# Favorite Star Trek Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798 "2010-11-07T15:46:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/1 "2010-11-07T15:46:53Z")
Many years ago I purchased a bunch of ST books at a yard sale for ten cents each. This set contained almost all of the ST:TNG books that were available at that time as well as a smattering of the other books. I’m not sure of the year but it was before _Imzadi II: Triangle_ was released. I read all of those books that summer and enjoyed most of them. Over the years I’ve read maybe a quarter of the newer TNG book as they were released but generally I lost interest. While cleaning out a closet I found my old collection and started rereading them. There’s some pretty good fiction there. In particular, I’ve really liked the **Peter David** ’s works _Strike Zone, Vendetta and Imzadi_, _Dark Mirror_ by **Diane Duane** and the **DS9** book _Fallen Heroes_ by **Dafydd ab Hugh**. Any book you want to suggest? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/2 "2010-11-07T15:52:37Z")
I’ve found that they vary widely in quality. Some are deep and convoluted and very well written; others are pulpy and superficial and almost juvenile. The DS-9 ones I’ve read have been the best, but that may be because I like DS-9 the best of the Treks. My favorites so far have been: - The two “Dark Passion” books about the duplicitous and sensual ladies in the Mirror Universe - “The 34th Rule” by Armin Shimerman and some other dudes. - “Klingon” and “Kahless” by I Don’t Remember ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/3 "2010-11-07T15:57:05Z")
_How Much For Just the Planet?_ - John M. Ford ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/4 "2010-11-07T16:13:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _How Much For Just the Planet?_ - John M. Ford This is the one I came in to mention. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/5 "2010-11-07T19:39:30Z")
_The Final Reflection_ by John M. Ford _The Entropy Effect_ by Vonda N. McIntyre ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/6 "2010-11-07T22:15:20Z")
The last few years the quality has degraded slightly but there is some good stuff out there. I would recommend: Q-Squared by Peter David The Millennium Trilogy by the Reeves-Stevens Federation by the Reeves-Stevens Serpents Among the Ruins by David R. George III The Art of the Impossible by Keith R. A. DeCandido The Sundered by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers by James Swallow There are other really good ones but most of those are parts of series or very heavy with continuity. The ones listed above are more or less standalone. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/7 "2010-11-08T02:39:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _How Much For Just the Planet?_ - John M. Ford I’ll third that. I’ll also mention _My Enemy, My Ally_ by Diane Duane ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/8 "2010-11-08T02:46:35Z")
Prime Directive was the one I reread most. Spock’s World was also great. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/9 "2010-11-08T03:22:23Z")
I recently read all the _Deep Space Nine_ Relaunch books (a series set after the show ended) as they vary somewhat in quality. But the best one was _A Stitch In Time_, which is kindof a biography of Garak, written as a series of journal entries included in a letter to Dr. Bashir. What’s most impressive is the whole thing was written by Andrew Robinson, the guy who played Garak, and not a professional writer. Other good ones are _The Lives of Dax_, _Avatar_ (two books), the _Mission Gamma_ series, and the _Worlds of Deep Space Nine_ series (except the boring shit about the Andorians. They introduced this Andorian character on DS9 and he’s an uninteresting whiny git and takes up way too much time in the series.) The _Warpath_, _Fearful Symmetry_ and _Soul Key_ arc is also pretty good. _Rising Son_ was terrible; probably because it is about DS9’s least interesting character (Jake) and an annoying sentient dog. I also found the _Millennium_ trilogy to be execrable. So after I finished all those, I started reading the numbered series in order. (#1 is just a novelization of _Emissary_, so I skipped that.) #2 was pretty awful, but I found it interesting to see how the author treated the characters since by the time it was written, DS9 had only been on the air a few weeks. It’s amazing how many of these things they manage to crank out. #4, _The Big Game_, is my favorite so far, and it involves an amusing side plot in which Quark holds a poker tournament. #5, _Fallen Heroes_, is surprisingly dark. I mean, even for DS9. This book has more sadistic violence and brutal death in it than I’ve ever seen in any Star Trek media. Of course you know from the first page that it’s all going to hit the reset switch because time travel is involved. I’m currently in the middle of #7, _Warchild_, which has some interesting stuff involving Bajoran prophecies. IIRC this one takes place in between seasons 1 and 2. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/10 "2010-11-08T04:03:48Z")
_A Rock and a Hard Place, Dark Mirror, Spock’s World_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/11 "2010-11-08T05:05:28Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The last few years the quality has degraded slightly but there is some good stuff out there. I would recommend: > > Q-Squared by Peter David. Have you heard it in audiobook form when performed by De Lancie? It’s really good that way, too. I found out because I accidentally deleted the eBook, and wound up actually purchasing the audiobook on iTunes. In fact, it’s the only thing I ever bought on iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/12 "2010-11-08T13:11:24Z")
Well, now you’ve raised the issue of Star Trek audiobooks. I know there are a lot of them out there—some of them read by Star Trek actors, some of them with sound effects and music and stuff like that, but some of them severely abridged. I’d be interested in hearing if people have anything good or bad to say about any of them in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/13 "2010-11-08T13:27:52Z")
I’d agree with most of the recommendations above (some of them I haven’t read myself). In general, if you like one of the books you’ll want to seek out others by the same author. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/14 "2010-11-08T16:03:30Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > _Rising Son_ was terrible; probably because it is about DS9’s least interesting character (Jake) and an annoying sentient dog. I actually liked this one. My favorite part was that it brought back a lot of those early Gamma Quadrant races that showed up in DS9’s first couple of seasons that were forgotten by the show. Admittedly, most find it their least favorite of the DS9 reboot but I found it a good read. Didn’t include it (or any of the others) in my list as I was trying to avoid books that were part of a series. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/15 "2010-11-08T16:04:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Have you heard it in audiobook form when performed by De Lancie? It’s really good that way, too. > > I found out because I accidentally deleted the eBook, and wound up actually purchasing the audiobook on iTunes. In fact, it’s the only thing I ever bought on iTunes. Don’t really buy audio books but I have heard good things about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/16 "2010-11-08T16:27:09Z")
Only read _The Final Reflection_ because I like John (PBUH) Ford’s stuff. Liked it pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/17 "2010-11-08T16:41:49Z")
My all-time favorite ST novel is Diane Duane’s _Dark Mirror_, which has it all: the Mirror Universe (well, one of them, at least), intrigue, Klingon opera, a dolphin navigator and Shakespeare. Really a great book - very readable. My second-favorite would be _Imzadi_ by Peter David, which has good backstory on Riker and Troi, some very funny scenes with Data, and a nifty time-travel subplot involving the Guardian of Forever (I wouldn’t recommend the sequel, though, which was a big letdown). The rest of my faves are a few rungs down the quality ladder, I’d say, but _Federation, Spock’s World_ and _Q-in-Law_ are all worth a read for anyone who loves ST. Haven’t read it in years and years, but I remember Gene Roddenberry’s (ghostwritten?) novelization of _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ as being pretty good, with a lot of interesting philosophical musings on Federation society, and from-the-horse’s-mouth info on what happened between the end of TOS and the beginning of the movie. _Star Trek: The New Voyages_, a collection of fan-written stories from before ST:TMP came out, is uneven but has some standouts. “The Enchanted Pool” by Marcia Ericson is a charming little romance, “The Face on the Barroom Floor” by Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman is about a humorously disastrous shore leave for Kirk, and “Mind-Sifter” by Shirley S. Maiewski is a chilling time-travel story with a hard-won but well-deserved happy ending. I read _How Much for Just the Planet?_ not long after it came out and was… underwhelmed. Not nearly as funny as I’d been told. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/18 "2010-11-08T17:09:58Z")
I have a particular fondness for \*Ishmael \*by Barbara Hambly and \*Spock’s World \*by Diane Duane. The recent \*Destiny \*trilogy was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![willia4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@willia4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willia4)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/19 "2010-11-08T17:22:56Z")
I’m a big fan of _Best Destiny_ by Diane Carey. It basically describes how Kirk became THE Captain Kirk. It’s largely what I wish the 2009 reboot had been. Alas. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/20 "2010-11-08T17:58:24Z")
I think I might be the only person on the planet (other than the authors) who absolutely loved _The Price of the Phoenix_ and _The Fate of the Phoenix_. Yeah, they were offbeat. Yeah, they were Star Trek torture porn (well, as much as a novel commercially published in the 70s could be). But since I adore the “test the hero to the point of destruction” school of writing, I lapped these up like kittens go for milk. I still reread them every few years. Oh, and Omne worked perfectly as a villain for me. I won’t necessarily call him “great,” but he did the trick for me. I also enjoyed _Star Trek: The New Voyages_ and _New Voyages 2_. Most of my Star Trek books are fairly old–I gave up reading them around the early 80s, so most of mine are from the 70s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798.md?page=2)