Fifth day and stepping outside the TV and movie universe for a second, let's turn to the expanded universe.
Whether it's fan fiction in the 70's between the TV series and The Motion Picture or the continuing novelisation series which has taken in every aspect from Archer to Admiral Janeway and then some, there's been a story which has grabbed everyone.
I have a couple which stand out as being among my favourites and both are by renowned Star Trek author Peter David. The first, Imzadi, I read in my teens in a weekend. A brilliant story focusing on the Riker/Troi relationship in a (now) alternative future including a Captain Data on the Enterprise-F. Great story and I recommend if you've not then buy a copy off eBay. Imazadi II wasn't quite as good but still a nice story.
To my favourite Star Trek non-canon fiction of all-time though and it has to be David's super-novel Vendetta. Again a story I read in my teens and recently managed to find a copy for 99p in some second-hand book store/thrift shop place. There were a ton of other older novels but I HAD to have this one. At some point I'll re-read it because I'm hazy over some of the points but I just remember the Borg being handed their asses on a plate in some hugely overblown battles that showed what "could" have been if Star Trek had a ridiculously infinite budget and an imagination to match.
Strange to think this was from a very different period in Star Trek's literary history when anything went and there was no real structure to what was being produced. Now everything post-Nemesis is structured into a timeline and adhering much more to the continuous arc themes which have become universally popular for storytelling. If you want standalone Star Trek that doesn't influence anything else then it's best to dabble in The Original Series stories...
Strange to think this was from a very different period in Star Trek's literary history when anything went and there was no real structure to what was being produced. Now everything post-Nemesis is structured into a timeline and adhering much more to the continuous arc themes which have become universally popular for storytelling. If you want standalone Star Trek that doesn't influence anything else then it's best to dabble in The Original Series stories...
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