TOS: Miasma, by Greg Cox (Feb. 2016)

[Leto_II]

Not quite sure how I missed this, but wow -- another Enterprise-A story from Greg Cox, this time a one hundred page e-book novella coming February 22, 2016:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Miasma/Greg-Cox/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series/9781501125317

Star Trek continues its fiftieth anniversary celebration in 2016 with an all-new enovella from New York Times bestselling author Greg Cox, set in the popular and blockbuster Original Series era!

The Enterprise-A is transporting a party of diplomats when it picks up a mysterious alien signal emanating from a nearby world. The planet’s dense, impenetrable atmosphere makes it unclear if the beacon is a distress signal, an invitation—or a warning to stay away. Spock, Doctor McCoy, and Chekov are part of a team sent to investigate, but an unexpected catastrophe forces a crash-landing. Now the landing party is stranded on a hostile world, unable to communicate with the Enterprise. While Captain Kirk and Saavik race to locate the lost crew, a badly wounded Spock struggles to keep McCoy and the others alive until they can be rescued, even if that means making an unthinkable sacrifice...

Not that I'm complaining about the massive number of 5YM stories we're going to be getting next year for the 50th anniversary (I'm stoked for each and every single one of them), but between this and Dayton Ward's Elusive Salvation, I'm definitely glad to not only be getting a couple of TOS movie-era tales, but to have one of those also be an NCC-1701-A story.

Looks like Greg is keeping continuity with both the DC Comics run and Howard Weinstein's Mere Anarchy tale (The Blood-Dimmed Tide) with Saavik serving aboard the new starship -- I'm wondering now in which year this story is set (Saavik having joined the crew in 2290 in the second DC run, following Sulu's promotion to the captaincy).

 

[Greg Cox]

Funny you should mention this. I just finished making the final corrections to the text less than five minutes ago.

And, yep, Saavik has taken over as helmsman following Sulu's promotion. And I reread The Blood-Dimmed Tide in preparation for writing this story.

 

[Leto_II]

Ha, nice coincidence, Greg -- just read about this for the very first time myself today, and was absolutely thrilled about it.

While the 5YM is a very important time period in Trek history, it's not the only important era for these characters; there are literally 20 years' worth of events in the TOS movie era (2273-93) which played an equally-vital role in shaping their lives, and I'm glad we'll be getting some new stories from that time period during the anniversary year.

And great to hear about the tie-in with Mere Anarchy -- can you tell us, does Miasma take place fairly closely to Sulu's promotion, or is it closer to the events of The Undiscovered Country?

 

[Greg Cox]

Closer to Sulu's promotion. Kirk is glad to have Saavik back, and Valeris is not even on the radar yet . .. .

 

[ryan123450]

I'm very excited for this as well. Next year is going to have alot of good releases.

 

[Ronald Held]

Awaiting this story with a modicum of impatience...

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

I need to stop reading these, it makes it harder to wait! But curiosity killed the cat...

 

[bbailey861]

The S&S blurb sounds so damn good!

 

[JD]

That sounds pretty good. I'm happy we're getting more movie era stories. That's always been one of my favorite eras, and I've been frustrated by how few stories we've gotten set then.

 

[Greg Cox]

The S&S blurb sounds so damn good!

Thanks! I worked on that blurb, too.

 

[GaryH]

I would love to see both Saavik and Valeris play a role in the ongoing Next Gen / Titan / DS9 continuity.

I believe Saavik is supposed to be an Admiral now, and Spock's wife? James Swallow did such a good job exploring Valeris that it would be fascinating to see her one hundred years later, either running or fighting Section 31 perhaps.

 

[borgboy]

I would love to see both Saavik and Valeris play a role in the ongoing Next Gen / Titan / DS9 continuity.

I believe Saavik is supposed to be an Admiral now, and Spock's wife? James Swallow did such a good job exploring Valeris that it would be fascinating to see her one hundred years later, either running or fighting Section 31 perhaps.

I would love that too!

 

[trampledamage]

Don't get too detailed in your suggestions though please

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Amazon now has pre-order listings up for Rules of Accusation and DTI: Timelock.

RoA is set to release next summer and Timelock won't be released until September 2016 (which seems way too far from now!).

 

[Leto_II]

The Official Site just posted the "cover" artwork for Miasma:

http://www.startrek.com/article/kirk-and-crew-back-in-action-in-miasma

Looks good. Always glad to see the Enterprise-A get some love and attention.

 

[JoeP]

I really hope they keep the gold lettering after the anniversary year. Looks great.

 

[Leto_II]

Drops tomorrow. Can't freakin' wait. Hope it sells well enough to get us some more Enterprise-A stories down the road.

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Thanks for the reminder that this comes out today! Just purchased & downloaded from Kobo. Not going to be able to read it just yet, but it'll be there waiting for me when I am!

 

[Galekarens]

LOL I pre-ordered this earlier this evening and it appeared on my Kindle about a half hour ago (before midnight my time); usually pre-ordered new Trek novels don't get delivered to me until at least 1AM, or even 2AM (still sez pre-order on USA Amazon. com). Well guess for once didn't have to wait longer ha.

 

[Klaus]

That's interesting, iBooks always sends theirs at 11pm the night before...

Well I just finished it, thought it was very good and an interesting idea to resolve the crisis. I like the presentation of the evolving Spock and how McCoy is becoming aware of how he'd changed.
And Greg, I always see Kirstie.