Cybersnark's Required Star Trek Reading List by Cybersnark

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Cybersnark's Required Star Trek Reading List

POSTED BY: CYBERSNARK
UPDATED: Friday, February 8, 2008 03:24
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:01 PM

Based on peoples' reactions over in the "best Trek episodes" thread, I decided to cook this up (last week, then everything went to hell, and it got shelved until now 9_9 ).

I've long been a firm believer that the best Trek comes from the novels. Unencumbered by budget, production issues, casting, or television's rules (including those set forth by Roddenberry himself --much as I love what he created, some of Roddenberry's rules for the series [Starfleet crews only, human Captains only] end up hobbling it right out of the gate).

I tried to pick out the best of the best --the "required reading" for any Trek fan, but even then, the list is huge. If there're any other Trek bibliophiles around, feel free to argue or suggest others --but try to avoid spoilers, both for the sake of anyone who might pick up one of these in the future, and for myself (I'm recommending several books sight-unseen, on the basis of past work or place in continuity).

I'm also sorting them by subline, chronological order within the line, and as close as I can come to overall chronology (many of them take place "simultaneously"). I've also included a few movie and episode titles, just to give an idea of where some books fall (when it matters --there are a few direct sequels to TV eps). Some books are listed multiple times (because they link two or more series).

Some backstory: it used to be that each Trek novel was its own little sub-universe, unrelated to anything else. DS9 (and the Dominion War arc) changed that, and established that an ongoing continuity could work in Trek. After DS9's success, Pocket Books pulled a "Star Wars," and started organizing a continuing, overarching universe for the official fiction --what this ultimately means is that the novels were finally allowed to change things. New characters, new relationships, new situations --anything can happen. Things started to actually matter.

I apologize for the dearth of TOS-era books; I'm more of a 24th-Century Man; I grew up with Next Gen.

The Eugenics Wars
(pre-Star Trek, but post-"Assignment: Earth." Gary Seven does X-Files.)
The Rise & Fall of Kahn Noonien Singh, vol 1 (Greg Cox)
The Rise & Fall of Kahn Noonien Singh, vol 2 (Greg Cox)
To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Kahn Noonien Singh (Greg Cox)

Enterprise
(both of these are set after the finale, so don't watch unless you've sat through "These Are The Voyages")
Last Full Measure (Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin)
The Good That Men Do (Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin) (haven't read yet)

The Next Generation
Crossover (Michael Jan Friedman) (it doesn't change anything, but does mark the first "on-screen" reunion of Spock, McCoy, and Scotty in the 24th Century).
Section 31: Rogue (Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin)
First Contact
Immortal Coil (Jeffrey Lang)
The Battle of Betazed (Susan Kearney & Charlotte Douglas)
Gemworld, pt. 1 (John Vornholt)
Gemworld, pt. 2 (John Vornholt)
Insurrection
Diplomatic Implausibility (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Maximum Warp: Dead Zone (Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur)
Maximum Warp: Forever Dark (Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur)
Gateways: Doors Into Chaos (Robert Greenberger)
A Time To Be Born (John Vornholt)
A Time To Die (John Vornholt)
A Time To Sow (Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore)
A Time To Harvest (Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore)
A Time To Love (Robert Greenberger)
A Time To Hate (Robert Greenberger)
A Time To Kill (David Mack)
A Time To Heal (David Mack)
A Time For War, A Time For Peace (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Nemesis
Death in Winter (Michael Jan Friedman)
Resistance (J.M. Dillard) (haven't read yet)
Q&A (Keith R.A. DeCandido) (haven't read yet)
Before Dishonor (Peter David) (haven't read yet)

(Think of "A Time To. . ." as a full TV season [as with Buffy S8], leading up to Nemesis, with the post-Nemesis novels as another season.)

Deep Space Nine
The 34th Rule (Armin "Quark" Shimerman & David R. George III)
Hollow Men (Una McCormack) --a direct follow-up to "In The Pale Moonlight"
Millennium, pt 1: The Fall of Terok Nor (Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens)
Millennium, pt 2: The War of the Prophets (Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens)
Millennium, pt 3: Inferno (Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens)
"What You Leave Behind"
A Stitch in Time (Andrew "Garak" Robinson)
Avatar, pt I (S.D. Perry)
Avatar, pt II (S.D. Perry)
Section 31: Abyss (Jeffrey Lang & David Weddle)
Gateways: Demons of Air & Darkness (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Mission Gamma: Twilight (David R. George III)
Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit (Heather Jarman)
Mission Gamma: Cathedral (Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels)
Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil (Robert Simpson)
Rising Son (S.D. Perry)
Unity (S.D. Perry) --if there was a DS9 movie, this would be it.
Worlds of Deep Space 9, Vol 1: Cardassia & Andor (Una McCormack & Heather Jarman)
Worlds of Deep Space 9, Vol 2: Bajor & Trill (J. Noah Kym & Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels)
Worlds of Deep Space 9: Vol 3: Ferenginar & The Dominion (Keith R.A. DeCandido & David R. George III)
Warpath (David Mack)

(As with TNG's "Time To" series, everything between "Avatar" and "Rising Son" amount to DS9 "Season 8," with "Unity" being the Star Trek movie Hollywood wishes it could make.)

The Lives of Dax (various)
Prophecy & Change (various)

Klingons
Kahless (Michael Jan Friedman)
The Left Hand of Destiny, pt 1 (J.G. "Martok" Hertzler & Jeffrey Lang)
The Left Hand of Destiny, pt 2 (J.G. "Martok" Hertzler & Jeffrey Lang)
TNG: Diplomatic Implausibility (Keith R.A, DeCandido)
The Brave And the Bold, book 2 (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
I.K.S. Gorkon: A Good Day to Die (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
I.K.S. Gorkon: Honor Bound (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
I.K.S. Gorkon: Enemy Territory (Keith R.A. DeCandido)

Voyager
Mosaic (Jeri Taylor)
Pathways (Jeri Taylor)
String Theory, pt 1: Cohesion (Jeffrey Lang)
String Theory, pt 2: Fusion (Kirsten Beyer)
String Theory, pt 3: Evolution (Heather Jarman)
"Endgame"
Distant Shores (various)
Homecoming (Christie Golden)
The Farther Shore (Christie Golden)
Spirit Walk, pt 1: Old Wounds (Christie Golden)
Spirit Walk, pt 2: Enemy of my Enemy (Christie Golden)

New Frontier
All of it. Written by Peter David, this is likely the closest we'll get to a Joss Whedon-scripted Star Trek.
House of Cards
Into the Void
The Two-Front War
End Game
Martyr
Fire on High
The Captain's Table: Once Burned
Double Helix #5: Double or Nothing
The Quiet Place
Dark Allies
Excaliber: Requiem
Excaliber: Renaissance
Excaliber: Restoration
Double Time (comic book)
Gateways: Cold Wars
Gateways: What Lay Beyond
Being Human
Gods Above
Stone and Anvil
No Limits (various)
After The Fall
Missing in Action

Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Available as Ebooks, though I prefer collecting the print compilations, even though they run years behind the actual Ebook releases.
Have Tech, Will Travel
Miracle Workers
Some Assembly Required
No Surrender
Foundations
Wildfire
Breakdowns
Aftermath (haven't read yet)
Grand Designs (haven't read yet)
Creative Couplings (haven't read yet)

Titan
(Which begins post-Nemesis, and uses characters from "A Time To")
Taking Wing (Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels)
The Red King (Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels)
Orion's Hounds (Christopher L. Bennett)
Sword of Damocles (Geoffrey Thorne) (haven't read yet)

Crossovers:
Section 31
TOS: Cloak (S.D. Perry)
TNG: Rogue (Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin)
DS9: Abyss (David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang)
Voy: Shadow (Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch)

Gateways
TOS: One Small Step (Susan Wright)
TNG: Doors Into Chaos (Robert Greenberger)
DS9: Demons of Air & Darkness (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Voy: No Man's Land (Christie Golden)
NF: Cold Wars (Peter David)
What Lay Beyond (various)

Double Helix
TNG: Infection (John Gregory Betancourt)
DS9/TNG: Vectors (Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch)
TOS: Red Sector (Diane Carey)
DS9: Quarantine (John Vornholt)
TNG/NF: Double or Nothing (Peter David)
pre-TNG: The First Virtue (Michael Jan Friedman & Christie Golden)

The Brave and the Bold, books 1 & 2 (Keith R.A. DeCandido)

Tales of the Dominion War

The Captain's Table (get the Omnibus edition; there are 6 novels in there and they all rock)
Tales from the Captain's Table (various)

Articles of the Federation (Keith R.A. DeCandido) --follows from "TNG: A Time to Kill"

You'll note that a number of Trek actors have weighed in with their own novels. Feel free to avoid Shatner's though; they're well-done, but he doesn't play by the rules, and his stuff has spiralled off into its own little Kirk-centric universe that doesn't reconcile with the "official" timeline.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 3:19 PM

CHRISISALL

WOW! A big THANK YOU is in order. CS!!!

Appreciative Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 3:50 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

Well done.

After DS9, I was excited about the followup story line. I too had hoped that Unity would be the next Trek on screen. I think the Corps of Engineers and Section 31 series are a lot of fun. We get a chance to follow those supporting characters we met once upon an episode.

Select to view spoiler:

Who knew Andorian mating was so complicated?!

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown

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Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:07 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:

Death in Winter (Michael Jan Friedman)
Resistance (J.M. Dillard) (haven't read yet)
Q&A (Keith R.A. DeCandido) (haven't read yet)
Before Dishonor (Peter David) (haven't read yet)

Homecoming (Christie Golden)
The Farther Shore (Christie Golden)
Spirit Walk, pt 1: Old Wounds (Christie Golden)
Spirit Walk, pt 2: Enemy of my Enemy (Christie Golden)

I believe I will begin with these....

Sucker for continuations Chrisisall

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Friday, February 8, 2008 3:24 AM

CYBERSNARK

Bumping because Keith R.A. DeCandido's 4th Gorkon book has been released; Klingon Empire: A Burning House.

With this, the "IKS Gorkon" series has been rebranded to "Klingon Empire" (so Pocket can use it for stories that don't directly involve Klag and his crew), but the story does follow directly from "IKS Gorkon: Enemy Territory."

KRAD has promised that

Quote:
we'll get to see several different (and previously unseen) aspects of Klingon life -- an opera company, a farm, a medical conference, a poor urban area, and much more

Go buy it.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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