Dang, Star Trek books are like buses you think where well one might come along shortly and then a whole boatload comes along when you least expect it and man has we got a lot to cover and not just novels we got everything from stories to visual guides to children’s novels that are in for younger readers cutie fun but still good.
Here we have a selection of the amazing books that we have got from Simon and Schuster, covering everything from the discovery era onwards we have the stories of Michael Burnham, Picard, Wolf, Troy, and Crusher, to even a merging of the literary universe to the real timeline has now been currently established in Star Trek, there’s a lot been going on right now and I’m really excited to cover all of this.
All of these books are slated for 2021 release dates so we can guess that we aren’t going to be running out of things to stock our shelves with over the next year or so.
Upcoming Novels – Spring 2021 Edition
May 2021 – Star Trek: Discovery – Wonderlands by Una McCormack
Una McCormack is no stranger to Star Trek hasn’t started off as a fanfiction writer she’s made herself and established a name within the community doing everything from Doctor Who, Big Finish’s Gallifrey, Blake’s Seven, Star Cops to Star Trek, and even more. The blurb that we’ve got so far for the new book gives us a tantalizing idea of what’s in store. It reads as:
In a desperate attempt to prevent the artificial intelligence known as Control from seizing crucial information that could destroy all sentient life, Commander Michael Burnham donned the “Red Angel” time-travel suit and guided the USS Discovery into the future and out of harm’s way. But something has gone terribly wrong, and Burnham has somehow arrived in a place far different from anything she could have imagined—more than nine hundred years out of her time, with Discovery nowhere to be found, and where the mysterious and cataclysmic event known as “the Burn” has utterly decimated Starfleet and, with it, the United Federation of Planets. How then can she possibly exist day-to-day in this strange place? What worlds are out there waiting to be discovered? Do any remnants of Starfleet and the Federation possibly endure? With more questions than answers, Burnham must nevertheless forge new friendships and new alliances if she hopes to survive this future long enough for the Discovery crew to find her…
We only got the briefest of glimpses of Michael in the future before her rediscovering discovery so this will be an amazing look at what’s been going on in the year-long gap between the series opener and the second episode really it’s a great mind to tap and I hope that there’s going to be a long series that can cover this expense of time
June 2021 – Star Trek: Living Memory by Christopher L. Bennett
We jump forwards into the TOS movie era now, and I’m really excited by what Bennett has to offer. A veteran Star Trek writer starting in 2003 and making nearly 30 novels he really knows his game when it comes to crafting intriguing stories for Trek.
“While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space.
Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past—one that she no longer remembers….”
I love it when stories get to expand upon the law and tell us stories between stories there are little missed years and Bennett is giving us another great adventure. With Kirk and teaching on earth Spock now the Captain of the enterprise and Chekov as the first officer, it shows us a completely different dynamics and we used to and that alone is enough to sell me on intrigue but to top it all off there is a murder mystery and a space mystery and it’s tied into a Uhura’s past that she doesn’t know about? You’ve got me interested Bennett. The novel picks up after Bennett’s previous novel The High Frontier, are we going to see some continuity between the two books, or even perhaps some continuing plot threads? We will have to wait until June to find out!
July 2021 – Star Trek: TNG – Shadows Have Offended by Cassandra Rose Clarke
And from veterans to newcomers as we have a first Star Trek novel from speculative science fiction writer Rose Clarke. They say never judge a book by its cover but I Gotta say with a title like that you’ve drawn me in instantly. This novel gives us a Troi Worf and Doctor Crusher dynamic, not something I would’ve expected but a welcome surprise for sure. This TNG sentence novel gives us another compelling mystery for the intrepid crew of the Enterprise to solve,
“The USS Enterprise has been granted the simple but unavoidable honor of ferrying key guests to Betazed for a cultural ceremony. En route, sudden tragedy strikes a Federation science station on the isolated planet Kota, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has no qualms sending William Riker, Data, and Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher to investigate. But what begins as routine assignments for the two parties soon descends into chaos: Picard, Worf, and Deanna Troi must grapple with a dangerous diplomatic crisis as historic artifacts are stolen in the middle of a high-profile ceremony…while nothing is as it seems on Kota. A mounting medical emergency coupled with the science station’s failing technology—and no hope of rescue—has Doctor Crusher racing against time to solve a disturbing mystery threatening the lives of all her colleagues….”
The story has all the marks of late TNG with intrigue plot race against time I love it feels like the story could stop writing to series 5 or 6 and I can’t wait to see what it gives us. There is a medical drama, mystery, intrigue, theft of ancient artifacts to recover, and even some old school Romulans. I have absolutely no idea how all this ties together, but I can’t wait to find out more!
We also know that off the back of this “TNG” novel we are to expect three more books shortly no titles have been given but we do know that the authors attached are Dayton Ward, James Swallow, and David Mack.
August 2021 – Star Trek: Picard – Rogue Elements by John Jackson Miller
This I am very excited for John Jackson Miller tells the story of Cristóbal Rios in what looks to be a swashbuckling space adventure designed to get the blood pumping. We got delightful hints of what could’ve been going on in Cristóbal’s life before the events of Picard, again it’s another one of those stories between stories and I love it the blurb below just hasn’t so excited for a potential story this could be.
“Starfleet was everything for Cristóbal Rios—until one horrible, inexplicable day when it all went wrong. Aimless and adrift, he grasps at a chance for a future as an independent freighter captain in an area betrayed by the Federation, the border region with the former Romulan Empire. His greatest desire: to be left alone.
But solitude isn’t in the cards for the captain of La Sirena, who falls into debt to a roving gang of hoodlums from a planet whose society is based on Prohibition-era Earth. Teamed against his will with Ledger, his conniving overseer, Rios begins an odyssey that brings him into conflict with outlaws and fortune seekers, with power brokers and relic hunters across the stars.
Exotic loves and locales await—as well as dangers galore—and Rios learns the hard way that good crewmembers are hard to find, even when you can create your own. And while his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard is years away, Rios finds himself drawing on the Starfleet legend’s experiences when he discovers a mystery that began on one of the galaxy’s most important days…”
Miller specifically requested working on a Cristóbal novel during “lockdown”, so I imagine he has a very clear intention of what he wants to do with the story. We know he is a veteran of science fiction working on everything from Star Trek, to Star Wars, to Mass Effect and even Iron man comics so he definitely knows what’s going to be going on in this book.
To round out 2021, we now hit the big stuff the “Coda Trilogy”. This is meant to be the massive nexus in the Star Trek canon it’s going to tie everything from the books into the TV series together in one beautiful trilogy and I’m excited.
Cannon has always been a complicated set of waters to sailing for the Star Trek novels but I’ve got to say this is a brave adventure to go out and actually start making everything connect to gather in a bit of, shall we say dramatic fashion? It’s a big story verse crossover from the next generation to Deep Space 9, the Titan and Aventine novels. This looks like it’s going to be big.
Let’s take a look at each blurb and will summarise at the end what we think will be happening in this new benchmark in Star Trek books.
September 2021 – Star Trek: Coda, Book 1 – Moments Asunder by Dayton Ward
REALITY ITSELF IS UNDER ATTACK.
The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy begins when the unexpected arrival of an old friend triggers a desperate mission to avert a fast-spreading temporal disaster.
October 2021 – Star Trek: Coda, Book 2 – The Ashes of Tomorrow by James Swallow
THE FUTURE IS AT WAR WITH THE PAST.
The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy continues as friends become foes, the Temporal Apocalypse accelerates, and the catastrophe’s true cause is revealed.
November 2021 – Star Trek: Coda, Book 3 – Oblivion’s Gate by David Mack
THEIR MOST DAUNTING MISSION WILL BE THEIR FINEST HOUR.
The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy comes to a shattering conclusion as the Temporal Apocalypse forces Starfleet’s greatest heroes to make the greatest sacrifices of their lives.
These are some of the shortest clubs we’ve been given for the novels so they are holding all the cards pretty close to their chest in terms of what’s going on. This has me excited because it sounds like we’re going to have stories are full of twists and turns and revelations and plot twists and all sorts of juicy callbacks to classic and new Trek. One thing that sticks out the most though is “Temporal Apocalypse” could this be related to the Temporal Cold War? Could we be finally getting an end of the long and concluded Ark from Enterprise? I’m speculating of course but I wouldn’t say no at this point, it seems like anything is on the table when it comes to these novels giving a grand spectacle as we collect everything from all corners of the track and put it together in one big trilogy and I’m very excited
End of 2021 – Star Trek: DS9 – Revenant by Alex White
And finish out 2021 we have a Deep Space 9 novel featuring Dax, space casinos, secrets, lies, and adventure! With a history of writing horror novels are you I’m hoping that this is taken Deep Space 9 by Alex White might have a bit of a darker edge, certainly the detail of secrets and lies has me intrigued. Deep Space Nine is no stranger to dark stories so I can’t wait to see what it has to offer.
Jadzia Dax has been a friend to Etom Prit, the Trill Trade Commissioner, over two lifetimes. When Etom visits Deep Space Nine with the request to rein in his wayward granddaughter Nemi, Dax can hardly say no. It seems like an easy assignment: visit a resort casino while on shore leave, and then bring her old friend Nemi home. But upon arrival, Dax finds Nemi has changed over the years in terrifying ways…and the pursuit of the truth will plunge Dax headlong into a century’s worth of secrets and lies!
That’s all for Star Trek novels for 2021. However, we’re not done with Star Trek book content just yet. We have still got a few more things to cover (pun intended!) from a book about Grudge the Cat, to visual guides of Star Trek, and so much more! So stick around as we are as we peek behind the bulkhead to take a look at further books from Simon & Schuster for the future in Star Trek.
Until then. Live Long and Prosper!
