Star Trek: New Frontier series by Peter David
Genres: military sci-fi, TV tie-in
Books in the series: long list - see Wikipedia
Synopsis: A spin-off series based on the starship Excalibur, with a mixture of original characters and minor characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Aims to be a bit more like the Original Series, with a captain who shoots first, and insane adventures.
Audiobooks: Seem to be available on tape or to download, but I haven't yet bought them myself.
Review:
I don't usually read Star Trek books. In fact, I'm not even really a "Trekkie" - I enjoy it occasionally, but I'm hardly fanatical. However, I can't get enough of the New Frontier series. They're kind of the ST equivalent of the "Wraith Squadron" books I recommended a while back - crazy, dramatic and immensely fun. They also have a lot more humour, sex and violence than you find in your typical Star Trek story.
The characters in the books are incredibly interesting - some examples being a woman who can't die, a guy with incredible powers, two people who are royalty from a now-fallen Empire, and the captain, who in his teenage years led the people of his planet in overthrowing their oppressors. Crucially, there are only a very few humans in the series, which makes a refreshing change from the mostly-human casts of the TV shows.
There are also some very interesting relationships, from the romantic (Dr. Selar, a Vulcan, mates with the chief engineer, who is a Hermat of mixed gender, which is one of the most bizarre relationships I've seen in fiction) to the platonic (Captain Calhoun's relationship with Captain Picard is one of the best, and I wish we saw more of it).
Be warned that David is not an author that dislikes cliffhangers! There's quite a few books in the series which have them. Thankfully the latest book doesn't, beyond a few minor questions. It does at least make the books feel like a series, giving them proper plot arcs rather than the episodic feel that always annoyed me about TNG - and there's certainly no reset button here. Characters leave, die, get promoted, get married, have children... all the things you hardly ever find in Trek proper. Definitely a series worth reading.
Books in the series: long list - see Wikipedia
Synopsis: A spin-off series based on the starship Excalibur, with a mixture of original characters and minor characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Aims to be a bit more like the Original Series, with a captain who shoots first, and insane adventures.
Audiobooks: Seem to be available on tape or to download, but I haven't yet bought them myself.
Review:
I don't usually read Star Trek books. In fact, I'm not even really a "Trekkie" - I enjoy it occasionally, but I'm hardly fanatical. However, I can't get enough of the New Frontier series. They're kind of the ST equivalent of the "Wraith Squadron" books I recommended a while back - crazy, dramatic and immensely fun. They also have a lot more humour, sex and violence than you find in your typical Star Trek story.
The characters in the books are incredibly interesting - some examples being a woman who can't die, a guy with incredible powers, two people who are royalty from a now-fallen Empire, and the captain, who in his teenage years led the people of his planet in overthrowing their oppressors. Crucially, there are only a very few humans in the series, which makes a refreshing change from the mostly-human casts of the TV shows.
There are also some very interesting relationships, from the romantic (Dr. Selar, a Vulcan, mates with the chief engineer, who is a Hermat of mixed gender, which is one of the most bizarre relationships I've seen in fiction) to the platonic (Captain Calhoun's relationship with Captain Picard is one of the best, and I wish we saw more of it).
Be warned that David is not an author that dislikes cliffhangers! There's quite a few books in the series which have them. Thankfully the latest book doesn't, beyond a few minor questions. It does at least make the books feel like a series, giving them proper plot arcs rather than the episodic feel that always annoyed me about TNG - and there's certainly no reset button here. Characters leave, die, get promoted, get married, have children... all the things you hardly ever find in Trek proper. Definitely a series worth reading.