Sunday 28 April 2013

Coming Soon from Simon and Schuster


There's been a slight pause in the production line but +SimonandSchuster publishers have a few more Star Trek titles lined up over the next few months for us to get our teeth into.

Of course there's a little movie tie-in due for May as well. I'm looking forward to finding out if there are any additional scenes here as per previous screen to page adaptations with The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock being two of the more prominent in my mind.

Following on from his brilliant Allegiance in Exile, David R George III's Star Trek: The Fall: Revelations and Dust will hopefully be another irresistible page-turner. We'll be covering all of these (and hopefully more) before release to give you the best opinion before purchase. Here's the synopses as available with a few of my thoughts thrown in form good measure (plot details from www.startrek.com unless stated otherwise. Cover images supplied by Simon and Schuster).



May


Star Trek: The Original Series: The Folded World
Jeff Mariotte
ISBN 9781476702827 

En route to a diplomatic mission, the Enterprise receives a distress call from the USS McRaven. As the Enterprise approaches the area where the McRaven appears to be, the crew encounters an anomaly unlike anything they've ever experienced. Space itself seems inconsistent - warping; changing appearance. During the brief periods of calm, they locate the McRaven - along with other ships of various origins, all tightly surrounding and being held in place by an enormous unidentified vessel....

OK....hmmm. Doesn't this seem a little similar to the animated series episode The Lorelei Signal and the Star Trek: Voyager episode One Small Step? Or is it just me? Only a few weeks until this one comes out so I'm keen to find out what the twist is - also the McRaven looks like it's a Constitution Class ship if you analyse the cover a little. Spot the Romulan Warbird in there as well?

Star Trek Into Darkness
Alan Dean Foster

(23rd May 2013)
ISBN 9781471128899


No details currently available but let's hope it's a good transfer from screen to page. The last novelisation of a film I read was Star Trek: Generations by J M Dillard in 1994...so it's been a while.


July


Star Trek: The Original Series: The Shocks of Adversity
William Leisner
ISBN 9781476722405

Located far beyond the boundaries of explored space, the Goeg Domain is a political union of dozens of planets and races. When the USS Enterprise arrives in its territory to investigate an interstellar phenomenon, Commander Laspas of the Domain Defense Corps is at first guarded, then fascinated to discover the existence of an alliance of worlds much like his own and finds a kindred spirit in Captain James T. Kirk. When the Enterprise is attacked by the Domain’s enemies, crippling the starship’s warp capability and leaving its crew facing the prospect of a slow, months-long journey home, the Goeg leader volunteers the help of his own ship, offering to combine the resources of both vessels to bring the Enterprise to a nearby Domain facility to make the necessary repairs.

But what at first seems to be an act of peace and friendship soon turns out to be a devil’s bargain, as Kirk and the Enterprise crew learn that there are perhaps more differences than similarities between the Federation and the Domain. When the Goeg’s adversaries strike again, the Enterprise is drawn deeper and inexorably into the conflict, and Kirk begins to realize that they may have allied themselves with the wrong side…

This looks a bit different. Not necessarily the Enterprise in major danger as the crew in a powerless position and having to accept help to get back home. The alliance between Kirk and the Geog could be intriguing if Leisner examines the differences in character. I'm moderately interested here.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation
Christopher L. Bennett
ISBN 9781476706740
A new nation has arisen from the ashes of the Romulan War: the United Federation of Planets, an unprecedented union of diverse species cooperating for the good of all. Admiral Jonathan Archer—the former captain of the Earth starship Enterprise, whose efforts made this union possible—envisions a vibrant Federation promoting galactic peace and a multi-species Starfleet dedicated to exploring strange new worlds. Archer’s former crew-mates, including Captain T’Pol of the USS Endeavour and Captain Malcolm Reed of the USS Pioneer, work with him to secure that bright future. Yet others within the Federation see its purpose as chiefly military, a united defense against a dangerous galaxy, while some of its neighbours view that military might with suspicion and fear. And getting the member nations, their space fleets, and even their technologies to work together as a unified whole is an ongoing challenge.

When a new threat emerges from a force so alien and hostile that negotiation seems impossible, a group of unaligned worlds asks Starfleet to come to its defense, and the Federation’s leaders seize the opportunity to build their reputation as an interstellar power. But Archer fears the conflict is building toward an unnecessary war, potentially taking the young nation down a path it was never meant to follow. Archer and his allies strive to find a better solution...but old foes are working secretly to sabotage their efforts and ensure that the great experiment called the Federation comes to a quick and bloody end.

Given that Enterprise missed a lot of opportunities due to a shorter run and some less than stellar episodes during that,  the novels appear to have expanded the story beyond the starship-crash of These Are The Voyages.... I've not read anything of Enterprise in novel-form so this will be a new frontier for my Star Trek reading experience and is probably the one I'm most fascinated by in prospect.


August


Star Trek: The Original Series: From History's Shadow 
Dayton Ward

ISBN 9781476719009

Set in the Original Series universe, this standalone story utilizes 1950's UFO paranoia, the Cold War, and the escalating "space race" of the 1960's as a backdrop for a Star Trek tale in a vein similar to that of the New York Times bestselling Eugenics Wars duology (Simon and Schuster press release)


2268: Following their encounter with the mysterious Gary Seven in the twentieth century, the crew of the USS Enterprise is startled by two intruders who have transported through space and time from Earth circa 1968. Incredibly, one of the infiltrators is a Vulcan, who asserts that he’s lived among Earth's population for over a decade. The other represents a little-known race and reveals to Captain James T. Kirk that she has spent that last twenty years working to bring about humanity’s destruction. It is then that Gary Seven’s young protégé, Roberta Lincoln, arrives seeking Kirk’s help.... 

1947: In the wake of the infamous “Roswell Incident” involving a crashed alien craft and beings from another world, Captain James Wainwright finds himself recruited as one of the first members of Majestic 12, a secret organization with two goals: Collect evidence of extraterrestrial activity on Earth, and develop strategies to combat alien invaders. And it is this very mission that will consume Wainwright’s life for the next two decades, driven by the knowledge that the danger is as real as the aliens living among us.... 

The cover is awesome and properly 1940's/50's retro. It's distinctly different to the usual artwork we get and is carrying the intended atmosphere from the pages within. It's time travel (again) but it seems that Ward is putting a spin on it so we'll see events in the 40's from that perspective rather than the crew of the Enterprise?

Given the information in the first paragraph here, could this not only be a sequel to Assignment: Earth but also to the Enterprise segment, Carbon Creek? Majestic 12 really sends a shiver down my spine. I'm thinking we'll see numerous links to Star Trek as Wainwright encounters them in different scenarios from the series? How many references to Little Green Men from Deep Space Nine do you think we'll get?!

September


Star Trek: The Fall: Revelations and Dust 
David R George III

ISBN 9781476722177

The Federation is rocked to its core as the Typhon Pact is suspected of being behind a barbarous act that shatters the fragile peace of the Alpha Quadrant. An original Star Trek novel, this is part of a five-book story arc that takes place over a sixty-day period, but it is not necessary to read each novel in order to follow the storyline, which involves all aspects of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine universe.


No image available and I'm still looking forward to this one even though I've not read any of the previousThe Fall series. Anything that involves The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and written by DRG III has to be a good one"

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