2019: Almost a Return to Form!
As the decade draws to a close, we once again look back on the year that was in
Star Trek novels!
2019 was the ninth year that I have done
Trek Lit Reviews, and thankfully, the novels keep on coming. 2018 was a scary year that saw a tiny number of releases, but 2019 almost brought us back up to pre-contract renegotiation levels.
There were seven new
Trek novels released by Simon & Schuster this year, plus one re-release of a classic novel, all in the trade paperback format favored by the publishing industry in recent years. This is a huge improvement over 2018's paltry three novels from S&S.
The year started off with a
Star Trek: Discovery novel from one of my favorite authors, Una McCormack:
The Way to the Stars, exploring the backstory of fan-favorite character Sylvia Tilly.
April saw the release of
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Available Light by Dayton Ward, continuing the mission of the
Enterprise-E and her exploration of the distant Odyssean Pass.
Then in May, we got a new
TOS novel:
The Captain's Oath by Christopher L. Bennett. This book explored James T. Kirk's first command, the
U.S.S. Sacagawea, prior to his taking command of the
Enterprise.
At the end of July, we experienced John Jackson Miller's take on the crew of the
U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Christopher Pike in
Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War, in which we learned what the storied vessel was up to during the first season of
Discovery.
In August, we returned to
The Original Series for
The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox, exploring a 23rd century "gold rush" and a close encounter with a dangerous region of space.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first foray of
Trek into the cinemas, Simon & Schuster re-released the novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry in October.
Just one week later, the
TNG novel
Collateral Damage by David Mack was released, tying up a story line which has been wending its way through Trek lit for the better part of two decades, ever since the groundbreaking
A Time To... series of novels!
And finally, December saw the release of Dave Galanter's
Star Trek: Discovery: Dead Endless, exploring the relationship between Paul Stamets and the mysterious mycelial network, traveled through by the
U.S.S. Discovery and her revolutionary spore drive.
As for
Star Trek as a whole, 2019 continued to build upon the gains that were made by the franchise in 2018. Season 2 of
Discovery was widely praised, and made Captain Christopher Pike a household name thanks to the tremendous performance from Anson Mount. Anticipation for
Star Trek: Picard continued to grow as well, and we are on the cusp of its premiere in January of 2020.
Star Trek: Short Treks also continued, with six episodes this season instead of last year's four. The first three featured Captain Pike and various adventures in the 23rd century (including a dubious origin for the tribbles), while the most recent two to have aired marked
Star Trek's return to animation for the first time since the 1970s with "The Girl Who Made the Stars" and "Ephraim and Dot." One more episode is to air in early January, "The Children of Mars," which is billed as a sort of prequel to
Star Trek: Picard. 2020 will not only see that new take on Sir Patrick Stewart's iconic character, but also a return of
Star Trek: Discovery for its third season, and
Lower Decks, an animated comedy series from
Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan.
For me personally, 2019 started strong with an increased production both on this website and on my YouTube channel,
Kertrats Productions. I made great efforts in getting caught up and keeping up to date on my book reviews, and generally did a good job until, unfortunately, the end of the year.
Early November saw me laid off from my job and, having to search for work, I found my ambition to keep everything updated flagged quite a bit. I once again dropped behind in my book reviews, and the content on this website definitely suffered. Thankfully, however, I was able to find a new teaching position for the new year, and will once again be gainfully employed as of January 6th!
As for next year, I once again have the goal of getting caught up on book reviews on Trek Lit Reviews. As for
Kertrats Productions, I have a few ideas for what I want to do with that channel which I will get into more in the new year. Plus, I also have another special project in the works with my
Literary Treks co-conspirator, Bruce Gibson. This is the first I have mentioned of this anywhere, so there's not a lot to tell yet, but more to come as the plans get worked out... Stay tuned!
As always, what follows is a list of the
Trek novels I reviewed this past year on Trek Lit Reviews sorted by month. New releases are marked in bold and with an asterisk, and the links lead to my reviews. Enjoy!
January
The War of the Prophets by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Millennium, Book II of III)
Ship of the Line by Diane Carey (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
A Good Day to Die by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Star Trek: I.K.S. Gorkon, Book One)
February
A Time to Kill by David Mack (Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Time To, Book 7)
Requiem by Michael Jan Friedman and Kevin Ryan (Star Trek: The Next Generation #32)
Inferno by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Millennium, Book III of III)
The Valiant by Michael Jan Friedman (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
March
A Time to Heal by David Mack (Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Time To, Book 8)
Honor Bound by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Star Trek: I.K.S. Gorkon, Book Two)
The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clowes (Star Trek #49)
A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Time To, Book 9)
Mutiny on the Enterprise by Robert E. Vardeman (Star Trek #12)
The Sundered by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels (Star Trek: The Lost Era)
A Burning House by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Star Trek: Klingon Empire)
Triangle: Imzadi II by Peter David (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Death in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana (Star Trek #44)
Old Wounds by Christie Golden (Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book One of Two)
June
Rough Trails by L.A. Graf (Star Trek #91: New Earth, Book Three of Six)
Enemy of My Enemy by Christie Golden (Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book Two of Two)
* The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack (Star Trek: Discovery)
Taking Wing by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels (Star Trek: Titan)
Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
The Flaming Arrow by Kathy Oltion & Jerry Oltion (Star Trek #92: New Earth, Book Four of Six)
Burning Dreams by Margaret Wander Bonanno (Star Trek)
July
The Red King by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (Star Trek: Titan)
Thin Air by Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith (Star Trek #93: New Earth, Book Five of Six)
* Available Light by Dayton Ward (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Resistance by J.M. Dillard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
* The Captain's Oath by Christopher L. Bennett (Star Trek: The Original Series)
Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett (Star Trek: Titan)
Challenger by Diane Carey (Star Trek #94: New Earth, Book Six of Six)
September
October
November
2019 was also, as always, a great year for the
Literary Treks podcast, thanks to all of the wonderful listeners! I host this podcast with Bruce Gibson over on the Trek.fm network. We covered a great number of
Star Trek novels and comics, plus we had some great discussions with
Trek authors and creators! Here's a list of the episodes we did in 2019:
Literary Treks Podcast Episodes
Best Trek novel of 2019:
Unfortunately, thanks to the loss of my job in November as well as a bout with the flu towards the end of December, I didn't get the reviews of all of the new releases done before the end of the year. However, I have read them all, and while there were a number of contenders, one novel in particular floated to the top. My favorite read of 2019, and in my opinion, the best
Trek novel of 2019 is...
Star Trek: Discovery: Dead Endless by Dave Galanter!
This novel is one that is really easy to spoil if you haven't read it, so I won't go deep into the particulars of the plot or setting here, but suffice it to say that I completely floored by this novel and where it ended up was completely unexpected. An incredible story with moving character moments that gave me chills. Dave Galanter is one of my favorite
Trek authors, and he definitely doesn't disappoint here! Thank you so much for this wonderful story, a moving masterpiece that even Wilson Cruz, Hugh Culber himself, has taken to Twitter to praise. Wonderful stuff!
As per usual, let's wrap up by taking a look ahead at what we can expect from Trek Lit in 2020.
This past summer, at the Las Vegas
Star Trek Convention, we got a few announcements for new books coming in 2020. Plus, there have been a few other announcements since then. Let's break them down.
Kicking off the 2020 book year is February's release of
The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack, the first
Star Trek: Picard novel! This book promises to introduce new characters featured in the life of Jean-Luc Picard, likely providing backstories for characters appearing in the series.
March sees the release of a
TOS novel:
The Higher Frontier by Christopher L. Bennett. In this novel, Captain Kirk and the crew of the
Enterprise face an extradimensional threat. This book is said to take place during the
TMP time period, a setting with which Bennett has a great deal of experience.
In April, the first of the "Kelvin Timeline" novels is released. Originally written back in 2009/2010, four Kelvin Timeline novels were held from being published, with none of them seeing the light of day until now!
The Unsettling Stars by Alan Dean Foster is the first of these.
June features another
TOS novel, this one by Dayton Ward:
Agents of Influence. Not much is known
about this title yet, but we'll bring you news of it as soon as it is available!
In August, the second Kelvin Timeline novel is released:
More Beautiful Than Death by David Mack. I'm very excited to read this one, as the author has mentioned how proud he is of it on a number of occasions.
Also coming sometime in 2020 is Kirsten Beyer's
Star Trek: Voyager: To Lose the Earth, a much-delayed followup to her recent
Voyager novels. We are also reportedly getting a new
Star Trek: Discovery novel from John Jackson Miller, although the title and details have not yet been revealed.
2019 certainly marked a return to a more "normal" schedule of
Star Trek novel releases, and we can only hope that 2020 continues the trend. With the
Star Trek universe opening up to possibilities never before explored, one can only imagine that the horizon for new
Trek fiction is just as limitless. As a well-known Vulcan scientist once said, "There always are... possibilities."
Wishing you and yours the happiest of new years, with all of the success and happiness you can possibly imagine in 2020! Stay safe out there, my friends, and always remember to live long... and read on!
