Literary Treks: A Star Trek Books and Comics Podcast

Q-Space. When Q appears on the bridge of the Enterprise-E to stop a scientific experiment, Picard is understandably annoyed. Defying Q, the Enterprise presses on in its attempt to breach the galactic barrier that surrounds the Milky Way. However, they may be in over their heads as cosmic forces collide that may spell doom for the crew of the Enterprise and the rest of the galaxy! In this episode o...

Ghost Ship. On Literary Treks, we have reviewed the first original novel of each of the Star Trek series. Now it's time for our attention to turn to The Next Generation, and a very unique novel that shows us a take on TNG that was written with very little of the actual show to work with. Is the story representative of what we would come to know from the crew of the Enterprise-D, or is it a pale re...

Hearts and Minds. Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise encounter an alien world with a dark link to Earth's past. When the captain and his away team are arrested for crimes supposedly committed by a sinister agency in the 21st century, it's up to them to discover the truth about what happened. Did travellers from Earth cause millions of deaths on a planet hundreds of light-years away? In...

Doctor's Orders. For a ship's surgeon, Dr. McCoy tends to spend an awful lot of time on the bridge of the Enterprise, usually grousing to Captain Kirk about his command decisions. The tables are turned on the good doctor when Kirk decides to leave him in command while visiting an alien world. However, when Captain Kirk disappears, McCoy must remain in command until he is found. Will the doctor fin...

The Entropy Effect. When Captain Kirk is killed in a vicious attack, Spock must navigate his way through an impossible time-bending paradox to get to the bottom of the mystery of what happened. However, it is not only Captain Kirk's life that hangs in the balance, but the fate of the entire universe! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson are joined once again by Bra...

Q-Squared. During the original five-year mission, Captain Kirk and his crew found themselves at the mercy of a seemingly-omnipotent being: Trelane. Discovering that he was merely an out-of-control child, Trelane was corralled by his parents, members of the Q Continuum. However, he has now returned to exact vengeance on a new generation... In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Br...

Enemy Unseen, Part 2. 100 years earlier, a malevolent entity that feeds on fear threatened the crew of the Enterprise under Captain Kirk and framed Scotty for murder. At the time, Redjac, also known as Jack the Ripper, was thought to have been banished for all eternity. However, he has returned to terrorize the crew of another Enterprise! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Br...

Dark Victory. James T. Kirk has faced many enemies over the course of his life: Klingons, Khan, Romulans, and countless others. However, none of them will prove as worthy an opponent as his most dreaded enemy: himself! The mirror universe shows us dark reflections of ourselves, and Kirk's counterpart, Tiberius, is the deadliest of them all! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and...

The Escape. Time travel has been covered a lot in Star Trek. Starfleet characters often find themselves thrown about the space-time continuum, usually in some sort of unintended accident. But what if there was a society out there whose entire civilization was based on controlled and regulated time travel? Torres, Neelix, and Kim find themselves at the mercy of just such a society, having inadverte...

Section 31: Control: David Mack. Section 31: The Federation's dirty little secret. Amoral, operating in the shadows, and accountable to no one, the secretive group has become a cancer in the body of the Federation. But what are Section 31's true origins? And can Julian Bashir finally succeed in bringing them down once and for all? In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibs...

Enemy Unseen: Perchance to Dream. Captain Picard and the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise must stop a political assassination by extremists on a newly-admitted Federation world, all while battling their own inner demons thanks to a terrifying telepathic weapon. And the key to defeating that weapon can be found in the most unlikely place: the mind of Jean-Luc Picard! In this week's episode...

By the Book. Season one of Enterprise was a unique time in Star Trek history: for the first time, humans were setting out to explore the galaxy and make first contact with new alien species. Would they jump in with both feet, introducing themselves and their technology with little regard for the consequences, or would they take the slow, measured approach favored by the Vulcans? In this week's epi...

The Long Mirage: David R. George III. We once again return to everyone's favorite space station, Deep Space Nine! Kira has returned from her time in the celestial temple, Morn is still missing, and Nog wants his friend Vic Fontaine back. All of these stories end up tied together in ways you couldn't possibly imagine! In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson are joined...

Star Trek: Countdown. When the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek film hit theaters in 2009, audiences were left with a lot of questions: who is this Nero guy? Why does he have a super-powerful mining ship? And what exactly happened before he and Spock travelled to the 23rd century via black hole? Thankfully, those questions and more were answered if you were fortunate enough to read some well-timed IDW St...

The Siege. In 1993, a new Star Trek series hit the airwaves: Deep Space Nine, a darker, grittier Trek set aboard space station. Like every new Star Trek series, a line of original novels was produced by Pocket Books, and the first book in that series would be penned by none other than Trek literary legend, Peter David. In this episode of Literary Treks, Dan Gunther, Bruce Gibson, and special guest...

Headlong Flight: Dayton Ward. A long term mission of exploration far beyond the boundaries of the Federation has yielded many surprising discoveries, but none more surprising than the crew of the Enterprise-E crossing not only temporal boundaries, but dimensional ones as well. In the latest TNG novel, generations and realities collide as the crew of the Enterprise-E meets the crew of an alternate...

Star Trek IDW Comics: Sarah Gaydos & Mike Johnson. As fans, we get our Star Trek fix in many different forms: television, film, novels, and comics. And no comic publisher has been quite so prolific as IDW when it comes to publishing Star Trek stories! Waypoint, Ongoing, Boldly Go, New Visions, and Stranger Worlds are just a few of the titles that IDW publishes on a regular basis. In this episode o...

Spectre. Captain James T. Kirk: a name that has blazed across the quadrant for over a hundred years, shaping political events and influencing hundreds of worlds. However, his influence is not limited merely to our universe. During his first five-year mission, Kirk convinced Spock from the Mirror Universe to rebel against the evil Terran Empire, and the consequences of that action have now caught u...

The Mirror Universe Saga. The mirror universe: an alternate reality where humans value treachery, personal gain, and avarice over friendship, community, and shared triumph. A place where history has crafted a very different Starfleet made up of vicious, brutal barbarians bent on galactic conquest. Can our heroes overcome an all-out war with their evil counterparts from this horrific universe? In t...

The Roddenberry Vault: Micheal and Denise Okuda. The 50th anniversary of Star Trek has been a year of celebration of the franchise we all love. What better way to celebrate our favorite science fiction universe than to get glimpses of it that have never been seen before? The discovery of long-lost footage of Star Trek: The Original Series by Trek veterans Michael and Denise Okuda has made this pos...

The Face of the Unknown. When "The Corbomite Maneuver" first aired in 1966, it introduced a number of concepts that became inextricably linked with Star Trek: the wonder of exploration, courage in the face of fear, and the idea that not everything is as it seems. Someone who appears to be an implacable enemy might just turn out to be a friend. This week, we look at a new novel that serves as a seq...

Prime Directive. There are a few books in the history of Star Trek literature that could be considered "essential reading." Books that capture the essence of Star Trek, and showcase the very best of what makes Star Trek great. The subject of this weeks episode is one such book, and it highlights one of the longest-running philosophical debates in the Star Trek universe. In this last episode of Lit...

The Hall of Heroes: John Jackson Miller. Qapla'! The 50th anniversary of Star Trek is a time for celebration and revelry! And what better way to celebrate than with an epic three-part story featuring the Federation's stalwart allies, the Klingon Empire? The crews of Enterprise, Titan, and Aventine come together to defend the Empire in a battle worthy of story and song! In this episode of Literary...

Gold Key VOL.3, Part 2. Shoot first and ask questions later! Blatant disregard for the prime directive! Spock waving to the crew and pretending to be a god! It can only mean one thing: once again we dive deep into the strange alternate reality of the Star Trek Gold Key comics! In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing, Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson talk about the second part of Gold K...

Best Destiny. Captain James T. Kirk: to many, the quintessential Starfleet hero. Courageous, selfless, and principled, the embodiment of Starfleet and the Federation's ideals. However, he wasn't always the hero we know and love. As a boy, Jimmy Kirk was on a path to a much different destiny. How did this troubled young man grow up to be the legend? Join us as we explore his humble beginnings in a...