Star Trek Novels
Novels by Peter David
Star Trek Nonfiction
For the True Trekkie
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Star Trek
One of my secret pleasures is reading Star Trek novels. I remember back when the first Star Trek novel was published, and how exciting it was to read brand new adventures about my favorite characters. These days, however, there is a new novel every month for each of the four Star Trek series. Some are good, some are bad, some are terrible. On this page I list the novels that I have read and enjoyed. My biases are that I love Mr. Spock and the original Enterprise crew above all others, I like the characters on Voyager but haven't read any of the novels, I find the Next Generation crew dull, and I wish Deep Space Nine didn't try to be what it's not.
(You'll notice by the publication dates that I haven't read many in recent years, because there are so many and I don't have time to read bad ones. Please send me recommendations of the ones you like.)
- The Final Reflection (Star Trek, No 16)
- John M. Ford / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1990
A+ Before there were Klingon language camps, before Klingons had become cool, wearing leather armor and great makeup, there was this book. This book explores the meaning of what it means to be a warrior race, and introduces us to the game of klin zha.
- The Romulan Way (Star Trek, No 35)
- Diane Duane, Peter Morwood / Paperback / Published 1993
(Hard to Find) A What Ford did for Klingons in The Final Reflection, Duane and Morwood do for Romulans in this novel. McCoy is captured by the Romulans, and Federation Agent Terise LoBrutto, in deep undercover for eight years, must decide if she will save McCoy or save her cover.
- How Much for Just the Planet (Star Trek, No 36)
- John M. Ford / Paperback / Published 1990
(Hard to Find) A This book is very silly, and very, very funny. What happens when the crew of the Enterprise and the crew of a Klingon ship both try to "develop" the planet Direidi, and the Direidians don't want them around?
- Ishmael (Star Trek, No 23)
- Barbara Hambly / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1988
A Spock has been captured by the Klingons, who have gone back in time to change history and ensure the Federation never gets started. But Spock has escaped, into the past, with no memory of who he is or where he comes from. And where did he escape to? "Here Comes the Brides."
- Crossroad (Star Trek, No 71)
- Barbara Hambly / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1994
A What will the future of the Federation be? Will it bring fulfillment and enlightenment, or darkness and control? Kirk and his crew encounter a starship from the future, claiming that they are working to save the Federation. Who are they really? What will the future really bring? A chilling novel, by an excellent novelist.
- Vulcan's Forge
- Josepha Sherman, Susan Shwartz / Hardcover / Published 1997
A Spock is captaining his first vessel, on his first mission after Kirk's death. He meets an old friend, Captain David Rabin, who was with him when he first contemplated joining Starfleet. Now, as together they battle an old enemy, Spock must confront his past and again make decisions about his future.
- Star Trek : The New Voyages (Star Trek)
- Sondra Marshak (Editor), Myrna Culbreath (Editor) / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1996
A The first Star Trek fiction was written by fans, and this is a collection of some of the best of it. Here are some stories that will never appear on screen, but you would love to see. What would happen if William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley found themselves on board the real Starship Enterprise? What would happen if Kirk, not McCoy, found himself lost, sick, and deranged in America's past? What would happen if Spock split into the two halves of his personality? Each story has an introduction by one of the series actors.
- Star Trek : The New Voyages No. 2
- Marshak, Culbra / Paperback / Published 1988
(Hard to Find) A More of the best of the fan fiction. This volume contains an original Star Trek script (not filmed for any series), an "open texture" poem in which McCoy and Spock are trapped in a cave-in (one of my favorites), and several excellent stories.
- The Wounded Sky (Star Trek, No 13)
- Diane Duane / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1985
A- A metaphysical romp with a crystal spider, as only Duane can do it.
- Battlestations (Star Trek, No. 31)
- Diane Carey / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1992
B+ In this sequel to Dreadnought, Lt. Piper must clear Captain Kirk of charges that he stole transwarp technology. (Some people don't like Lt. Piper, as she is essentially a young Captain Kirk, but I think the stories are a lot of fun.)
- Yesterday's Son (Star Trek, No. 11)
- A.C. Crispin / Paperback / Published 1991
(Hard to Find) B+ Spock must return to Beta Niobe, where he left Zarabeth, to claim something left behind: his son.
- Time for Yesterday (Star Trek, No. 39)
- A. C. Crispin / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1993
B Spock, Kirk, and McCoy must visit Spock's son again, to gain his help in fixing the ailing Guardian of Forever.
- Betrayal (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 6)
- Lois Tilton / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1994
B There's a terrorist loose on Deep Space Nine, as well as a group of ambassadors there to decide if Bajor can enter the Federation. There's also a Cardassian warship docked, demanding that Sisko give up the station to them, and find their missing crewman. And what exactly are Jake and Nog up to?
- Doctor's Orders (Star Trek, No. 50)
- Diane Duane / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1990
B Kirk calls McCoy's bluff, and leaves him in command of the Enterprise while Kirk beams down to the planet for a routine away mission. Then Kirk disappears, and a Klingon ship arrives. And then something really nasty shows up.
- Home Is the Hunter (Star Trek, No 52)
- Dana Kramer-Rolls / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1990
B Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu are sent back into Earth's past by an angry omnipotent being. (Fortunately, the AOB isn't the main point of the story.) Sulu is sent back to feudal Japan as a Samurai, Chekov is in the middle of World War II, and Scotty is in the highlands of Scotland in the 18th century.
- The Kobayashi Maru (Star Trek, No 47)
- Julie Ecklar / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1989
B We all know how Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru test. In this novel, we find out how Chekov, Scotty, and Sulu faced the test, as they tell each other their stories while trapped on a damaged shuttlecraft, adrift in space.
- The Vulcan Academy Murders (Star Trek, No. 20)
- Jean Lorrah / Paperback / Published 1991
(Hard to Find) B At the Vulcan Academy Hospital, someone is murdering patients. As Kirk and McCoy are drawn into the drama of Spock's family, they must find the killer. And will Amanda be the next victim?>
- The Idic Epidemic (Star Trek, No 38)
- Jean Lorrah / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1988
B- A sequel to The Vulcan Academy Murders, this novel brings the crew of the Enterprise to the Vulcan Science Colony Nisus, where the concept of IDIC is practiced, but may also be the cause of a deadly plague.
- Star Trek the Joy Machine (Star Trek, No. 80)
- James Gunn, Theodore Sturgeon / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1996
C+ This is one of the few novels that could actually worked as an episode of the original series; not surprisingly, it's based on a story proposal made by Theodore Sturgeon (who wrote "Amok Time") for the original series. Kirk and Spock visit a "perfect" planet with happy people, who have cut off all contact with the Federation. Are they ready for the secret of perfect happiness?
Peter David gets his own section, because his novels are so good. He just knows Star Trek.
- A Rock and a Hard Place (Star Trek: the Next Generation, No.10)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1990
This is the best Star Trek novel of all time. And it has nothing to do with Admiral Karen Williams in the second chapter. Nothing at all. Riker has been sent on a special mission to the brutal, newly-terraformed world Paradise, and his replacement, Stone, is called "insubordinate" and "a nut" by his previous captain. What will Riker find on Paradise, and how will Stone fill his shoes on the Enterprise?
- The Captain's Daughter (Star Trek, No 76)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1995
A Captain Hikaru Sulu adventure, in which Captain Sulu and the crew of the Excelsior seek the truth behind his daughter's death.
- The Rift (Star Trek, No 57)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1991
The Rift opens a way between the Federation and Calligar once every thirty-three years, and Mr. Spock is leading a Federation delegation through the Rift. But the Calligar take Spock's party hostage, and Kirk must save him and his party before the Rift closes.
- Imzadi (Star Trek : The Next Generation)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1993
With a title like that, what else would it be about?
- Q-In-Law (Star Trek, the Next Generation, No 18)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997
Lwaxana Troi meets Q, and decides to teach him about love.
- Q-Squared (Star Trek: The Next Generation, No 37)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1995
In this second of Peter's novels about Q, he also brings Trelane (The Squire of Gothos) along for the ride. And Picard must save the galaxy.
- The Siege (Star Trek : Deep Space Nine, No 2)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1993
The first of the original Deep Space Nine novels, and not funny. Not at all.
- Strike Zone
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997
Picard and crew must mediate between the Kreel, who have found a sophisticated new weapon, and the Klingons, whom they use it on. This book also has the best (i.e., most realistic) Wesley story in it.
- Vendetta (Star Trek : The Next Generation)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1991
Picard and crew rescue one survivor from a race assimilated by the Borg. She has vowed revenge, but the power she can unleash will kill many innocents as well.
- The New Frontier #1 (House of Cards)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback
- The New Frontier #2 (Into the Void)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback
- The New Frontier #3 (The Two-Front War)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997
- The New Frontier #4 (End Game)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997
These four books (all part of one novel) follow the adventures of an all-new Federation crew as they travel through the tumultuous Sector 221-G (formally the Thallonian Empire). The crew of the Excalibur is captained by Mackenzie Calhoun, who as a teenager led his planet's people in a successful revolt against their alien overlords. Returning to Starfleet after several years of performing clandestine missions, Calhoun is unsure who he is: the rebel teenager, the Starfleet captain, or an outsider living outside of the law. Joining Calhoun are characters familiar from both television and David's other novels, including First Officer Shelby, back from fighting the Borg and now clashing with Calhoun; Doctor Selar, who has discovered that Vulcan physiology doesn't work quite as she thought; Zak Brikar, chief of security and solid as a brick wall; and Burgoyne 172, chief engineer and a member of the Hermat race.
- The New Frontier # 5 (Martyr )
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1998
- The New Frontier # 6 (Fire on High)
- Peter David / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1998
The continuing adventures of Captain Calhoun and the crew of the Excalibur as they travel through the tumultuous Sector 221-G (formally the Thallonian Empire). Not only must they deal with a sceptical Starfleet Headquarters, they also must deal with civil wars and religious groups, some of whom have strange ideas about Captain Calhoun's role in the universe.
- Who Killed Captain Kirk? (Star Trek)
- Peter David / Paperback / Published 1993
A collection of several issues of the DC comic.
- Worf's First Adventure (Star Trek the Next Generation : Star Fleet Academy, No 1)
- Peter David / Paperback / Published 1994
- Line of Fire (Star Trek: The Next Generation : Starfleet Academy, No 2)
- Peter David / Paperback / Published 1993
Good children's books, telling the story of how Worf adapted to Starfleet Academy, and the adventures he had there.
- Inside Star Trek : The Real Story
- Robert H. Justman (Narrator), Herbert F. Solow (Narrator) / Audio Cassette / Published 1996
A+What exactly was the feud about between Shatner and Nimoy? Was "the network" out to get Roddenberry? Why did the alien women wear so little clothing? Find out all this and more. Justman and Solow were a major part of Star Trek reaching the air and being as good as it is. Hear their inside account of what really happened. This book is wonderful. - Chekov's Enterprise : A Personal Journal of the Making of Star Trek : The Motion Picture
- Walter Koenig / Paperback / Published 1991
(Special Order)
If you've always wanted to write your own Star Trek novel but didn't know how to start, here are some inspirational blank books to help you.
- Star Trek Captain's Log Book Blank Book
- Hardcover / Published 1993
- Star Trek Journal with Bookmark
- Star Trek Quote Journal Blank Book
- Hardcover / Published 1993
- Star Trek Ship's Log Book Blank Book
- Hardcover / Published 1993
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Data's Log Book Blank Book
- Hardcover / Published 1994