Book bits: New books and other updates

Some books updates today, including more new audio releases, and updates, plus two new titles announced!

First up, while talking to Literary Treks (TrekFM's Star Trek books podcast), David Mack has revealed he is working on a new (presumably TNG) novel, with the working title Collateral Damage - This will be a follow up to his last TNG-era novel, Section 31: Control, which of course saw Section 31 unravel and implicated numerous members of Starfleet in the centuries long conspiracy, including Jean-Luc Picard, for his part in the cover up of a presidential assassination - The latter action occurred in a much older book, A Time to Heal, which was subject of the podcast discussion. Mack ominously laid out what awaits Picard as a result:

Eventually the truth does come out, and Jean-Luc Picard is going to have to face the music.

He also hinted that the book will explore the fallout from his Borg invasion trilogy, Destiny:

Even though we think all is well all these years later, the level of damage and devastation that was done by the Borg continues to have its effects and to take its toll on Alpha Quadrant society.

News of another book seems to have possibly slipped out via Amazon (spotted by TrekBBS used Saul), which now list Third Class: Star Trek Academy, by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens on their UK, Germany, and Japan sites. The Japanese listing suggests both hardcover and paperback releases, while others only note paperback; all have a rather suspect release date of the 31st of December 2019, which at the very least feels like a placeholder.

If this is actually coming, it would appear to be a follow up to 2007's Academy book Collision Course (and curiously not the previously cancelled sequel Trial Run, or at least not the same title).


Meanwhile another author, Christopher L. Bennett, was recently on his local radio station, Cincinnati Public Radio, talking about his work, and talked briefly about his own upcoming book, The Captain's Oath, giving us the first setting details of that TOS novel, which is due for release in May:

There was a brief, very very brief mention, in one of the pilot episodes, or one of the first episodes they made, of the command that Captain Kirk had before the starship Enterprise, and the book from 1968, The Making of Star Trek [...] it said that Kirk's first command was a destroyer equivalent, meaning a smaller ship than the Enterprise, which was sort of the equivalent of a really big carrier or battlecruiser sort of thing. And we've seen nothing onscreen, what's called the canon, about that earlier command, and it's hardly ever been explored in books, so wanted to really get into that, what Kirk did before the Enterprise.

Finally, all of the formally announced new novels for 2019 have now been confirmed to get CD releases of the audiobook editions, from Blackstone Audio, as well as the usual download option - With Dayton Ward's Available Light, Christopher L. Bennett's The Captain's Oath. and Greg Cox's The Antares Maelstrom, all now scheduled for simultaneous releases with the print editions of the books.


To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the prose or books buttons on my 2019 schedule page. You can also find series reading lists and author bibliographies on my dedicated Star Trek lists site.