The Best in Shared Universe Stories II - The Wrath of Khan

I talked last time about why I love shared universe stories, stories set in the same universe written my multiple authors. I think they are fun to read, and they often offer lots of published stories so there is plenty for a junkie like me to read. If the completely cliched title weren't enough to tip my hand, this post is going to be about Star Trek books.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Star Trek isn't just one series. Most people know the various TV series: Enterprise, The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager. The books have several more unique series though, such as New Frontier, Stargazer, Titan, and Vanguard. I've read several stories from the TOS set of books, the first few from New Frontier, and several Vanguard books. There are hundreds of Star Trek books to read, and many are quite good. I personally feel the writing has gotten better over time, but I feel that way about most fantasy and sci-fi books. The earlier TOS books have an older style of writing (they should, they were written in the 60's and 70's), with less character development and shallower stories. I can understand the character development problems. I've often run into that when reading early versions of stories that come from shows (I'm mainly talking about Splinter of the Mind's Eye). The later stories are better, and New Frontier and Vanguard, have become some of my favorites.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Vanguard is set aboard Starbase 47 in the Taurus Reach, a previously unexplored section of space that has suddenly become of great interest to the Federation, the Klingons, and the Tholians. New Frontier is another series set parallel to the TV shows, in this case the Next Generation, without requiring any knowledge of the shows story line. The series features Captain Calhoun, and the first stories are set aboard the USS Excalibur. Calhoun is a renegade compared to other captains in the Star Trek universe. The Excalibur has been sent into sector 221-G, a section of space formerly controlled by the Thallonian Empire. The Empire collapsed, leaving a power vacuum and an opportunity for Star Fleet to wave the flag for the Federation. It's a really fun series to read, with some pretty crazy adventures and lots of new races to read about. The series will get you hooked till you can't wait to grab the next one.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Star Trek has series for everyone to love. You can read about your favorite crew from the TV shows, find a new one to love, or even read stories from the point of view of the Klingons. If you've never read one, the larger series, based on the TV shows, are mostly numbered. I would suggest starting at the beginning if you're like me and need to know everything that has happened to the crew, but aside from some trilogies you could really pick up any book in the main timelines and be ok. The smaller series I've mentioned are best read from the beginning. I hope I've convinced you to try these books. If you liked Star Trek at all, you'll love the books.