And talking of Mary Sues: Anything with Piper in it. Bleah. A more obvious Mary Sue I have yet to read.
Have I got the book for you then! Death's Angel - it's an older one, but the main character is such a Sue she could beat Piper senseless without mussing up her perfect cotton candy curls, or having the slightest touch of sweat mar her flawless complexion.
Both Kirk AND Spock fall in love with her. She's a secret agent, she's a hybrid of all sorts of Startrek aliens so she's extra pretty, she can destroy the Enterprise by pressing a button on her watch... (Kirk has no problem with this btw).
Indeed. Of all the Mary Sue characters ever to make it into professional Trek fiction, Elizabeth Shaeffer (sp?) is as close to the epitome of a Mary Sue as you can get. Although Sola Thane from Marshak & Culbreath's Triangle runs a very close second.
As for Piper and Uhura's Song's Evan Wilson, yes, they are arguably Mary Sue characters, but I think they prove that even a Mary Sue can be done well. Piper doesn't fall victim to the usual MS cliches, because she isn't smarter, stronger, better than Kirk, Spock and McCoy and not one of them falls in love with her. The most she achieves is to prove herself a worthy sidekick to Kirk and get accepted into the clique, which isn't really the same. (Maybe she's a "Robin Sue?") As for Evan Wilson, she does dominate much of the book, has exceptional talents, and wins the respect (but not infatuation) of the series regulars, but she's essentially a trickster figure, which isn't the same as a conventional MS. She's more like a guest star who steals the show, like Q or Lwaxana. (A "Mary Q?")