Book bits: Agents of Influence excerpts, and new audiobook covers

Out this week is the newest TOS novel, Dayton Ward's Agents of Influence. Set in the five year mission era, this is a a Klingon focused espionage tale; the book features undercover Starfleet spies working in Klingon space. Continue below to check excerpts from the print and audio edition, plus some other book updates.

First, a reminder of the blurb:

An epic new Star Trek saga by New York Times bestselling author Dayton Ward set during the original Five-Year Mission!

For years, Starfleet Intelligence agents have carried out undercover assignments deep within the Klingon Empire. Surgically altered and rigorously trained in Klingon culture, they operate in plain sight and without any direct support, while collecting information and infiltrating the highest levels of imperial power. Their actions have given Starfleet valuable insight into the inner workings of Klingon government and its relentless military apparatus.

After three of Starfleet’s longest serving agents fear exposure, they initiate emergency extraction procedures. Their planned rendezvous with the USS Endeavour goes awry, threatening to reveal their activities and the damaging intelligence they’ve collected during their mission. Tasked by Starfleet to salvage the botched rescue attempt, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise must discover the truth behind a secret weapons experiment while avoiding an interstellar incident with the potential to ignite a new war between the Federation and one of its oldest adversaries.

Amazon's Kindle preview includes the first few chapters as a tease:



And Simon and Schuster Audio have also released an audio excerpt, from the audiobook read by Robert Petkoff:



Dayton Ward has also been interview by StarTrek.com about the book. He doesn't give a lot away, but does hint at the book reaching beyond TOS:

I’d like to think readers will like how I’ve managed to tie this story into the larger Star Trek framework, not just of The Original Series, but also other areas of the franchise, from the screen as well as other novels. I’ve added a few small new wrinkles to the established lore, but nothing which made my editors or CBS send their ninjas after me (you know…again). Yes, that’s right; they each have their own teams of ninjas they dispatch from time to time. It’s possible I wasn’t supposed to reveal that.

I introduce a few new Klingon characters, but savvy readers may recognize one or two from other Star Trek novels set in the same timeframe as this book.

Note the blurb mentions an appearance by the USS Endeavour, the Constitution class ship that featured in the Vanguard and Seekers series; this novel takes place a few months after the last Seekers book - There's life in the interconnected litverse yet peeps!


In other book news, a couple of updated audiobook covers have recently been revealed, which offer expanded versions of the cover art from the print versions.

Here's John Jackson Miller's Discovery novel Die Standing, which is due out next month, and the audio version will be read by January LaVoy. The book will focus mirror-Georgiou's new life starting out as a Section 31.

Then in August we have David Mack's More Beautiful Than Death, the much anticipated and much delayed Kelvin timeline novel featuring Sarek. Note this audiobook cover doesn't yet credit the narrator, who has not yet been announced, so I suspect this isn't the final cover:

The back-cover for the print version has also been revealed now, which seems to use the same or similar elements from the background of the cover image:

Order links for mentioned books:

Agents of Influence, TOS five-year-mission era novel by Dayton Ward.

Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes.

Die Standing, Discovery novel by John Jackson Miller.

Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes.

More Beautiful Than Death, Kelvin timeline novel, by David Mack

Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes.

To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the books button on my 2020 schedule page. You can also find series reading lists and author bibliographies on my dedicated Star Trek lists site.