I'm new to the Star Trek community and I'm looking for suggestions as to which books I should read first.
Book suggestions?
- Thread starter LtMaysSciDiv
- Start date
As with each time this question is posed: please indicate favourite series, characters, whether you like character-driven stories or future tech plots, and drama vs comedy, etc. There is something for every Trek taste, but you need to narrow down your preferences.
Another avenue to pursue would be to familiarize yourself with just what Star Trek Lit entails. A few interesting ways to do that would be to check out The Trek Collective, more specifically this page.
And also look around on my site The Star Trek Lit-verse Reading Guide.
And also look around on my site The Star Trek Lit-verse Reading Guide.
If you're wanting to read in order, you can't go wrong to skip #1 (the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture*) and start with #2, "The Entropy Effect". It's probably on the shelf at a local used book store for cheap. 
*It isn't that I would never recommend reading #1, it's just that if you've already seen TMP, it would probably be better to start with a story you've not experienced already.
*It isn't that I would never recommend reading #1, it's just that if you've already seen TMP, it would probably be better to start with a story you've not experienced already.
^Besides, the early Trek novels weren't originally numbered at all; the numbers were added retroactively in 1984, about when #16 The Final Reflection and #17 The Search for Spock came out. The first three movie novelizations were counted as part of the numbered line, but later ones were not.
After all, there was a gap of eighteen months between the publications of the TMP novelization and The Entropy Effect, because Pocket had to wait to publish original novels until Bantam's license expired.
After all, there was a gap of eighteen months between the publications of the TMP novelization and The Entropy Effect, because Pocket had to wait to publish original novels until Bantam's license expired.
You might want to check out the Mirror Universe trilogy by William Shatner and Judy and Gardfield Reeves-Stevens ("Spectre, Dark Mirror, Preserver").
Also John Vornholt's "Capture The Flag" is actually a very fun Trek story that is quite off the beaten path in terms of Trek stories.
Also John Vornholt's "Capture The Flag" is actually a very fun Trek story that is quite off the beaten path in terms of Trek stories.
Federation reignited my love for TrekLit, so it's often the book I suggest to Trek fans who want to get into the lit.
Clark Terrell
Lieutenant Commander
I tend to agree with Therin of Andor. It's hard to pick and choose even a few novels from the hundreds that are available for public consumption. I would recommend stopping by your local library and seeing what they have available, provided you have an idea what you'd like to find. Chances are good there'll be something you like, but only you know what that is.
Nothing worse than to hear someone say, "I tried one of those Trek tie-in novels once. Never again." The scope in styles, word counts, originality, etc., is extremely wide.
What is your favorite era?
I don't have a favorite era yet. I know next to nothing about everything beyond TOS. Right now I'm consuming as much Trek as possible. Thanks for the advice.
What series have you seen?
TOS books that are good:
Prime Directive
Shadows on the Sun
The Weight of Worlds
From History's Shadow
The Department of Temporal Investigation Books (Not TOS, but use a lot of the time travel stories from it)
Ex Machina
The Crucible Trilogy
Are you familiar with the Marvel universe (X-Men, Spider-Man)? You might enjoy Michael Jan Friedman's Planet X from 1998 that features Marvel's X-Men crossing over into the Trek universe. In 98 Marvel had the license for Trek comics, so Marvel published 2 cross-over with both the Original and Next Generation crews and the X-Men, and then someone thought that it would work pretty well as a prose novel.
Some of my favourites:
The Final Reflection(TOS) by John M. Ford
- The very best star trek book there is. Totally at odds with any trek from TNG onwards since it was written in the eighties.
Where Sea Meets Sky(TOS) by Jerry Oltion
- A very enjoyable cap'n pike exploration tale with a nautical feel. Was part of the "captains table" series, but doesn't require reading any of them.
Federation(TOS,TNG), by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens.
- It spans three eras and focuses on Zefram Cochrane(based on his TOS appearance, First Contact hadn't come out at this point). It feels like the kind of epic "The Motion Picture" tried and failed to be.
Yesterday's Son/Time for Yesterday(TOS) by Ann C Crispin
- A couple of great books that focus on spock and a rather surprising relationship.
The Wounded Sky(TOS) by Diane Duane
- Super exploration, crazy concepts and, as is almost standard for Duane, a brilliant alien species.
Spock's World(TOS) by Diane Duane
- Deals with Vulcan -its past and what they think it's future should be. Includes an absolutely barnstorming McCoy speech. Would be nice to have read The Wounded Sky first.
Doctor's Orders(TOS) by Diane Duane
- Kirk puts McCoy in the captains chair, and things spiral out of control from there. Some great aliens to boot.
Memory Prime(TOS) by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens
- Great take on artificial intelligence and conspiracies.
First Frontier(TOS) by Diane Carey
- Time travel, alternate timelines & Kirk fightn' round the world.
The "Errand" series(TOS) by Kevin Ryan
-It's made up of two trilogies, Errand of Vengeance and Errand of Fury, which tell the story of the TOS era conflict between the federation and the klingons, split into basically four viewpoints - a starfleet command officer on earth, a security officer aboard the enterprise who is a klingon infiltrator, an officer aboard a klingon warship, and finally kirk.
One of the best flowing, and most satisfying trek stories I've read.
Book order if you're interested:
The Edge of the Sword
Killing Blow
River of Blood
Seeds of Rage
Demands of Honor
Sacrifices of War
Masks(TNG) by John Vornholt
- Away mission on a human colony which eschewed modern technology and cut itself off from earth and ended up going back to a sort of feudal system - but with an interesting twist guided by some of the original colonists. The thing I like most about this book is how well the world and its people is put together. Characterisation(mostly Picard) can be a bit off since this was a very early novel.
Q-Squared(TNG) by Peter David
- An incredibly intelligently written book that weaves together alternate dimensions into a very interesting story.
Strike Zone(TNG) by Peter David
- very light most of the time, but hilarious with it. Wesley is used well(much better then the tv writers normally managed).
Imzadi(TNG) by Peter David
- Story of the first meeting between Riker & Troi, amongst other things.
A Rock and a Hard Place(TNG) by Peter David
- Delves a bit into Riker's past as he goes on leave to help a friend. The other half of the story is his replacement, who is the star of this story. Don't want to go into him as that's the best part of the book.
Dark Mirror(TNG) by Diane Duane
- deals with the mirror universe, written before ds9 went back to it so expect gaping discontinuity - as with Federation, I enjoyed the authors version a lot more then what would later transpire.
Intellivore(TNG) by Diane Duane
- feels like a mystery where the crew are slowly trying to find a creeping horror. the tension in this book amps up very well through to the conclusion.
Possession(TNG) by J.M. Dillard and Kathleen O'malley
- a sequel to a pretty poor TOS book which thankfully isn't necessary reading(I read this one first and never even realised there was a prequel). Great tension as the pressure builds throughout.
Q Continuum trilogy(TNG) by Greg Cox
- fun trilogy with a lot of good q/picard interaction, plus a great explanation for a long standing trek mystery
Diplomatic Implausibility(Klingons post TNG) By Keith R A Decandido
- Worf tries out his diplomatic muscles for the first time.
Objective: Bajor(DS9) by John Peel
- Really fun book, has aliens with a rather interesting fundamental problem.
The 34th rule(DS9) by David R George & Armin Shimmerman
- Brilliant book focusing on Quark and how Ferengi tick, a grand Machiavellian scheme he gets involved with and a superb payoff.
A Stitch in Time(DS9) by Andrew J Robinson
- Pretty much the same as above but for Garak. Great look at his youth and at post-ds9 cardassia
The Millennium trilogy(DS9) by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
-Three great books of a possible future with an epic feel
If you end up liking Peter David's style, I'd also recommend reading his "New Frontier" series.
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Well, yes and no. At the time the book came out, its portrayal of Picard was a bit off, since he was more of a man of action and a ladies' man in the book than he was on the show at the time. But it fits pretty well with the direction Patrick Stewart pushed the character in later seasons and the movies.
I'm reminded of what PAD said in the author's notes to his second TNG novel, A Rock and a Hard Place:
Heh. That's a good point he makes. Hard to explain, but I think it's something to do with the feeling I get after reading most of PAD's books. No matter how depressing the subject matter may be, by and large I always end up happier then I was before I read it. Maybe it's something to do with his humour - as that pun thread we had a month back showed, he's very good at it, and despite the seriousness of Rock & a Hard Place, he still has stuff like the Ready Room pun. Strike Zone has the Data/Pulaski stuff during a scene showing Wesley being obssesed with Jan, and the absurdities of the kreel messing around on the planet.
There are a few exceptions like Q Squared, Vendetta & Once Burned though.
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Wow thanks for all the help. I'm going to start with the Vanguard series and branch out from there. I'm excited to get completely encompassed with Trek.
We have a whole podcast devoted to the lit and comics at Trek.fm called Literary Treks, where we review things, talk about news and interview authors! You might enjoy it as you get into the literary universe.
