New Choice of Catastrophes blurb

The Simon and Schuster website has been updated with a new blurb for the forthcoming TOS novel, A Choice of Catastrophes, by Steve Mollmann and Michael Schuster. Here's what it says:

The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, is returning from a mission to deliver medical supplies to Deep Space Station C-15, one of Starfleet's most distant installations. All is routine until the Enterprise comes within a light-year of the planet Mu Arigulon, when the ship is suddenly thrown from warp and suffers a momentary power cut, having run aground on a spatial distortion not revealed in previous scans of the system. When the pride of Starfleet hits another, much worse distortion, Dr. Leonard McCoy has his hands full caring for officers who have suddenly fallen into comas for no apparent reason. The Enterprise medical team soon discovers that the dying officers are espers—humans with a rare and abnormal level of telepathic and psychic ability. With no choice but to link to the officers' minds in order to come to their aid, McCoy is plunged into a nightmarish dream-world . . . with the end result being nothing short of the possible destruction of the Enterprise and all aboard her. . . .

Details of new non-fiction books

StarTrek.com has announced several new non-fiction Trek books, and I've come across more details and found a couple more as well:


Star Trek Vault: 40 Years from the Archives 

An across the franchise look at rarities from the Star Trek archives, due in October from Abrams Books, and written by Star Trek comic-book writer Scott Tipton. Here is how Abrams describe it:

Star Trek Vault charts the remarkable history of the world's most popular science fiction series, examining the franchise's first 40 years. Covering all six Star Trek television series and the ten original feature films, the book highlights the far-reaching social and scientific optimism that underpins the franchise, dwelling on milestones such as its groundbreaking mixed-race casts and technologies that have since become commonplace, before taking an in-depth look at the making of each series and movie. Fully illustrated with more than 350 images, and including 13 interactive reproductions of the most fascinating memorabilia from the CBS archives--on-set signage, hand-drawn storyboards, blueprints for Picard's captain's chair, and a vintage T-shirt transfer--Star Trek Vault provides a broad perspective on the voyages of Captains Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer. The ultimate treasure trove of Star Trek imagery and memorabilia, Star Trek Vault is sure to appeal to both the casual and the die-hard fan.

The book will be printed by Aurum Press for the UK market, and their catalogue gives us a hint of what to expect inside:

Star Trek Book of Opposites

This one is aimed squarely at children, written by David Borgenicht for Quirk Books. The book will feature illustrations to demonstrate the principle of opposites. Here’s a short blurb from Amazon US:

EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORDS!

WITH THE HELP OF Kirk, Spok, McCoy, and two dozen colorful pictures from across the galaxy, teach your children the meaning of big and little, hot and cold, apart and together, and much more!

And a more detailed one from Amazon UK:

Is your child leaving baby-talk behind and beginning to explore strange new words? Or are you simply a Trekkie who needs a goofy gift for a fellow-fan friend? "The Star Trek Book of Opposites" will transport you together to an exciting voyage of silly educational fun, pairing up colorful photographs of "Star Trek's" classic heroes and aliens to introduce the concept of opposites through immediate visual humor. Our first children's book hits exactly that sweet spot Quirk is so good at, blending sincere educational helpfulness with a sly grin. Just like "Star Trek" itself, it walks that fine line between earnest and campy. And it's the perfect time to take advantage of the recent resurgent interest in Classic Trek! With a hip, up-market design sensibility, "The Star Trek Book of Opposites" will make a great, kitschy gift for any Star Trek fan, with or without children.

Obsessed With Star Trek

This book by Chip Carter for Chronicle Books combines a book with a quiz game, with 2500 questions for up to two players. No other details yet, but it will presumably be similar to other books in the series such as Obsessed with Star Wars and Obsessed With Marvel.

Star Trek TNG 365
Few details on this yet, but it will be similar to last year’s Star Trek: The Original Series 365 but this time focusing on Star Trek: The Next Generation, with episode summaries, trivia and lots of pretty pictures!

Star Trek 365, en francais
And finally something I came across on Amazon UK, a French publisher (Editions de la Martinière) has just published a French version of the first Star Trek 365 book, and have given it a different cover:

Reference book-style features coming to the StarTrek Magazine

Star Trek Magazine editor Paul Simpson has hinted, on the TrekBBS, at some exciting features coming in the next issue of the magazine, which will be focusing on ships and stations. Simpson has compared some of the features to the Star Trek Chronology and Star Trek Blueprints books, and also mentioned there will be a feature on the design of Starbase Vanguard, from the Vanguard book series!

If these features are as good as the USS Aventine article a few issues back this will be a fantastic issue!

TNG card game details

After the recent announcement Bandai would producing card games based on TOS and TNG the first details of the TNG set have been announced on StarTrek.com. With three-hundred cards and other accessories the game will be out later this year, at just shy of forty dollars. Here are a couple of sample cards:

 

You can see a few more on StarTrek.com.

Star Trek attraction coming to Jordan

Hot on the heels of the recently announced Spanish attraction there is news of a new Star Trek attraction coming to Jordan, which will in fact open before the Spanish one. As StarTrek.com reports an area inspired by the new movie will be part of the The Red Sea Astrarium, which will have elements spanning from ancient middle eastern history to the far future of the Star Trek universe. The Star Trek area will:

...feature an array of multisensory 23rd-century experiences highlighted by a space-flight adventure designed to take real-time immersive entertainment to the next level."

A little more information can be found about the attraction in general at HotelierMiddleEast.com.

Cast No Shadow cover

The Simon and Schuster online catalogue has been updated with new cover art for the forthcoming post-The Undiscovered Country Valeris/Elias Vaughn novel, Cast No Shadow:

Help choose more features for the Klingon Monopoly!

USAopoly seem to be determined to get the fans involved in the design of the forthcoming Klingon Monopoly. After a facebook "like" vote settled the box art we now get to help pick the tokens on the Klingon Monopoly website. Here are the options (vote Bird-of-Prey and Bat'leth!):

Votes on the board design and card designs are still to come!

1:350 scale TOS Enterprise from Polar Lights

Round 2 Models have announced a new 1:350 scale TOS Enterprise kit, targeting release next year. They will be releasing two versions, plus an extras kit:

For the most dedicated modelling fans you can sign up to the 1701 club and be one of the first to get the kit when it is released, with extra parts to build it to the first and second pilot specifications as well. There will be a run of 1701 of this "Premiere Edition". The parts for the pilot versions may be released separately later, but those who pre-order will also get T-shirts and exclusive emails on the production of the kit.

A standard edition will also be available, and there will be an extra accessory pack as well featuring extra decals, lights, and motors to make the bussard collector fans spin! Full details on Round 2 Models' blog.

Let's hope this one makes it, as it was suggested as far back at 2008 with an estimated 2010 release!

New figurines annouced

TrekMovie has announced two new Star Trek figurines on the way:

Hollywood Collectables Group will be releasing a 1:6 scale Gorn by the end of the year. There will be two versions, 500 of the standard edition, and 100 exclusively available direct from Hollywood Collectables with an added bamboo diamond cannon!

For those who don't fancy such a realistic likeness, you might be interested in the M&M statues coming soon from Hamilton, starting a Captain Kirk style red M&M, with at least two more planned.

STO fighters

Cryptic have released two new fighters, available in Star Trek Online through the cryptic store. The Federation Peregrine class, and a new Klingon design the To'Duj class:

 

TNG in HD? And DVD updates

Rumours are circulating once more that TNG HD might maybe be on the way; The Digital Bits seem to think we could see the first episodes by the end of the year thanks to a new streaming deal with Netflix and the cross promotion coming soon from the next movie, which could make financing the mammoth task of completely rebuilding the episodes for HD possible. Exciting times!

But if you can’t wait for TNG's eventual bluray release you might be interested in the new entire series DVD boxset which Amazon UK has listed for a June release. This set sports similar packaging to the recently released TOS DVD and bluray complete series sets:

Amazon UK also has a listing for a DS9 set in July, though are currently using the last re-release's packaging for that page. Could Voyager and Enterprise follow? (Enterprise on bluray even??)

Meanwhile Amazon.com have a listing up for a Ultimate Star Trek Movie Collection DVD set, which judging by title and the actors and directors listed would seem to be a complete eleven film set. No date listed yet for that.

And back on Amazon UK you can find a listing for a movie triple pack, which would make a nice accompaniment to IDW's Infestation series, with it containing Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. That one is out in a couple of weeks.

Prose updates

The Simon and Schuster online catalogues have been updated with some new (and mostly stand-in) covers and a blurb:

While still marked as not final, we have an updated version of the Vanguard: What Judgements Come cover:

A not final cover for The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm:

And both a cover (you guessed it, not final - thankfully) and blurb for Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions:

In this follow-up by bestselling author David Mack, the Terran rebellion erupts into a full-scale revolution, toppling the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and ushering in a new era for the Mirror Universe.


In this alternate Star Trek universe, Miles O’Brien struggles to hold together his fragile band of rebels in the fight against the overwhelming forces of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. The standoff provokes increasingly frequent and violent clashes of wills between Regent Martok of the Klingon Empire and Legate Dukat, leader of the Cardassian Union. Meanwhile, Dukat plans a secret invasion of Terok Nor as a means of gaining the political upper hand within the Alliance.

Meanwhile Cross Cult have released a new cover for The Good That Men Do:

And Christopher L. Bennett has announced his Typhon Pact ebook has been retitled to The Struggle Within.

STO: Section 31 and the Enterprise-F

Cryptic have added a section 31 costume option to the Star Trek Online cryptic store:

They have also announced the winner of the design the Enterprise-F contest. Here she is:

Art update

A few arty bits: Mondo released two more TOS posters a couple of weeks back (sold in minutes as ever), this time based on The Menagerie and Mirror Mirror:

 

Meanwhile a new player as started producing Trek prints: Iron Gut have launched a new range of Star Trek fine art prints ranging from cast and ship images at $25 or so, to limited editions and new images into the many $100s. Here are a few examples:

 

 

 

You can find their entire collection at startrekartwork.com.

Mark Rademaker has posted a couple of updates on his Voyager update project, including this new escape pod:

And Ships of the Line fans might want to make their way to John Eaves' blog where they can find a behind the scenes look at the creation of his image in this year's calendar. Here's how it started:

Toys, collectables and apparel update

CBS have recently announced several new licenses and products, these include:

A second set of Star Trek Mr Potato Heads, coming in November from PPW Toys. As announced on StarTrek.com this time we'll get potato versions of Spock and Uhura:

A new Star Trek Monopoly from USAopoly, this time themed on the Klingons; this edition will be bilingual (presumably Federation standard as well as Klingon), with various Klingon worlds to conquer, outposts to establish and honor to chanced (as chance becomes "honor" and community chest will be "combat"). StarTrek.com promises several other elements will be decided by fan choice, starting with a facebook vote on which box design to use:

 

USAopoly did a great job on their last Star Trek edition, which I reviewed some time ago.

StarTrek.com also announced details of a phaser prop replica coming from QMx. Based directly on the digital files used to create the prop for the new movie this edition features metal plating.

Other new lines announced by CBS include: A range of busts from all eras of Trek coming from Titan Merchandise. Deck building games based on TOS and TNG from Bandai. A variety of Star Trek inspired T-shirts and tops from Mighty Fine. And TNG 25th anniversary Pez Candy sets, due next year.