which star trek novels are canon

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Which Star Trek Books Are Canon?

Star Trek books have been around for almost as long as the first TV series. But do any of them “count"?

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Imagine there’s no VHS tapes. I wonder if you can. For the earliest Trekkies, the ability to own your favorite episode of Star Trek wasn’t difficult, it was impossible. This meant that some other media was required to record the true logs of the USS Enterprise . Enter books. The most reliable data storage device in history, and the first and possibly best destiny for Star Trek merch . 

Since 1967, there have literally been hundreds of officially licensed Star Trek books published. The question is, if fans only care about “real” canon do any of the Star Trek books actually qualify as part of the “real” story of the Final Frontier.  The answer doesn’t fall into a simple binary. Star Trek books have been an integral part of the growth of the franchise since the very beginning. Here’s a quick and dirty guide to the mixed canonicity of the various Star Trek books.

A very brief history of Star Trek tie-in books.

In terms of U.S. book publishers of officially licensed Star Trek print fiction (excluding roleplaying games), there have really only been two publishers. First was Bantam, which published the very first novelizations of episodes from The Original Series . Written by James Blish, these books have a strange canonicity insofar as there are not really direct novelizations of TOS episodes. Instead, the Blish stories almost read like impressionistic notions of what Star Trek would be like if it existed as a series of 1950s short stories. This isn’t to say Blish’s novelizations are bad — they’re great! It’s just that they are very different from the aired episodes. Most of the time this is because Blish was working from early scripts, but even more often it was because just like the readers, it wasn’t like he was able to rewatch the episodes over and over again to make sure he got it “right.” In his version of “Arena,” the Gorn even has a tail! 

Blish also wrote the first “original” Star Trek novel, titled Spock Must Die! This refers to a transporter duplicate of Spock, who is created on accident during a long-range beaming gambit at the beginning of the novel. This novel slaps, even if it does open with a long conversation about the metaphysics of beaming in which nearly nobody sounds like they’re in character. In any case, the success of Blish’s novelizations and Spock Must Die! led to more original short story collections and novels. However, by the end of the 1970s, Bantam lost the license for Trek books, and it was subsequently snatched-up by Simon & Schuster, where it remains to this day.

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Are the post-Blish Star Trek novelizations canon?

In 1979, Pocket Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) began Trek fiction anew with the publication of the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , written by Gene Roddenberry. So, this counts as canon, right? It’s the novelization of The Motion Picture and it’s written by the Great Bird of the Galaxy himself.

Well… the novelization of The Motion Picture begins with a forward from Kirk himself, in which he makes all sorts of interesting claims. For one thing his middle name is Tiberius. This checks out— that’s canon! (Although the Tiberius thing wasn’t spoken aloud until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .) But, after Kirk’s intro, we also get a scene where Starfleet sends him signals straight into his brain via something called a “senceiver implant.” Basically, Kirk has a top-secret implant in his brain that lets him receive classified data—just downloaded straight in there, like cyberpunk style. Obviously, there is no reference to this brain implant in other Star Trek canon, which makes the one and only Trek novel written by Gene Roddenberry either a classified document, or mostly non-canon.

If you jump ahead to the David Gerrold novelization of Star Trek: The Next Generation premiere “Encounter at Farpoint,” you’ll discover that Jean-Luc Picard was getting over the death of a girlfriend named “Celeste” right before he took command of the Enterprise . Gerrold was on staff with TNG at the time, and of course, wrote “The Trouble With Tribbles.” But, it’s not like we’ve heard about Celeste in Jean-Luc’s other adventures. 

Star Trek books tend not to be holistically canon, but do seem to create canon .

Not only was Kirk’s middle name affirmed by Roddenberry’s TMP novel, but Sulu’s first name, Hikaru, also came from a Star Trek novel. 1981’s The Entropy Effect , written by Vonda N. McIntyre first established Sulu’s first name, which was later made canon on screen in The Undiscovered Country .

Similarly, another famous helm officer in Starfleet — Keyla Detmer — got her name from the Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours , written by David Mack and published two weeks after Discovery first aired. The name Keyla stuck, and as long as she’s on DISCO , she owes her moniker to a Star Trek novel. 

So which Star Trek books are canon?

According to longtime Trek novelist David Mack, “There is an official stance within Star Trek licensing and Star Trek publishing vis-a-vis the books’ relationship to canon.” It is as follows: 1) no Star Trek narrative tie-in, regardless of medium, is canon and 2) official Star Trek tie-in stories must be consistent with canon as it exists when the work is written and approved. That said, some Star Trek novels have helped create canon…

If you’re looking to find out which Star Trek books completely adhere to canon in the way the newer Star Wars books (supposedly) do , it’s kind of tough. That said, literally everything published since 2017 has been closely connected to what you’re seeing on the various new Star Trek TV shows. For example, remember that mysterious character “San” that Georgiou talked about in Season 3? ( Remember those scary, bloody flashbacks? ) Well, that character is mentioned in a recent Discovery novel Die Standing by John Jackson Miller, which, yes, was published before Season 3 aired. 

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Miller also wrote the book The Enterprise War , which reconciled what was going on with Pike and the Enterprise during the Klingon War in Discovery Season 1. This book also managed to fix a strange canon gap created by the novel Desperate Hour s in which Pike and the Enterprise teamed-up with the USS Shenzhou and Burnham before the events of Discovery . Basically, Burnham and Spock hung-out in Mack’s novel way before Discovery Season 2 happened. But, in Miller’s novel, all of that was fixed with a few lines. 

Picard: Countdown and the Discovery comics

Most hardcore Discovery and Picard fans probably know this, but writer Kirsten Beyer was a longtime Voyager novelist before joining the writing team of Discovery , and then, later, co-creating Picard . This means that nearly all the tie-in fiction she’s involved with that connects to the new shows has some whiff of legit canonicity to it. For example, Beyer was behind the Star Trek: Picard — Countdown comics, which were published in late 2019, right before Picard debuted. These comics give you a full background of what Raffi and Picard were doing during the evacuation of Romulan space, and also introduce the characters of Laris and Zhaban. Because their backstories are established in this comic, co-written by Beyer, it seems pretty legit to think that, yes, this all completely counts. Some of Beyer’s other comic stories like Discovery: Aftermath also feel pretty close to being actual canon. 

The history of defining canon [ ]

As Star Trek grew in both size and popularity in the 1980s, fans considered how to treat the ever-growing collection of episodes, films, novels , comics , reference works , and more.

In 1988 , Paramount Pictures removed Star Trek: The Animated Series (aired 1973 – 1974 ) from canon. However, the definition of Star Trek canon as encompassing all released TV series and films has been generally accepted since TAS was first released on DVD (with the explicit caveat included that "views expressed on the DVD didn't necessarily represent the studio's position"); the studio officially changed its removal of TAS from canon by listing the animated series as a part of established canon in its database at StarTrek.com . [2] (X) [3] (X) [4] (X) [5] (X)

In 2007 , CBS Consumer Products ' Senior Director of Product Development Paula Block was asked about the topic of Star Trek canon for IDW Publishing 's " Focus on... Star Trek " issue:

'Canon' in the sense that I use it is a very important tool. It only gets muddled when people try to incorporate licensed products into 'canon' – and I know a lot of the fans really like to do that. Sorry, guys – not trying to rain on your parade. There's a lot of bickering about it among fans, but in its purest sense, it's really pretty simple: Canon is Star Trek continuity as presented on TV and Movie screens. Licensed products like books and comics aren't part of that continuity, so they aren't canon. And that's that. Part of my job in licensing is to keep track of TV and Movie continuity, so I can help direct licensees in their creation of licensed products. It gets a little tricky because it's constantly evolving, and over the years, Star Trek 's various producers and scriptwriters haven't always kept track of/remembered/cared about what's come before. [6]

In 2012, executive producer, writer, and creative consultant Roberto Orci was asked by TrekMovie.com about canon regarding the then-upcoming Star Trek videogame as well as the tie-in comic books for which he had served as creative consultant and co-writer. [7]

TrekMovie.com: When I was at E3 I spoke to a VP from Paramount who said the upcoming  Star Trek movie game is canon from their perspective. So will you guys just wave the canon wand over the game, comic books and upcoming comic books that you are involved with?

Roberto Orci: Well I always say that I arrived in Star Trek where the rules of what is canon had already been established.

TrekMovie.com: Yes, but some of the exceptions were that extended universe things done by creators of filmed canon were also canon. My argument also is that in previous times there was a plethora of filmed material to fill out the canon of the prime universe. So the extended universe stuff was a little bit extra on the side. . . . [T]he difference with previous Trek is that you guys are overseeing all of this. These rules aren't written in stone from my perspective and I think a lot of fans would like to hear you say, "yes these are all the adventures of Kirk, Spock and the gang and it is all canon and all ties together into a single universe." Again, with the caveat that you reserve the right to contradict any of it in a future movie and that would trump. That's my pitch to you.

Roberto Orci: OK, based on that then with you Anthony Pascale as a witness, I hereby declare anything that we oversee to be canon.

This implies that the comics for which Roberto Orci had served as creative consultant were considered canon (such as Star Trek: Countdown ) as well as the video game . However, Orci later disputed the canonicity of the game, noting: " [I] said and have said exactly what you just said [that canon is limited to on-screen material] forever, but Pascale [TrekMovie.com editor] pushed me, he won't give up! [I] have said a million times that we cant (sic) determine what is canon. [O]n this day, [I] said something else. '[C]onsistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.' " [8]

Star Trek: very Short Treks is described in its trailer as "anything but canon". Nevertheless, it is an official Star Trek production, presented as a series of episodes. As such, it falls into the general definition of acceptable resources for Memory Alpha, but is labeled separately. For more details, please see our canon policy .

Non-canon [ ]

Licensed [ ].

A large body of licensed Star Trek works exists that, while approved for publication by Paramount , is not considered part of Star Trek canon. This includes most of the novels, comics, (computer) games , and older reference books such as the Star Fleet Technical Manual . Memory Alpha allows for the truncated covering of these sources under the " Apocrypha " heading within an article's appendices, thus separating this content from the canon-only sections of articles.

Over the years, background information from non-canon works has worked its way into canon Star Trek . These for example include not only the first names of Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura , but also James T. Kirk 's middle name "Tiberius" from The Animated Series when it was still considered non-canon. Remastered Star Trek also added further examples, such as the design of the non-canon 23rd century Starbase 47 being used for Starbase 6 , and the Constitution -class registries derived from Greg Jein 's article " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " written as a fan. One of the more remarkable transitions from apocrypha to canon concerned the inclusion of several Starfleet ship-classes originally created for the Star Trek Online computer game from Cryptic Studios in the second and third seasons of Star Trek: Picard .

Unlicensed [ ]

There is a large body of non-canon unlicensed work produced by amateur filmmakers. On paper, Paramount Global supports and encourages the creation of fan fiction and released a set of guidelines to avoid the licenser's objection against fan-produced Star Trek films. [9]

The recent growth of films and episodes produced by former Star Trek cast and crew has garnered much greater attention than traditional fan fiction. Projects that fall into this group include Star Trek: New Voyages , Star Trek: Of Gods and Men , Star Trek: Axanar , Star Trek Continues , and Star Trek: Renegades .

It is these projects, in particular, that have come under intense scrutiny from CBS with its new rules as the producers of both Axanar [10] and Renegades [11] experienced to their detriment in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

The participation of former Star Trek staff and the increasing production value sophistication of these projects notwithstanding, Memory Alpha consider these productions as fan-produced, therefore remaining outside the purview of this wiki.

See also [ ]

Internal links [ ].

• Retroactive continuity policy

External links [ ]

• Memory Beta – the wiki for licensed Star Trek works, both canon and non-canon, but excluding fan fiction
• Star Trek Expanded Universe – the wiki for documenting Star Trek fan fiction
• Memory Gamma – the wiki for writing Star Trek fan fiction
• What is Canon?  at Ex Astris Scientia
• Star Trek canon at Wikipedia
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein
• 3 John Paul Lona

What is Canon?

The term "canon" is occasionally referred to by the people who make Star Trek, and much more frequently by the fans and here at EAS. The usefulness of the canon is under permanent debate, as are the interpretations what has to be regarded as canonical and what not. This write-up attempts to clarify what canon actually is, why it exists, how we can handle moot cases and how the canon policy at EAS works.

Although the concepts are different (which becomes evident as soon as we're looking at more than one timeline), "canon" and "continuity" are often used interchangeably. Read also the separate article on The Continuities of Star Trek .

Definitions

General definition of canon.

The word "canon" has more than one meaning in the English language. Several definitions can be found on the disambiguation page at Wikipedia (see the latest version of "Canon" at Wikipedia). The following two are relevant for the assessment of the Star Trek canon:

• "A list of books accepted by an ecclesiastic communion as authoritative or divinely inspired. The term was originally Christian, referring to books declared divinely inspired by the canons of Church councils..."
• "In fiction, the officially authorized interpretation of characters and events. In fandom, the term is often used to distinguish between 'canonical' accounts (i.e. those authorized by the copyright holder) and those of fan fiction, sometimes called fanon ..."

As we can easily recognize, the word originally used for the "divinely inspired" literature of Christian churches has been adopted to denote the valid parts of a fiction. In this sense, canon stands for what we could find in the history books or other records of the fictional universe. Certainly the canonical fictional universe is not supposed to be as authoritative as the teachings of a church. Still, there are various similarities.

Side note "Canon" is a noun, the correct adjective would be "canonical". Yet, it has become quite common to use "canon" in the way of an adjective, such as in "It is canon that all Vulcans can meld their minds." This is how the word is often used here at EAS too, although "canonical" would be correct in this example.

Star Trek's canon

This is the practical explanation of canon as it could be found at the official Star Trek website until 2006:

"As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the real action series and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, the Animated Series and the various comic lines are not canon.

There are only a couple of exceptions of this rule: the Jeri Taylor penned novels 'Mosaic' and 'Pathways'. Many of the events in these two novels feature background details of the main Star Trek: Voyager characters. (Note: There are a few details from an episode of the Animated Adventures that have entered into the Star Trek canon. The episode 'Yesteryear', written by D.C. Fontana, features some biographical background of Spock.)"

Many of these positions, especially those concerning TAS and Jeri Taylor's novels, sound like they were arbitrarily made up and are debatable, as will be pointed out later. But the key statement is that only "events within the real action series" are canon. At least that much is generally accepted. Irrespective of any concerns of how they could possibly fit together, this definition of canon encompasses the live action TV shows (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard) and the feature films (classic and Abramsverse), all in the versions in which they were shown on TV or in the theaters, respectively.

Side note The notion that any books could be canonical is contested by professional writers posting at TrekBBS. Paramount's policy that Jeri Taylor's novels should be canon is said to be non-existent and may have been made up just for the fans.

From 2006 to 2010, the following more elaborate explanation could be found at startrek.com:

"As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the live-action episodes and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, video games, the Animated Series, and the various comic lines have traditionally not been considered part of the canon. But canon is not something set in stone; even events in some of the movies have been called into question as to whether they should be considered canon! Ultimately, the fans, the writers and the producers may all differ on what is considered canon and the very idea of what is canon has become more fluid, especially as there isn't a single voice or arbiter to decide. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was accustomed to making statements about canon, but even he was known to change his mind.

In the publishing world, there used to be two exceptions to the novel rule: the Jeri Taylor-penned books 'Mosaic' and 'Pathways.' Many of the events in these two novels feature background details of the main Star Trek: Voyager characters and were to be considered as references by writers on the show. Now that the show is over, some of those events may never be incorporated into a live action format, so the question of whether details from these novels remain canon is open to interpretation.

With regard to the Animated Series, there are a few details from the episode 'Yesteryear,' written by D.C. Fontana, that reveal biographical background on Spock and planet Vulcan. Details from this episode have been successfully incorporated into the canon of Star Trek (such as in 'The Forge') and now that the Animated Series is out on DVD, we hope that even more can make its way in!"

Note that the revised definition is overall watered down. While the canonicity of some facts from the movies (obviously because of fan reactions to "Star Trek V") is suddenly questioned, TAS is slated to become canon (following a fan vote at startrek.com). Another former article on the site confirms this intention, and the TAS DVD special features even assure the viewers of the full canonicity of the series. Something of further interest is that at startrek.com canon is now stated to be a question of if and when something from the previously non-canon realm is incorporated into a canon series. This practice may work out well for the people who make Star Trek. In its ultimate consequence it would remove the need to care about canon at all. But it makes the decision if and where to draw a line increasingly complicated for the archivists and hence essentially for the fans.

Canon vs. official

In a simple approach it may seem that anything about the fictional Star Trek Universe that is officially released by Paramount/CBS should be automatically canonical. But as the word "official" is rather used as an administrative or legal term as opposed to "canon" as a purely fictional quality, the two are different. While Paramount Pictures or CBS may *officially* endorse books or games of their licensees, this does not imply that these products are *canon* too. On the contrary, as will be explained further down, Paramount/CBS keeps licensed products strictly non-canon.

This is merely the negation of "canon". If only live action is to be taken into account, then Star Trek novels, no matter if written by licensed authors or by fans, are never canon. In order to avoid misunderstandings: The designation "non-canonical" does not imply that they are badly written or that loyal fans should not read them. It just says that they are not a part of the canonical Star Trek Universe and are therefore irrelevant in its assessment. All novels, comics, reference books, calendars, role playing games, computer games, fanfic websites, merchandising items and everything else dealing in any way with Star Trek is non-canon, regardless of its origin or authorship.

Fans occasionally refer to material whose canonicity is debatable as "apocryphal". Wikipedia (see the latest version of "Apocrypha" on their server) defines the term like this:

• "In Judeo-Christian theologies, apocrypha refers to religious Sacred text that have questionable authenticity or are otherwise disputed. When most in the Western world refer to the Apocrypha , they are typically referring to the 14 books excluded from Protestant Bibles..."

In Star Trek fandom, the term "apocryphal" represents any information that is not canon in a narrow sense, but is by some treated like, or accepted as, canon. This may include The Animated Series, the books by Jeri Taylor, selected information from any other novels, reference books, deleted scenes or behind-the-scenes information. However, accounts from the live series, which are canon by their very definition, shouldn't be declared "apocryphal" just because some doubt its canonicity - even if there was an according allusion in the former FAQ at startrek.com.

In fandom, licensed Star Trek literature and games are sometimes referred to as "beta canon", most often in conjunction with TAS being fully canon. While "apocryphal" may become obsolete, the classification as beta canon establishes a new and somewhat more authoritative additional level between "canon" and "non-canon". In more recent years, writers working for the additional production have begun to include facts from beta canon into canon (or official) Trek, such as the species of Rok-Tahk, the Brikar.

This word is obviously a portmanteau of "fandom" and "canon". Wikipedia (see the latest version of "Fanon" on their server) says about "fanon":

• "Fanon is a fact or ongoing situation in fan fiction stories related to a television program, book, movie, or video game that has been used so much by fan writers that it has been more or less established as having happened in the fictional world, but it has not actually been established as having happened on the show, book or movie itself. Fanon is a portmanteau word of fan and canon..."

So "fanon" denotes views and opinions that are non-canon but widespread in fan fiction. Examples include minutiae like Uhura's first name Nyota, which was never mentioned on screen until 2009 when it finally became canon, or the notion that Romulans did not have warp drive in 2266, which is just a perpetuated misconception, as can be seen in the article about Warp Drive and Romulan History . More examples along these lines are listed on the page about False Canon .

Semi-/quasi-canon

These words are often used to denote material, which is either not canon in its entirety or whose canonicity remains debatable. The latter could be described as "apocryphal" too.

Parts of the fandom or of licensed literature that are in irreconcilable contradiction to canon facts may be called "anti-canon". In a discussion dealing just with canon facts it is irrelevant whether non-canon evidence may help or obstruct the assessment. But when reading (fan) fiction it is obvious that a knowledgeable fan may accept non-canon facts but will not appreciate it as soon as it becomes anti-canon.

Personal canon or "headcanon"

These terms can be found in social media, discussion forums or on personal blogs. Many fans have decided to include additional works (such as TAS, novels or even fan fiction) to their so-called "personal canon", or they deny parts of the franchise their otherwise definite status as canonical (like some purists disregard Enterprise or even everything that came after TOS and the first six movies). A "personal canon" may and is supposed to be more consistent than the official canon and may contribute to a "fanon". Yet, owing to its arbitrary nature and limited validity a "personal canon" usually obstructs the assessment of canon material.

Expanded Universe

The expansions of the Star Trek canon in the form of novels and of Star Trek Online are sometimes referred to as "Expanded Universe", rather than as beta canon. However, unlike in the case of Star Wars, this is not an officially endorsed or coordinated concept in Star Trek. Overall, there have been increasing efforts to align licensed works with each other and with canon in more recent years, but they don't form a unified science fiction universe. So the term beta canon describes better how the novels and games relate to canon Trek.

The reasons for the existence of an ecclesial canon are diverse. It is debatable whether it was created in the first place to defy heretics who might take away power and prosperity from the official church, or whether it was first of all a honest matter of faith. Regarding the Star Trek Universe, the canon has a relatively harmless impact on the lives of most fans and it certainly is not intended by TPTB to control the fans. Still, there are reasons for a canon of the Star Trek Universe.

Canon and continuity

As outlined in the article on the Realism of (Science) Fiction , Star Trek is (or at least, used to be) a franchise with internal consistency, as opposed to shows that are rebooted or that even take pleasure in creating deliberate continuity errors. Yet, during the three seasons of The Original Series from 1966 to 1969, there was no obvious canon policy, just as there was no particular attention to inter-episode continuity either. But as the fictional universe kept growing, it was necessary to come up with rules what has to be taken into account by future writers (the canon), as well as with a collection of such canon data for reference (The Star Trek Encyclopedia and its forerunners that must have existed behind the scenes).

Keeping looks and events in new episodes compliant with canon is a quality mark of the show, at least until the end of Star Trek Enterprise in 2005 and increasingly since 2020 again.

Canon and creativity

Canon may be seen as an obstacle to creativity, simply because not all real-world possibilities are allowed to be exploited in-universe. On the other hand, in a creative process canon boils down to a simple list of what has been shown or told before and what not. This is not really a creative limitation. On the contrary, knowledge of canon can help avoid rehashes of a previous story. There is always a risk that writers consciously recycle plots just because they think it is a good idea to show familiar situations already established in the canon. Still, they better closely base their stories on canon events than just on stereotypes.

The knowledge about canon may have a quite beneficial impact on storylines. A prominent example is DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" with its slavish adherence to the canon events of TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles". Another one is the Vulcan arc of ENT: "The Forge", "The Awakening" and "Kir'Shara" that successfully removes a previous continuity error concerning Vulcan Mind Melds from canon. These episodes are commonly said to be among the most creative and most enticing installments of all Star Trek.

Canon and commerce

Star Trek takes place in many different forms, among which the TV series and movies are (or at least, should be) in the center of interest. In addition, Trek-themed novels, comics and computer games are available as well as typical merchandising items such as action figures, t-shirts and coffee mugs. Any company with the intention to sell anything with "Star Trek" printed on it needs a license from the brand owners Paramount Pictures and CBS Television. This franchise makes up a major part of the business.

Paramount and CBS give away the valuable name of Star Trek to various third-party products, and they have an interest that these products adhere to certain standards. But irrespective of their quality, these products are not supposed to tell stories that have an impact on the TV series or movies. The copyright owners want to maintain full control of their own creative base.

There is actually an even more important reason why Paramount and CBS do not want any licensed products, especially those of literary relevance (novels and games), to be canon. If Paramount or CBS decided to adopt anything that was not originally created by an employee but by a contractor, they might have to pay royalties for each and every mention of this character or concept! So the Kzinti species from The Animated Series (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon") never found its way into any of the live series. The episode involving the Kzinti was written by Larry Niven, based on one of his novels ( The Soft Weapon ). Niven was irritated when Dean Foster wrote the novelization of the episode instead of himself, although he contradicts the common rumor that he threatened legal actions against Paramount ( interview at Trekplace). Nevertheless it seems that Paramount preemptively banned the Kzinti from canon Star Trek, as well they prohibited their use in licensed works in at least three cases ( Kzinti at Memory Alpha). Still, it was planned to finally include them in the fifth season of Enterprise. Another prominent example is the character of T'Pol, who was named T'Pau in the draft of the series. But TPTB cautiously changed it to T'Pol in order to avoid the due credit to the author of TOS: "Amok Time", Theodore Sturgeon, in every episode. T'Pau was eventually included in the Vulcan arc on Star Trek Enterprise, though.

Canon and practicability

Star Trek writers are expected to be creative and not perfect librarians (something that is largely left to the fans and particularly Memory Alpha today after Richard Arnold and later the Okudas used to fill that role). With 600 hours of TV it is already extremely hard to come up with stories that are original and still not in contradiction to previous installments. Without the help of the Star Trek Encyclopedia and other reference works as well as of their colleagues and editors, writers would find themselves lost in a confusing maze of facts that must be taken into account. This would become many times as complicated if they additionally had to take into account all novels. All of them because where could a line be drawn? And what about the games? They establish many facts as well. At some point it wouldn't be possibly any longer to insert new data because the adventures would fill many lifetimes of characters or ships, with incalculable inconsistencies.

Canon and the fans

As already mentioned, the term "canon" shows up in fan circles a lot more frequently than on startrek.com or in official reference works. Even casual viewers, who may not be aware of the word "canon", care more about it than the studio could hope for. They notice goofs like the epitaph "James R. Kirk" because everyone knows that his true name is "James T. Kirk". They wonder if the contents of novels or comics may have any bearing on the TV series. They compare Star Trek with other franchises like Marvel or DC Comics where the establishment of a credible (non-multiverse) canon is practically impossible because of lacking continuity. In this regard the canon policy gives the fans something to chew on. It allows to limit discussions among fans to a reasonable common ground, and it ultimately enables the setup of websites like Memory Alpha, which would be a bottomless pit without the canon foundation, and of EAS, which would become utterly pointless. In this sense, the canon allows Star Trek to earn a "meta quality" when fans take care of episodes that the production staff has long finished and almost forgotten.

Interpretations

As already mentioned in the introductory note, the criteria for what type of evidence is canonical under which preconditions are under permanent discussion. Moreover, Gene Roddenberry and his successors are said to have included additional material to the canon, as well as they purportedly removed some of the live action from the canon. It will be discussed in the following whether the material in question should be acknowledged as canon, and whether the said exceptions are useful. But most notably, new rules are required for the alternate universe movies produced by J.J. Abrams (since 2009), for the e re-imagined universe of Star Trek Discovery (since 2017), as well as for old and newly produced animated Star Trek.

The views in this section reflect the canon policy at EAS; other fan-made websites may arrive at slightly different conclusions, considering that the Star Trek Universe has become very complicated, contradictory and controversial in more recent years.

Novels and games

Only televised Star Trek is canon. This explicitly excludes books, and above all the myriad of novels based on Star Trek. None of them are canon in the view of Paramount/CBS, although many of them would fit into the timeline and would be largely free of anti-canon notions. The above mentioned royalty issue forbids (or makes it very unlikely) that characters established in the books ever find their way into canon Trek. The same applies to all Trek-themed games and other merchandise.

Novels based on movies

The circumstances seem to be different if a novel is directly based on a feature film, written by the same author and usually more comprehensive than the movie. One prime example is the novelization of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" by Gene Roddenberry that adds many facts and aspects that can't be found in the movie. If much of the book's content is canon because it describes the events on the screen, shouldn't the rest be canon too?

Novels by Jeri Taylor

The two novels Mosaic and Pathways were explicitly mentioned on the official Star Trek website to be theoretically canon, the reason being that Jeri Taylor, at that time co-producer of the series, added essential background information on the Voyager main characters. But can this statement be maintained, considering that Voyager writers have been ignoring the novels all along? If they should have looked up facts there when writing episodes but actually didn't do it, the canonicity of her two books is at most theoretical, and some smaller parts may be even anti-canonical.

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Gene Roddenberry is said to have decanonized TAS, but this is uncertain. The official website previously stated that it is non-canon, but without giving reasons. The Star Trek Encyclopedia and all other official manuals written since the late 1980s (since the canon officially exists) are without references from The Animated Series. Nonetheless TAS may be treated as canon according to the TAS DVD and the official site (until 2010), at least partly because of a fan vote at startrek.com. Yet, the official website also used to state that the canonicity of TAS, even if it is earned effortlessly, must be gradually confirmed by referring to events from TAS in future incarnations of Star Trek.

TAS: Yesteryear

This particular TAS episode ( review ) is commonly regarded as the best of the whole series. But its quality alone should not be the reason to include it to the canon, especially considering the problems of partially canonical material. The actual reason cited for TAS: "Yesteryear" to be canonical is that it adds to the background of Spock's character. While this is true and is quite useful, it is still no reason why these facts should be made canonical and other events from TAS not. Moreover, if canonicity were just a matter of quality or of usefulness, disappointed fans could turn the tables and demand that trainwrecks like "Star Trek V" or VOY: "Threshold" be declared non-canon.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

According to creator Mike McMahan, his animated comedy series Lower Decks is canon. McMahan as well as other sources repeatedly cite that the series fits well into the year 2380 and respects the visuals and other facts of previous Trek series of the era. Yet, the classification of Lower Decks being fully canon is in contrast to the status of TAS, which is commonly debated and still not fully recognized until today.

Star Trek: Prodigy

Just like Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy has been declared canon by its producers, with much the same rationale.

Very Short Treks

Very Short Treks is an animated anthology series that was created in 2023, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of TAS. It includes absurd situations, out-of-character behavior, instances of breaking the fourth wall and sometimes plain tastelessness, which goes well beyond what is customary in the other animated comedies. According to the trailer, the series is "anything but canon" .

Star Trek V & VI

It may be just a rumor that Gene Roddenberry wanted these two movies removed from canon, allegedly because they don't reflect the true spirit of Star Trek. We may have to wonder anyway why Roddenberry was so opposed to the alleged racism in "Star Trek VI" (according to director Nicholas Meyer), a movie that came into the theaters after his death, that he condemned it before it was even completed.

"Discoverse"

The first two seasons of Star Trek Discovery are officially set in the 2250s of the Prime Universe. There is no doubt that the producers of the series consider Discovery an integral, fully canon part of Star Trek. Yet, the series does not adhere to the existing canon at all on the visual side . Established looks were completely redesigned far beyond what could qualify as a visual update, most obviously everything related to the Klingons . The changes are much more than only cosmetic. They are not rooted in real-life progress of visual effects and make-up techniques but unquestionably in the desire to create something very different looking than the Star Trek as we knew it. Furthermore, the series establishes events that couldn't realistically have occurred in the 2150's and lots of technology that should not yet exist or should not exist at all. The latter is explained in "Such Sweet Sorrow II", but more like in an "out of sight, out of mind" fashion. After the setting of Discovery has been changed to the far future, where the damage to the continuity can be kept in check. The spin-off Strange New Worlds continues to take place in an era whose facts and looks it respects somewhat more than Discovery and eventually ditches the rebooted Klingons.

"Abramsverse"

It was the intention of producer and director J.J. Abrams and his staff to reboot the franchise while respecting Star Trek's continuity . "Star Trek (2009)" takes place a few years before The Original Series, but establishes an entirely new timeline (officially called the Kelvin Timeline). It would be possible for the "Abramsverse" to be fully canon . At least, this is the official position.

Star Trek: Countdown and Nero

These two comic series are tied into the story "Star Trek (2009)". In an interview with Trekmovie.com , dated 9 December 2008, "Star Trek (2009)" writer Bob Orci said that he personally considered some novels canon, but that it is not up to him to declare Countdown canon. In a later Q&A session , dated May 22, 2009, he explained the inconsistencies between the movie "Star Trek (2009)" and Countdown with the comic being non-canon. The same applies to the Star Trek: Nero comics and the whole story about Nero's imprisonment on Rura Penthe.

Official reference books

Books are non-canon because of their printed nature, even those officially released by Paramount/CBS via Pocket Books and with people working on the show as authors ( reviews ). The TNG Technical Manual and the DS9 Technical Manual can be regarded as apocryphal because a good deal of them consists of facts that supplement the scarce technical information given in the series itself and that were expected to be an official guideline for the writing staff too. The same applies to the Official Starships Collection and other ship-related publications by Eaglemoss in more recent years with their information on names and registries that were supposedly on the actual CG models. The Star Trek Encyclopedia extracts data from the canon episodes. Where it is correct, it is a reproduction of canon facts, but not canon by itself. Even a few occurrences of False Canon can be found in the Encyclopedia .

Star Trek Technical Manual

Prior to TNG, the STTM ( review ) was commonly regarded as authoritative, yet no one called it "canon" when it was released in 1975. It was a time when no Star Trek was on air and when fans were hungry for any kind of information. So the author, Franz Joseph Schnaubelt, got the blessing from Gene Roddenberry to write a technical manual of Star Trek. Franz Joseph went ahead and created a manual that included schematics of canon devices, rooms, uniforms. He supplemented this with what we would call fan fiction today, namely the Federation Charter, emblems of alien civilizations and the ship schematics.

Even if we attempt to establish an exception, the STTM as a whole fails to fulfill the requirements for canon data in several regards. First of all, a definition of canon didn't technically exist when the STTM was written. And as unfair as it may seem, just when Roddenberry set up the canon policy for TNG, the STTM was not included.

Side note Some time prior to TNG, they didn't get along with each other any longer, and it is said that Roddenberry intentionally laid out technical specs of TNG so as to disparage Franz Joseph's work - but this doesn't really belong here. If you would like to know more about Franz Joseph's background, please visit Trekplace .

Secondly, no printed publication, not even the official technical manuals by Sternbach or Okuda, are regarded as canon themselves, but at most as apocryphal. Thirdly, certain major parts of the manual are of a debatable nature or are anti-canon, like the alien emblems, the map of the galaxy, the Federation Charter (actually a mostly literal rip-off of the UN Charter) and the circuit schematics of the tricorder etc. I simply wouldn't want to include these just to have a couple of more ships on the list.

Fandom reference books

Unlike the at least apocryphal TNG Technical Manual , the DS9 Technical Manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia , publications like those of FASA, Jackill or Todd Guenther are unquestionably non-canon, as is the Spaceflight Chronology too. The same applies to some more recent books like Star Trek Star Charts ( review ) or The Starship Spotter . From Paramount/CBS's viewpoint they fall into the same category as novels, even if some depictions from FASA manual made it into TNG episodes. But this must be seen rather as an accident because the Art Department is usually quite careful not to include copyrighted material.

Star Trek Online

Ship designs from the MMORPG Star Trek Online appear in the second and third seasons of Star Trek Picard. This has prompted some fans to declare that "all STO ships are canon now" or "all of STO is canon now" . This is a misconception. Single ships from the Star Trek Technical Manual or even from other sci-fi universes have appeared in Trek shows and movies before, without making them canon within the Star Trek Universe.

Klingon language

The Klingon language devised by James Doohan for the first feature film consisted of just a few words and was later developed to a fully-fledged language by linguist Mark Okrand. Applying the same criteria to the language as to anything else in Star Trek, only the Klingon spoken on screen is canon (regardless of its consistency and of Okrand's involvement), not the complete grammar and vocabulary created by Okrand.

Behind-the-scenes information

This is an interesting point to be considered because some of the behind-the-scenes information is widely accepted without actually being canonical. For instance, the Miranda class was never called by that name in any episode, not even in a screenplay. Still, it has become the commonly accepted name of the ship class thanks to the Star Trek Encyclopedias (well, until the 1990s rivaled by the fandom name "Avenger class"). Fundamentally, behind-the-scenes information as it can be found in official reference manuals is just as apocryphal as these books are in their entirety.

Script contents

Like with information from behind the scenes, most screenplays (or preliminary version thereof) include additional lines or annotations that find their way into fandom but not into the final episode or movie. We certainly need to disregard them as soon as they are contradicted by canon facts. This happens with the so far common notion that the Klingon BoP in "Star Trek: The Search for Spock" was actually a Romulan vessel. The Klingon retro-BoPs in ENT: "Expanse" is the ultimate proof that there is no Romulan link. In some other cases there were little facts, especially names in scripts that were not mentioned on screen.

Cut scenes/additional scenes

Did Picard and Data drink wine in "Nemesis" or not? The DVD has an additional scene, which is not in the theatrical version. Moreover, this scene is not embedded into the very movie track, but separate. The same question, with a more definite impact, crops up in "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country". The scenes with Colonel West were cut from the movie, but inserted into later releases. So does he exist at all? And what about Kirk's orbital skydiving in "Generations", which was only available in the internet so far, not on DVD?

TOS and TNG Remastered

Whilst the producers have reassured that nothing is changed in the storylines, the remastering (TOS-R) of The Original Series still stirs up continuity issues. The remastered version comes with improved effects such as of phaser shots, with new planetscapes and with new vessels too. TOS-R is designed to be more internally consistent. But which is correct: the old phaser beams that were occasionally red, or the new consistently blue ones? The old blurry planets, or the new highly detailed ones? Note that, once again, the question what is canon should not be primarily about quality or taste. The same question arises with the remastered version of TNG (TNG-R), although here the changes are less extensive.

Parallel timelines/universes

Many fans tend to disregard silly or otherwise disagreeable events like the DS9 version of the Mirror Universe because it is not "our" universe after all. Some extend this practice to whole incarnations of Star Trek, such as Star Trek Enterprise, the Abrams movies or Star Trek Discovery. They assert that these take place in alternate universes and hence should be discarded as non-canon. The official canon policy, however, makes no difference between such "unreal" and "real" events. Even the content of dreams or hallucinations is canonical in the sense that it is visible on screen.

Contradictory canon

Their canon nature doesn't prevent information from the live action series from sometimes being contradictory. This may happen because of negligent writing but also in case of a conscious reboot. In some cases the contradictions may be explained away rather easily. But by no means such speculation should itself be declared canon, although fans are tempted to believe into the validity of their favorite hypothesis. Actually much of the fanon came to life as such conjectural explanations. A prominent pre-Discovery example of contradictory canon is the Trill Problem , a fundamental revision of the nature of this race that defies a complete explanation. Star Trek Discovery takes this one step further, by redesigning the Klingons, the arguably best-known race of Star Trek, without providing an in-universe rationale.

Ex Astris Scientia

No, I don't suffer from megalomania. The reason why I'm listing EAS as a candidate for a canon source is that some fans refer to my website as canon. But actually EAS does not create any canon content. It can only convey canon data and, in debatable cases, suggest reasonable solutions with a minimum of speculation.

The real world

Is the real world canonical in Star Trek? The question wouldn't occur in a galaxy far, far away. But since Star Trek aims to depict the very future of humanity, its past has to be taken into account. The real world influences Star Trek by providing historical side notes, character and ship names and locations on Earth. In this sense the real world is definitely canonical, although Star Trek sometimes alters the course of human history or even the laws of physics. As long as the fictional events are set far enough in the future, there is no danger of our real world becoming "non-canon". The article on 21st Century Earth History demonstrates what happens if this precondition is not given.

There are good reasons for a canon policy - at the CBS/Paramount as well as here at EAS. But fans shouldn't go as far as refusing everything non-canon from the outset; Star Trek can be more than the collected facts in the Okudas' Encyclopedia . On the other hand, there is the kind of fans who stir up canon and fandom at will, be it because of their limited knowledge about the Star Trek Universe or because they don't want their creativity be limited by the canon. In my many years in the fandom I have encountered lots of either type of fans, and any shade in between.

One typical situation is that some people in a message board explicitly talk about the number of nacelles on canon starships and someone throws in that the Federation class and Saladin class (from Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual ) are odd-nacelled. The result is a fruitless discussion about the definition of "canon", about the authority of Roddenberry, Okuda, Paramount or Pocket Books, about books which should be considered canon because they are written by Jeri Taylor, about Colonel West and the Starfleet Marines, and so on. Very often ideas of False Canon or "headcanon" are involved too. This is one more reason why a well-established canon is a useful reference.

As a universal reference, the idea of a canon in an uninterrupted continuity worked well in the years between 1994 (release of the first Star Trek Encyclopedia ) and 2005 (end of Star Trek Enterprise). The Abramsverse and ultimately Discovery call the principle of canonicity into question. While the new Star Trek is canon by its very nature, it establishes numerous facts that cannot be reconciled with the pre-existing continuity. It is an ongoing process, at EAS just like in the whole fandom, to handle the extreme discrepancies, and (as far as EAS is concerned, I can't speak for other fan projects) to still apply the same well-established criteria as they were valid until 2009. In particular, EAS will neither resort to lackadaisical apologist statements like "there are many races of Klingons, hence the differences" (unless this shows up in a canon story), nor will I declare Discovery non-canon (because it's not up to me to make such a decision).

The canon policy at EAS accepts the definition of canon given by TPTB as a way to avoid unnecessary discussions. Actually, I would go as far as saying that EAS couldn't exist without the canon because if there were not one supposedly true and authentic version of the fictional universe, it would become utterly pointless to file and analyze anything about it beyond a mere list what happened in which episode or book. In contrast to websites that are based on a "headcanon", EAS neither ignores canon accounts at the outset nor adds non-canon information. EAS includes some apocryphal reference works (but no beta canon) only if these fill in necessary details that would never be mentioned in an episode. This doesn't mean that EAS slavishly follows the interpretations put forth in reference works.

But canon is not everything. Every fan should feel encouraged to include whatever he likes to his personal view (not "personal canon") of the Star Trek Universe. That's what I'm doing with my ship designs, the ASDB and the Starfleet Museum too. I would never want to miss the fan-made stuff all around the planet because they really enrich the universe, no matter if I "believe" in their existence. I probably can't help those who don't even want to see anything that has not the seal of Paramount/CBS on it or the other extreme group, those who don't care about the idea of Star Trek and turn Starfleet into a military organization with big-gunned warships. For anyone in between, canon is a common ground. Everything else is left to our imagination and tolerance or better, mutual understanding. There are always possibilities!

The Realism of (Science) Fiction - whether Star Trek is really "bordering on silliness"

False Canon - accounts which are incorrectly regarded as canonical in fandom or in official Trek

The Visual Continuity of Star Trek - examples of if and how visual continuity was maintained through the generations

The Continuities of Star Trek - from a single timeline to a multiverse, and how to deal with that

The Problems of Canonizing TAS - dealing with possible continuity and compatibility issues

Star Trek (2009): Reboot or Multiverse? - thoughts on the continuity and the canon status of the movie

Dealing with Continuity Issues of the Abramsverse - general thoughts and the policy at EAS

Some screen caps from TrekCore . Some ideas, especially concerning cut scenes, script information and other moot cases, were inspired by an article at Green Mole . Thanks also to the people at the SCN for discussing issues of canon. Thanks to Andrew Briggs for pointing me to the reason for Gene Roddenberry to condemn "Star Trek VI", to Kobi for correcting some facts about the Kzinti and to Spike for the revision of the alleged official canon policy.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/canon.htm

Last modified: 02 Feb 2024

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Star Trek Books , Star Trek Novels - August 29, 2022

Are Star Trek Novels Canon?

Later Star Trek book writers were advised not to sway too far from the details and style of the franchise shown on film. Novels written in the 1960s through the early 80s usually deviate from canon more than later books. As most novels are not written by authors affiliated with Star Trek's production staff, most books are considered unauthentic. If something written in a novel is later mentioned in a film, the mentioned information becomes canon, while the rest of the book remains not canon.

Star Trek Canon

Roddenberry influence, from non-canon to canon, episode and movie novelizations, original tie-in novels, star trek novels that everyone should read, spock must die, by james blish, the entropy effect, by vonda n. mcintyre, the final reflection, by john m. ford, star trek tie-in books that are canon, star trek: voyager  –  mosaic and pathways, star trek: countdown, enjoy it all.

Sean C Mahannah May 2, 2021

I’ve found quite a few of them on Amazon & some on eBay. Have you tried those places?

Stephanie Fuchs May 2, 2021

I want to order the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline novels, but can’t find the site to order them from… used, paperback, or hardcover. Can anyone help me?

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What's Canon and What's Not in Star Trek: Discovery

Star trek: discovery takes off on sunday, september 24th..

Star Trek: Dicovery - Key Art

Not Canon: The Books... Mostly

Adapted canon: original klingon designs, star trek: discovery first trailer.

Not Canon: The

Adapted canon: the philosophical core of star trek, the great canon debate, in this article.

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The Best Star Trek Novels: A Personal List

• Science Fiction

Star Trek has always been my fictional comfort food. When times are tough, I can always put on an episode or open a book and things aren’t so bad for a while. I don’t know if it’s the excitement of scientific discovery, the positive vision of humanity’s future, or just the premise of a diverse and competent crew working together to make the galaxy a better place—I almost always end a Star Trek story feeling a little more hopeful than when I began. If, like me, you’ve watched all the Star Trek out there and still want more, here’s a list of books to get you started.

The Rihannsu Series

This series of novels follows the Original Series crew as they become entangled in various Romulan plots to dominate the galaxy, beginning with a secret lab of psychic super soldiers and climaxing with a doomsday weapon aimed at the heart of Federation space. Kirk is initially sent to investigate the hijacking of a Starfleet vessel. There he meets and (eventually) befriends Ael, commander of Bloodwing , a warship full of defectors from Romulus. Together, the two crews work to keep the simmering tensions between the interstellar powers from boiling over into all-out war. The Rihannsu books provide a densely detailed portrait of Romulan history, philosophy, and culture. You will come to understand the origins of their language, and how it shaped the thinking of their people and their quixotic sense of honor. While all of this is technically non-canon, you can definitely see its influence on the show Picard . If you always wanted to know more about this fascinating yet enigmatic people, Rihannsu and Picard make an excellent pairing.

Buy My Enemy, My Ally at  Amazon

"Metamorphosis"

The Enterprise-D finds a seemingly magic mountain on the planet Elysia. Commander Data is sent to investigate and ends up literally going on a Hero’s Journey, complete with a quest to help a fair maiden by traveling into the underworld. This adventure tests Data to his limits, for at the end awaits a treasure beyond compare, the android’s only wish: to become human. That would be enough to explore for any novel, but  Metamorphosis keeps going past where the credits would normally roll on an episode. We get to follow Data through his awkward first steps of being human, learning how to live with a fragile fleshy body, and coping with his new limitations. My favorite moment is when Data realizes he no longer has all of Starfleet’s databanks in his memory and will have to actually do his homework to prepare for briefings. The story keeps twisting from there, and goes to some pretty ridiculous lengths that I won’t spoil for you. The whole book feels like a metafictional commentary on narrative structure, and I love it just a little bit more every time I read it.

Buy Metamorphosis at  Amazon

"Planet X"

Speaking of ridiculous premises, there was a comic in which the crew of the Enterprise-D entered the Marvel Universe and fought Kang the Conqueror with the help of the X-Men. Even more ridiculous, this novel is a sequel to that comic book. This time, the X-Men end up in the Star Trek universe and help Picard and crew resolve the civil upheaval on a world experiencing mutations in its population. People are developing strange and dangerous powers, and the rest of the society hates and fears them for it. The X-Men find this all too familiar, and together with the Enterprise crew, they manage to bring both sides of the conflict together to find a peaceful way forward. There’s lots of fun bits like characters commenting on the uncanny resemblance between Captain Picard and Charles Xavier, years before Sir Patrick Stewart played the latter role. My personal highlight is Worf and Wolverine fighting X-Men villains together on the holodeck. Is it great literature? No. But it is a fun and weird pop cultural artifact worth exploring if you can find a copy.

Buy Planet X at  Amazon

The Mirror Universe Series

The Mirror Universe is a dark reflection of the Star Trek universe we know and love, and the source of endless “evil twin” plots. Basically, everything is its opposite. In the Mirror Universe, the tolerant and peace-loving United Federation of Planets is actually the xenophobic and warlike Terran Empire. Instead of the collegiate atmosphere of cooperation, these human supremacists are motivated solely by hatred and self-interest. In the Terran Empire, the quickest way to a promotion is literal backstabbing. The rest of the universe is similarly warped, and these books will take you on a guided tour through it all. You will learn the history of the Terran Empire’s bloody rise and catastrophic fall, follow the adventures of a space pirate named Luc Picard, and witness the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance crushing the galaxy beneath its boot heel. Just a few of the bizarre reflections you will witness as these books take you to all your favorite corners of a familiar galaxy to see just how different things could be. Honestly, it reads like what would happen if they tried to do a “darker and grittier” Star Trek reboot. If you enjoyed Discovery’ s voyage to the Mirror Universe, this series is for you.

Buy Dark Mirror at  Amazon

The Cold Equations Series

This series is all about the many different forms of artificial life that exist in the Star Trek galaxy. Doctor Noonien Soong is surprisingly not dead, and leads the crew of the Enterprise-E on a merry chase as he carries out a crazy complicated plan to resurrect his artificial son. On his journey you will learn a great deal about his life and work, as well as the development of Data. Once Soong succeeds in bringing him back, Data proves himself to be a chip off the old block, setting out on a quest to resurrect his departed daughter, Lal. Along the way they discover a secret Fellowship of Artificial Intelligences, from whom they learn the ancient history of artificial life. Of course, it turns out the AIs are scheming to destroy all organic life in the galaxy, but the books take this plot in an unexpected and much more satisfying direction than the more recent Picard . Finally, if you were wondering what the hell happened to Wesley after he vanished from TNG, these books have answers for that, too.

Buy The Persistence of Memory at  Amazon

The Department of Temporal Investigations Series

Time travel is a big no-no in Starfleet. Divergent timelines, alternate histories and temporal revisionism are all frowned upon by the members of the Department of Temporal Investigations. It’s their job to keep people from screwing around in the timestream and rewriting history. If you fly your ship back to the past and pick up a whale, you’ll likely get to have an unpleasant chat with Agents Dulmer and Lucsly. The regulation of time travel is a fertile subject for sci-fi, and this series covers every angle from policing abuses to helping victims of temporal displacement cope with their situation. There are complex political machinations between the different states as they try to agree on responsible rules for time travel. It’s fascinating to witness the debates of a governing body composed of people not just from different places, but also different eras. These books are able to cover (nearly) the entirety of Star Trek history, making narrative connections between almost every time travel event in the canon. It’s a real treat for completist fans, and has a ton of fun playing with all the tropes and toys in the time travel box. The second book in the series is both a sequel and its own prequel. They’re honestly some of the best time travel books I’ve ever read, Star Trek or not.

Buy Watching the Clock at  Amazon

The Klingon Empire     Series    

If you’re tired of reading about very polite and pleasant professionals working together in the post-scarcity utopia of the Federation, perhaps you’ll enjoy a rousing adventure with Star Trek’s beloved space vikings: the Klingons. The Empire must expand again, meaning there is battle, honor and glory to be had—a Klingon’s three favorite things. The first three novels of this series embed you with the crew of the IKS Gorkon on a tour of duty. It’s one of few stories that explores Klingon culture beyond the warrior class. The books use multiple point-of-view characters to paint a complete picture of life in the Empire at all levels of their society, from lowly medics to mighty commanders. It’s also a fun way for fans to catch up with all of the Klingon supporting characters from the shows. And of course, no Klingon tale would be complete without an epic battle. At one point, they pause their war of territorial conquest to fight a civil war on the side over the outcome of an honor duel. If you’ve ever been intrigued by Star Trek’s greatest warriors, the Klingon Empire series will show you a good time.

Buy A Burning House at  Amazon

The Q Continuum Series

This series focuses on the impish immortal prankster Q. He has once again kidnapped Picard to take him on a wild transcendental trip to learn about the secrets of the universe. They go back in time to see Q’s misspent, troublemaking youth and witness the secret history of the Q Continuum. But on this stroll down memory lane, Picard learns about a terrible threat that awaits them beyond the bounds of their galaxy. The Q Continuum is preparing to face its greatest foe, an utterly malevolent being with the ability to reshape reality at will, more powerful than even the Q. Picard and the Enterprise end up playing referee in a battle between gods for the fate of all existence. This series is another treat for completists—through Q’s life story, the novels manage to tie together the most extensive history of the Star Trek universe I had ever read at the time.

Buy Q Space at  Amazon

Star Trek is a fictional universe of unlimited narrative potential, perfectly built to support a never-ending collection of stories. Sometimes I find it hard to believe Star Trek didn’t begin as a novel, as its dense ideas and rich world-building are perfectly suited to the form. These are just a few of my most fondly remembered favorites. It is by no means a complete or ranked list. Any of the listed series will be worth your time, but there’s plenty more where that came from. If there are any great ones I left out, feel free to leave them in the comments.

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Column by BH Shepherd

BH Shepherd is a writer and a DJ from Texas. His short stories have appeared on Thuglit.com and numerous print anthologies. He also writes about comic books at www.docawesome.tumblr.com .

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The 15 Best Star Trek Books Ever Written

Like all our favorite franchises, "Star Trek" is a multimedia phenomenon. Today's kids grow up in a world full of TV series, movies, comics, games, and, of course, tie-in novels. "Star Trek" novels are notable because they're non-canon by default, and that's allowed their writers to go ham while exploring strange new worlds. Some of these earliest tie-in writers went on to become science fiction titans, and sometimes those titans like to return for more Trekkie fun.

"Trek" books are also a unique part of the fandom experience. "Star Trek: The New Voyages" was a licensed, two-book anthology, printed in the late '70s and curated from fanfiction. Wilder still, in 1985, writer Della Van Hise saw her "Star Trek" novel "Killing Time" published and recalled for an edited reprint as longtime fans realized their beloved slash fiction pairing of Kirk and Spock was no longer hiding in the shadows. It's a goofy testament to how fans helped "Star Trek" thrive in the first place, and today, these tie-in novels are still great comfort food. These are 15 of the best that I've found, read, and loved over the years.

A Stitch in Time by Andrew Robinson

Elim Garak isn't special to "Star Trek" fans alone. He's also part of actor  Andrew Robinson in a unique way. The charming-yet-wily Cardassian tailor (and spy) called Deep Space Nine his home, but Garak's too big a personality to be contained by its steel corridors (or with a word from Dr. Bashir, his unlikely best friend.) Robinson grew him that way from the start, creating an in-character diary to guide him through Garak's behavior. Garak's diary, however, took on a life of its own as Robinson made readings from it part of his convention appearances. Eventually, Robinson was coaxed into turning it into a novel.

"A Stitch in Time" is epistolary, presented as a series of letters sent by Garak to Dr. Bashir in the wake of the Dominion War. Contained within are fragments of Garak's childhood, memories of a long-ago love, and preparations for the future. The greatest compliment I can offer is that every word drips with Robinson's genteel drawl. No one else could have written this novel, and it's the perfect love letter from an actor to the character he brought to life.

Imzadi by Peter David

"Imzadi" was rereleased in 2003, packaged with its sequel and listed as "Imzadi Forever." By all accounts, the follow-up is a fine tale, but I haven't read it. My recommendation is for the original 1992 release, which I eagerly bought in hardcover. Like another upcoming Peter David selection, "Imzadi" has a complicated timeline, but the emotional thread and David's clean prose make the plot easy to follow.

The word "imzadi" is first used in "Encounter at Farpoint," telepathically sent to Riker by Troi. However, it's author Peter David who expands on the power of the Betazed term for "beloved." The word refers not to a teen's first love but to something richer and deeper. The novel explores Riker's and Troi's early relationship through the lens of a distant, alternate future in which Troi is dead, and Riker is a bitter old cuss. Obviously, nobody wants a future like this one, but the Guardian of Forever, that magical archway from classic "Star Trek," has our backs. The return of this sentient space rock is always a selling point, but the story also has all the political twists and turns a Trekkie could want.

How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford

John M. Ford was one of the best, most underrated writers of the modern era. Until recently, almost all of his work had fallen out of print with his death in 2006. Most of his catalog is still pretty hard to find and requires trawling used bookstores with an eye for treasure. Unfortunately, that includes 1987's "How Much for Just the Planet?" It's Ford's second "Star Trek" novel, and it's a "Dr. Strangelove" -style artifact of perfect absurdity.

"How Much for Just the Planet?" is a surreal sci-fi mélange: Take the crew of the Enterprise, pit them against opportunistic Klingons, and add a previously undiscovered planet full of untouched dilithium. Then, mix in a troupe of truly incomprehensible, goofball aliens, slap everybody in a hotel (with a golf course — it's a plot point), and make them play in a "Squid Game"-style competition that focuses on heists and ballroom dancing instead of murder. The goal is friendship and having some good laughs along the way.

Spock Must Die! by James Blish

The first original "Star Trek" novel is still a good read and a great place to get some context for the ways "Trek" fiction has evolved. "Spock Must Die!" feels fresher than its 1970 print date in many places, but bear in mind, it plays with some "exotic sexuality" tropes regarding Spock. Yeah, he was definitely the unlikely sex symbol of original "Star Trek," but Blish's prose occasionally takes that to a funky place.

Otherwise, this book does introduce some neat concepts way before later "Star Trek" wore them out. The evil clone plot line is a groaner staple now, but Blish's novel twists it up with some unsettling fridge logic questions about how the transporter room could work with some mad science drive. From there, the science is pretty pulpy, but the high-stakes thrills leading up to the title drop — a Spock does have to die — make for a nice, cozy ride through an earlier science fiction era.

Q-Squared by Peter David

Like most "Star Trek” tie-ins, "Q-Squared" isn't canon, but it's close enough to an assumed truth that fans have kind of adopted it anyway. It's a three-lane timeline pileup, and this time, it is a little confusing. It makes sense for there to be some confusion over what the hell is going on because this book brings in John de Lancie's omnipotent trickster, Q . And it's not a Q story unless everyone (including Picard) asks, "What the hell is going on?" at least once.

In this case, what the hell is going on is a tantrum thrown by a young Q whom "Trek" fans know as Trelane, the Squire of Gothos. A longtime "Star Trek" favorite, Trelane was a quirky, omnipotent brat that futzed around with Kirk and his buddies until his family pulled him in line at the end of the episode . David's novel draws on the fan-inspired retcon that this classic character is actually a Q ( a speculation John de Lancie also shares ) and ties it all together in a messy bow. It doesn't always make sense, especially the semi-metaphorical sword fight finale. Still, it's a great trip through the fringes of the Continuum.

Spock's World by Diane Duane

Author Diane Duane is a modern treasure. Her "Young Wizards" fantasy series remains one of the best ways to hook a kid on the dreams hidden inside books. Still writing and still a part of fandom today, she also wrote 1988's "Spock's World," one of the first and best books to dig into the social intricacies and history of Vulcan.

The framing narrative deals with a fledgling separatist movement working to pull Vulcan out of the Federation, and it provides a chance for Spock and his family to take the spotlight. It's a great political yarn, and it pulls on some threads from classic "Trek" episodes, most notably "Amok Time." However, the real meat here is the intricate world building with lingering glimpses of major moments in Vulcan history. It's a great reminder that what makes "Star Trek" so special are the worlds it explores. Although "Spock's World" is not canon, Duane's graceful creation continues to influence other "Star Trek" creators .

The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack

With the debut of every new "Star Trek" TV series, you can rest assured that a swath of new tie-in novels are in the works. Obviously, the tie-in tradition continued with "Picard." The first novel based on Jean-Luc's solo outing was published within a month of the show's premiere. "The Last Best Hope" is a prequel to " Picard ," and it does a solid job of fleshing out a number of connections that the first season didn't get a chance to work on.

Though a lot of the novel is devoted to Raffi , the troubled intelligence officer we grow to love on the show, it's the glimpses of Romulan culture that stand out. The religious order introduced in the show, the Qowat Milat , are in sharp focus here and help round out the childhood of Elnor , our orphaned Romulan Legolas. "The Last Best Hope" has another trait that may make it attractive to fans of the show: Until "Picard" contradicts it, this book is currently as close to actual canon as a "Star Trek" novel can be.

Star Trek: The Eugenics War by Greg Cox

It's easier to refer to this bulk recommendation as "The Khan Trilogy." The first two novels are formally titled "The Eugenics War: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh" ( volumes one and two , respectively), and the third is "To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh." The trilogy is two parts covert war thriller and one part survivalist nightmare. All together, it pieces together the complete life of one of the mightiest (and bare-chestiest) foes in "Star Trek" history .

"The Eugenics War" is a look inside the doomed effort to prevent that legendary conflict from ever happening. As mentioned in the classic episode "Space Seed," eugenicist science created a social schism the likes of which Marvel's Magneto barely dreamed of. The effort to stop Khan from dominating Earth fails, but infighting eventually drives the tyrant into exile. The events of "Space Seed" happen after the first two books, and the final novel sees Khan struggle to survive on Ceti Alpha V , the sandy death-world we discover in "The Wrath of Khan," surrounded by loyalists and scarce resources. Great stuff.

The Final Reflection by John M. Ford

My prior John M. Ford recommendation may have the spotlight, but don't pass up "The Final Reflection" if you can find it. While not as richly built as Diane Duane's "Spock's World," Ford's book treats Klingons with such detail and complexity that it went on to affect later portrayals of the proud warrior race. It's a book that's occasionally lauded as a "Star Trek" novel that stands on its own as a great work of science fiction, which is a backhanded compliment that ignores the love and passion of "Trek" writers. Nevertheless, that is an accurate assessment here.

The focus of the book is on Klingon Captain Krenn, whose decades-long effort to prevent his own people from destroying the Federation remains a secret until he pens his own chronicle of events. During his career, Krenn flickers in and out of the lives of the characters we know, with special emphasis placed on his encounter with Spock as a child. There's some hefty focus on Klingon stratagems in the early part of the novel, which can be daunting for the reader, but the journey is worth it.

Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh

"Fallen Heroes" is a sentimental choice. It's one of my gruesome comfort food books. Pairing the horrific invasion of DS9 with a time-shifted mystery, the novel puts Quark and Odo together as ad hoc detectives trying to stop the massacre of their friends from happening. It's not a perfect tale, and, coming back to it later, it misses some character tone due to how early in the show's airing it was published. Still, it's a good yarn from a time when we were starved for stories that put our best frenemies together.

Author Dafydd ab Hugh has a gift for crunchy, visceral action sequences, and that got him a pretty decent gig writing "Doom" tie-ins in the '90s. It's best to go in with the reminder that, according to the classic "Star Trek” fiction trope, our heroes will be alright by the end, but there's some gnarly road before this book gets there. "Fallen Heroes," like many older tie-in novels, is easily found used.

Q-In-Law by Peter David

Peter David gets on this list three times because, along with his clean prose and keen understanding of the franchise, he also understands what a fan would kill to see. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great recurring characters, and two fan favorites take the spotlight in "Q-In Law." The omnipotent Q is a guaranteed good time, but adding Deanna Troi's dramatic mother Lwaxana to the mix makes for a salty popcorn festival.

The premise is simple: Noticing that the Enterprise is ready to host a wedding, Q shows up with mischief on his mind. Lwaxana arrives for the diplomatic event, and Q picks up on the Betazed noble's talent for chaos. However, for once in his life, Q gets more than he bargained for when he flirts with Lwaxana. Somewhere in the mayhem, Worf notes the crew might as well sell tickets to watch it all fall apart. I recommend tracking down the audiobook . It's narrated by John de Lancie and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (Q and Lwaxana themselves), and they happily go all in on the verbal sparring.

Prime Directive by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

The Prime Directive is one of the few immutable tenets of the "Star Trek” universe. However, Starfleet General Order 1 is not without its flaws. To wit, no Starfleet command or crew is to interfere with the development of an alien society. It's a Cold War product that was designed by minds worried about escalation and accidental destruction. Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens' "Prime Directive," published in 1990, digs into what happens when that order is disobeyed.

In both the original series and the movies, Kirk and his crew rarely receive lasting consequences for their actions. This novel sets about dismantling that trope. Kirk, in charge of observing Talin IV, a world on the cusp of first contact, seems to accidentally violate the Prime Directive. Worse, his mistake devastates the developing Talin society. From Kirk to Uhura, the command crew of the Enterprise see their careers ended for their failure. The bulk of the novel is the long process of the crew (who have either resigned, been demoted to ensign, or court-martialed) seeking out what actually went wrong on Talin IV. The answers are complex, and the ethical questions are thought-provoking.

Sarek by A.C. Crispin

Author A.C. Crispin was a key figure in not only helping readers understand that tie-in novels shouldn't be dismissed as "amateur" content but also in protecting other writers from being scammed. Her talents as a writer provided light but intricate stories. "Sarek" (not to be confused with the phenomenal "Next Generation" episode of the same name ) is a rich look at one of "Star Trek's" most complicated figures .

"Sarek" is a political thriller tempered by Sarek's sometimes cold Vulcan discipline. A veiled threat from an unknown alien race aims to unbalance the core of the Federation. Balanced against these high stakes is the famed Vulcan ambassador's wife's illness. Amanda Grayson 's humanity helped both Sarek and Spock bridge their two worlds. However, her impending loss threatens to undo the peace father and son forged years ago. In the book, Amanda's journal provides empathetic glimpses inside Sarek's life. "Sarek" is a novel as crucial as "Spock's World" for fans of the iconic Vulcans.

Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan

Uhura 's popularity was a big deal for television back when "Star Trek" first came on the air. Unfortunately, moments in which she took the lead were all too rare. By 1985, Uhura was still a supporting character on screen, but now, she had a couple of novels that gave her some more in-depth attention. "Uhura's Song" is the best and, frankly, the weirdest slice of fanfic-style glory to make it to the printed page.

Long ago, Uhura made friends with a woman named Sunfall of Ennien, a diplomat from the planet Eaiaou, whose love of dance and song outlived her when a deadly pandemic decimated her world. However, there's a clue in the songs Sunfall taught Uhura that might help end the pandemic before it wipes out the whole planet. This is where I have to warn you that this strange and lovely novel is basically "Warrior Cats” in space. Yes, the people of Eaiaou are cat people — with emphasis on the cat side of that equation. Shut up! It's awesome!

Metamorphosis by Jean Lorrah

This last pick is going to be a divisive one. Jean Lorrah 's "Metamorphosis" is a chunky book that lags in a few places, but it does two things well enough to get a sentimental recommendation: First, though non-canon, the book picks up after "Measure of a Man," the "Next Generation" episode that gave Data legal protection as a sentient lifeform and explores the ethical aftermath in a way that's catnip to me. Second, the novel makes the acerbic Dr. Pulaski somewhat likable and empathetic. Now, that's an achievement!

Although there's a handful of plot threads going on in this large, lumpy novel, the biggest one is Data's temporary tenure as what he's wanted to become all along — a fleshy human (with all that entails). As anyone who rolls out of bed to the symphony of their bones cracking could tell the android, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Still, he persists in a weird kind of hero's journey, and although everything is set back to baseline by the end, the trip is one of a kind.

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• Series & Movies

Published Apr 27, 2022

5 Star Trek Novels Every Fan Should Read

These adventures span the universe and tell stories we didn't have a chance to see onscreen

StarTrek.com

If there’s been one constant in Star Trek ’s 56-year history, it’s been the franchise’s presence on fans’ bookshelves. The first series of novels came from James Blish as he adapted certain episodes from The Original Series , and those books opened the floodgates for dozens of authors to inscribe hundreds of Star Trek stories on the printed page. A few are just fine, most are good, and some are excellent – but which are which?

For fans who want to explore the massive catalogue of Star Trek novels, here are five stories that you should definitely seek out at some point in your exploration of the wonderful Star Trek novel universe.

Star Trek: Discovery: Dead Endless – Dave Galanter, 2019

This first pick is one of the more recent Star Trek novels, based on Star Trek: Discovery, that spotlights the relationship between Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber, played by Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz in the show, respectively.  As his last book, the late Dave Galanter certainly delivers a quintessential Star Trek story – one that perfectly encapsulates the Star Trek ethos.

The adventures of the Discovery amid the mycelial network produces some fascinating science-based storytelling, but the real spirit of this book comes from the connection shared between two star-crossed lovers. The aforementioned men are coupled within the metaphysical fiber of the universe thanks to their loving connection, but the fact that the Stamets in Dead Endless is an alternate universe version of Culber’s real partner makes this connection much more complicated.  Galanter ensures readers will chuckle in awe of a smart, unexpected plot twist, smile at a clever or funny line of dialogue, or become misty eyed thanks to the author’s incredible description of love that defies space and time.

Star Trek: Coda: Book III – Oblivion’s Gate – David Mack, 2021

This book is one of the most recent entries in the Star Trek literary universe; in fact, in one sense, it’s the final one. Yes, you should probably read the first two entries in this amazing trilogy — Moments Asunder and The Ashes of Tomorrow — first, but the third book is extra special. Oblivion’s Gate serves as the final word in the long-running so-called Star Trek “novel-verse,” or “lit-verse,” the collection of non-canonical books by numerous authors since 2005 that deeply expand the adventures of familiar and new characters in the Star Trek universe. Therefore, Oblivion’s Gate is a herculean effort by Mack, as it is the final book in a series that is designed by its authors to shut the door on well-loved characters and their adventures. By itself, that’s a good reason to pick this one up.

But Mack steps up to the plate in an unexpectedly powerful way. He clearly deeply cares about the novel universe he and other authors have inhabited for so many years. Oblivion’s Gate sees Captain Picard and his allies stop an existential threat by the Devidians – even when that means destroying the universe they inhabit. Think about those stakes! Mack weaves a deeply emotional tale that adroitly balances intergalactic stakes amid interpersonal ramifications. For example, how does Captain Picard, a man who has fostered a loving family throughout multiple novel-verse books, have the courage to end their existence in service of a greater goal? And what exactly is that greater goal? You’ll have to read to find out.

Star Trek: Federation – Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 1994

Released in 1994, this is one of the oldest books on this list, but pay that no mind. Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are legendary Star Trek novelists, producing some of the best fiction in this franchise. Federation features a centuries-spanning storyline that unites two of Starfleet’s most famous captains. The Reeves-Stevens duo tie together multiple canonical entries in the Star Trek universe, including a vital The Original Series episode, to craft a story that showcases their intricate knowledge of Star Trek lore using their densely detailed but highly readable writing style.

Readers will journey with Captains Kirk and Picard as a time and mind-bending mystery unfolds in a fashion that will keep readers blazing through the pages, only to find themselves at a remarkable ending that challenges their conception of what’s possible within the Star Trek universe. If that doesn’t sound like a fantastic book, what does?

Star Trek: New Frontier: House of Cards – Peter David, 1997

Peter David is a legendary author to Star Trek fans, and for good reason. He’s written 48 works of Star Trek fiction, the most prolific of which is the New Frontier series. This collection of novellas and story stories stand as fascinating additions to Star Trek lore, as the cover of the first New Frontier book promises, “A new ship, a new crew, a new mission!” Yes, most of the main players in this story are either new characters, ones that were only briefly introduced in Star Trek canon, or returning popular characters who help launch this new series.

In the spotlight is Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, the charming and roguish leader of the U.S.S. Excalibur . Thanks to David’s well-developed characterization of Captain Calhoun, he can confidently stand along franchise mainstays like Picard and Kirk just fine. What’s more, his crew bring their own wit, charm, and mystery to this short adventure that serves as the introduction to an entire literary franchise. House of Cards reached the top 10 of the New York Times best seller list in 1997, a testament to the grand new adventures David created with a mostly new crew. If you want to branch beyond the literary adventures of Picard, Kirk, and other franchise favorites, New Frontier is the place to do it.

Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars: Book One – Greg Cox, 2001

This list of novels was created before the recent episode of Star Trek: Picard featured the same kind of supervisors that permeate The Eugenics Wars trilogy, so it's a neat coincidence!

Cox, who scribes all three books in The Eugenics Wars trilogy, hooks readers immediately with the lengthy but fascinating inaugural entry in this series. The Eugenics Wars feels at once like an expertly told Star Trek story and a history lesson, a seemingly dichotomous feat for a science fiction novel. Cox chronicles the rise – and fall – of the infamous Star Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh during the 20th century and uses numerous real-world historical events to frame Khan’s tale.

Cox leans so much into history that he feels compelled to provide readers with a thorough afterward section that explains every little historical detail used in the book. His expert use of history to build a grand science fiction story is the main reason why readers shouldn’t sleep on this intelligent, thoughtful, and intriguing book – but beyond that, Khan’s story, even if it’s not strictly canonical, really helps add complexity to the character we see on screen.

Kyle Hadyniak (he/him) is a life-long Star Trek fan who lives in Gray, Maine. He is assistant editor for TrekNews.net, and can usually be found reading, playing video games, or arguing why The Final Frontier and Nemesis are the best Star Trek movies. You can find him on Twitter at @KHADY93

Star Trek: Discovery currently streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. Internationally, the series is available on Paramount+ in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics, and on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Discovery is distributed by Paramount Global Distribution Group.

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56 Years Later, Star Trek Canon Finally Addresses Its Trickiest Moral Question

Genetic engineering doesn’t make you a villain.

People will never get over Khan. From his introduction in the 1967 episode “Space Seed,” to the famous Wrath of Khan , to the Benedict Cumberbatch version in 2013, and most recently, his distant descendent, La’an Noonien-Singh in Strange New Worlds , Star Trek’s most infamous genetically enhanced supervillain casts a long shadow. But, 56 years after Khan’s debut, the Trek canon is flipping the script on the nature of Khan’s villainy. For a long time, Star Trek has (mostly) posited that people like Khan were evil because they were genetically enhanced. But what Strange New Worlds presupposes is — maybe not?

In the Season 2 Strange New Worlds episode “Ad Astra per Aspera,” Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) faces legal charges. In a bit of retcon, Season 1 of SNW established that Una was secretly an Illyrian, an alien culture that practices genetic modification as a way of life. In “Ghost of Illyria,” we learned that Una had hidden her genetic modifications to blend in at Starfleet, and in “A Quality of Mercy,” Starfleet arrested her for violating its anti-genetic modification laws. Why can’t you be genetically modified in the open-minded, egalitarian Star Trek future? Well, it all comes down to Khan.

Khan’s genetics backstory explained

Khan in “Space Seed.”

When “Space Seed” aired during Star Trek’s first season in 1967, the show was still making up its future history. Even the year The Original Series took place hadn’t been established. Khan says he’s been sleeping for “200 years,” but because this episode of TOS was later established to have taken place in 2267, it’s more like 271 years. But the point here is that Star Trek pre-history begins in the 1990s.

“Space Seed” established that Khan was a tyrant who ruled part of Earth in the 1990s and was exiled in suspended animation “sleeper ship” in 1996. This conflict was called the Eugenics Wars, which in “Space Seed” Spock calls “the era of your last so-called World War.”

Trek canon has been stuck with this tricky chronology ever since. Once the Eugenics Wars failed to occur in the real 1990s, various Treks lampshaded or outright contradicted their date and Khan’s rise to power. Greg Cox's trilogy of novels, The Eugenics Wars , began in 2001 and combined fuzzy Star Trek history with real ‘90s history by making Khan’s rise to dominance a secret war fought under false flags and without the general public's knowledge. In the 1996 Voyager two-parter “Future’s End,” the crew traveled back to 1996, where they shrugged their shoulders at the fact there was no evidence of an ongoing World War III. More recently, in Strange New Worlds and Picard Season 2, it’s been suggested the Eugenics Wars led to World War III, and that led to a third of the Earth’s population dying. Then you’ve got a Mad Max -style Earth until 2063 when the Vulcans make first contact.

Trek canon has some wiggle room. In “Space Seed,” Spock said, “Records of that period are fragmentary.” So if you think the new Trek canon is retconning Khan’s origins a bit, brace yourself for even more changes in the future. Was Khan really around in the 1990s? Or was he on Earth later?

How Strange New Worlds goes deeper than TOS

Yetide Badaki as Neera.

If you put aside the trickiness of early Star Trek chronology, what’s interesting about “Ad Astra per Aspera” is that it inverts previous assumptions about the Federation, and turns the existence of Khan into a scapegoat for massive bigots at Starfleet. Season 1 of Strange New Worlds explored this a bit with La’an’s backstory and Number One getting arrested for being an Illyrian, but now it’s going much deeper. Here, Una’s Illyrian lawyer, Neera (Yetide Badaki), has no love for the Federation or Starfleet, because she’s experienced prejudice for being genetically altered her entire life. Neera makes it clear the Federation has used Khan’s atrocities to justify widespread discrimination.

This stigma runs so deep that, during a private conversation with La’an, Neera points out that just because you’re descended from a supervillain —La’an is distantly related to Khan — that doesn’t mean “there’s a monster” inside you. La’an is human, but Neera and Una are not, and thus Strange New Worlds makes a leap that Trek has never quite made before.

Una and Neera in Strange New Worlds .

In the Deep Space Nine episode “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?” it’s revealed that Julian Bashir was genetically enhanced by his parents when he was very young. A similar conflict arises, and Khan is alluded to, but there’s a crucial difference. In TOS and Deep Space Nine , the idea that genetic alterations could be a cultural norm is never explored. It’s always viewed as a moment where science goes too far. Julian is nice in spite of his genetic modifications, but his parents still transgressed human cultural norms.

Strange New Worlds builds on all of this and makes the subject much more interesting because while Una has violated Federation law, we see an entire culture of Ilyrians living and thriving in the Volterra Nebula. Some may pass for human, but judging people by their appearance is a practice Star Trek has often strived to dismantle. When Pike visits the Illyrian world to recruit Neera, the environment is hostile to his biology. The Illryians aren’t monsters. Pike is the gas-mask-clad outsider, and a representative of the Federation the Illyrians view as narrow-minded bigots.

The resolution of “Ad Astra per Aspera” creates a loophole where Una can stay in Starfleet while making it clear Starfleet isn’t changing its mind. This preserves canon, but the impact is deeper than dot-connecting. With this episode, Strange New Worlds has pointed out that the so-called utopia of the Federation still has its biases and bigots, and that even in the 23rd Century, humans can do better.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+.

This article was originally published on June 24, 2023

• Science Fiction

Star Trek: Best Book-Only Characters

• The Star Trek novels introduce unique characters like Akaar and Treir, adding depth to the expansive Starfleet universe.
• Characters like Nick Keller and Elias Vaughn bring new perspectives to the post- DS9 era, facing challenging galactic events.
• Mackenzie Calhoun leads the USS Excalibur in a new hero ship series, showcasing tactical genius in the New Frontier books.

Just like the universe itself, the Star Trek franchise is huge and far-reaching, encompassing several television shows, and numerous video games, movies, and books. While many of Star Trek 's most iconic characters appear in various series and films, there are many other great characters who only feature in alternative media sources. For instance, the final frontier has spawned some memorable video game-based characters .

Star Trek: 8 Most Powerful Federation Starships, Ranked

Yet perhaps the richest source of characters is the now questionably canon series of books that take place following The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine . From fresh takes on classic species like the Andorians and Orions, to some of Starfleet's finest officers, the Star Trek novels are a treasure trove of notable figures.

Leonard James Akaar

First appearence: star trek mission gamma book one: twilight.

• Author: David R. George III
• Publication Date: September 2002

Leonard James Akaar is unique among novel-only characters in that he does, in fact, make a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance on televised Trek . "Friday's Child," an episode of The Original Series , ends with his birth; however, the Capellan royal would not be seriously fleshed out until 2002's Mission Gamma: Twilight . By the time of the Deep Space 9 novels, Akaar had risen through the ranks of Starfleet to become an influential admiral with the ear of the Federation president.

Akaar's strategic mindset and steely resolve proved essential in preserving the Federation through some of its darkest periods, including the Borg invasion depicted in the Star Trek: Destiny series. The Starfleet legend may have been born in The Original Series , but the Star Trek novels were where he made his name.

First Appearence: Star Trek: Demons of Air and Darkness

• Author: Keith R. A. DeCandido
• Publication Date: September 2001

Star Trek features many inspirational female characters, from Kira Nerys to Katherine Janeway. However, few are as resourceful or as motivated as Treir , an Orion Dabo girl who transformed Quark's Bar into a highly successful business during the post- DS9 novels. Following her escape from Orion servitude, Treir earned her place as Quark's right-hand woman by implementing a series of radical reforms, including hiring a Dabo boy to attract more customers.

Star Trek: The Fates Of Every Live-Action TV Show's Main Character

Treir may not play a significant role in the canon-shattering events depicted in the Deep Space 9 novels, but this ruthless businesswoman helped to make Star Trek 's prose universe feel like a living, breathing place. If anyone is capable of giving Quark a run for his latinum, it's her.

Nick Keller

First appearence: star trek new earth: challenger.

• Author: Diane Carey
• Publication Date: August 2000

New Earth , a series of six novels that take place between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan , was intended to act as a backdoor pilot for a new narrative focusing on Commander Nick Keller . In the final novel, Keller takes command of a makeshift starship in order to defend the human colony of Belle Terre from alien attack. Keller was conflicted between overthrowing his inept captain and preserving the lives of his comrades, and it's a great shame that a full series based on the space cowboy's adventures never emerged.

Interestingly, author Diane Carey based Keller's appearance on Scott Bakula, who would go on to play Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise . Keller, however, would make only two more appearances in the Star Trek universe, with both being part of the multi-series Gateways crossover event.

Elias Vaughn

First appearence: star trek: avatar (book one).

• Author: S. D. Perry
• Publication Date: July 2001

Elias Vaughn was a Starfleet officer and intelligence operative who joined Deep Space 9's command staff following the end of the Dominion War . Despite only holding the rank of commander, Vaughn's expertise proved a boon to the Federation outpost, and he played a role in several key events, including the USS Defiant 's post-war exploration of the Gamma Quadrant (depicted in the Mission Gamma sub-series).

Star Trek: 8 Impressive Things Kirk Did Before Joining The USS Enterprise

Vaughn was haunted by the death of his wife, Ruriko, and his troubled relationship with his estranged daughter, Prynn. This relationship was complicated by the fact that Prynn was also assigned to Deep Space 9. However, father and daughter were eventually able to reconcile–but not without some bumps along the way.

Christine Vale

First appearence: star trek: the belly of the beast.

• Author: Dean Wesley Smith

While William Riker's USS Titan has made notable appearances in Star Trek: Lower Decks , the starship's adventures were originally chronicled in a series of spin-off novels. These books featured Christine Vale , a former detective turned Starfleet officer, as Riker's second-in-command. Vale was initially unwilling to take the post, as she disliked the idea of Riker working so closely with his wife, Deanna Troi.

Luckily, Vale took the post, which allowed her to act as a counterweight to any of Riker's Troi-related biases. During her time aboard the USS Titan , she helped to explore the Beta Quadrant and fend off a Borg invasion. Indeed, her record was so good that, following Riker's promotion to admiral, she took command of the Luna -class starship.

Thirishar ch'Thane

From their initial appearance in 1967's "Journey to Babel" and 2001's "The Andorian Incident," references to Star Trek 's Andorians were true and far between. One important detail was disclosed in The Next Generation , however: Andorians have four sexes , with all four required for successful reproduction.

The character of Thirishar ch'Thane (or "Shar") was a response to this premise. Shar served as Deep Space Nine's science officer following the end of the Dominion War, but was torn between his commitments to Starfleet and to his mating group, who wished him to return to Andor. This dilemma was further complicated by a dangerous decline in Andorian fertility, which threatened to cause the Andorians' extinction in the long term. Shar was eventually able to use his scientific knowledge to help solve the Andorian fertility crisis.

The Jem'Hadar are one of Star Trek 's most iconic creations , a powerful race of warriors motivated by their addiction to the chemical ketracel-white. During the Dominion War of 2373–2375, the Jem'Hadar were central to the Dominion assaults which nearly overwhelmed the Federation Alliance.

8 Best Starfleet Ships During The Dominion War

After the war's conclusion, Taran'atar , a Jem'Hadar without a ketracel-white dependency, was sent to Deep Space Nine as a cultural observer. Taran'atar's struggle to adjust to the Alpha Quadrant during peacetime makes for fascinating reading, as does seeing the fearsome warrior growing closer to his former enemies. Taran'atar's story takes some strange twists and turns, but he remains a fascinating character.

Mackenzie Calhoun

First appearence: star trek new frontier: house of cards.

• Author: Peter David
• Publication Date: July 1997

In 1997, Pocket Books published the first of Peter David's New Frontier books. While these novels included several characters from TV Trek (mostly notably Commander Shelby from "The Best of Both Worlds" ), they focused on a new hero ship, the USS Excalibur , and a new captain: Mackenzie Calhoun . Calhoun, an alien warrior modeled after Mel Gibson, was depicted as a tactical genius capable of beating Starfleet's toughest challenges–including the infamous Kobayashi Maru test.

Calhoun soon became a fan-favorite, with his New Frontier series including over 20 volumes. The Xenanian captain was even popular enough to be made into an action figure, the only example of this honor being bestowed on a character originating from any of Star Trek 's novels.

Created by Gene Roddenberry

First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Latest Film Star Trek Beyond

First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series

Latest TV Show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Creation Year 1966

Screen Rant

10 star wars lightsaber designs that are so much cooler than anything in the movies.

Although Star Wars has revealed some iconic lightsaber designs over the years, these 10 lightsabers are cooler than any included in Star Wars movies.

• Lightsaber designs in Star Wars novels and games are more creative and unique than those seen in the movies.
• Some standout lightsaber designs include extendable, crossguard, and double-bladed pike variations.
• Colors like purple (Mace Windu) and yellow (Asajj Ventress, Rey) have expanded the lightsaber lore beyond the films.

Star Wars has included a number of incredible lightsabers in the nearly five decades of Star Wars movies and TV shows since the franchise began, but some lightsaber designs from various Star Wars shows, books, and video games are even better than the movies. There are many types of lightsabers in Star Wars canon , and the designs have become more innovative over time. Lightsaber colors and their meanings have also expanded, beginning with Jedi Master Mace Windu's purple saber in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones but becoming even more diverse in more recent Star Wars projects.

However, some of the very best lightsaber designs aren't depicted in Star Wars movies at all . Instead, Star Wars media such as novels and games, particularly outside the canon with some exceptions, have seemed freer to embrace a creative approach to lightsabers, resulting in more unique, impressive designs. These 10 lightsaber designs specifically are the absolute best outside of Star Wars movies.

The 10 Most Unique Lightsabers In Star Wars History

10 the guard shoto, star wars: the force unleashed.

In the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, Maris Brood, a Jedi Padawan turned dark side Force-user, uses guard shotos. The shoto lightsabers, also called lightsaber tonfas, are shorter than the average lightsaber length, as is true of all shoto lightsabers, including those wielded by Ahsoka Tano and Master Yoda. However, Maris' guard shotos are distinct in that they have another handle at a 90-degree angle from the standard hilt.

This design makes it easier for the user to attack with a backhanded grip. This ability is highly reminiscent of one of Ahsoka's favorite stances with her own shoto blade , which she often held at an angle behind her while holding her standard-length lightsaber in front of her. Although Ahsoka's lightsabers did not come with the guards' additional hilt, this would have been an amazing design for her to use given how much she favored this stance.

Ahsoka Tano

9 corran horn's extendable lightsaber.

Corran Horn appears in multiple Legends stories, including the novels Star Wars: X-Wings: Rogue Squadron and I , Jedi , both written by Michael A. Stackpole. In Legends, Corran had an amazing lightsaber design. In addition to the blade being silver, the lightsaber also had the capability to extend . As a dual-phase lightsaber, the blade could grow to be three meters long when properly aligned, at which point it would also transition from silver to purple.

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Purchase I, Jedi on Amazon

Interestingly, the Obi-Wan Kenobi show secretly made Corran Horn canon , which means this incredible lightsaber may end up on the big (or small) screen after all. This would be a thrilling update, as this type of lightsaber—or really anything like it—has never been seen in Star Wars movies or TV shows before. However, Corran is also not the only Star Wars character in the larger universe, including Legends, to have an extendable lightsaber; Senya Tirall from the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game also had one.

8 Stellan Gios Crossguard Lightsaber

Star wars: the high republic.

Stellan Gios is a canon Jedi from the High Republic Era , the period of the Jedi Order and the Republic's history largely considered the golden era. Stellan's lightsaber has an iconic hilt design, with a crossguard not dissimilar from Kylo Ren's throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy. However, with Stellan's ornate gold and silver design, his lightsaber comes across as almost regal, whereas Kylo Ren's seems chaotic and even somewhat poorly constructed.

Ben Solo/Kylo Ren

Fascinatingly, Stellan's lightsaber, like Corran's, may be brought to the small screen after all . Stellan Gios' Padawan, Vernestra Rwoh, is confirmed to be appearing in the upcoming Star Wars: The Acolyte TV show . While Stellan isn't yet confirmed for the show, it would make sense for him to appear alongside his Padawan. It would be truly exciting for this to be the case, as Stellan Gios was an incredibly powerful Jedi Master alongside having an amazing lightsaber.

7 The Temple Guard's Lightsaber Pike

Star wars rebels.

Depicted in Star Wars Rebels , the Jedi Temple Guards each wielded a double-bladed yellow pike lightsaber. As their titles suggest, the Guards were charged with protecting the Jedi Order, although each began as a Jedi Knight before becoming a faceless sentinel providing security to the Temple and its Jedi. Their lightsabers are particularly exciting, as they represent a major shift currently taking place in the larger Star Wars franchise.

Their lightsabers are particularly exciting, as they represent a major shift currently taking place in the larger Star Wars franchise.

Rey Skywalker

What yellow lightsabers mean: star wars canon, legends history, asajj ventress & rey's new jedi order.

The first yellow lightsaber to be depicted on-screen was Rey Skywalker's in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker . At the end of the movie, Rey can be seen holding the yellow saber up, signaling that she has now created her own lightsaber, finally (literally) putting the Skywalker sabers to rest. At the time, this color seemed revolutionary. However, since then, The Bad Batch season 3 has revealed that Asajj Ventress is also currently using a yellow lightsaber. Moreover, The Acolyte trailer showcases multiple yellow lightsabers, suggesting this color is becoming quite significant.

Asajj Ventress

6 ezra bridger's lightsaber-blaster hybrid, ezra bridger.

Also in Rebels , Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger showcases a very unique, although subtle, lightsaber design. In the show, Ezra's first lightsaber is a lightsaber-blaster hybrid . This is particularly interesting, as Jedi generally avoid using such a weapon, favoring their more dignified lightsabers. Famously, Obi-Wan Kenobi highlighted this in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith when he picked up General Grievous' blaster and tossed it aside, saying, "So uncivilized."

However, it seems Ezra ultimately uses a more traditional lightsaber as, later on in Rebels and in the Ahsoka show, his blaster is long gone. Instead, in Rebels , he adopts a more traditional green lightsaber and, in Ahsoka , he opts for a blue blade. Perhaps this in part suggests his growth as a Jedi; Ezra had lived for some time as someone capable with the Force but not a Jedi. Over time, he discarded the blaster he'd used before his training and replaced it with a true Jedi weapon.

Perhaps this in part suggests his growth as a Jedi.

5 Plo Koon's Lightsaber Gauntlet

Star wars: episode iii - revenge of the sith concept art.

Although Jedi Master Plo Koon was ultimately depicted as having a fairly standard blue-bladed lightsaber in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, he almost had a much cooler design. Concept art for Revenge of the Sith shows Plo Koon with a green lightsaber gauntlet , a design that combines two lightsaber blades and connects them via a hilt that acts as a handle. This incredible design was sadly scrapped, but it is truly one of Star Wars' coolest.

Particularly because the idea was tossed around in concept art but wasn't used in the end, it seems Star Wars has considered making some of these more unique designs canon on the big screen. While many haven't made it there yet, hopefully this will change over time. While many lightsabers in the Star Wars movies are plenty iconic already, these more creative designs would be excellent additions.

4 Jocasta Nu's Lightsaber Rifle

Star wars: darth vader (2017) 9.

Another Star Wars prequel trilogy Jedi, the Jedi Temple archivist Jocasta Nu also wielded an incredibly unique lightsaber. In the comic book Star Wars: Darth Vader (2017) 9 , written by Charles Soule, Jocasta Nu is revealed to be one of the few Jedi who survived Order 66 . In a confrontation with Darth Vader in the comic book, Jocasta wields an amazing lightsaber rifle , the likes of which have certainly never been seen in a Star Wars movie.

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Fascinatingly, this story is Star Wars canon, meaning that, although it hasn't yet made its way on screen, the lightsaber rifle is a canon weapon. This lightsaber is linked in some sense to Ezra Bridger's first lightsaber in Rebels , as it is also a lightsaber-blaster hybrid. However, Jocasta Nu's lightsaber rifle is a considerably more blaster-focused weapon, making it extremely unique in Star Wars .

Jocasta Nu's lightsaber rifle is a considerably more blaster-focused weapon, making it extremely unique in Star Wars .

3 Master Baird Kantoo's Kyber Saber

Lego star wars: the freemaker adventures.

Surprisingly, one of the coolest lightsaber designs in the greater Star Wars universe comes from one of the Lego Star Wars projects. Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures is a non-canon Star Wars Lego story set even before the Old Republic. The animated series introduces Jedi Master Baird Kantoo's Kyber Saber, which, at least in The Freemaker Adventures , is considered the first lightsaber.

The Kyber Saber is unique in that it emits an incredibly powerful, bright blade made of pure Kyber energy. No doubt in part because Master Baird used multiple Kyber crystals for the design, the lightsaber looks distinct in size and scale from the lightsabers in the Star Wars movies. While this story will likely never enter the canon, Jedi Master Baird's Kyber Saber is nevertheless a fascinating lightsaber design and origin story for the Jedi.

2 Kouru's Lightsaber Parasol

Star wars: visions.

One of the most incredible designs to come out of the non-canon Star Wars: Visions animated TV show is the lightsaber parasol wielded by Kouru . The multi-bladed lightsaber was an astounding, completely innovative design that allowed the user to create a shield by spinning the various sabers. However, Kouru was also able to transition to a more traditional single-blade lightsaber for battle, which would no doubt make more sense than attempting to engage in combat with a number of lightsabers forming an umbrella shape.

The multi-bladed lightsaber was an astounding, completely innovative design that allowed the user to create a shield by spinning the various sabers.

The closest Star Wars has come to such a design on the big screen is in Revenge of the Sith when General Grievous, in his battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi, wields four lightsabers and approaches Obi-Wan while spinning all of them at once. However, this is quite different from the parasol lightsaber. Unlike Kouru's, General Grievous' use of multiple lightsabers doesn't come from one design; instead, General Grievous collects the lightsabers of Jedi he's killed, and his multiple arms enable him to use them in this manner.

1 Vernestra Rwoh's Lightwhip

Star wars: the acolyte.

Excitingly, the most incredible lightsaber design is confirmed to be appearing on the small screen in Star Wars canon . Vernestra Rwoh, Stellan Gios' Padawan, is officially a character in The Acolyte , which means that her amazing purple lightwhip will be in the show. The Star Wars Databank confirmed that Vernestra, or "Vern," will be appearing with her iconic, unique lightwhip saber, which is a thrilling update to Star Wars . While Vern is certainly not the only character in the larger universe to use a lightwhip, seeing the saber in live-action will no doubt be stunning.

Although Star Wars' many movies have included amazing lightsabers from the beginning and have even become more inventive and experimental over time, these 10 lightsaber designs are unlike anything seen in the movies. From Visions' unbelievable parasol lightsaber to Vernestra's lightwhip, the larger Star Wars universe contains some of the most incredible weapons in all of Star Wars . Although the lightsaber has been an iconic Jedi weapon since the earliest Star Wars movie, these 10 more creative designs are the most impressive of all.

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.

Star Wars and the world of Japanese animation collide in Star Wars: Visions, a sci-fi anthology series that sees several prolific animation studios tackle various unique tales set in the Star Wars universe. Each episode tells a new tale from a new studio in incredibly different animation styles that all aim to capture the lives outside the core cast of Star Wars regulars, including how the events of the war affect those caught inside of it.

Set between Episodes III and IV of the Star Wars film franchise, Star Wars Rebels is a canon animated series that follows a group of ragtag heroes who band together to face the Empire. In an age where the Galactic Empire is hunting down the last of the Jedi, a teenage outcast named Ezra Bridger is discovered to be force sensitive by a surviving Jedi known as Kanan Jarrus. Agreeing to join them and accept Jedi training, Ezra becomes a part of a small but growing crew of rebels determined to destroy the empire covertly.

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