"Best Destiny" by Diane Carey (Pocket Books, 1993). "A beautiful imagining of Kirk's childhood and how it shaped him to love the stars."
"Spock's World" by Diane Duane (Pocket Books, 1988). "If Mr. Spock is your favorite character, this is amust read. The relationship he forges with Dr. McCoy finally gets the nuanced treatment it deserves."
"Prime Directive" by Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens (Pocket Books, 1990). "One of the best incarnations of the original bridge crew, with every character given equal consideration and full development, against the backdrop of a real-deal science fiction story."
"Ex Machina" by Christopher L. Bennett (Pocket Books, 2004) "A great example of how a 'Trek' novel can fit within 'canon' while existing between the movies we love."
Spock’s World sounds like slashy fanfic. w00t!
I had the good fortune of reading “Prime Directive” recently. It was the first book in a while that really captivated me. All the while I kept thinking, “Why wasn’t THIS “The Motion Picture”?
I have the book “Strangers From the Sky” by Margaret Wander Bonanno (1987, re-release 2006) which tells the epic “true” story of the first contact made with the Vulcans. I re-read this book about once a year and have long wished it could have been made into a movie.
I have to humbly disagree with the choice of Ex Machina, and I just finished reading it last month. It tries to fit in well as a companion piece to the first film while doing a retun tie in to an episodic story. It reads like a trekkie nerd’s (as oppossed to a regular trekie)delight. Long conversations that have nothing really to do with the story or the character development; dialogue from certain regular characters that does not sound like dialogue from them from any other show-film-book. And just an all around baaaad story. In my humble opinion…skip it.
You mean some people can name favorites?! But I was most partial to Uhura’s Song (and the Prime Directive and The Kobayashi Maru and…) I’ve heard great things about Margaret Wander Bonanno’s “Strangers from the Sky,” and I’m glad she’s writing ST again.
For a big TV Crossover fan like myself, the choice would be “Ishmael” by Barbara Hambly. It combined ‘Star Trek’ with ‘Here Come The Brides’, with veiled nods to other Westerns like ‘Have Gun, Will Travel’, ‘Maverick’, and I think ‘Bonanza’ and/or ‘The Big Valley’.
I should dig that one out and give it a re-read….
Funny, I could have sworn Kurtzman and Orci stated they were NON-Trek fans, just like director Abrams.
I loved all the choices except Spock’s World. I enjoy Carey’s work, but just couldn’t get into the Spock-only novels. BTW, Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens are my favorite Trek authors, with Peter David being a close second. Two totally different styles though. The Reeves-Stevens novels are rich and detailed with Trek lore — even the ones they wrote with (cough, cough) Shatner — while the David books are fast-paced with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor.