Contest of Principles excerpts, and other Star Trek novel updates

The latest Star Trek novel release is Greg Cox's new TOS book, A Contest of Principles. As ever Simon and Schuster have released a selection of previews to give you a taste of the book. Continue below to check those out. But first a few other Star Trek novel updates:

New Simon and Schuster listings have revealed a new book on the schedule, currently known only as Untitled RE. This will be a Picard hardcover release, expected next August. The author is as yet unannounced.

Another listing has also been updated, Untitled STR has now been pushed back to December, from it's previous July slot. This is expected to be Revenant, a DS9 novel by new Star Trek author Alex White, which will feature Jadzia Dax and Kira Nerys.

One other new book update is that Christopher L. Bennett has mentioned on his blog he is currently working on a book. But no other details are available just yet.

Meanwhile the latest release is, as mentioned above, Greg Cox's A Contest of Principles. Here's a reminder of the blurb:

An epic new Star Trek saga by New York Times bestselling author Greg Cox set during the original five-year mission!

The planet Vok is holding its first free elections after years of oppressive military rule. Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise have been dispatched by Starfleet to serve as impartial observers, but remaining neutral proves a challenge, as Kirk confronts a tangled web of scandal, conspiracy, and assassination plots—with the stability of an entire sector at stake.

To make matters worse, Dr. Leonard McCoy has vanished while on a mission of mercy to Braco, a nearby planet only a system away. With Kirk unable to abandon his vital mission on Vok to hunt for his friend, it’s up to First Officer Spock and Christine Chapel to lead a team in search of the missing doctor, even if it means risking whatever fate befell McCoy.

Unknown to his friends and crewmates, however, McCoy has been spirited away to another world, Ozalor, where he’s expected to find a cure for a mysterious ailment plaguing a member of the planet’s ruling family. Torn between his Hippocratic oath and his desire to escape, McCoy finds himself at the center of deadly palace intrigues—and a struggle for power that may ultimately consume all three worlds!

And here thanks to the Kindle preview, is a look inside:

Better still though, here's a video of the ever charming narrator Robert Petkoff introducing the audiobook edition of the book:

And additionally here's an audio excerpt:

Finally one other related bit of news: It has recently been announced that ViacomCBS is to sell Simon and Schuster to Penguin Random House. Which means Gallery Books and Simon and Schuster Audio, the current Star Trek publishing imprints within Simon and Schuster will be changing ownership in the next year or so. At the moment Simon and Schuster is intended to carry on doing what it does, so this shouldn't have an impacts on Star Trek novels any time soon; but who knows what new ownership might mean down the line.

Order links for mentioned books:

Untitled RE, Picard novel by unknown.

Bookshop(ad), Amazon(ad).

Revenant, DS9 novel by Alex White.

Bookshop(ad), Amazon(ad).

A Contest of Principles, TOS TV-era novel, by Greg Cox.

Bookshop(ad), Amazon(ad), Ebay(ad).

To keep track of all the latest releases, hit the books button on my 2020 and 2021 schedule page. You can also find series reading lists and author bibliographies on my dedicated Star Trek lists site.