Saturday 13 March 2021

Book bits: New TOS and TNG novel covers, new children's book, and another starships book!

Lots of new Star Trek books and new book covers to look at today! Including a brand new children's book, another volume in the Star Trek Shipyards series, and new novel covers.

Note both the new novel covers below are marked as being potentially not final in Simon and Schuster Online Catalog. First up, behold the new cover for the next TNG novel, Shadows Have Offended(ad). This will be the first Star Trek novel from Cassandra Rose Clarke, and is due in July:


While the author has previously suggested Deanna Troi, Beverly Crusher, and Worf are the focus characters of the book, it's Worf in the spotlight for the cover. Curiously alongside 22nd century Romulan Birds of Prey, a species not previously telegraphed as featuring in this book. Here's a reminder of the blurb:
The USS Enterprise has been granted the simple but unavoidable honor of ferrying key guests to Betazed for a cultural ceremony. En route, sudden tragedy strikes a Federation science station on the isolated planet Kota, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has no qualms sending William Riker, Data, and Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher to investigate. But what begins as routine assignments for the two parties soon descends into chaos: Picard, Worf, and Deanna Troi must grapple with a dangerous diplomatic crisis as historic artifacts are stolen in the middle of a high-profile ceremony…while nothing is as it seems on Kota. A mounting medical emergency coupled with the science station’s failing technology—and no hope of rescue—has Doctor Crusher racing against time to solve a disturbing mystery threatening the lives of all her colleagues….


Before that, June will bring us the latest TOS movie era adventure from Christopher L. Bennett, Living Memory(ad)


Spock and Uhura feature prominently on the cover here, but the book also features Chekov aboard the USS Reliant at this point in the timeline, so that ship gets a rare cover appearance too. If you look closely behind the E in Trek, you can also see another ship coming or going from the maybe-wormhole in the background; although I can't make out if it's a familiar design or not. Here's a reminder of the blurb:
While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space. Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past—one that she no longer remembers….


Earlier in the TOS era, and for younger readers, coming from Penguin Workshop in December is What Is the Story of Captain Kirk?(ad). Written by M.D. Payne, this is part of the Who HQ range, which introduces younger readers to a wide range of subjects from popular culture, historical and contemporary sources, all asking either Who or What they are. The book will be available simultaneously in hardcover, paperback, and ebook!


Here's the blurb:
Your favorite characters are now part of the Who HQ library!

Journey to deep space and learn how James Tiberius Kirk became one of the greatest space heroes in the Star Trek universe.

From appearances in live action and animated television shows, a series of films, comics, video games, and more, James T. Kirk is an established space captain in pop culture.

Star Trek remains one of the most popular science-fiction series of all time, and Captain Kirk is one of the most famous and highly decorated captains in the history of Starfleet. As the commanding officer of starships like the U.S.S. Enterprise, viewers follow his adventures through space. But did you know that Kirk wasn’t even the show’s first Captain? And that the Star Trek series almost didn’t happen?

Author M. D. Payne takes readers aboard Starfleet starships as Kirk explores new worlds, encounters new villains, and “boldly goes where no man has done before.”


Finally, from Eaglemoss, we have the the latest in the increasingly comprehensive Star Trek Shipyards(ad) series, which following the forthcoming Delta Quadrant books is now going to start filling out the alien ships of the The Alpha and Beta Quadrant(ad). This is volume 1 of an unknown number which will chart many different species' ships. Due in October, the cover is obviously just a temp right now. But here's the blurb:

This volume in the Star Trek Shipyards series features the Alpha and Beta Quadrant ships encountered by the Federation in those sectors of the Galaxy.

Includes ships from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the original series, and Deep Space Nine including the Breen, Cardassians, and Ferengi. Companion volumes will include ships of the Romulan fleet, allies, and adversaries.

Note this version of the blurb specifies ships seen in TOS, TNG, and DS9. Is Enterprise just forgotten in this first blurb, or could those ships be being saved for a separate 22nd century volume? - Either way, will be nice when a good chunk of a later volume is dedicated to the diverse Xindi fleet!


Support The Trek Collective, via order links for mentioned books:
TNG: Shadows Have Offended, by Cassandra Rose Clarke.
Bookshop(ad), Amazon(ad)Book Depository(ad)
TOS: Living Memory, by Christopher L. Bennett.
What Is the Story of Captain Kirk?, by M.D. Payne.
Star Trek Shipyards: The Alpha and Beta Quadrant, Volume 1
 Amazon(ad)

To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the books button on my 2021 schedule page. Or have a look back through my books tag for the latest reports. 




2 comments:

neoteotihuacan said...

Are any of these past of the big Relaunch Litverse effort?

8of5 said...

The TNG not likely. It is TV era, so probably very standalone (you could chose to imagine it in the litverse but I doubt it will directly connect).

The TOS a little bit. It is movie era and part of a small continuity of books in that era, including one of the DTI novels, so while TOS stuff doesn't really tend to directly connect or effect the 24th century litverse, it is part of that wider web of continuity - Chunks of the litverse could potentially live on through the pre-Nemesis/Destiny elements, which haven't been affected by the Picard reset effect.

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