# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/81 "2013-02-10T01:43:24Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > FWIW to date there are no prose novels set in the Rebooted universe save a couple of recent young adult books with a Star Fleet Academy subtitle. Amazon has four books written by Mike Johnson, et al, which occur in the rebooted universe. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/82 "2013-02-12T11:28:24Z")
_The Price of the Phoenix_, mentioned above by Infovore (#20), is also one of my favorites. The stories about the friendship between Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) are some of the best. And…SPOILER (sorry, I don’t know how to hide the spoiler, so here it is; don’t read ahead if you don’t want to know): Who wouldn’t love a story featuring two \*real \*James T. Kirks? ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/83 "2013-02-12T11:46:45Z")
_Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited,_ mentioned above (#28) by zamboniracer, really is a fun little gem. The actors from the tv show aboard the actual real Enterprise – too much fun to miss. And I’d also like to add my vote for Peter David as one of the best authors of Star Trek published fiction; just look how many times his name appears in dopers’ posts! BTW, can anyone remember which book it was in which Spock, as a boy or young adult, befriends a young Jewish man? It set the stage for Spock’s later friendship with Kirk – and unless I’m mistaken, it was written by Peter David, too. Was that _Spock’s World,_ or…? ---
**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:** [February 12, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/84 "2013-02-12T16:03:36Z")
> [@K.S.Masmacho](#): > > _The Price of the Phoenix_, mentioned above by Infovore (#20), is also one of my favorites. > > The stories about the friendship between Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) are some of the best. > > And…SPOILER (sorry, I don’t know how to hide the spoiler, so here it is; don’t read ahead if you don’t want to know): > > Who wouldn’t love a story featuring two \*real \*James T. Kirks? And if you read the sequel, one featuring two _real_ Spocks, too? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/85 "2013-02-13T03:16:49Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > And if you read the sequel, one featuring two _real_ Spocks, too? 🙂 No kidding? Two real Spocks? I need to get that sequel! Thanks, Infovore! And by the way, how does one hide spoilers? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/86 "2013-02-13T03:20:11Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Amazon has four books written by Mike Johnson, et al, which occur in the rebooted universe. > ~VOW Those are graphic novel compilations of the IDW comic set in the Rebooted universe, not prose novels. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/87 "2013-02-13T03:50:34Z")
> [@K.S.Masmacho](#): > > No kidding? Two real Spocks? I need to get that sequel! > > Thanks, Infovore! > > And by the way, how does one hide spoilers? To hide spoilers, just put “” tags around what you want to hide. And yep, if you liked _Price_, you’ll like _Fate_. It’s a direct sequel, and more of all the stuff that made \*Price \*what it was. 🙂 ---
**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:** [February 13, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/88 "2013-02-13T04:12:36Z")
Bleah, that didn’t work. Put “[spoiler] [/spoiler]” tags (without the spaces) around stuff you want to spoiler. ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/89 "2013-02-13T11:25:52Z")
I’m having trouble making the spoilers work. When you say, “wrap tags around,” do you mean QUOTE tags, CODE tags, or other? Thanks again! (And sorry to trouble you – all of you – with my ignorance…) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/90 "2013-02-13T15:47:53Z")
[spoiler] stuff you want in box [/ spoiler] without the spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/91 "2013-02-13T20:09:47Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > To hide spoilers, just put “” tags around what you want to hide. > > And yep, if you liked _Price_, you’ll like _Fate_. It’s a direct sequel, and more of all the stuff that made \*Price \*what it was. 🙂 You mean the gay/femdom/bdsm subtext? I too really enjoyed the two Phoenix novels, and I’m glad to have acquired them at the same time so I didn’t have to wait. They do require something of a suspensionof disbelief specific to “The Enterprise Incident,” the TOS episode with the Romulan Commander in it. In fact, I tend to think of them as being set in another universe entirely–one with characters named Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the Commander, who are similar in some ways to the TV characters but not identical. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/92 "2013-02-13T20:48:00Z")
I read the first Phoenix novel at the time it was published and hated hated _hated_ it. I doubt I’d like it any better if I went back and re-read it now, and I’m not at all inclined to find out. ---
**Author:** ![K.S.Masmacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@K.S.Masmacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K.S.Masmacho)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/93 "2013-02-14T03:39:07Z")
Thanks yet again to Infovore for hiding my original spoilers! I’m going to try making my own spoiler now. It worked! 🙂 Thanks, Infovore, and twickster too! Regarding the two \*Phoenix \*books, I should really buy them both and read them together. It isn’t any kinky stuff in these books that I found compelling – in fact, I never even noticed any of that, but now that it has been pointed out, I can see how it could also be construed that way – but rather, (1) the deep friendship between Kirk and Spock (believe it or not, it is possible to read them that way as well), and (2) the… fact that the story creates two very real Jim Kirks (and apparently two very real Spocks in the sequel). In other words, it’s the story itself that worked for me. And yes, Omne is a great bad guy! ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/94 "2013-02-15T03:50:48Z")
I gotta go check Amazon and see how many of the above books are Kindles… ~VOW ---
**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:** [February 15, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/95 "2013-02-15T05:29:19Z")
> [@K.S.Masmacho](#): > > It isn’t any kinky stuff in these books that I found compelling – in fact, I never even noticed any of that, but now that it has been pointed out, I can see how it could also be construed that way – but rather, (1) the deep friendship between Kirk and Spock (believe it or not, it is possible to read them that way as well) I’ll take your word for it. 🙂 I first read _Price_ as a fairly sheltered 13-year-old kid, and the kinky stuff pretty much jumped out and grabbed me. It’s interesting to find out that Sondra Marshak was heavily involved in writing alternate-universe Trek fiction, including the very prolific _Kraith_ series which had, among other things, a lot of Kirk/Spock BDSM stuff going on in her work (though not, interestingly enough, in the stories written by the series’ creator, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, who focused more on the emotional attachments between the characters). I’ve only read a couple of the \*Kraith \*stories–they’re good, and there are a lot of them. If you can get hold of them, you might like them. If you’re interested and can’t find them online, send me a PM–I might be able to help. > [@](#): > > And yes, Omne is a great bad guy! I loved Omne as a bad guy. Both of him! 😃 He was one of the main reasons I liked the books. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/96 "2013-02-15T08:25:49Z")
Oh, what fun! Wikipedia has some interesting information about Kraith, and includes a link to one of the first Kraith novels, complete. I gotta go read… ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/97 "2013-02-17T23:10:01Z")
> [@K.S.Masmacho](#): > > Thanks yet again to Infovore for hiding my original spoilers! > > I’m going to try making my own spoiler now. > > It worked! 🙂 > Thanks, Infovore, and twickster too! > Regarding the two \*Phoenix \*books, I should really buy them both and read them together. > > It isn’t any kinky stuff in these books that I found compelling – in fact, I never even noticed any of that, but now that it has been pointed out, I can see how it could also be construed that way – but rather, (1) the deep friendship between Kirk and Spock (believe it or not, it is possible to read them that way as well), and (2) the… > > fact that the story creates two very real Jim Kirks (and apparently two very real Spocks in the sequel). > > In other words, it’s the story itself that worked for me. > > And yes, Omne is a great bad guy! I don’t contend that the Phoenix books include any kinky stuff between Kirk & Spock. They love one another more than either with ever love any woman, yes, but it’s not a sexual love; neither is wired that way. It’s more that Omne explicitly wishes to dominate Kirk on a physical–not necessarily sexual–level. In the first book, when he has Original!Kirk captive, Omne makes a point of beating the crap out of him just to prove that he can, and that Kirk cannot possibly do anything to prevent it; he is as much stronger than Kirk as Kirk is stronger than, say, that little girl Miri from the series. And after said humiliating beating, when Kirk is lying in pain on his back, Omne forces him to turn onto his belly, and Kirk pretty clearly thinks he’s about to be raped (though the word is never used). Omne is all about forcing others to submit, and he’s focused on Jim Kirk more than any other. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/98 "2013-02-18T00:52:05Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > …when Kirk is lying in pain on his back, Omne forces him to turn onto his belly, and Kirk pretty clearly thinks he’s about to be raped (though the word is never used). Omne is all about forcing others to submit, and he’s focused on Jim Kirk more than any other. I’d forgotten all of that… fortunately. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/99 "2013-02-18T00:53:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’d forgotten all of that… fortunately. Actually, IIRC, once Omne beat the crap out of Kirk, he rolled him over and…healed him up with some kind of super healing stuff he’d invented. But yeah… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798/100 "2013-02-18T00:54:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’d forgotten all of that… fortunately. I’ll teleport you a neuralizer if you want to forget it again. Please remember to give it to someone you trust for the erasure, as attempts to neuralize oneself generally end badly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-star-trek-books/559798.md?page=6)