I used to be an avid reader of Star Trek books, but I've been away for a while, so now I want to be more deliberate about picking a book that caters to my interests, instead of just choosing randomly from the vast collection of works written for a wide variety of tastes and sensibilities. So I was hoping I could explain a little about my tastes here and people could give me some recommendations of books which would suit them (since there isn't any dedicated recommendation thread or section of the forum as far as I can tell).
My favorite version of Star Trek is the original show (don't want to get into any heated debates about which show is the best, the original is just what I grew up with), and by that I do mean the show itself, not the original crew in general. I also enjoy the original crew movies, but not as much as the show, and I'm not a fan of the reboots at all. My favorite episodes are The Corbomite Maneuver, The Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, and Journey to Babel. This might seem odd to some people, but it seems like I actually prefer bottle episodes. And yet, my favorites list doesn't include The Naked Time, which generally seems to be the most highly-regarded bottle episode of the series. I think what I can triangulate from these favorite episodes is that I'm less interested in conflicts that arise from things (a virus, or tribbles, or euphoric spores) and more interested in conflicts that are rooted in a dynamic struggle between two interesting personalities.
The Corbomite Maneuver is a struggle between Kirk and Balok (who seems like a basic two-dimensional alien monster at first, but turns out to have a lot more going on). Balance of Terror is a struggle between Kirk and the Romulan Commander (played delightfully by Mark Lenard). In the Doomsday Machine, the titular planet killer actually is a two-dimensional alien monster, but there's also an intense struggle between Kirk (with help from Spock and McCoy) and Decker. Journey to Babel doesn't really fit the theme as well, I think it's mostly one of my favorites just because I like Mark Lenard so much. If I wanted to pick a fourth that was along the same lines, it would be Space Seed. Ricardo Montalban gives such a dominating performance there that you could almost watch it as if it were an episode of some TV show that he was the star of (whereas in the movie, he's more of a classical scenery-chewing villain).
Less poetically, I also really like episodes that take place mostly on the bridge, which is probably why Space Seed didn't end up on my actual top four (Journey to Babel is a little wayward there too, but it does have some nice bridge stuff right at the end; I especially think Kirk pretending to be fine so he can take command again, and then doubling over as soon as McCoy leaves, is one of his most badass moments in the entire series). I guess I just feel like the bridge in general, and the command chair specifically, is the locus and center of all that I love about Star Trek. I was going to describe the common theme of those favorite episodes as "military strategy," but I thought that would make it sound too much like I'm just looking for action stories with lots of fight scenes. The Corbomite Maneuver is probably my favorite out of all of them (and it's so impressive to me that it was the first regular episode ever), but there's very little action in that. And don't even get me started on how thoroughly I enjoy the first movie (not the theatrical cut, mind you), which some detractors call "the motionless picture." So I think for me, my focus on the command chair is less about "pew, pew, explosions," and more about wanting to see someone Captain like Kirk making tough command decisions.
So, if there's anyone who actually bothered to read all that, can you recommend any Star Trek novels that you think would suit my tastes? I think I'd prefer to start with something based on the original show, just to kinda dip my toe back into the world of Trek reading with my first love, but I'm not averse to the other classic shows (haven't seen Discovery or Picard at all, I would be totally lost there), so I wouldn't mind having some recommendations from those to potentially save for later. I remember there was a series of novels about the Enterprise-E fighting in the Dominion War, and that always sounded like a neat premise to me. I don't really dislike any of the old shows, I just don't love them as much as the original.
My favorite version of Star Trek is the original show (don't want to get into any heated debates about which show is the best, the original is just what I grew up with), and by that I do mean the show itself, not the original crew in general. I also enjoy the original crew movies, but not as much as the show, and I'm not a fan of the reboots at all. My favorite episodes are The Corbomite Maneuver, The Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, and Journey to Babel. This might seem odd to some people, but it seems like I actually prefer bottle episodes. And yet, my favorites list doesn't include The Naked Time, which generally seems to be the most highly-regarded bottle episode of the series. I think what I can triangulate from these favorite episodes is that I'm less interested in conflicts that arise from things (a virus, or tribbles, or euphoric spores) and more interested in conflicts that are rooted in a dynamic struggle between two interesting personalities.
The Corbomite Maneuver is a struggle between Kirk and Balok (who seems like a basic two-dimensional alien monster at first, but turns out to have a lot more going on). Balance of Terror is a struggle between Kirk and the Romulan Commander (played delightfully by Mark Lenard). In the Doomsday Machine, the titular planet killer actually is a two-dimensional alien monster, but there's also an intense struggle between Kirk (with help from Spock and McCoy) and Decker. Journey to Babel doesn't really fit the theme as well, I think it's mostly one of my favorites just because I like Mark Lenard so much. If I wanted to pick a fourth that was along the same lines, it would be Space Seed. Ricardo Montalban gives such a dominating performance there that you could almost watch it as if it were an episode of some TV show that he was the star of (whereas in the movie, he's more of a classical scenery-chewing villain).
Less poetically, I also really like episodes that take place mostly on the bridge, which is probably why Space Seed didn't end up on my actual top four (Journey to Babel is a little wayward there too, but it does have some nice bridge stuff right at the end; I especially think Kirk pretending to be fine so he can take command again, and then doubling over as soon as McCoy leaves, is one of his most badass moments in the entire series). I guess I just feel like the bridge in general, and the command chair specifically, is the locus and center of all that I love about Star Trek. I was going to describe the common theme of those favorite episodes as "military strategy," but I thought that would make it sound too much like I'm just looking for action stories with lots of fight scenes. The Corbomite Maneuver is probably my favorite out of all of them (and it's so impressive to me that it was the first regular episode ever), but there's very little action in that. And don't even get me started on how thoroughly I enjoy the first movie (not the theatrical cut, mind you), which some detractors call "the motionless picture." So I think for me, my focus on the command chair is less about "pew, pew, explosions," and more about wanting to see someone Captain like Kirk making tough command decisions.
So, if there's anyone who actually bothered to read all that, can you recommend any Star Trek novels that you think would suit my tastes? I think I'd prefer to start with something based on the original show, just to kinda dip my toe back into the world of Trek reading with my first love, but I'm not averse to the other classic shows (haven't seen Discovery or Picard at all, I would be totally lost there), so I wouldn't mind having some recommendations from those to potentially save for later. I remember there was a series of novels about the Enterprise-E fighting in the Dominion War, and that always sounded like a neat premise to me. I don't really dislike any of the old shows, I just don't love them as much as the original.
