Thursday 1 August 2013

Plenty of prose: New blurbs and other books news

Simon and Schuster have updated their online catalogue with the first blurbs for all the novels so far announced for 2014. Have a read, there's some awesome sounding stuff on the way, including a surprise bonus Voyager novel of sorts:

Voyager: Protectors, by Kirsten Beyer (February)
Following the destruction of four fleet vessels at the hands of the Omega Continuum, the U.S.S. Voyager and U.S.S. Demeter set course for a region of the Delta Quadrant far beyond anything previously explored. Captain Chakotay is determined to prove to Starfleet Command that the fleet’s ongoing mission is vital to Federation interests…and the key to doing so may lie in a distress call Voyager received nine years earlier, but could not investigate. Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway is recalled to the Alpha Quadrant for an evaluation period to determine her next assignment. Given the trauma she has recently endured, Admiral Akaar, Starfleet’s Commander-in-Chief, questions Janeway’s fitness to command the fleet. Janeway’s primary concern remains the fleet’s safety. For their mission to continue, she must find a way to secure the resources they require. But the uncertainty of her superior officers has left her powerless to act in their best interests...

TOS: No Time Like The Past, by Greg Cox (March)
Stardate 6422.5. A diplomatic mission to the planet Yusub erupts in violence when ruthless Orion raiders attempt to disrupt the crucial negotiations by force. Caught in the midst of tense and dangerous situation, Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S Enterprise finds an unexpected ally in the form of an enigmatic stranger who calls herself “Annika Seven.”

Stardate 53786.1. Seven of Nine is taking part in an archaeological expedition on an obscure planetoid in the Delta Quadrant when a disastrous turn of events puts Voyager’s away team in jeopardy—and transports Seven across time and space to Yusub, where she comes face to face with one of Starfleet’s greatest legends.

Stardate 6422.5. Kirk knows better than most the danger that even a single castaway from the future can pose to the timeline, so he and Seven embark on a hazardous quest to return her to her own era. But there are others who crave the knowledge Seven possesses, and they will stop at nothing to obtain it—even if this means seizing control of the Enterprise!

Enterprise: Rise of the Federation - Tower of Babel, by Christopher L. Bennett (April)
Having survived its first major crisis, the Federation turns to nation-building as Admiral Jonathan Archer works to bring the worlds of the powerful Rigel system into the young union of the United Federation of Planets. But factions both within the Federation and among its enemies oppose the alliance, and Archer will need all the skills of his former Enterprise crewmates to prevent them from plunging Rigel into a systemwide war.

TOS: Serpents in the Garden, by Jeff Mariotte (May)
Early in his five-year mission commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain James T. Kirk found himself caught up in a growing conflict on the planet Neural. To maintain the balance of power against a force being armed by the Klingons, he provided weapons to his friends, the Hill People. Years later, Admiral Kirk learns that the Klingon presence on the planet has grown considerably, in possible violation of the Treaty of Organia. Did his impulse as a young captain turn out disastrously wrong? Should he—could he—have done more to eliminate the Klingon threat? To find out, he embarks on a secret mission back to Neural—where he might just be the only person who can prevent an interstellar war.

A little sooner than that, there has also been a new addition to the 2013 schedule, with a mass market paperback version of Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek Into Darkness novelization now due in October.

Sooner still, this month's new novel is Dayton Ward's From History's Shadow, a TOS adventure with a 20th century UFO paranoia twist. To mark the release, Ward leaked a top secret photo of a UFO on his blog! He's also talked a little about the origins of the book on his blog; expanding on one of his earliest Star Trek works, the Strange New Worlds III short story The Aliens are Coming! - He originally pitched the idea for this book as a DS9 novel, called Aliens Among Us, building upon the events of Little Green Men:
I’d put forth in the story, which features James Wainwright as a member of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book confronting Captain John Christopher about the “UFO” he saw in the original Star Trek episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.” Over time, a larger tale weaving bits and chunks of “Star Trek history” in and around the Cold War, the Space Race of the 1960s and the whole “UFO/alien sighting phenomenon” of the 50s and 60s began to take shape.
Speaking to TrekCore he also noted there are links to Carbon Creek, and that he sees it as complementary to the Eugenics Wars books. He also revealed a little bit about his next book, telling TrekCore that Peaceable Kingdoms, the final book in The Fall series, will have a major sub-plot for Beverly Crusher. TrekCore's interview discusses many aspects of Ward's work, well worth a read.

Finally, David R George III was also interviewed recently, by Trek Mate's Ten Forward: The Captain's Table podcast. They covered many aspects of his work, including a brief synopsis of his forthcoming first novel in The Fall series, Revelation and Dust:
Revelation and Dust really starts with Deep Space Nine becoming fully operational. And we're going to see a celebration of that; the fact that we've got a replacement for the original Deep Space Nine/Terok Nor. The President of the Federation really sees an opportunity here, in such a momentous occasion, to continue reaching out to members of the Typhon Pact - As she has done in the past; she's had some really interestingly dealings with the Romulan Praetor, and the Gorn Imperitor, and she's reached out to them in friendship, and she sees an opportunity to do that here, so that sort of starts events in motion.
David R. George III is also writing a new book for 2014, it's not yet known quite where it sits, although he gave a pretty big hint at the era in the Trek Mate interview, stating that it's neither DS9, TNG, or Voyager, and features a captain he has written before, in an exploration rather than political focused story. He also gave a small hint on Facebook recently, noting that events will take place in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.


No comments:

Find Star Trek comics, toys, statues, and collectibles at TFAW.com!