Literary Treks: A Star Trek Books and Comics Podcast

The War of the Prophets. Trapped 25 years in the future, the crew of the U.S.S. Defiant is faced with a future that is nearly unrecognizable. Only days away from Armageddon, the galaxy stands on a knife's edge. On one side, the Bajoran Ascendancy: a cult-like theocracy led by the Emissary of the "True Prophets": Weyoun. On the other, the remnants of a Federation nearly brought to its knees. In the...

Robert Greenberger: A Time to Hate. The situation on Delta Sigma IV continues to deteriorate. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E must find a way to stop the violence and introduce a cure that will set the warring people back on the path of peace. Meanwhile, Riker tracks down his father and learns the terrible truth behind the problems facing the once-peaceful world. Is the Fe...

The Fall of Terok Nor. Mysterious events are taking place on Deep Space Nine: Quark is accused of murdering a visiting Andorian, Jake and Nog reveal a mysterious, hidden holosuite deep in the bowels of the station, and a fearsome Cardassian scientist arrives for sinister purposes. All of these events relate to a mystery that has lain dormant since the withdrawal of the Cardassian forces from DS9 f...

Diplomatic Implausibility. At the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Worf traded his life as a Starfleet officer for a career as a Federation diplomat. While some aspects of that life are similar to the years he spent in service to Starfleet, there are many new challenges and attitudes to overcome. When a rebellion on a Klingon-controlled planet threatens to involve the Federation, it's up to Worf...

A Time to Love. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise continue to deal with the fallout from their disastrous mission at the Rashanar battle site, a new crisis threatens to unravel the civilization on an alien colony. A murder has been committed in a society that has known nothing but peace for a century, and at the center of it all: Kyle Riker, Commander William Riker's father...

The Farther Shore. A Borg virus slowly spreads all around the Earth. A full-scale holographic rebellion is bringing the service industry to its knees. And in the middle of it all: Admiral Kathryn Janeway and the former crew of the U.S.S. Voyager. With Seven of Nine, Icheb, and The Doctor incarcerated by Starfleet, it's up to their former shipmates to set them free and get to the bottom of the myst...

Homecoming. In May of 2001, the Starship Voyager took her final on-screen voyage as Captain Janeway ordered her crew to "set a course... for home." Voyager had finally made it back to Earth after seven seasons in the Delta Quadrant, cut off from the Federation and their families. However, many viewers felt that the ending to Voyager was too abrupt. What about family reunions? What would happen to...

A Time to Harvest. The situation in the Dokallan system is deteriorating rapidly. As Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise attempt to normalize relations with the Dokallans, sinister forces are working behind the scenes to undermine their efforts and subvert the Dokallans' terraforming operations to their own purposes. It will take all of the effort of Picard and his crew to turn the table...

Surak's Soul. Subcommander T'Pol, on a landing party to the planet Oan whose population has almost completely been wiped out, inadvertently causes the death of the last survivor of the Oani race. Disturbed by her actions, she decides to adopt a strict interpretation of Surak's doctrine of complete non-violence, refusing to wear a sidearm or use the ship's weaponry, even in defense. But when the sh...

Phil Farrand: The Nitpicker's Guides. Many people think of nitpicking as a disrespectful act. If you enjoy a show, why pick it apart? I, however, would contend that if you love someone, it is actually a compassionate act to tell them about the dab of mustard on their upper lip! Such is the idea behind the Nitpicker's Guides, books that attempted to catalog and describe each and every error in a nu...

A Time to Sow. Morale aboard the Enterprise has been dealt a serious blow. The incident at the Rashanar battle site has left a definite stain on the career of Jean-Luc Picard, and he and his crew can't help but feel that their latest assignment is designed to get them off the radar for the time being. However, their mission to investigate a centuries-old distress call may be more intriguing than S...

James Swallow: Fear Itself. For many fans, the breakout character of Star Trek: Discovery has been Saru, the Kelpien science officer aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou. Kelpiens are a prey species, driven by instinct to heed their natural fear response and be hyper-alert to any danger present in their surroundings. Saru is no exception to this, and when a rescue mission begins to spiral out of control, he...

The Root of All Rage. Across the Alpha Quadrant, opinion is turning against the Renao. A terrorist group, The Purifying Flame, is responsible for the destruction of starbases and colonies in the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and now the Empire screams for blood. It's up to the crews of the U.S.S. Prometheus and the I.K.S. Bortas to investigate and bring The Purifying Flame to justice, but can...

Through the Mirror. In the dreaded Mirror Universe, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the fearsome I.S.S. Enterprise plot to raid our universe for valuable plunder to fuel the ever-expanding war machine of the Terran Empire. Unbeknownst to the Enterprise crew in the Prime Universe, infiltration of Starfleet by Mirror-Picard and his crew has already begun... In this episode of Literary Tr...

A Time to Die. Captain Picard relieved of command and under psychiatric care. The Enterprise in mortal danger. A "Traveler," scared to use his power, but knowing that he must in order to save his friends from another life. And a strange, other-worldly threat prowls the site of the deadliest battle of the Dominion War, with seemingly nothing able to stop it. Can Wesley Crusher once again do what he...

How Much for Just the Planet? Star Trek is no stranger to absurdity. "The Trouble with Tribbles," "I, Mudd," and "A Piece of the Action" are probably the most notable instances, however, it's fair to say that Star Trek has never been quite this off-the-wall! With characters bursting into song at the drop of a hat and over-the-top physical gags including an epic pie fight and a Klingon captain gett...

Fallen Heroes. Deep Space Nine under siege! A seemingly indestructible and implacable foe is tearing through DS9 deck-by-deck, destroying everyone in their path. Salvation will come from an unlikely place, however, and it is up to Quark and Odo to work together to solve the mystery and save the station! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther are joined by guest host...

A Time to Be Born. In 2004, Pocket Books undertook an ambitious project: a nine-book series that bridged the gap between the films Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis. Dubbed the "A Time To..." series, the nine novels have titles that will be familiar to readers of the Ecclesiastes book of the Old Testament, or those who know the pop hit by The Byrds, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Good luck getti...

Collision Course. James T. Kirk. He has crossed the galaxy, fought Klingons, Romulans, and Borg, and lived through more than anyone ever thought possible. But how did this remarkable Starfleet captain get his start? While the story of his academy years has been told in a number of different stories, never before have we seen his young life from the perspective of the man who played him: William Sh...

Dark Mirror. In the year 2267, four Starfleet officers found themselves trapped in a strange alternate universe, a dark and deadly mirror of their own reality. There, a brutal empire ruled in place of the Federation, and advancement came through deceit and murder. Now, a century later, the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves pulled into that same mirror reality, and this time they must work t...

Kirsten Beyer: Architects of Infinity. A strange planet with an enticing mystery is also the perfect destination for shore leave for the Full Circle fleet led by the U.S.S. Voyager. However, the mission to investigate this mysterious world may uncover a force that has the power to completely overwhelm the crews of the four Federation starships that comprise the fleet. Will the unintended consequen...

Last Full Measure. In the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, fans were faced with a tragedy: the death of Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker, a fan-favorite character. However, because the episode took place as a holodeck simulation, there was some leeway to interpret those events differently. Enter authors Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, who took that idea and ran with it, seeding the hints...

Captain's Glory. Since his resurrection thanks to the Borg in the novel The Return, James T. Kirk has embarked on many adventures in the 24th century, often alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise. However, all good things must come to an end. Kirk faces his most dangerous enemy yet and fights for all he holds dear: his family. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruc...

Dayton Ward: Drastic Measures. Tarsus IV: A name that will live in infamy throughout the Federation. The site of a horrific crime perpetrated on its population: the cold-blooded killing of four thousand colonists, fully half of the population of that distant world. For Lt. Commander Gabriel Lorca, this event has a deeply personal connection, and he will not rest until he has brought the criminal K...

Spock's World. Vulcan: more than any other fictional world within the Star Trek universe, this desert planet has captured the imaginations of Trek fans since we caught our first glimpse of it in the Original Series episode "Amok Time." We know a lot about Vulcans through Spock, Sarek, and the handful of other Vulcans we have met in Trek over the years, but what are the people of that world really...