This Month: October 2015 Star Trek releases

There have been many varied takes on the world of Star Trek this month, including visits to the mirror universe, and the never before seen eighth season of TNG. Continue below for look at everything October had to offer:

Books

After three months in a row of ebooks accompanying the regular novel releases, we return to a solitary novel this month, the latest entry in the Titan series, James Swallow's Sight Unseen. Here's the blurb:

In the wake of political upheaval across the United Federation of Planets, Admiral William Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan find themselves in uncertain waters as roles aboard the ship change to reflect a new mandate and a new mission. On orders from Starfleet, Titan sets out toward the edge of Federation space to tackle its latest assignment: to work with an alien species known as the Dinac, who are taking their first steps into the galaxy at large as a newly warp-capable civilization.

But when disaster befalls the Dinac, the Titan crew discovers they have unknowingly drawn the attention of a deadly, merciless enemy—a nightmare from Riker’s past lurking in the darkness. Friendships will be tested to the limit as familiar faces and new allies must risk everything in a fight against an unstoppable invader—or a horrific threat will be unleashed on the galaxy!

Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, iTunes.

The Titan is not entirely alone however, as Simon and Schuster also released Star Trek: The Next Generation - Warped, An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season, a comedic illustrated guide to the extra season of TNG we never knew existed. The book is written by Mike McMahan, based on his TNG_S8 Twitter account, and features numerous new illustrations by Jason Ho - A few of which you will find in excerpts from the book I previously posted.

In the basement of the Star Trek archives, behind shelves of U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D models, bags of wigs, and bins of plastic phasers, sits a dusty cardboard box. Inside is a pile of VHS tapes that contain never-before-seen episodes and behind-the-scenes footage for something truly amazing. The world thinks there are only seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but there’s one more. A secret season.

Actually, not really. But that didn’t stop Mike McMahan, creator of the parody Twitter account @TNG_S8, from making a guide full of:

REAL* TNG SEASON 8 FACTS AND STORIES!
REAL* TNG SEASON 8 DIALOGUE AND IMAGES!
(* Again, not really, of course. This is humor. Sorry.)

So impress your friends and bewilder your enemies with your newfound knowledge of these very lost Star Trek episodes! Engage!

Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, iTunes.

IDW have also had a quieter month than we have been used to lately, with just two series on the go at the moment, and no omnibuses on offer. Those include the start of a new mirror universe story in the nuTrek ongoing series, Live Live will be a three part story, which sees the nuEnterprise in its entirety visiting a new incarnation of the mirror universe. Mike Johnson writes as usual, with regular artist Tony Shasteen illustrating. You can see the first few pages in an earlier preview article.

As this is also the fiftieth issue in the ongoing series, we were also treated to some bonus content, with extra pages filled with behind-the-scenes interviews and articles, and a snazzy wrap-around cover too!

Don't miss this special anniversary issue that kicks off an epic new 3-part adventure! For the first time, the crew of the new movie franchise will meet its evil Mirror counterpart! It's Enterprise vs. Enterprise, Federation vs. the Terran Empire, with the fate of two universes at stake!

Purchase: Amazon.com, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet, iTunes.

IDW's other release also sees the nuTrek crew interacting with another reality, in issue four of the Green Lantern crossover series, The Spectrum War. Mike John writes this one too, with Angel Hernandez on art duties for the series. You can find preview pages from this issue in an earlier report too.

The crossover event of 2015 continues here, as Starfleet and the Green Lantern Corps team up in the middle of a ring-powered galactic war! The evil Nekron has arrived in the Star Trek universe... with his eye on resurrecting the planet Vulcan itself! Don't miss out on the latest chapter of this franchise-spanning epic!

Purchase: Amazon.com, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet, iTunes.

Model ships

Magazine and model publisher Eaglemoss have had a very busy month, with numerous releases in The Official Starships Collection. Those include two regular issues (numbers fifty-seven and fifty-eight), the TOS Romulan Bird of Prey, and Borg Tactical Cube:

Purchase: Things From Another World, Entertainment Earth, Forbidden Planet.

Purchase: Things From Another World, Entertainment Earth, Forbidden Planet.

Those were joined by the fifth oversized special issue, a spectacular model of the USS Kelvin:

Purchase: Things From Another World, Entertainment Earth, Forbidden Planet.

And then there was even more! Making their UK debut the four shuttlecraft models. As far as I know, they've not actually arrived for anyone yet, but they are available to order (and with a decent discount on the otherwise premium price, if you know where to look for the code). These are smaller than regular issues both in terms of the models and the lower page-count magazines. But they do come with some fun extra Okudagram graphics printed on plastic display-sheets. Featured are the TOS-era Galileo, TNG type 6 Goddard of the Enterprise-D, DS9's type 10 shuttle Chaffee of the Defiant, and Voyager's type 9 Cochrane.

And to make it even more of a bumper month, Eaglemoss also put their next two dedication plaques up for order, the USS Voyager, and USS Defiant.

As is ever the case with the collection, these have all found their way to the UK market first, and will next be arriving in the US, before making their way to other parts of the world as the series progresses in each region. You can find further previews of all these ships, and everything else in the series, on my index page.

Not to be left out, Wizkids also had their usually selection of three smaller model ships, to add to their miniatures game Attack Wing. The nineth wave of expansions for the game includes the Delta Flyer, IKS Rotarran, and RIS Talvath.

German Language

There are two more books new on the shelves, in Germany. Cross Cult have two new translations: There's Una McCormack's The Crimson Shadow, the second book in the crossover miniseries, The Fall and one of the best Star Trek books ever written. The Germany title is Der Karminrote Schatten, and it's one of two books in the five-novel miniseries which has new cover artwork for the German release.

There's also Der Hippokratische Eid, originally known as Oaths, a 2002 Corps of Engineers  ebook novella by Glenn Hauman.

You can find out more about all these items, and everything else out this year, with links to all my previous coverage on my schedule page. You can also find further reading and product lists on my Trek Collective Lists sub-site.