New Discovery novel explores Pike's Enterprise, plus new TOS covers

It's a big novel news day! Online listings have revealed a new Discovery book on the schedule, and new covers and blurbs for forthcoming TOS books. Continue below for all the latest.

So first up, we have a brand new addition to this year's publication schedule, only the fifth so far confirmed for 2019, and incidentally also the fifth Discovery novel so far. Coming in July will be John Jackson Miller's The Enterprise War - So far this is only listed on Simon and Schuster's online catalogue, but I'm sure pre-orders will be up soon enough. UPDATE: Now available for pre-order.

This appears to be a prequel to season two, explaining, as has been alluded to in cast and crew interviews, what the Enterprise was up to during, and away from, the Klingon war

UPDATE: And the author describes it is just that: "telling where the ship was and what it was doing during the Klingon War"

A shattered ship, a divided crew—trapped in the infernal nightmare of conflict!

Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another—with not just the Enterprise, but her crew as the spoils of war.

Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew—all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test…with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome….

I am a big Captain Pike fan, so very happy to see this coming. John Jackson Miller, pleeeeease include some of the Early Voyages comics characters!

We also have new covers for two of the other novels coming this year: In May we have Christopher L. Bennett's The Captain's Oath, which is set to explore Captain Kirk's first command, before he took over the Enterprise (from Pike of course). We have both the first cover and blurb for this title:

The saga of James T. Kirk’s historic command of the U.S.S. Enterprise is known throughout the galaxy. But one part of the legend has barely been touched upon until now: the story of Kirk’s first starship command and the remarkable achievements by which Starfleet’s youngest captain earned the right to succeed Christopher Pike as the commander of the famous Enterprise. From his early battles with the Klingons to the rescue of endangered civilizations, Kirk grapples with difficult questions: Is he a warrior or a peacemaker? Should he obey regulations or trust his instincts? This thrilling novel illustrates the events and choices that would shape James T. Kirk into one of the most renowned captains in Starfleet history.

UPDATE: Christopher L. Bennett has posted some extra details on his blog now, including revealing the framing story will depict Kirk first mission in command of the Enterprise, while the main body will cover several years of his previous command:

I was more interested in exploring things we didn’t already know about Kirk’s early career and how it shaped him into the captain we knew. This is a somewhat episodic novel covering several years, so it features a number of different missions and adventures of the fledgling Captain Kirk and his “forgotten” ship and crew.

He also revealed the cover artist for this book is Stephan Martiniere.


Then in August Greg Cox is bring us a five year mission era book, The Antares Maelstrom, which we also have a new cover for (and a reminder of the blurb below too):

The final frontier erupts into chaos as vast quantities of a rare energy source are discovered beneath the surface of Baldur-3, a remote planet beyond the outer fringes of Federation space. Now an old-fashioned “gold rush” is underway as a flood of would-be prospectors, from countless worlds and species, races toward the planet to stake their claim. The galactic stampede threatens the stability of neighboring planets and space stations, as widespread strife and sabotage and all-around pandemonium result in a desperate need for Starfleet assistance. Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise are dispatched to deal with the escalating crisis…which lies on the other side of a famously perilous region of space known as the Antares Maelstrom.

To keep track of all the latest releases, including all this year's confirmed titles, and notes on hinted at possible 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.