Literary Treks: A Star Trek Books and Comics Podcast

Abyss. "For every Julian Bashir that can be created, there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings." Those are the words of Starfleet Rear Admiral Bennett, and they highlight why the Federation is skiddish on genetic enhancement. But not everyone is so concerned about the risks—including Section 31. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones continue their look at th...

Khan Ruling In Hell. When Khan failed to take over the Enterprise in "Space Seed," he and his people were left behind to start a new life on Ceti Alpha V. The next time we met Khan he was out for vengeance against Kirk, angry over the death of his wife and the hardships he had endured on a world gone wrong. What happened in between has been left a mystery—at least on screen. In this episode of Lit...

Emmett Plant. Planning a trip to Qo'noS? Marrying into a warrior family? If so, you won't want to miss this episode of  Literary Treks  in which we're joined by Emmett Plant to learn how to speak Klingon. Alright, we won't actually be learning many Klingon phrases—that's what the book is for—but we  will  be learning how this new book,  How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic...

Voyager Comics. It's Kirk, Spock, and Uhura—of the Abrams variety—who get all the Star Trek comic attention these days. But there is a wealth of material out there for fans of other parts of the franchise. If you're looking for some illustrated adventures of Captain Janeway and her crew, IDW's collection of four past Wildstorm  Voyager  titles is a good place to start. In this episode of Literary...

Greg Cox. A lifelong Star Trek fan and prolific author of franchise tie-in fiction, Greg Cox penned his first Star Trek novel in 1995. Devil In the Sky, a numbered DS9 book written together with John Gregory Betancourt, marked the beginning of a long stream of fan-favourites spanning nearly two decades. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined by Greg to talk about his new TOS novel The Weig...

James Swallow: The Stuff of Dreams. It all started years ago with an idea revolving around that unusual spatial anomoly in Generations. It ended with the commissioning of a Next Generation novella called The Stuff of Dreams. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined by James Swallow to talk about his new story that centers on Captain Jean-Luc Picard and goes a long way—in just 94 pages—toward...

Tony Daniel: Devil's Bargain. With the complexity of today's expanded universe, it's refreshing to pick up a standalone TOS novel from time to time; and that's just what renowned SF author Tony Daniel has given us in his new book Devil's Bargain. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined by Tony to talk about his first venture into writing Star Trek, the unique story he set out to tell, and w...

Avatar, Book Two. S.D. Perry set up the continuation of Deep Space Nine beautifully in the first part of the Avatar duology, but the real payoff comes in book two. On the final pages of the first half we were left with a cliffhanger that threatened to renew hostilities between the Federation and the Dominion. In this episode of Literary Treks we conclude our look at the start of Pocket Books' rela...

Divided We Fall. The idea of a crossover between different Star Trek series is something that appeals to many fans. But to make it work it has to feel natural, and that's just what John D. Ordover and David Mack did in their 2001 comic crossover series Divided We Fall. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing take an in-depth look at the four-part series from W...

David R. George III. Beginning with the Voyager episode "Prime Factors," David R. George III has become a key contributor to Star Trek lore over the course of nearly two decades. His first literary foray also had a TV connection as he penned the DS9 novel The 34th Rule together with Armin Shimerman in 1999. Since then David has come to play a pivotal role in Trek's literary world with more than a...

Avatar, Book One. In the final scene of DS9 we saw Jake Sisko peering out of a window at the wormhole. As we pulled away from the station, so much had been resolved yet so much was left undone. The TV series had signed off, but the story didn't end there. In an unprecedented experiment, Pocket Books decided to continue a Star Trek series in book form with what is essentially the Deep Space Nine Se...

Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor. When we first saw Dr. McCoy in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he was rocking an amazing beard and an awesome medallion that left us wondering what he'd been up to since we last saw him in "Turnabout Intruder." In this episode of Literary Treks we reel in those missing years as we explore all four issues of John Byrne's comic series Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor. In...

David A. Goodman. Despite more than 700 hours of television and films, there is still so much we don't know about how the Federation came to be. That's why CBS asked David A. Goodman to write the records that future historians will rely upon when tracing mankind's long road to the stars. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined by David to talk about the genesis of the project and what went...

Countdown to Darkness #1 and Star Trek Ongoing. As with the 2009 film, J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot—together with IDW—are utilizing the comics to deliver the background to what will take place on the big screen. After months of speculation, the first issue of Countdown to Darkness brings us a well-written story that starts to make a small bit of sense out of what we've seen in the trailers. And then...

David Mack. No one has shaken up the Star Trek universe quite like David Mack. His contributions to the miniseries "A Time to..." helped bridge the gap between Insurrection and Nemesis, his Destiny series revealed the Alpha and the Omega of the Borg, and his latest work—Cold Equations—resurrects Data and sees the continuing transformation of Picard. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined b...

James Swallow. From Terok Nor to the Myriad Universe, from the bridge of the Titan to the aftermath of The Undiscovered Country, author James Swallow has played in many corners of the Star Trek universe. In this episode of Literary Treks we're joined by James to discuss what it's like to tell stories from the lost era of Deep Space Nine, why it's difficult to write Picard, what it takes to redeem...

Una McCormack. The complex storylines of  Deep Space Nine  are the perfect playground for Una McCormack, an author who carries a PhD in sociology into her approach to Star Trek. Beginning with the short story "Face Value" in the collection Prophecy and Change, Una has explored Cardassia, the repurcussions of "In the Pale Moonlight," and even played with Ezri Dax in the continuing Star Trek univers...

Keith R. A. DeCandido. Since the release of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers e-book  Fatal Error  in 2000, Keith R.A. DeCandido has become one of the most influential authors in the Star Trek literary universe. His hand can especially be seen in the development of the Klingons through the  I.K.S Gorkon  novels, the bridging of  Insurrection  and  Nemesis  in  A Time for War, A Time for Peace , and...

Kirsten Beyer. After Voyager completed its television run, the story of Captain Janeway and her crew was continued in literary form beginning with Christie Golden's Homecoming in 2003. The four novels from Golden took Voyager in new directions. But after the Spirit Walk duology, that continuing voyage appeared to have come to an end. Five years later, Kirsten Beyer picked up the baton with Full Ci...

Dayton Ward. The publication of David Mack's Storming Heaven in March 2012 marked the end of the Vanguard saga—or so we thought. As it turns out there's a little more to the story. It comes in the form of what author Dayton Ward calls "a coda"—just a little something extra for fans of this series that is set in the TOS time period. In this, the premiere episode of our books and comics show, we're...