Friday 14 August 2020

Star Trek novel news: A Contest of Principles cover, and More Beautiful Than Death and Die Standing exceprts

Star Trek novel news aplenty in this update, including new covers and new excerpts from TOS, Kelvin, and Discovery books. Continue below for all the latest.

First up a brand new cover, for the next TOS novel, Greg Cox's A Contest of Principles. This new design has just popped up recently on the Simon and Schuster Digital Catalog, and is a strikingly new take on Star Trek cover design. I like it!


The book is due out in November. And here's a reminder of the blurb:
An epic new Star Trek saga by New York Times bestselling author Greg Cox set during the original five-year mission!

The planet Vok is holding its first free elections after years of oppressive military rule. Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise have been dispatched by Starfleet to serve as impartial observers, but remaining neutral proves a challenge, as Kirk confronts a tangled web of scandal, conspiracy, and assassination plots—with the stability of an entire sector at stake.

To make matters worse, Dr. Leonard McCoy has vanished while on a mission of mercy to Braco, a nearby planet only a system away. With Kirk unable to abandon his vital mission on Vok to hunt for his friend, it’s up to First Officer Spock and Christine Chapel to lead a team in search of the missing doctor, even if it means risking whatever fate befell McCoy.

Unknown to his friends and crewmates, however, McCoy has been spirited away to another world, Ozalor, where he’s expected to find a cure for a mysterious ailment plaguing a member of the planet’s ruling family. Torn between his Hippocratic oath and his desire to escape, McCoy finds himself at the center of deadly palace intrigues—and a struggle for power that may ultimately consume all three worlds!


Meanwhile fresh out this week, is the second ever (adult) Kelvin timeline novel, More Beautiful Than Death, by David Mack. This book was delayed for years after the first run of Kelvin timeline books were pulled last minute, but along with Alan Dean Foster's The Unsettling Stars, is has finally found it's way into the world this year.

The book features Sarek, and you can read the first couple of chapters right here, via the Kindle preview:



As all Star Trek novels are these days, there is also an audiobook edition. You can hear a sample of that on Amazon, but other excerpts haven't been released just yet. The audiobook cover has also been updated now, to credit the narrator, Robert Petkoff:



A new audio excerpt has been released for last month's Discovery novel Die Standing, by John Jackson Miller. The book focuses on Georgiou, with threads following the mirror-version of the character as she joins Section 31, as well as her former life in the mirror universe, and in contrast, the younger life of the prime Starfleet version of the character. This excerpt, read by January LaVoy, features that latter incarnation:




Finally, a couple of podcast mentions: The new Positively Treks Book Club podcast has kicked off with an author interview, and rather than the usual authors discussing their latest book, they've done something really cool, and had Margaret Wander Bonanno on to talk about her much loved classic, Strangers From the Sky.

And then in the more up to date area, the Captain's Table podcast, which has been inactive for a few years, has just recently resumed, and they kicked off by talking to Una McCormack about her Picard novel The Last Best Hope. Check out both podcasts for nice insights into the creation and substance of both books.


Order links for mentioned books:
A Contest of Principles, TOS TV-era novel by Greg Cox.
More Beautiful Than Death, Kelvin timeline novel, by David Mack
The Unsettling Stars, Kelvin timeline novel, by Alan Dean Foster.
Die StandingDiscovery novel by John Jackson Miller.

To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the books button on my 2020 schedule page. You can also find series reading lists and author bibliographies on my dedicated Star Trek lists site.



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