Books bits: Rules of Accusation blurb, new novels, and non-fiction details

Lots of Star Trek books updates today, including a new blurb, news of several new novels on the way, and details of new non-fiction titles!

Quark's previous adventure

First up, in July Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann are returning to DS9 for their second ebook novella featuring Quark, Rules of Accusation. Simon and Schuster have now released a blurb for this:

On the space station Deep Space 9, Quark’s Public House, Café, Gaming Emporium, Holosuite Arcade, and Ferengi Embassy can’t legitimately be called an embassy until the Grand Nagus—namely, Quark’s brother Rom—dedicates it as such. Not that Quark really cares about Ferengi protocol, but a well-publicized dedication ceremony will naturally draw people to the bar. Everybody loves a good open house—free appetizers, half-price drinks, door prizes, etc.—all of which Quark can write off as Embassy expenses. It’s a win-win situation, with him on both sides of the win. There’s even a plan to display the original scroll of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition—which no one has seen for decades given that it’s been held in protective storage—and charge patrons by the minute to look at it up close. Nothing, of course, could possibly go wrong with this big plan. Absolutely nothing at all…

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

The most recent DS9 book was David R. George III's Ascendance, and as has become customary for many Trek authors George recently joined the guys on TrekFM's Literary Treks podcast to discuss the new release. If you have a listen you'll find in-depth discussion on the book, although if you've not read it yet you might find it a little spoilery (I tend to think of these podcasts as the book equivalent of DVD extra features, best enjoyed after having taken in the story). In the course of that discussion George did mention he is now contracted for two new Star Trek books, and that the first of those will be the continuation of the DS9 story, which he is currently working on. The second book hasn't been pinned down yet.

Also talking with Literary Treks recently is Kirsten Beyer, there to discuss her latest Voyager novel, A Pocket Full of Lies. She too had news of future books, having also been contracted for two new novels, both of which will be Voyager stories. The next will be Architects of Infinity, which she expects to arrive in late 2017, with the other not too far behind. She shared a few hints at both the shape and themes of those books:

The next two stories, they're both stand-alones, but there are threads, as many things I do, that connect them. I have a feeling that when they're done, which will about, eight or nine months from now, people will look back on them as a duology.

This is much more of an exploration, with a sense of wonder and awe, with a nice cool mystery soft gooey center to the thing. But this next one really is a little bit more more just, we find something incredibly cool, and we have to figure out what it means and what's doing. And that leads to the next one which I have to say is going to be a little bit harder, but ultimately comes out in another moment of big light.

I'm still trying to maintain the sense that we're back in the Delta Quadrant not just to pick up the pieces from the messes that we made the first time around, but to explore new stuff and find the stuff that will inspire us to keep exploring. 

Meanwhile on his blog, Dayton Ward has revealed he is now signed up for a further TNG book, following the 2017 release he already has lined up, Headlong Flight. He gave this tease at the direction that next book is taking:

At the moment, the events of this story will take place at a point after Headlong Flight…but there may be a twist or three….

In another post, Ward gave a more extensive description of his forthcoming "non-fiction" book, The Vulcan Travel Guide, published by Insight Editions:

While it’s not a novel, it’s definitely written “inside the box,” as it were, presented in a format that’s similar to those Lonely Planet or Frommer’s guidebooks you might buy before heading out on vacation to some exotic, faraway land.

So, we’re talking a lot of small entries about various locales and points of interest, places to eat and stay, and things of that nature. There will be maps to give you the lay of the land, and guide you on walking tours of ShiKahr, Vulcan’s Forge, and other places, and so on. The book will also feature sidebar articles about various topics, like what you should do if you find yourself the inadvertent host to a dying Vulcan’s katra, or you get sucked into ceremonial combat to the death. You know, the usual vacation hazards.

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

In one other bit of non-fiction news, the forthcoming updated Star Trek Encyclopedia, by Mike and Denise Okuda, is now listed on Amazon for pre-order, revealing an October release date. The book has been developed by Becker and Mayer, and it seems Harper Design will be the publishers. Amazon have this listed at an impressive 1056 pages, which are expected to arrive in a two-volume hardcover set. Equally impressive is the $150 price, although I'd expect that to fall over the pre-order period, indeed for a few days it was less than $90 - So I'd say this is definitely one worth a pre-order to catch the lowest offer! There's no new artwork or blurb beyond the previously released mock-ups just yet.

To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the books or prose buttons on my 2016 and 2017 schedule pages. You can also find series reading lists and author bibliographies on my dedicated Star Trek lists site.