TOS Novels Questions

[CheddarTrek]

Hey there, I hope this is an alright question/thread to make.

I've recently rekindled some of my love for TOS in the past few weeks and I've been wanting to go back and re-read some of the novels, but I can't remember which ones were awesome.

I've got physical copies of almost every TOS novel in paperback, and I've read them all, but the last time I was actively reading TOS novels was in Junior High and maybe partly into High School.

I'm hoping to get recommendations of 2-3 books for the following:

1. Best books featuring McCoy in a prominent role
2. Best books featuring the byplay/interactions between Kirk, Spock, & McCoy
3. Most "fun" books (not too serious, and with most of the writing involving canon characters instead of solely ones the author made up -- I'd put the books I mention next in this category)

I recall that "Ice Trap" and "Uhura's Song" were two of my favorites, but those are the only two that really come to mind when I try to think back and come up with old favorites.


Thanks for any recommendations you can offer!

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

I'm a recent TOS convert, so I can't recommend much, but the new The Rings of Time was fairly awesome. The Crucible trilogy's first book, McCoy: Provenance of Shadows, is amazing but can be a bit dry in spots (it's actually very, very impressive in scope. It's like two novels in one: an alt-history Depression-era novel, and an ambitious McCoy-focused Trek novel taking us through a good number of years of his career).

I've heard good things about A Choice of Catastrophes and it features McCoy on the cover.

 

[CheddarTrek]

Huh -- well how about that, I just learned something. I had thought that "In the Name of Honor" published in 2002 was the last TOS novel. Google informs me that it was simply the last numbered TOS novel.

So I guess I don't have any published since then. The ones I own are mostly the ones published around the 60s-90s -- I bought them in a huge lot off of eBay years ago and read through them.

Thanks for both letting me know there are new ones I need to consider buying as well as giving me some recommendations.

 

[zarkon]

Best books featuring McCoy in a prominent role

Doctor's Orders is my favourite mccoy book. None of the other ones I can recall are particular standouts, but if you're interested, apart from the ones Julio has already noted, he's centre stage in "Shadows on the Sun" and "Dreams of the Raven".

Best books featuring the byplay/interactions between Kirk, Spock, & McCoy

Pass, kind of hard to quantify without having read them really recently.

Most "fun" books (not too serious, and with most of the writing involving canon characters instead of solely ones the author made up -- I'd put the books I mention next in this category)

Traitors Wind, Sarek, Spocks World.

The Final Reflection doesn't meet any of your criteria, but in my opinion it's the best star trek book going, so you may want to give that a reread too.

Huh -- well how about that, I just learned something. I had thought that "In the Name of Honor" published in 2002 was the last TOS novel. Google informs me that it was simply the last numbered TOS novel.

So I guess I don't have any published since then. The ones I own are mostly the ones published around the 60s-90s -- I bought them in a huge lot off of eBay years ago and read through them.

Thanks for both letting me know there are new ones I need to consider buying as well as giving me some recommendations.

In this case you may want to take a look at the six "errand" books by Kevin Ryan - there's a lot of author made characters, but they're a ton of fun and cover the federation/klingon war build up brilliantly.

 

[CheddarTrek]

Excellent suggestions all around! *thumbs up*

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

I'm hoping to get recommendations of 2-3 books for the following:

1. Best books featuring McCoy in a prominent role
2. Best books featuring the byplay/interactions between Kirk, Spock, & McCoy
3. Most "fun" books (not too serious, and with most of the writing involving canon characters instead of solely ones the author made up -- I'd put the books I mention next in this category)

1. Best books featuring McCoy in a prominent role

"Doctor's Orders" by Diane Duane.
"The Better Man" by Howard Weinstein.
"The Covenant of the Crown" by Howard Weinstein.

2. Best books featuring the byplay/interactions between Kirk, Spock, & McCoy.

"Uhura's Song" by Janet Kagan.
"Spock's World" by Diane Duane. ( I ignore the Vulcan chapters of the book and just read the Enterprise chapters.)

3. Most "fun" books (not too serious, and with most of the writing involving canon characters instead of solely ones the author made up)

Any of the above. I'm sure there are plenty more but I stopped picking up all the novels when the market became flooded with them around the time DS9 started up.

 

[CheddarTrek]

Several of these ring bells -- it's a great feeling to see the name "Traitor's Wind" or "The Better Man" and immediately see what the cover looked like, even though I haven't actually seen the cover in over a decade.

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Doctor's Orders is my favourite mccoy book. None of the other ones I can recall are particular standouts, but if you're interested, apart from the ones Julio has already noted, he's centre stage in "Shadows on the Sun" and "Dreams of the Raven".

Weird (okay, maybe not that weird)... but I'd never heard of Dreams of the Raven. Looked it up on Amazon and it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks, Zarkon!

 

[Christopher]

Weird (okay, maybe not that weird)... but I'd never heard of Dreams of the Raven. Looked it up on Amazon and it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks, Zarkon!

You should definitely check that one out. It's a terrific McCoy novel, though it doesn't fit later canon in terms of McCoy's presumed age and a few other things. (Due to the timeline not being locked down when "Encounter at Farpoint" established McCoy's age as 137, it ended up that McCoy is now canonically assumed to have been seven years younger in TOS than DeForest Kelley was.)

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Weird (okay, maybe not that weird)... but I'd never heard of Dreams of the Raven. Looked it up on Amazon and it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks, Zarkon!

You should definitely check that one out. It's a terrific McCoy novel, though it doesn't fit later canon in terms of McCoy's presumed age and a few other things. (Due to the timeline not being locked down when "Encounter at Farpoint" established McCoy's age as 137, it ended up that McCoy is now canonically assumed to have been seven years younger in TOS than DeForest Kelley was.)

Sweet, thanks Christopher. With the TOS stuff, since I'm really a noob when it comes to it and the mass of literature out there, I probably wouldn't have noticed that, but it's good to know.

 

[21Spike65]

Most "fun" books (not too serious, and with most of the writing involving canon characters instead of solely ones the author made up -- I'd put the books I mention next in this category)

The first I thought of when I read this was How Much For Just the Planet? It's one of my favorite numbered TOS books, and overall just a ton of fun.

 

[Stevil2001]

As far as Kirk/Spock/McCoy interactions go, the one that always sticks out in my mind is Memory Prime. There are some killer McCoy/Spock conversations in there in particular; the Reeves-Stevens just nail that dynamic.

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Weird (okay, maybe not that weird)... but I'd never heard of Dreams of the Raven. Looked it up on Amazon and it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks, Zarkon!

You should definitely check that one out. It's a terrific McCoy novel, though it doesn't fit later canon in terms of McCoy's presumed age and a few other things. (Due to the timeline not being locked down when "Encounter at Farpoint" established McCoy's age as 137, it ended up that McCoy is now canonically assumed to have been seven years younger in TOS than DeForest Kelley was.)

The Wife made a trip to the local used book store, and lo and behold, they had a copy of Dreams of the Raven. Which is now sitting on my shelf.

 

[bok2384]

Other novels which have had a good Kirk/Spock/McCoy interaction are My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane (in fact everyone came off well in that novel, like an episode or movie) and The Covenant of the Crown (more Spock/McCoy interaction).

 

[CheddarTrek]

Dug a few of these out recently -- very nice reading! Dreams of the Raven brought back some memories from reading it the first time, and I think it was better this time around. My Enemy, My Ally was another one I picked up, though I haven't read it again lately.

I also read Firestorm, which was a great one for Uhura/Chekov/Sulu. It wasn't what I was looking for (with McCoy and all) but the sense of camaraderie was fantastic.

 

[tomswift2002]

You might also want to check out Recovery which was, I believe, the 3rd book in the Lost Years arc. That talks more about McCoy's time as a civilian physician between The Counter-Clock Incident and Star Trek The Motion Picture.

But you should also check out How Much for Just The Planet? since it gives all the TOS characters a great time to "let their hair down".

And, even though I haven't read it, I remember that Christopher L. Bennett's debut Trek novel, Ex Machina seemed to be advertised as having McCoy play a very prominent role, since the novel is apparently a sequel to For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky, but set just after Star Trek The Motion Picture.

And you should check out the YA Starfleet Academy books Crisis On Vulcan, Aftershock & Cadet Kirk that were published in the 90's, since those three deal with Spock (book 1), McCoy (book 2, with Spock being a main character) and then Kirk being added to the mix (book 3). But the more recent Starfleet Academy books that are based on the 2009 movie are also good Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura books.


But William Shatner's TOS/TNG books are also good with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty joining the crews of TNG, DS9 and even the Mirror Universes Voyager crew (although the prime Janeway and Doctor made an appearance in the "Captain's" novelsthat were set after "Nemesis").
Otherwise I haven't read that much TOS.

 

[JD]

I haven't read it in a while, so I don't remember a lot of details, but the third Mere Anarchy novella, Shadows of The Indignant, focuses on Kirk and McCoy during the period leading up to TMP.

 

[Jose Tyler]

I would recommend "Deep Domain" by Howard Weinstein. Always been one of my favorites. McCoy plays a big role in unraveling the some of the mysteries and proves he is a great shot with a phaser. Interesting story and some really spot-on interaction between Kirk and McCoy.

 

[DorkBoy [TM]]

Most fun book?

How Much For Just The Planet?



Deep Domain is a great suggestion. Dreams of the Raven is also excellent and has lots of McCoy.

 

[ClayinCA]

I haven't read it in a while, so I don't remember a lot of details, but the third Mere Anarchy novella, Shadows of The Indignant, focuses on Kirk and McCoy during the period leading up to TMP.

I'd recommend the entire Mere Anarchy storyline for any fan of TOS, actually.