Star Trek Books FAQ Mega-Update!

This is a list of questions that are frequently asked about Star Trek books. If you are smart, you will read this before you post and avoid unneeded brutality on the part of forum regulars, who think these questions are asked too much!


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Upcoming/Missing Projects
-- When will [Rumored/Announced Book X] come out?
-- What happened to Challenger?
-- Who's going to be on the cover of new TOS books, the classic cast or that of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek?
-- If I've heard about a book and it isn't on the schedule, does that mean it was cancelled?
-- Is there a good place to find out about books that actually were cancelled?

Aspects of Treklit
-- What is the reading order of the DS9 post-finale titles?
-- What is the chronological order of the relaunch titles?
-- Will there be more post-finale titles after Warpath?
-- What is the Shatnerverse?
-- What's the deal with Star Trek: Corps of Engineers?
-- What is in the future for Star Trek: The Next Generation?
-- What's Worf doing on the Enterprise these days? And what happened to Martin Madden?
-- What is Star Trek: Vanguard?
-- Is there going to be an "Enterprise relaunch"?
-- Special FAQ for Voyager books.

Few and Far Between?
-- Why is there only one book a month now?
-- Why aren't there any more Star Trek comics?
-- Why are the Corps of Engineers paperback reprints so rare? What about the other eBook miniseries??
-- Why are there so few TOS books this year? Why are there so few TNG books this year? Why are there so few DS9, VGR, ENT, NF, CHA, SGZ, GKN, TTN, VGD, &c. books this year? Does Pocket hate me and want to destroy my favorite series?
-- Where are my nonfiction books?

People of Treklit
-- Who are the Pocket editors for Star Trek books now?
-- Who is Richard Arnold?
-- Who are the people on the covers of the books "playing" Calhoun, Vaughn, et al.?

Miscellany
-- What happened to the Strange New Worlds anthologies/short fiction contests?
-- What happened in Stargazer: Oblivion on pages 72, 74, 195, and 197?
-- What's a good source of information on Star Trek novels?
-- Where can I find author annotations for the various books? These continuity references are drowning me!

Questions to Never Ask
-- Which Star Trek books are canon?
-- Why is this month's book late?
-- I have this extraordinary idea I want one of the writers to use in their next novel! Can I talk about the plot of my fan fiction/SNW story here? Would one of the writers here take a look at my story and tell me how good it is?
-- Why are there gay people in the books?



Thanks to Geoff "Wersgor" Hamell for suggesting this; Michael Schuster, John "Pf2144", Will Devine, Andrew Timson, Ian "Therin of Andor" McLean, Bob "Bobatiel" Manojlovich, Christopher Bennett, Kevin Killiany, "Rosalind", Brendan "RulanAllwine" Moody, "Q420", "captcalhoun", "Sci", David Mack, William Leisner, Mark "mmtz" Martinez, "JWolf", and "JD" for their suggestions and assistance; Slave of Seven, Aatrek, Mel "Emh" Orr, and Rosalind for updating and pinning this; and Keith DeCandido, Marco Palmieri, Ann Crispin, and Margaret Clark for patiently answering some questions. Hopefully this will be the last time they're asked. (As if!)

I'm following Bill Leisner's suggestion and chunking this thing a bit. I've corrected all the errors people have pointed out, I think.

 

UPCOMING/MISSING PROJECTS


Q. When will [Rumored/Announced Book X] come out?
A.

• The Yesterday Saga #3-5 by A.C. Crispin. This project has been cancelled for reasons unknown.
• Split Infinities/Other Times. This project has been renamed Myriad Universes to tie into the highly successful Mirror Universe collections of 2007. There will be two three-novel collections coming out in July and August 2008, Infinity's Prism by Christopher L. Bennett, William Leisner, and James Swallow and Echoes and Refractions by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Chris Roberson, and Geoff Trowbridge.
• The Lost Era. The seventh Lost Era novel, The Next Generation: The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett, came out in 2007. The only remaining one is about Sisko during the Tzenkethi War, and no details such as title, author, or release date have been given as of yet.
• Articles of the Federation II by Keith R.A. DeCandido. Despite popular acclaim on the Internet, this book did not sell well enough to warrant a sequel. Alas, as I was looking forward to the triumphant return of Councilor Molmaan.

Q. What happened to Challenger?
A. Star Trek: Challenger is on hold while Diane Carey pursues development of original fiction. Its return is indefinite. Marco Palmieri explains: "Not to confuse the issue with the obvious, but there never was a Challenger series. Only the hope that it would continue in much the same manner as, say, New Frontier. The mistake on our end, clearly, was touting it as a new series prematurely."

Q. Who's going to be on the cover of new TOS books, the classic cast or that of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek?
A. According to Keith R.A. DeCandido, this has yet to be decided. Given that there aren't any TOS novels on the schedule for the forseeable future, it may not be an issue.

Q. If I've heard about a book and it isn't on the schedule, does that mean it was cancelled?
A. No. There are always plenty of books in development that haven't been scheduled yet. And remember, the schedule is always tentative and subject to change. The schedule is more a hope than a promise. (Thanks to Christopher L. Bennett)

Q. Is there a good place to find out about books that actually were cancelled?
A. Yes there is! Check out Steve Roby's page, Star Trek: The Lost Books. The page also has information on the oft-mentioned Probe/Music of the Spheres and A Flag Full of Stars debacles.

 

ASPECTS OF TREKLIT

Q. What is the reading order of the DS9 post-finale titles?
A. Editor Marco Palmieri's desired reading order for the books is their publishing order, which is as follows:

Avatar, Books One & Two by S.D. Perry
Section 31: Abyss by David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang
Gateways #4: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Gateways #7: What Lay Beyond: "Horn and Ivory" by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Mission: Gamma
-- #1: Twilight by David R. George III
-- #2: This Gray Spirit by Heather Jarman
-- #3: Cathedral by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
-- #4: Lesser Evil by Robert Simpson
Rising Son by S.D. Perry
The Lives of Dax, edited by Marco Palmieri (re-issue)
The Left Hand of Destiny, Books One & Two by J.G. Hertzler and Jeffrey Lang
Unity by S.D. Perry
Worlds of Deep Space Nine
-- #1: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower by Una McCormack & Andor: Paradigm by Heather Jarman
-- #2: Bajor: Fragments and Omens by J. Noah Kym & Trill: Unjoined by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
-- #3: Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed by Keith R.A. DeCandido & The Dominion: Olympus Descending by David R. George III
Warpath by David Mack
Fearful Symmetry by Olivia Woods (forthcoming July 2008)

Q. What is the chronological order of the relaunch titles?
A. Largely the same, but with a few changes:

The Left Hand of Destiny
The Lives of Dax
Avatar
Abyss
Gateways #4 & #7
Mission: Gamma
Rising Son (this actually starts just after Avatar and ends at the same time as Mission: Gamma #4)
Unity
Worlds of Deep Space Nine
-- Trill
-- Bajor
-- Andor
-- Ferenginar
-- Cardassia
-- The Dominion
Warpath
Fearful Symmetry

A timeline of these plus related materials can be found here: http://thehamster.co.uk/startrek/timeline.htm

Q. Will there be more post-finale titles after Warpath?
A. YES! Fearful Symmetry is due to come out July 2008, following many scheduling delays and a switch of authors, but it is indeed in sight. The future of the relaunch after that is unknown.

Q. What is the Shatnerverse?
A. In order to prevent confusion, those novels written in collaboration between the Reeves-Stevens and William Shatner (which depict Kirk alive following his death in Generations) have been set aside in their own continuity. This way, casual references to Kirk being alive will not slip into other books and confuse the poor readers. However, this has not stopped the Shatnerverse books from referencing other works, including Ship of the Line and The Dominion War Tetralogy. The novels in the Shatnerverse are:

Odyssey
-- The Ashes of Eden
-- The Return
-- Avenger
The Mirror Universe Trilogy
-- Spectre
-- Dark Victory
-- Preserver
Totality
-- Captain's Peril
-- Captain's Blood
-- Captain's Glory
Academy
-- Collision Course

With the "Academy" strand, the Shatner books have taken a jump back in time to the 23rd century. There is apparently one more book in this strand forthcoming. Denny Crane.

Q. What's the deal with Star Trek: Corps of Engineers?
A. Corps of Engineers (originally S.C.E.) is a series of eBooks chronicling the adventures of a Starfleet Corps of Engineers team aboard the U.S.S. da Vinci. The title was changed to make the topic of the series more explicit to new readers, and the numbering was dropped at the same time to remove the intimidation factor that comes with a book being #62 in a series. They were initially released monthly, but following the title change, the series now alternates with other eBook projects. For more information, take a look at Memory Beta.

Q. What is in the future for Star Trek: The Next Generation?
A. The so-called TNG "relaunch", chronicling the Enterprise-E following the events of Nemesis, is now underway. The books in the series thus far are:
-- Death in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman
-- Resistance by J.M. Dillard
-- Q & A by Keith R.A. DeCandido
-- Before Dishonor by Peter David
-- Greater than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett (forthcoming August 2008)

There is also a series entitled Star Trek: Titan, suprisingly enough focusing on Captain Riker's U.S.S. Titan. The first novel, Taking Wing by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels, was released in April 2005. Later novels include The Red King by Martin/Mangels again, Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett and Sword of Damocles by Geoffrey Thorne (forthcoming November 2007).

Both series will be involved in the Destiny trilogy by David Mack, due in October through December of 2008.

Q. What's Worf doing on the Enterprise these days? And what happened to Martin Madden?
A. Worf is on the Enterprise-E because it was clearly the implication of Nemesis that he was back in Starfleet-- he's still there on the ship in the film's epilogue, at what must be weeks after the main body of the film, which would make no sense if he was just hanging out to go to the wedding. The natural position for him, given the duties he carried out in DS9, is executive officer, so the fiction has elected not to use Martin Madden, who was after all only featured in a (hilarious) deleted scene, and is thus noncanonical.

Q. What is Star Trek: Vanguard?
A. Vanguard is a new fiction series edited by Marco Palmieri. As Marco has said, "Vanguard centers around a Federation starbase and the ships assigned to it during the time of The Original Series. It's about a chasing an ancient mystery having to do with the remote region of space in which the station has been established." The first book is Harbinger by David Mack, the second is Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, and the third book is Reap the Whirlwind by David Mack. A fourth, yet untitled book by Ward & Dilmore is coming out in early 2009. Incidentally, anyone who suggests this series is "DS9 in the 23rd century" will be promptly reprimanded... fatally.

Q. Is there going to be an "Enterprise relaunch"?
A. This kicked off with The Good That Men Do by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin, which retconned almost every aspect of "These Are the Voyages..." (including the death of superspy Trip Tucker). This will be followed by the same authors' Kobayashi Maru (in September 2008) and a trilogy about the Romulan War (author, title, release date all TBA).

 

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN?

Q. Why is there only one book a month now?
A. Marco Palmieri says, "Our feeling is that we can do a better job, both editorially and sales-wise, by putting greater energy and effort into fewer and more carefully chosen projects, making the line leaner, meaner, and stronger. The respite being take from studio-produced Star Trek reinforces that strategy." Calm down, readers-- it's not the apocalypse! Recently, ye old authors have been writing bigger books anyway. (One book by David R. George III is equivalent to ten by Susan Wright!)

Q. Why aren't there any more Star Trek comics?
A. Oh, but there are! IDW is publishing a number of miniseries set throughout the Star Trek universe. So far, they include:
-- The Next Generation: The Space Between (January - July 2007, collected in September)
-- Klingons: Blood Will Tell (April - September 2007, collected in November)
-- The Original Series: Year Four (July - December 2007)
-- Alien Spotlight (September 2007 - February 2008)
-- The Next Generation: Intelligence Gathering (January - May 2008)

Additionally, Tokyopop has released two anthologies of TOS manga so far, Shinsei Shinsei and Kakan ni Shinkou.

Q. Why are the Corps of Engineers paperback reprints so rare? What about the other eBook miniseries?
A. Corps of Engineers was primarily conceived of and executed as an eBook series. Any paperback concerns are secondary. Anyway, only so many books fit on the schedule every year, and the editors do their best to maintain a balanced approach, meaning there is not always room for Corps of Engineers Besides, you can always just buy the eBooks. That's what I did. In November 2006, the reprints switched to trade paperback format, and each volume has contained between six and eight eBooks meaning the release rate has sped up.

There has been no word on the possibility of collections for the Mere Anarchy and Slings and Arrows miniseries.

Q. Why are there so few TOS books this year? Why are there so few TNG books this year? Why are there so few DS9, VGR, ENT, NF, CHA, SGZ, GKN, TTN, VGD, &c. books this year? Does Pocket hate me and want to destroy my favorite series?
A. No. As said before, Pocket tries its best to create a balanced approach, however this balance is achieved over several years, not within each year, to give them more freedom. Hence, 2006 was TOS-heavy, thanks to the 40th anniversary, and 2007 was TNG-heavy, thanks to its 20th anniversary, and so on. The reduction to one mass-market-paperback book a month also means that there a limited number of slots in any given year, so your favorite series might show up less often from now on.

During the last five years (Jan 2004 - Dec 2008), the series distributions broke down thusly (thanks to Keith DeCandido):

-- Cross-series: 18%
-- classic Star Trek: 19%
-- The Next Generation: 18%
-- Deep Space Nine: 10%
-- Voyager: 7%
-- Corps of Engineers: 8%
-- Enterprise: 6%
-- New Frontier: 2%
-- Stargazer: 2%
-- Titan: 4%
-- I.K.S. Gorkon/Klingon Empire: 2%
-- Vanguard: 3%


Q. Where are my nonfiction books?
A. Nonfiction sales have been abysmally down for Pocket's Star Trek books recently; their last big effort, Star Charts, apparently sold very poorly despite being the coolest book ever. There have been a few books recently-- Fall/Winter 2006 saw the release of two projects, Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion (a guide to the prose fiction) and Ships of the Line (a collection of pretty starship pictures). A couple guides are slated for 2008 as well: Captain Kirk's Guide to Women and Star Trek 101.

There has been no word on any new editions of the Encyclopedia or Chronology or an Enterprise Companion. I don't care if you and all your friends would buy them, the books won't sell well enough. (Do you seriously think Pocket would not publish them if they could make good money?)

 

PEOPLE OF TREKLIT

Q. Who are the Pocket editors for Star Trek books now?
A. The primary editors for the fiction line are Marco Palmieri and Margaret Clark; Elisa Kassin, Ed Schlesinger, and Jennifer Heddle have all done editorial work for the line in the past couple years as well. Keith DeCandido also does freelance editorial work for Pocket (various anthologies, S.C.E.), but is not on staff.

Q. Who is Richard Arnold?
A. Richard Arnold ran the Star Trek Office of Paramount Licensing at the behest of Gene Roddenberry from around the premiere of TNG to the time of Roddenberry's death. It was his job to approve proposed novels, and he is held responsible for the "dark period" of ST literature from the mid-80's to the mid-90's. Richard Arnold did not believe in inter-novel continuity, claiming that every novel should be based upon the TV shows and movies, not other novels. Fortunately, he has since left, and his decrees are no longer in effect, as is evidenced by today's publishing program.

Q. Who are the people on the covers of the books "playing" Calhoun, Vaughn, et al.?
A. Those are models hired by artists to portray those characters for brief snapshots. The model for Calhoun has been said to be a neighbor of artist Keith Birdsong.

 

MISCELLANY

Q. What happened to the Strange New Worlds anthologies/short fiction contests?
A. Volume 10 was the last, thanks to a decreasing level of sales for these books. Apparently they were never a money-maker and have only gotten worse.

Q. What happened in Stargazer: Oblivion on pages 72, 74, 195, and 197?
A. The first printing has an error that means some text is omitted on these pages. The full text can be found on the SimonSays site. Alternatively, you could buy the eBook or do as I did, and keep your eyes peeled for the second printing, and give up after a year of not finding it. Margaret Clark, editor of Stargazer, says: "Look at the copyright page, you know that page you blow by it's got the Paramount mountian and Gertude (the Pocket logo has a name, like who wouldn't?) the 1 should be missing and the first number should be a 2. This is the second printing the printing errors were corrected on this edition."

Q. What's a good source of information on Star Trek novels?
A. Well, TrekBBS's TrekLit forum of course, but if you didn't know that, you wouldn't be here, would you? Other key TrekLit links:

-- Steve Roby's The Complete Starfleet Library: http://www.well.com/user/sjroby/lcars/index.html
-- Memory Beta: The Non-Canon Star Trek Wiki: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
-- The Star Trek Comics Checklist: http://homepage.mac.com/mmtz/stcomix/
-- 8of5's Guide to the Trek Collective: http://8of5.blogspot.com/

Q. Where can I find author annotations for the various books? These continuity references are drowning me!
A. Memory Beta has your back: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Author%27s_annotations.

 

QUESTIONS TO NEVER ASK

Q. Which Star Trek books are canon?
A. Short answer: none. Long answer: read Steve Roby's "Every Fan's Canon Primer," which will not only answer your question in detail, but humorously ridicule you for asking it.

Q. Why is this month's book late?
A. The books come out during a rough four-week period and have no set street date, unlike the higher profile Harry Potter and Star Wars. Hence, your only assurance is that mass market paperbacks will be out by the middle of the publication month, and other books (trade paperback/hardcover) by the end of it, since they are on a different production schedule thingy.

Q. I have this extraordinary idea I want one of the writers to use in their next novel! Can I talk about the plot of my fan fiction/SNW story here? Would one of the writers here take a look at my story and tell me how good it is?
A. Theoretically, you could post your ideas or ask the writers to look at your story but you shouldn't. The world's an evil place, and people nowadays sue at the drop of a hat. To avoid legal difficulties, editors and writers refrain from reading fan-written stories. If you post story ideas, the chance is that Marco has already thought about it before. Speculation is fine, but please don't post ideas, plots or entire stories. (Thanks to Michael Schuster)

Q. Why are there gay people in the books?
A. Because there are gay people in real life. Imagine that.

 

Excellent. Yet again, thanks for the update, Steve.

Pinning and feeling a certain amount of déjà vu...

 

This is the first time I've seen that scene referred to as such. Hilarious? Awkward, maybe.

 

is there an updated version of this list? 2005 seems so long ago.

 

^ Yes, the entry under that question could use an update, if only to make everything past tense since it doesn't go further than 2006. Also, weren't we going to specifically address the questions about the long delay in VOY-R books and Golden's sole authorship? (And by we, I mean Steve, and a good job otherwise, too, not to come off as a critical bastard or anything :thumbsup

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

What! Don't you have a sense of humor? It was great!

I thought about updating the list, but decided it was too much work at the moment. Someone else is welcome to take a stab. (I think the original was the work of Keith.)

Oh, Voyager relaunch. There used to be a question about Golden's authorship a couple revisions back, but I think I pulled it because it wasn't really being asked anymore.

 

Boy, you people, just soooooooooooo demanding.........

Taking it from January 2003 to December 2007:

Cross-series: 18%
Star Trek (the original series): 16%
The Next Generation: 16%
Deep Space Nine: 10%
Voyager: 8%
Corps of Engineers: 8%
Enterprise: 7%
New Frontier: 5%
Stargazer: 4%
Titan: 4%
I.K.S. Gorkon: 3%
Vanguard: 3%

 

^ thanks, Keith.

 

One other thing, you might want to change the stuff about the lack of Enterprise book since the series is over now. It's under the "Why Are There So Few xyz Books This Year" section.

 

Awesome update. Redoing this every so often is a neccessity.

 

Excellent job, Steve! This is definitely a link- and pin-worthy thread.

 

thanks for thanking me, but why am i being thanked?

 

Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest considering the Thanks list consists of Slave of Seven and Aatrek, who haven't been moderators of these parts in several years.