Star Trek Explorer fiction authors, story details, and features revealed, plus extra cover variant

The new Star Trek Explorer magazine is just a month away from launch, and Titan Publishing and the magazine's creators have revealed some new details of what to expect, including most tantalisingly some details of the four new short stories that the first issue will offer. Continue below for information on those and other features in the magazine, plus a new cover variant.

While the Star Trek Magazine of old has previously offered some Star Trek Online based fiction (an omnibus of which(ad) is coming soon), this will be the first time a broader fiction offering will be coming to the official Star Trek magazine. The new quarterly Star Trek Explorer will feature two new short stories each issue, alongside two more delivered as a digital supplement to subscribers.

Titan Publishing have announced the four writers for the first issue, and three of them appeared in a virtual panel at the New York Comic Con this past weekend, and gave a few more details. Notably this first batch of stories are all based around Q, but maybe not in the most expected settings. It's not clear which of these four are in the print magazine, and which are digital, but they are:

Book bits: Final Coda cover revealed, new blurb, other novel updates, and Star Trek Online short story collection

The final cover for the Coda trilogy(ad) has been revealed, as has a new blurb from the series, and a surprise Star Trek Online short story collection. Continue below for more on these, and all the latest Star Trek prose updates.

Next month begins the Coda trilogy, a series which will bring together the heroes of the Star Trek novel continuity of pre-Picard reset in a "Temporal Apocalypse" mega event. The cover for the final book in the trilogy, David Mack's Oblivion's Gate(ad), which will close the story in November, has finally been revealed, and stars the USS Defiant, seemingly beginning to vanish from reality!

Strange New Worlds cover vote

After a nearly a decade break, the Strange New Worlds writing contest was relaunched last year, with a new anthology of winning fan written short stories due out as an ebook next month. To add the finishing touch to the release, Simon and Schuster have prepared two possible cover designs, and are allowing the final one to be picked in an online poll.

You can choose from either a TOS shuttlecraft, or the USS Enterprise. So far the Enterprise is leading by a wide margin, but not that many votes have been cast. The poll closes very soon; you've got until the end of today to add your vote, here.

Book bits: DTI and Prey covers, and details of future books

Books news! Continue below for bumper update on the latest novels and novellas, including new covers, and details of new books.

First up, the latest cover to enter the wild is snazzy spacey cover for the latest book in Chrisopher L. Bennett's Department of Temporal Investigations series. The ebook novella Time Lock, is due next month.

2016 Strange New World winners announced

Cover of the first Strange New Worlds

For ten years, starting in 1998, Simon and Schuster ran an annual Star Trek writing competition, giving an opportunity for fans to get their Star Trek stories published in an anthology book. After nearly a decade without such a book, the publisher revived the Strange New Worlds competition last year, ready to publish a new collection of stories this fiftieth anniversary year. Now the winning stories have been announced. They are:

• Dilithium Is a Girl's Best Friend, by Neil Bryant
• A Christmas Qarol, by Gary Piserchio and Frank Tagader
• The Sunwalkers, by Kelli Fitzpatrick
• The Seen and Unseen, by Chris Chaplin
• The Façade of Fate, by Michael Turner
• The Manhunt Pool, by Nancy Debretsion
• The Dreamer and the Dream, by Derek Tyler Attico
• The Last Refuge, by Roger McCoy
• Life Among the Post-Industrial Barbarians, by John Coffren
• Upon the Brink of Remembrance, by Kristen McQuinn

These ten "Grand Prize winners" will have their stories published in the digital-first 2016 Strange New Worlds anthology later this year, and each get a $1000 advance too. Bizarrely the two "First Prize winners" also announced, Kerry F. Booth and James Corrigan, do not seem to be listed for the book, instead winning a publishing package with Archway Publishing (worth $5000), to publish a book on another subject...

Book bits - Fiction edition: New covers, new blurbs, new ebook, and more!

Lots of books news lately, continue below for all the latest on prose fiction titles, including new details of next year's anniversary trilogy, new blurbs, a new ebooks, the return of Strange New Worlds, and more! First up, pretty new covers to look at.

Two new novel covers have been released lately, the first one here is for A Pocket Full of Lies, Kirsten Beyer's next Voyager novel, due in February:

The Full Circle Fleet has resumed its unprecedented explorations of the Delta Quadrant and former Borg space. Commander Liam O'Donnell of the U.S.S. Demeter makes a promising first contact with the Nihydron—humanoid aliens that are collectors of history. They rarely interact with the species they study but have created a massive database of numerous races, inhabited planets, and the current geopolitical landscape of a large swath of the quadrant. When an exchange of data is proposed via a formal meeting, the Nihydron representatives are visibly shaken when Admiral Kathryn Janeway greets them. For almost a century, two local species—the Rilnar and the Zahl—have fought for control of the nearby planet Sormana, with both sides claiming it as their ancestral homeworld. The shocking part is that for the last several years, the Rilnar have been steadily gaining ground, thanks to the tactics of their current commanding officer: a human woman, who appears to be none other than Kathryn Janeway herself...

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp. 

Speaking to TrekFM's Literary Treks podcast about he most recent book, Atonement, Beyer also revealed she is already at work on the next two Voyager novels following A Pocket Full of Lies. While this next book isn't the start of another multi-book arc, she does already have ideas on where the series is and could be going:

Books bits: More details of 50th anniversary trilogy, and New Frontier cover

Following David Mack's recent reveal that he will be working on one book in a TOS trilogy for the 50th anniversary next year, further details have been quick to surface. Mack will be writing the second book in the trilogy, which is now listed on his website as Star Trek Legacies, Book II: Best Defense, with a September release date.

Dayton Ward has posted on his blog with more information, he and Kevin Dilmore will be writing the final book in the trilogy, with Greg Cox set to kick it off. Ward also suggested the trilogy would include a September release, with the trilogy hoping to span the summer. He gave this summary:

As story outlines have not yet been finalized and approved, there’s really not much we can offer just yet, except to say that all three books will “star” Kirk and the Enterprise crew in their prime, and each book ties into a larger storyline that we hope pays proper tribute to the legacy of the original series, which all of us love rather more than most normal people would consider healthy.

In other books news, Cross Cult have revealed a new New Frontier cover, for the short story anthology New Limits, which will be known as Grenzenlos, in this German language edition, due out next March. This one is packed full of characters,which makes it look like a New Frontier move poster to me:

Finally, another author podcast to listen to, for your Star Trek books DVD commentary! The latest is Tony Daniel, who talked to TrekFM's Literary Treks about his new TOS book, Savage Trade.

More original fiction in the latest Star Trek Magazine

Available now digitally from Zinio, and coming in the next few weeks in print, is the latest issue of the Star Trek Magazine. As one might expect it is busy celebrating all things TNG, including features on the blurays and music. There's also lots of love for Star Trek comics again, with a second Four Colour Flashback article, this time looking specifically at Marvel's Star Trek books. There's also a new comic strip, Starship Trekkers, which kicks off with its own quirky take on Encounter at Farpoint. Plus there's a six page feature on the TNG/Doctor Who crossover comic.

As well as the new comic, there's new original fiction in the form of a second Star Trek Online inspired short story, featuring the Enteprise-F, which comes together with an introduction to the crew of that new flagship.

 

Original fiction coming to the Star Trek Magazine

The latest issue of the Star Trek Magazine is on the way, which seems to be themed on leadership with articles on leaders in Starfleet, leaders of Empires, and leaders of Star Trek production. Tying into that theme is a notable new feature; in place of the novel excerpt of the last couple of years, we now have an "Original Fiction" section, giving us a (very) short story featuring the captain of the Enterprise-F from Star Trek Online. It's titled Unexpected Honor, and was written by Christine Thompson. Here's the Enterprise-F decorate first page:

There is also a big feature on Star Trek comics I'm looking forward to reading when my copy arrives. You can see a preview of the whole magazine via the digital version at Zinio.

Covers and blurbs for forthcoming prose

Between Amazon and Simon and Schuster there are a number of new and/or now-in-colour covers (including the supurb Seven Deadly Sins cover) for books coming up in the next few months, plus a new blurb or two:

Seven Deadly Sins
PRIDE. GREED. ENVY. WRATH.LUST. GLUTTONY. SLOTH.

The Seven Deadly Sins delineate the path to a person’s downfall, the surest way to achieve eternal damnation.

But there is a way out, a way to reclaim salvation: blame it on the demons—taunting you, daring you to embrace these sins—and you shall be free. The painful truth is that these impulses live inside all of us, inside all sentient beings.

But alas, one person’s sin may be another being’s virtue.

The pride of the Romulan Empire is laid bare in “The First Peer,” by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. A Ferengi is measured by his acquisition of profit. “Reservoir Ferengi,” by David A.McIntee, depicts the greed that drives that need. The Cardassians live in a resource-poor system, surrounded by neighbors who have much more. The envy at the heart of Cardassian drive is “The Slow Knife,” by James Swallow. The Klingons have tried since the time of Kahless to harness their wrath with an honor code, but they haven’t done so, as evidenced in “The Unhappy Ones,”by Keith R.A. DeCandido. Humans’ darkest impulses run free in the Mirror Universe. “Freedom Angst,” by Britta Burdett Dennison, illustrates the lust that drives many there. The Borg’s desire to add to their perfection is gluttonous and deadly in “Revenant,”by Marc D. Giller. To be a Pakled is to live to up to the ideal of sloth in “Work Is Hard,” by Greg Cox.
Inception
As man expands beyond explored space, the need to find a way to make inhospitable planets hospitable grows greater. One young biologist, Carol Marcus, has a project that she is convinced can reshape planets. She puts together a team of young, committed scientists who dare to dream as she does: of a Federation remade so hunger is eradicated, where every world can be reshaped into a paradise. The belief that all things are possible, that man can strive to conquer space not with force but with science, is shared by James Kirk, a young Starfleet officer and her lover.

Leila Kalomi, a renowned botanist, is looking for a new direction. After hearing about Marcus's project, she applies for a position. She finds Carol's passion contagious, and a chance encounter with the Enterprise's science officer, Spock, convinces her to join Project: Inception.

Four people just trying to find the balance between their careers and their personal lives, trying to make the right choice not just for themselves but for the betterment of all mankind. The choices they make will rewrite the history of the Federation and change forever how man explores space.
The Children of Kings
(Back to it's initial title after briefly being called To Thine Own Self a couple of catalogues ago)

Books update

A few bits and bobs from the world of Pocket Books. First up, they have a new editor for the Trek line at last, Jaime Costas apparently (so says Mark Rademaker).

On the Simon and Schuster website you can find an excerpt from the latest Vanguard novel, Precipice.

Thanks to Amazon we have some new summaries for the new-TOS books coming out next year (plus a title and new authorship for the forth in the series):

Refugees, by Alan Dean Foster
Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise must decide if a group of refugees are a menace or misunderstood.

Seek a Newer World, by Christopher L. Bennett
Enterprise under attack escapes and discovers an entire civilization also hiding as is the ship. Kirk decides to find out what are they hiding from.

More Beautiful Than Death, by David Mack
Kirk leads a mission to Akiron, a dilithium rich world. Aboard is Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek, who is hoping to broker a Federation trade agreement.

The Hazard of Concealing, by Greg Cox
When the elder Spock surfaces from the future, will he be able to escape a sinister plan wrought by the enemies of the Federation, or will their quest to exploit Spock's knowledge succeed, with disastrous consequences?

And from an interview with James Swallow on Unreality SF we have the first indications of what his story, The Slow Knife, from Seven Deadly Sins is about: “The Slow Knife is set pre-DS9, during the period of Cardassian-Federation border skirmishes as detailed in the TNG episode The Wounded," "It’s about an ambitious young Cardassian officer who is passed over for a promotion and becomes slowly consumed by her own resentment and jealousy.” “a certain other Cardassian of note may or may not also appear in the story…”

New Shards and Shadows cover and blurb

The Pocket Books website has been updated with a new cover for next year's Mirror Universe anthology Shards Shadows. Poor old Shran has been sacrificed in favour of T'Pol. The listing also features this blurb:

Fractured history. Broken lives. Splintered souls. Since the alternate universe was first glimpsed in the classic episode "Mirror, Mirror," something about Star Trek's dark side has beckoned us, called to us, tempted us -- like forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. To taste it is to lose oneself in a world of startling familiarity and terrifying contradictions, where everything and everyone we knew is somehow disturbingly different, and where shocking secrets await their revelation.

What began in 2007 with Glass Empires and Obsidian Alliances -- the first truly in-depth foray into the turbulent history of this other continuum -- now continues in twelve new short tales that revisit and expand upon that so-called "Mirror Universe," spanning all five of the core incarnations of Star Trek, as well as their literary offshoots, across more than two hundred years of divergent history, as chronicled by...

Christopher L. Bennett - Margaret Wander Bonanno - Peter David - Keith R.A. DeCandido - Michael Jan Friedman - Jim Johnson - Rudy Josephs - David Mack - Dave Stern - James Swallow - Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore - Susan Wright

Thanks to Just Died on the TrekBBS for pointing this out, here.

Shards and Shadows story list

On the TrekBBS Pocket Books editor Marco Palmieri has announced the full story list for next year's Mirror Universe short story anthology Shards and Shadows:

"Nobunaga", by Dave Stern (Enterprise)

"Ill Winds", by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore (pre-TOS/April)

"The Greater Good", by Margaret Wander Bonanno (TOS)

"The Black Flag", by James Swallow (Vanguard)

"The Traitor", by Michael Jan Friedman (Stargazer)

"The Sacred Chalice", by Rudy Josephs (TNG)

"Bitter Fruit", by Susan Wright (Voyager)

"Family Matters", by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Klingon Empire)

"Homecoming", by Peter David (New Frontier)

"A Terrible Beauty", by Jim Johnson (DS9)

"Empathy", by Christopher L. Bennett (Titan)

"For Want of a Nail", by David Mack (TNG-ish)

Palmieri and Keith R.A. DeCandido have also explained the lack of a Corps of Engineer story on that list. They initially planned to release a CoE Mirror Universe ebook along side the anthology, but after the ebooks were put on hiatus that plan had to be cancelled, and there was no space for an extra story in the anthology due to budget and contract issues.

David Mack on Destiny

Two of my fellow Trek-news sites have posted interviews with David Mack, discussing the soon to start Destiny trilogy. Here are highlights and summaries from TrekMovie and Unreality SF's reports:

Firstly, Mr Mack sums up the trilogy for us: "In terms of its story, the trilogy is about Starfleet, the Federation, and our heroes facing their greatest threat, the Borg, in an all-out clash of civilisations. As far as its theme, it’s about the need for hope."

"Within that framework, each book also has its own thematic idea. The first book, Gods of Night, is about the way that violence often seems to be self-perpetuating — or, as expressed in the words of Bertolt Brecht, ‘Der Krieg findet immer einen Ausweg.’ (‘War always finds a way.’) The second book, Mere Mortals, is about the way that we are each our own prison, and the way that we reflect and eventually personify the qualities of our confinement. The final book in the trilogy, Lost Souls, is about finding nobility in the very struggle of life itself."

And also explaining the some of the setting: "It is a major crossover event, but it principally involves series set during the 24th century: Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Titan, New Frontier, Corps of Engineers, Klingon Empire, and more. The parts of the story that take place in other timeframes don’t have a direct link to the 24th-century plotline…At least, not at first."

"Different parts of the trilogy take place during different timeframes. The primary story, which features our major characters, transpires over the course of approximately seven days. In the first book, "Gods of Night," the flashback story covers several months during a different century. Book two, "Mere Mortals," has a flashback storyline that covers more than 850 years. The last book of the trilogy, "Lost Souls," features a flashback tale that covers a period of a few months in the distant past."

He also talked about the development process, just getting the outline for the whole trilogy done took six months. When Mack and his editors finally approached Paula Block for approval she asked for no changes, but ominously asked "Are you sure you really want to do this?"

Once that was done tying in the trilogy with the rest of the Trek-litverse took some effort, two editors were involved; Marco Palmieri (who oversees DS9, Voyager, Titan and Klingon Empire) and Margaret Clark (TNG and Enterprise). Mack also made the effort to coordinate with the writers of works set before and after the trilogy to keep everything consistent: "In many ways, we have begun treating the writing of Star Trek novels like running a writers’ room on a television series, with the editors serving as showrunners and each of us doing our part to tell the individual stories while safeguarding the continuity and narrative cohesion of the franchise as a whole."

The Unreality SF interview also went into some depth on Mack's other work, including quite a lot on the development of the Vanguard series, particularly how the series managed to develop it's back and forth rhythm of authorship (between Mack and Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore): "Marco, Dayton, Kevin, and I met over lunch one day during Shore Leave a few years back and discussed the notion of turning it into a back-and-forth game of one-upmanship. The idea appealed to all of us. It was an approach that hadn’t been done much before that, and we all felt that we worked well together. And so, this crazy little conspiracy was hatched."

He also mentioned that James Swallow's Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows short story "The Black Flag" will be a Vanguard story. And on that note Marco Palmieri recently made a post on the TrekBBS detailing which series will be in the anthology, in addition to that Vanguard tale and a mirror-captain April story there will be: "Enterprise, the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, New Frontier, Stargazer, Gorkon, Titan, and one more that's outside those classifications, but which may be considered TNG" One of which will be by David Mack.

For lots more detail on Destiny and David Mack see the articles at TrekMovie and Unreality SF.

Ward on mirrors and sins

Unreality SF have posted an interview with Dayton Ward in which he talks about, amongst other things, forthcoming Star Trek projects.

On his and Kevin Dilmore's contribution to the Mirror Universe short story anthology Shards and Shadows, a short story titled Ill Winds: "It stars the mirror universe versions of Robert and Sarah April, but otherwise there really aren't any other recognisable faces from Trek lore in the story.” and “Let's just say that Robert April has the reputation for being the one to be feared, but in reality he leaves a lot of the more distasteful duties to his wife. Make of that what you will…”

Ward's website offers a short blurb too: "A short story featuring the mirror universe counterparts of Robert and Sarah April, on a mission to stop the development of a devastating new Klingon weapon. Our initial inspiration for the MU version of April was Harvey Keitel's character from Pulp Fiction. Hilarity ensues, of course."

On the Ward and Dilmore's story in Seven Deadly Sins: "Marco asked us to pitch a story about the Romulans and ‘Pride’ for the [book]." "We can't really divulge too much at this point, but I'll tease a bit by saying that the pitch we submitted (something like a year ago or so) features at least one character seen in Summon the Thunder, as well as sets the stage for one of the more interesting yet little-explored aspects of the original Star Trek series. Yes, I know that's vague, but considering how few original series episodes feature the Romulans, it won't be hard for fans to figure out..."

The interview also discussed the development of the Vanguard series and other work by Ward (the focus is actually on a new 4400 tie-in novel).

New Destiny blurbs

David mack has added new blurbs for the first two books of his Destiny trilogy to his website, they are as follows (UPDATE: The third blurb is also there now):

Book I: Gods of Night
Half a decade after the Dominion War and more than a year after the rise and fall of Praetor Shinzon, the galaxy's greatest scourge returns to wreak havoc upon the Federation — and this time its goal is nothing less than total annihilation.

Elsewhere, deep in the Gamma Quadrant, an ancient mystery is solved. One of Earth's first generation of starships, lost for centuries, has been found dead and empty on a desolate planet. But its discovery so far from home has raised disturbing questions, and the answers harken back to a struggle for survival that once tested a captain and her crew to the limits of their humanity.

From that terrifying flashpoint begins an apocalyptic odyssey that will reach across time and space to reveal the past, define the future, and show three captains — Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise, William Riker of the U.S.S. Titan, and Ezri Dax of the U.S.S Aventine — that some destinies are inescapable.

Book II: Mere Mortals
On Earth, Federation President Nanietta Bacco gathers allies and adversaries to form a desperate last line of defense against an impending Borg invasion. In deep space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Ezri Dax join together to cut off the Collective's route to the Alpha Quadrant.

Half a galaxy away, Captain William Riker and the crew of the Starship Titan have made contact with the reclusive Caeliar — survivors of a stellar cataclysm that, two hundred years ago, drove fissures through the structure of space and time, creating a loop of inevitability and consigning another captain and crew to a purgatory from which they could never escape.

Now the supremely advanced Caeliar will brook no further intrusion upon their isolation, or against the sanctity of their Great Work. … For the small, finite lives of mere mortals carry little weight in the calculations of gods.

But even gods may come to understand that they underestimate humans at their peril.

Book III: Lost Souls
The soldiers of Armageddon are on the march, laying waste to worlds in their passage. An audacious plan could stop them forever, but it carries risks that one starship captain is unwilling to take. For Captain Jean-Luc Picard, defending the future has never been so important, or so personal — and the wrong choice will cost him everything for which he has struggled and suffered.

For Captain William Riker, that choice has already been made. Haunted by the memories of those he was forced to leave behind, he must jeopardize all that he has left in a desperate bid to save the Federation.

For Captain Ezri Dax, whose impetuous youth is balanced by the wisdom of many lifetimes, the choice is a simple one: there is no going back — only forward to whatever future awaits them.

But for those who, millennia ago, had no choice … this is the hour of their final, inescapable destiny.

Mack's site also supplies the title for his Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows short story, due next year: "For Want of a Nail".

Thanks to Koperinkus on the TrekBBS for pointing out the blurbs.

2009 from Pocket Books

In a post at the TrekBBS Mr. DeCandido has been kind enough to fill in the rest of the news from Pocket Books at the New York Comic Con.

The books from February to April, which KRAD dubbed "cleaning up Mack's mess" will all be follow-ups to the Destiny trilogy

KRAD's own A Singular Destiny kicks it off in February. As described by KRAD: "The people who've been clamoring for a Clancy-style political thriller will like this one, as it's about the political fallout from Destiny's events (which will be considerable). It won't feature any of the main crews, although a ship that plays a big role in Destiny will also play a big role here, as well as familiar faces from other parts of the Trek universe. The protagonist will be a civilian character of my own creation.

Oh, and those of you who want to see more of the Bacco Administration from Articles of the Federation, both the Destiny trilogy and A Singular Destiny will feature those characters in good-sized roles."

March brings us the latest Titan novel; Over a Torrent Sea, by Christopher L. Bennett

And April's novel is Full Circle, a Voyager novel by Kirsten Beyer which will: "pick up initially where Spirit Walk Book 2 left off, and take Voyager aaaaaaall the way through to Destiny and beyond -- which means the book will cover a few years, all told, and it will set the tone for future post-finale VOY fiction."

In addition to the Destiny fallout; March will see the omnibus edition of Mere Anarchy, the TOS ebook miniseries; The forth Vanguard book (as yet untitled) is scheduled for May; And the author list for the Mirror Universe short story anthology Shards and Shadows has been announced, they are: Christopher L. Bennett, Margaret Wander Bonanno, Peter David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Michael Jan Friedman, Jim Johnson, Rudy Josephs, David Mack, Dave Stern, James Swallow, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore and Susan Wright

See the original post, here.

Shards and Shadows delayed

Pocket Books' Star Trek editor Marco Palmieri, via a post by Jeff Ayres on the TrekBBS, has confirmed the forthcoming Mirror Universe short story anthology, Shards and Shadows, originally due to be released in April, has been delayed until next January.

Little bits of news and such...

A few little news bites:

-Peter David has confirmed his New Frontier comics miniseries will be a five-parter, and has also announced he'll be contributing a story to next years Mirror Universe anthology. (source)

-Paul Simpson, editor of the Star trek Magazine, has announced the next edition (out in February) will have an extract from one of the Terok Nor books. (scoure)

-David Messina has released a high res textless page from the first issue of Intelligence Gathering (out next month) on his blog.

-And it looks like thee is some future to StarTrek.com, in a message on the site CBS Interactive have said they are committed to maintaining and expanding the site despite laying off the existing team behind it.

The Sky's The Limit previews

A couple of stories from the forthcoming TNG short story anthology The Sky's The Limit are swimming about the net.

You can find James Swallow's "Ordinary Days" here, at StarTrek.com

And Michael Schuster and Steve Mollmann's "Meet With Triumph and Disaster" here, at Simonsays.com