First blurbs for 2016 Voyager, TOS, and Enterprise novels

Simon and Schuster have started listing details for the first three four novels in the 2016 Star Trek novel schedule, including scheduling information, blurbs, and even a new title. These come from Simon and Schuster's digital catalogue, which is aimed more at retailers I think, so take these with the due pinch of salt given it's early and these probably wont be the final blurbs.

UPDATE: Another book listing has appeared, and some of the authors have commented on their new books; see below for more details.

February's book, which customarily will start to appear come late January, will be the eighth novel in Kirsten Beyer's Voyager relaunch, A Pocket Full of Lies. Given this takes place after Atonement, which is due out this September, beware ye minor spoilers, if you were anticipating this character or that, might get vaporised in the next book:

The Full Circle Fleet has resumed its explorations of the Delta Quadrant and former Borg space. Captain Regina Farkas of the U.S.S. Vesta makes a promising first contact with the Nihydron—humanoid aliens that are collectors of history. They rarely interact with the species they study but have amassed a large database of numerous races, inhabited planets, and the current geopolitical landscape of a large swath of the quadrant. When an exchange of data is proposed via a formal meeting, the Nihydron representatives are visibly shaken to be greeted by Admiral Kathyryn Janeway. For almost a hundred years, two local species, the Rilnar and the Zahl, have fought for control of the nearby planet Sormana, with both sides claiming it as their ancestral homeworld. The shocking part is that for the last several years, the Rilnar have been steadily gaining ground, thanks to the tactics of their current commanding officer: a human woman, who appears to be none other than Kathryn Janeway herself…

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp. 

UPDATE: Kirsten Beyer has commented on the new blurb on the TrekBBS, revealing an exciting guest star for this book:

As for some of PFOL being spoiled, I'm surprised at that catalogue blurb...it missed the juiciest spoiler in that one was far as I'm concerned.

While the story of the "other" Janeway has been rolling around in my head for years (with almost no chance of ever seeing the light of day for the longest time) the reason to tell this story now was largely because the timing allowed me to bring Tuvok back for this particular adventure.

Come March we'll have the first TOS novel of the fiftieth anniversary year, James Swallow's The Latter Fire, a five-year-mission era tale:

The five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise has brought the vessel and her crew to the forefront of an important first contact situation. Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, the ship is heading to the planet Syhaar Prime in the Beta Quadrant—the home world of an alien civilization preparing to take its first steps on to the galactic stage. One year earlier, the Enterprise came across a badly damaged Syhaari explorer vessel drifting in deep space. In collaboration with the explorer’s captain, Kirk and his crew were able to restore the ship to full function and send it on its way. And now, as the Syhaari display rapid technological advances made over the past year, hard questions must be asked. Did the Enterprise crew leak advanced technology or information to the Syhaari during their first encounter, in total violation of the Prime Directive?

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp. 

And then we slip back another century in April, for the fourth book in Christopher L. Bennett's Enterprise: Rise of the Federation series. The new listing for this also reveals the title, Live by the Code. And again, potential minor spoilers if you've not read the recently released Uncertain Logic yet.

Captain T’Pol and the crew of the U.S.S. Endeavour are returning home after unsuccessfully searching for the renegade Vulcan V’LAS, whom T’Pol is strongly motivated to bring to justice after recent events. They are surprised to be confronted by a Klingon military vessel, since the Klingons have been torn by internal strife for the past several years and have largely left the Federation alone. They’re even more surprised when the Klingon captain makes a grudgingly polite request for the assistance of Dr. Phlox. Klingon chancellor M’rek has died, and given the intense factional strife within the High Council, the parties have agreed that they need an objective arbiter to determine whether or not he died of natural causes. Meanwhile, back at Starfleet headquarters, Jonathan Archer is settling into his new role as chief of staff of Starfleet’s UESPA division. The Council’s inability to work with M’Rek helped keep the Empire ineffectual and the Federation safe…but what if the next chancellor is more unifying and decides to rally his people against the Federation?

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.  

UPDATE: Christopher L. Bennett has posted a blog about the new book, noting that this blurb is "an excerpt from one scene in my outline, and one that isn’t representative of the overall plot". He also discussed the meaning of the title and some of the subjects he will be exploring in the book. See the his blog to get the low down.

In other books news, in a recent Literary Treks podcast, Dayton Ward mentioned he has another TNG novel on the way, following his most recent book, Armageddon's Arrow, which was the main subject of that podcast.

UPDATE: Simon and Schuster are now listing another Star Trek book, Elusive Salvation, by Dayton Ward, which will be the May book. There's no blurb for this one yet, but Amazon list this as a TOS book, so I would guess it is the From History's Shadow sequel.

And if you enjoy hearing the authors discuss their books, you'll also enjoy The Captain's Table's recent chat with Kirsten Beyer. They're gradually working through all her Voyager relaunch books, so this episode covers Children of the Storm.

For full listings of the the latest and forthcoming Star Trek books, and links to all my previous coverage, hit the books or prose buttons on my 2015, and 2016 schedule pages.