

I really loved these two books and heartily recommend them!

 

[Joel_Kirk]

The Errand of Vengeance Trilogy
The Errand of Fury Trilogy
Troublesome Minds
Mutiny on the Enterprise

 

[Leandar]

My favorite TOS novels were some of the ones that, shall we say, weren't quite 100% popular, such as Black Fire, The Three Minute Universe*, The Vulcan Academy Murders, Demons, The Entropy Effect, that kind of thing.

*How can you go wrong with an alien character having a line like this: "I have been named! Henceforth you will address me as Orangejuiceandwodka!"

I agree, that was a beautiful line! I loved that book. All of those listed above I liked a lot. I also liked How Much For Just The Planet? and Ishmael, although I wouldn't recommend reading Ishmael until you're probably an adult. I tried reading it as a teenager and couldn't get through it. But then I read it about a year ago or so and actually enjoyed it. I don't know if that had anything to do with Mark Lenard being on the show it was tied into or not, but still had fun with it. And while I can now see Spock Must Die! as the fluff piece it really is, when I was a lot younger, I enjoyed the book a lot. I also got a kick out of Web of the Romulans and liked Chain of Attack, the first book that came out after Star Trek IV was released.

 

[Corran Horn]

The Great Starship Race
Mudd In Your Eye
First Frontier
The Starship Trap
Assignment: Eternity

 

[Starbreaker]

My Enemy, My Ally
Yesterday's Son

 

[Thrawn]

Man, I've never read any of the books mentioned in this thread.

Well, except The Entropy Effect (which I thought was lame and anti-climactic) and Constellations (which I thought was mediocre at best) and Troublesome Minds (which I also didn't like nearly as much as everyone else around here).

Maybe the 5YM is not for me