Literary Treks: A Star Trek Books and Comics Podcast

Captain's Blood. In front of a crowd of thousands of Romulans, Ambassador Spock is apparently killed in a terrorist bombing. Captain James T. Kirk, retired, is enlisted by Starfleet to lead a team to Romulus to investigate. However, not all may be as it seems, and this particular mission will have consequences that stretch throughout the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, and with a very personal connectio...

David R. George III: The 34th Rule. Deep Space Nine was known for, among other things, the quality of its writing and the depth of its characters. The care that the writers put into developing each character along with the obvious passion the actors themselves had for the roles made the character development on DS9 second to none. With that in mind, what better way could there be to explore a char...

The Gold Key Archives Vol. 4, Part 2. The voyages of the Starship Enterprise continue as the valiant crew faces off against exotic stellar phenomena, emotionally-stunted geniuses, and corrupt Starfleet officials who aim to ruin Kirk's career! That's right: it's a return to the bizarre other-world of the Gold Key comics! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson review t...

Captain's Peril. Saving the galaxy on a regular basis is pretty tiring work, and for Starfleet's finest, rest and relaxation is important. But when two legendary Starfleet captains decide to take a vacation on Bajor, it isn't long before another crisis arises, and it's up to Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard to once again save the day. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce...

The Final Reflection. The Klingons: No other species in Star Trek has gone through so many changes over the years as this race of warriors. In 1984, author John M. Ford set out to write the definitive book about Klingon society, and while Trek canon has gone in a completely different direction since, The Final Reflection still strikes a chord with many Trek fans with its close examination of an al...

Gold Key Archives Vol. 4, Part 1. From haunted asteroids to weird cyborg mummies, the Star Trek Gold Key comics are certainly very different from your normal, everyday Trek. However, these oddball comics are loved by many fans, and it can be a lot of fun to take a peek back at the Trek that might have been, as envisioned by comic book writers and artists in the 60s and 70s. In this episode of Lite...

Prometheus: Fire with Fire. Terrorist attacks are rocking the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and the U.S.S. Prometheus teams up with the I.K.S. Bortas to investigate. However, as the investigation progresses, not all is as it seems. Are the attacks the actions of a small, militant religious group, the result of covert actions by the Typhon Pact, or something even more sinister and deadly? In t...

David Mack: Fortune of War. The Husnock: described as beings of "hideous intelligence," this sprawling empire represented a surprise threat to the United Federation of Planets in the 24th century. However, the inevitable invasion never arrived due to the fact that the entire species was wiped out by an incredibly powerful and enraged entity, a Douwd who went by the name of Kevin Uxbridge. Now, all...

Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann: I, The Constable. Quark is the kind of Ferengi that can smell profit on the wind, and when his tavern-magnate uncle passes away, he detects just such an opportunity! However, in the pursuit of his newfound potential profit, Quark gets caught up in a web of crime and intrigue, and it's up to Odo to don his constable's uniform and save the day. Along the way, he...

Literary Treks 211: Team Garak! A Stitch in Time. One of the things that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is lauded for is the huge variety of compelling secondary characters that the show introduced. Many Niners would agree that the best of these was the enigmatic Cardassian tailor, Garak, brought to life by the supremely talented actor, Andrew J. Robinson. Encouraged to publish the life story of Garak...

Echoes. For every action we take, there are multiple possibilities. And for each of those possibilities, a new universe is born, with each decision branching off into infinite parallel worlds, each of them subtly different from all of the rest. Captain Janeway and the crew of Voyager come across one world where the barriers between these universes are coming down: every two and a half hours, a doo...

David A. Goodman: The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard. Jean-Luc Picard: Son, brother, explorer, captain, negotiator, hero. The public perception of this great figure from future history is certainly well known: both his numerous triumphs and his public tragedies. But what made him the great man that shaped so much of what the Federation is today? From his formative years on the family vineyard in...

Ethan Siegel: Treknology. Ever since Star Trek first hit television screens in 1966, audiences have been fascinated by the amazing technologies that are a part of every day life in the 23rd century. Over the past 51 years, Trek fans have imagined what it would be like to transport instantaneously from one place to another, have any kind of food or material replicated with a simple voice command, o...

David R. George III: Original Sin. Benjamin Sisko has inhabited many roles in his life: husband, Emissary, and Starfleet Captain. But when a terrifying alien force attacks the USS Robinson and abducts 87 children, including Sisko's daughter Rebecca, his role as her father threatens to overwhelm all of the others, especially since this incident mirrors the kidnapping of Rebecca as a toddler six yea...

David Mack: Desperate Hours. A new Star Trek series is a huge deal to Trek fandom. It's a pretty rare occurrence, and what's even rarer is a first novel that looks and feels anything like the actual show! But thanks to Discovery writer and tie-in guru Kirsten Beyer, the novels and the show are linked together like never before, and we as fans get to read about the adventures of Discovery at almost...

Sarek. Vulcan Ambassador. Wife to Amanda. Father of Spock and Sybok. Guardian of Michael Burnham. Sarek has been many things during his long life, and few secondary characters have had the impact on the Star Trek universe that he has. But what are the innermost thoughts of this quiet, reserved character? And how will he respond to a crisis that may tear apart one of the founding worlds of the Fede...

Mudd In Your Eye. Harcourt Fenton Mudd: liar, thief, brigand, and frequent thorn in the side of Starfleet captain James T. Kirk. Most who encounter this man would say he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. However, could it be possible that Mudd is now the architect of an unprecedented peace treaty between warring factions who have been fighting for millennia? In this episode of Literary Treks,...

Patterns of Interference. The Prime Directive: The cornerstone of Federation law when it comes to interacting with other cultures. How did this important directive come into being, and what were the intentions of the original authors of Starfleet's overriding policy? We journey back to the early days of the Federation to find out! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibs...

Scott Mantz: Star Trek Fotonovels. Before VCRs, DVRs and Netflix, viewers had to watch Star Trek as it appeared on TV. There were no options to record. You couldn't buy the episodes on Blu-ray or download them online. To relive favorite episodes, fans were at the mercy of watching reruns on their local TV station. The only way to enjoy certain episodes over and over again on your own time was to o...

Q-Strike. A powerful force has been unleashed on an unsuspecting galaxy: a dangerous being who once tested the might of the entire Q Continuum. Now, it's up to Picard and his crew, along with Q and his family, to thwart this enemy and keep the galaxy as we know it from complete and utter destruction. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther are again joined by The Edge...

Dayton Ward: Hidden Universe Travel Guide: The Klingon Empire. Sunscreen? Check. Klingon etiquette guide? Check. Marc Okrand's Klingon Dictionary? Check. You're all set for your ultimate vacation to the Klingon homeworld! There's just one more book you should remember to bring in order to make your holiday an honorable one... In this milestone episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce...

Preserver. What if our actions are not our own? What if all of us are merely pawns in a universe-spanning game, controlled by vastly older races with agendas and motivations that remain obscured? How would we know? And, most importantly, how would the mighty Captain Kirk deal with them? In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson talk about the Shatnerverse novel Preserve...

Q-Zone. As the Enterprise holds her own against a swarm of energy creatures determined to keep the crew from completing their mission, Q leads Picard on a journey through his past, where a force even greater than Q and with an even wider cruel streak wreaks havoc on the galaxy. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther are joined once again by Earl Grey's Amy Nelson to...

Enigma Tales: Una McCormack. Garak has gone from spy to revolutionary to ambassador to castellan of the Cardassian Union in just a few short years. In that time, Cardassia has changed immensely. But the people of Cardassia still share a lot of guilt, and ghosts of the past may be rising again to ruin the lives of some of Cardassia's finest. Now, it is up to Dr. Kate Pulaski to discover the truth b...

Shield of the Gods. The Department of Temporal Investigations is responsible for maintaining the timeline, preventing galaxy-ending paradoxes, and stopping temporal criminals. Their track record for meeting these goals has been put in jeopardy by a criminal named Daiyar who intends to use an item stolen from the DTI's vault to change history, and it's up to the agents to put an end to her scheme....