Star Trek, other storylines
Although books, comic books, video games, and other material based on
Star Trek are generally considered to be "non-
canon", there are several which deserve mentioning.
Developed over the last two decades and more as an expansive development of the background as supplied in the
Original Series as well as in
The Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual, the
Star Fleet Universe introduces a range of new races and storylines (such as the
Interstellar Concordium and the
General War) as well as drawing from the
Animated Series for inspiration - a modified version of the
Kzinti are a major part of the SFU, for example - unlike the
Paramount universe.
This universe lives and thrives in the range of works from
Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. and (formerly)
Task Force Games, as well as providing a fount for the unique merging of
Star Trek continuities seen in the
Star Fleet Command series of PC games.
Star Trek Expanded Universe is a generic term used to describe information put forth outside the scope of the feature films and television series, in an attempt to provide backstories and chronology to "fill the holes" between canonical material.
Star Trek novels and
comic books often contribute to the expanded universe. The term was first used in
1966 by writer
D.C. Fontana to describe
Leonard McCoy's personal history. For many fans, Expanded Universe storylines often hold more validity than televised and theatrical stories, leading to occasional arguments between fans when one contradicts the other.
TV
;
Assignment: Earth: A spin-off of
Star Trek was planned during the run of the
Original Series, involving a character named Gary Seven, a human agent trained by an alien race to prevent Earth in the 20th century from destroying itself. A pilot episode was filmed, but as the series never took off, the episode was made into an episode of
Star Trek. Note: although considered part of the "Expanded Universe" which as a rule is not canonical, "Assignment: Earth" is unusual in that, since it was a televised episode of the Original Series, it
is considered canon (this refers to the revised version used in the series, as opposed to the original pilot version).
Novels
See also: List of Star Trek novelsSince
1967, hundreds of original novels and television and movie adaptations have been published. None of these novels are considered "canon", including "Mosaic" and "Pathways" by
Star Trek: Voyager co-producer Jeri Taylor, which feature background information on the main characters of the show and which for a time were thought to be canon (current editors for the
Pocket Books series state that they are not). [
1]
 |
The very first original Star Trek novel, written by Mack Reynolds and published in 1968. |
The first publisher of
Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was
Bantam Books, which initially produced a best-selling series of novelizations of
Original Series episodes by
James Blish that began in
1967. In
1970, Blish wrote the first original novel published by Bantam,
Spock Must Die!, although subsequent novels did not appear until
1976.
The very first original
Star Trek novel to be published was actually
Mission to Horatius by
Mack Reynolds, which was published in hardcover by
Whitman Books in
1968. Geared for younger readers, the novel became a collectible and in the 1990s, Pocket Books issued a
fascimile edition.
Later,
Ballantine Books published a 10-volume series of novelizations based upon episodes of
Star Trek: The Animated Series, beginning in
1974, all written by
Alan Dean Foster.
Pocket Books began publishing Trek fiction in
1979, starting with a novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture by
Gene Roddenberry himself, although the company's second
Trek novel did not appear until
1981 due to Bantam being allowed to complete its publishing contract first.
Eventually, Pocket Books would publish novels based upon every Trek series. Starting in the mid-
1990s the company branched began commissioning books based upon original continuing characters and situations set in the
Star Trek universe, including:
;
Star Trek: New Frontier : A series of novels by
Peter David focusing on the crew of the starship
Excalibur. Some characters were guest stars from episodes of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, while others were from previous
Star Trek titles by the same author, and still others were created originally for the series. The series takes place in Sector 221-G, where the
Excalibur is dispatched to help with the chaos created by the crumbling Thallonian Empire.
;
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Relaunch" : A series of novels, set after the end of the series. New characters have been added to compensate for the loss of those who left at the end of the show. The series begins with two novels called
Avatar, Books 1 and 2. Though it is sometimes called
DS9's "eighth season" or the
DS9 Relaunch, neither label is officially endorsed by the publishers. (several novels published after the end of the series but before the "eighth season" stories began have been retroactively added to the Relaunch, including the anthology
The Lives of Dax and the novel
A Stitch in Time).
;
Star Trek: Voyager, "Relaunch" : An expanding series of novels by Christie Golden, set after the end of the
Voyager series. Currently printed are the books
Homecoming and
The Further Shore, in which the characters settle into their lives back home,
Spirit Walk: Old Wounds and
Spirit Walk: Enemy of My Enemy.
;
Starfleet Corps of Engineers : An expanding series of
ebooks by various authors, set in the same timeline as the
Next Generation series. This series features a group of highly-trained engineers stationed aboard the
USS Da Vinci and their adventures on various planets. The e-books are collected into paperback novels every now and then, but there are over 20 stories that are only available in e-book form, and that number will continue to grow.
;
Stargazer : An expanding series of novels by Michael Jan Friedman, set during
Picard's command of the
Stargazer before the
Next Generation series. The series features many events that set the scene for events later to come in the
TNG.
;
Star Trek: Titan : A new series of books, depicting William Riker as the captain of a new ship, the Titan.
;
I.K.S. Gorkon : An expanding series of novels by
Keith R. A. DeCandido. The first Star Trek novel series to feature the Klingons instead of Starfleet,
I.K.S. Gorkon tells of the adventures of an all-new
Chancellor-class war cruiser, on a mission to conquer new
planets for the Klingon Empire.
;
Star Trek: Enterprise, "Relaunch" : Announced by
Pocket Books editors in May 2005. No timeline or other information is available as yet. The novel
Rosetta by
Dave Stern, scheduled for publication in February 2006, will be the first
Enterprise novel published since the series' cancellation, but Pocket Books has yet to confirm whether it will signify the start of the actual Relaunch.
;
William Shatner's Star Trek novels, post-Star Trek: Generations : A series that instigates on Kirk's resurrection after the events seen in
Star Trek: Generations. The series began with
The Ashes of Eden, which, set immediately after
Star Trek: Generations told Spock's recollection of the last adventure he was involved with Captain Kirk, shortly after the
Khitomer Conference. The next was the actual
The Return, where Kirk comes to life after a Romulan party had allied with the Borg and is set to kill Picard! The rest of the novels are set in between the various movies and TV episodes from all the Star Trek series, from 1996 and on. These are distinctive, as they incorporate events and characters from various episodes from all TV series and movies and tie them into the continuity, bringing a larger scope to the whole Star Trek universe. He is assisted, greatly, by
Judith Reeves-Stevens and
Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who also wrote the now famous crossover novel
Federation.
;
Star Trek: Vanguard : A new series of novels depicting a lone starbase wedged between Klingon and Tholian space, and of the various starships assigned to the base. Takes place during the original series, and attempts to flesh out that particular period of fictional Star Trek history.
Some fans consider the novels to be
fan fiction although, being publications authorized by
Paramount Pictures, they do not fit the general definition. A number of novels have been reportedly written (or co-written) by series actors, most notably
William Shatner. There have also been many unlicensed, privately published works which
do fit the definition of fan fiction, such as the cult classic
The Doctor and the Enterprise by
Jean Airey which merged the universes of
Star Trek and
Doctor Who.
Comics
 |
The first Star Trek comic book, published in 1967 by Gold Key Comics. |
Almost continuously since 1967, a number of companies have published comic book series based on
Star Trek and its spin off series, including
Gold Key,
Marvel Comics, and
DC Comics, with varying degrees of success. As of 2005,
Star Trek: Enterprise remains the only
Trek series that has yet to be adapted in comic book form.
Gold Key
The first
Star Trek comics were published by
Gold Key between
1967 and
1978. Originally they were illustrated by Alberto Giolitti, an artist in
Europe who had never seen the series and only had publicity photos to use as references. These comics were highly stylized and diverged wildly from the TV series continuity. Nonetheless they are fondly remembered by fans and a series of reprints of these original titles began to appear in
2004. The original issues, most of which featured photographic covers showing images from the series, are highly collectable. Writers included George Kashdan,
Arnold Drake and
Len Wein.
Most storylines used in the Gold Key series featured original characters and concepts, although later issues did include sequels to the TOS episodes "
The City on the Edge of Forever", "
Metamorphosis" and "
I, Mudd".
For more details on these comics visit [
2]
Marvel
Marvel's series of
Star Trek comics began in
1979 with an adaptation of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and continued for another year, its tales presumably taking place during the apocryphal second five-year mission of
Kirk and the
Enterprise that would have been featured in the never-produced
Star Trek: Phase II TV series. Marvel's license from Paramount prohibited them from utilizing concepts introduced in the original series, being restricted to only using the characters and concepts as they appeared in
Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The series lasted a total of 18 issues, ending in
1981.
Comic Strips (UK and U.S.)
From
1969 to
1973, a series of weekly
Star Trek comic strips ran in the British comic magazines
Joe 90: Top Secret,
TV21 & Joe 90 and
Valiant and TV21. A total of 258 issues were produced, as well as hardcovers annuals of
Joe 90 and
TV21, and a softcover
Valiant summer special. All were original stories. Two more annuals, under the
Mighty TV Comic banner, also produced original
Trek materials. In addition, the weekly
TV Comic reprinted serialized versions of the U.S. Gold Key comics.
Then, from
1979 to
1983, the
Los Angeles Times Mirror Syndicate produced a daily
comic strip based upon
Star Trek. The strip debuted on
December 2,
1979 and ran until
December 3,
1983. The storylines were written and illustrated by
Thomas Warkentin,
Sharman DiVono,
Ron Harris,
Larry Niven,
Martin Pasko,
Padraic Shigetani,
Bob Meyers,
Ernie Colon,
Gerry Conway and
Dick Kulpa.
For more details on these strips, visit [
3] or [
4].
DC
The first DC series picked up immediately after
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan beginning in
1983 but after nine issues started to place stories after
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. In these later issues, Kirk, after a multi-issue showdown with the
Mirror Universe, is given command of the
Excelsior, while
Spock, mentally restored after mind-melding with his mirror self, is given the command of the USS
Surak. However, with
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home taking place right after
III left off, the series quickly wiped the slate clean by having Kirk lose command of the
Excelsior and Spock return to the state he was at the end of
III. After the release of
The Voyage Home, the series continued with Kirk commanding the
Enterprise-A. These later issues also re-introduced the characters of
Arex and
M'Ress from
Star Trek: The Animated Series. In
1988, the series ended when Paramount withdrew its license.
After a year's hiatus DC's second
Star Trek series began with an adaptation of
Star Trek V and took place in the large gap between
Star Trek V and
Star Trek VI, but did not continue on from the previous series, so storylines from that series were either ignored or rewritten. Although more limited in scope than the first series due to restrictions from Paramount (which included a prohibition on creating non-series-related ongoing characters, resulting in R.J. Blaise - a popular character and love interest for Kirk - disappearing from the comic without explanation), the series lasted 80 issues and fleshed out some of the changes between
V and
VI, such as
Sulu's promotion to captain of the
Excelsior. As part of Paramount's increased restrictions on storytelling, planned appearances from
Arex and
M'Ress were shelved, with some formative artwork showing M'Ress (that appeared in a preview) re-drawn. The series was mainly written by Peter David and Howard Weinstein, who are also
Star Trek novelists.
DC also published two
Star Trek: The Next Generation comic series. The first, a six-issue series, takes place during the first season, while the second series covers seasons two to just before
Generations. The series was mainly written by
Star Trek: The Next Generation novelist Michael Jan Friedman.
At the same time DC was publishing its comics, Malibu published a
Deep Space Nine series during the first three seasons, and DC and Malibu joined forces to publish a TNG/DS9 mini-series. DC also published one of the first crossovers between the TOS and TNG eras in another mini-series.
Malibu
Beginning in 1994, Malibu published an ongoing series based upon
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and, as noted above, also joined forces with DC to publish a cross-over story with that company's TNG series. In addition, Malibu published a standalone issue focusing on the
Romulans, and two issues of a "celebrity series" of stories written by
Star Trek actors
Mark Lenard and
Aron Eisenberg.
In 1996, Malibu also announced plans to publish a
Voyager comic, and art from this comic appeared in some comic industry periodicals. However, that year
Paramount Pictures (owners of the Trek franchise), signed a deal with Marvel Comics to publish comics based upon
Star Trek and
Mission: Impossible under the new
Paramount Comics banner. As a result, DC and Malibu abruptly lost the rights to publish Trek comics of their own.
 |
Published in 2001 by the DC Comics imprint Wildstorm, Star Trek Special was one of the last Trek comics published to date. |
Return to Marvel
Restricting
TOS and
TNG stories to the quarterly
Unlimited series, Marvel published monthly comics based upon
Deep Space Nine and
Voyager. They also introduced two new series,
Star Trek: Early Voyages which dealt with
Captain Pike's adventures as captain of the
Enterprise (as depicted in the rejected
TOS pilot "The Cage") and
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy which dealt with a group of cadets, including
Deep Space Nine's Ferengi, Nog.
Fan acceptance of these comics got off to a shaky start when Marvel's inaugural publication of its new
Star Trek line turned out to be a crossover between TNG and Marvel's popular superhero team, the
X-Men. (Pocket Books, likewise, published a novel based upon this premise entitled
Planet X). However, the different series turned out to be relatively popular, with
Starfleet Academy and
Early Voyages registering strong sales. The writing in "Early Voyages," from Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett, was quite good, and generally accurate with existing canon.
After about a year, however, Marvel's agreement with Paramount changed and similar restrictions to those imposed upon DC resulted in
Starfleet Academy and
Early Voyages being abruptly cancelled, even though both were in the middle of story arcs at the time.
Wildstorm
Marvel continued to publish TV-based
Trek comics for another year or so, but eventually the license drifted back to DC's Wildstorm inprint. Wildstorm decided to not do an ongoing series, but instead a series of miniseries and
trade paperback graphic novels. Their
TNG series mainly dealt with the movie era, between
Insurrection and
Nemesis; their
Deep Space Nine stories were based on the post-Season 7 novel continuity, and their
Voyager series took place during the series. Wildstorm also created comics based on the novel series
New Frontier and the video game
Elite Force. Their license expired in
2002.
Tokyopop
For several years, no comic book company held the rights to publish
Trek-based comics. However, in October
2004,
Tokyopop announced plans to publish an anthology of
Next Generation-based stories presented in the style of
Japanese manga. No publication date has been announced as of October 2005.
Another project by Tokyopop, based upon the original series, has also been announced. The new comic, produced by
Joshua Ortega, has been announced for a 2006 release to coincide with TOS's 40th anniversary.[
5]
SFU games include:
**
Federation and Empire (1986)
**
Federation Commander (2005)
**
Prime Directive, 1993,
**
GURPS Prime Directive, 2002,
Based on Prime Directive, but with the
GURPS ruleset.
**
D20 Prime Directive, 2005
Based on Prime Directive, but with the
D20 ruleset.
**
Star Fleet Battles (1979)
**
Star Fleet Battle ForceThe following games used elements from both the Paramount and ADB universes:
**
Starfleet Command (1999)
**
Starfleet Command II: Empires at War**
Starfleet Command: Orion PiratesOther games
They were not the only games to continue the vast Star Trek universe however. There were
role-playing games,
board games,
card games,
computer games, even
arcade games and
pinball games. Other games include the following:
;
Board and
card games:
*
Star Trek Customizable Card Game (1994)
*
Star Trek III: Struggle for the Throne, 1984,
FASA: a struggle inside the
Klingon empire for the emperor's throne.
*
Star Trek III, 1985: three
Star Trek-themed solitaire games:
The Sherwood Syndrome,
The Kobayashi Maru and
Free Enterpri$e.
*
Tri-Dimensional Chess (
Franklin Mint)
;
Role-playing games
*
Star Trek The RPG, 1982,
FASA*
Star Trek The Next Generation RPG, 1998,
Last Unicorn Games*
Star Trek Deep Space Nine RPG, 1999, Last Unicorn Games
*
Star Trek RPG, 1999, Last Unicorn Games
*
Star Trek RPG, 2002,
Decipher Games;
Play-by-mail and
play-by-post games
*
14th Fleet PBEM Organization*
StarTrek.com's official online Role Playing forum.*
Borderlands a large multistation PBEM featuring multiple active Dutystations, ranging from Starbases to Romulan Warbirds to Civilian merchants. Active since the early 1990's.
*Bravo Fleet
*
Tango Fleet*
Federation Space - A Star Trek play by forum RPG, set 36 years after the events portrayed in ST:TNG, ST:DS9 and ST:Voyager. Players assume the roles of Star Fleet Officers and enlisted members stationed on ships and bases throughout the galaxy. Federation Space boasts an active multi-national community since March 1st 2000.
*
Star Trek: Liberty Fleet PBEM RPG - Star Trek Role Playing Game played out over email. Dozens of missions and thousands of well-written posts/stories since 2001
*
Star Trek: A Call to Duty The first - and only - online RPG officially affiliated and endorsed by Paramount Pictures from 1996 to 2000. The only true successor to vTrek, it ran continuously from the end of vTrek to the present day. Star Trek: A Call to Duty separated from Paramount in 2000 due to ongoing server issues that eventually caused the demise of Paramount Digital Entertainments's public chat server. Continues to run games in chat, email, and newsgroup formats.
*
Star Trek: Echoes The return of a RPG that unofficially bridged the gap between the original VTrek on the MSN and the Paramount-sanctioned Star Trek: A Call to Duty in 1996. Hosts games in chat and PBeM formats.
*
UFOP: Starbase 118 RPG A community of people who love writing, and Star Trek. We offer a long, rich history, plenty of interaction with other players, and a highly trained command staff!
;
Arcade games
*
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1982,
SEGA)
*
Star Trek: Invasion;University
Mainframe Computer Games
*
Star Trek (text game) (1971), on
PDP-10 computers
*
Star Trek (Script Game) (1972), on PDP-10 computers
;
Computer and video games
':
* Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (SEGA) (home computer/console conversion of arcade game)
* Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1982, Vectrex Arcade System)
* Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (Interplay)
* Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative (Simon & Schuster Interactive) (1985)
* Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy (Simon & Schuster Interactive) (1986)
* Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1994)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Final Unity (Spectrum Holobyte) (1995)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation: Birth of the Federation (1999)
* Star Trek: Klingon (1996)
* Star Trek: Borg
* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Interplay)
* Star Trek: Klingon Academy
* Star Trek: Away Team (2001)
* Star Trek: Generations
* Star Trek: Federation Compilation
* Starfleet Command III
* Star Trek: Armada (Activision)
* Star Trek: Armada II (Activision)
* Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002)
* Star Trek: Hidden Evil
* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger
* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Dominion Wars
* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen
* Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force (2000)
* Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003)
* Star Trek: Shattered Universe
;Pinball machines
* Star Trek (Bally, 1978)
* Star Trek (Data East, 1991)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (Williams (
Midway Games), 1993)
*
Star Trek: The Experience'Star Trek Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, 1988' : The
Universal Studios Hollywood theme park featured a
Star Trek-themed attraction.[
6] The attraction regularly selected 10 volunteers from the audience and placed them into a Star Trek story line. The participants were dressed in
Star Trek costumes and placed on sets, and coached to deliver scripted dialogue in several scenes. The scenes, which were recorded on video, were quickly edited into a short film, the storyline of which was loosely based around material from the
Star Trek films. The finished video was then shown to the audience, and the "actors" had the opportunity to purchase a copy of their video. This attraction closed after several years of operation. Several copies of these videos had been seen YouTube.
Great American Adventure Amusement Park, Santa Clara near San Jose, Calif. : In the '80's
Paramount Pictures Inc. bought the theme park operating company, Great American Theme Parks. [
7]After this corporate owner's change, the San Jose property added many major
Star Trek elements to entertain the park's patrons. There were several costumed Star Trek characters entertaining patrons near the large Star Trek transplanted movie sets brought up from the studio. A
Klingon starship command bridge and other interior set elements along with other Star Trek sets were delivered and installed in this property. There were costumed Star Trek characters 'meeting and greeting' the parks visitors.
