Book bits: Section 31, Seekers, The Fall, and new German releases

The latest Star Trek books news, starting with a look ahead to some of 2014's novels:

Mock-up cover

In a recent interview with Trek Mate's Ten Forward podcast, David Mack outlined his plans for his next 24th century novel, Section 31: Disavowed:

It's really gonna be a hardcore spy-thriller-type-thing. It's essentially, Bashir, after The Fall, has to find a new modus vivendi. He's got a new life, he's not in Starfleet any more, Sarina Douglas has followed him out of Starfleet. And Disavowed is essentially about him beginning the process of infiltrating Section 31 and insinuating himself into the organisation, as part of his long term strategy, along with Sarina Douglas, to take the organisation down from within.

Mock-up cover

Before Section 31 at the end of 2014, Mack also has Second Nature, his initial volume in the newSeekers series (a spin-off fromVanguard), due in the middle of the year. He also summarised how that series is being approached:

It's designed as a much more straight-forward, light, fun, action-adventure, with a bit of humour. It's supposed to be in that sort of lighter vein of Star Trek that you had back in the 1970s anthologies of the episodes; the adaptations of the episodes by James Blish. So it's going to have that retro look and feel, in terms of the cover and the cover design, layout, and typography.

We're also writing these books to be a bit shorter, rather than ninety to a hundred thousand words, we're aiming closer to seventy to eighty thousand words. So they're going to be lighter, they're going to be faster. They're just designed to be quick fun little adventures, without all the politics, without all the darkness.

In contrast to the politics-light approach of Seekers, the current 24th century series, The Fall, is steeped in continuity and politics, as James Swallow summarised in a recent interview with Trek FM's Literary Treks:

This is a Federation trying to get back on the up-swing; dealing with the Typhon Pact, and all these other threats to its existence. It's a Federation that's completely unlike the one that we've seen in the TV shows. I think the books really reflect that; it's a Federation where the people feel embattled. There's an entire generation of people coming up in Starfleet, and they're people who've lived through the war with the Borg. Young people who are now joining Starfleet and they have different ideas about the way that Starfleet should be, and maybe they're coming at it with a more militant more aggressive stand-point - Which is not what Starfleet is about. Or is it what Starfleet is about, now? It's the dynamic tension between these two world-views; if you end up being to quick to reach for your sword, eventually that's the first thing you do in every situation, and that's not Star Trek. But it's reflecting what feels to me, a realistic evolution of that culture. Trying to find their way back to their try ideals are - This is very definitely a story about that; our characters, and in a larger sense the Federation, being confronted with two paths...

Swallow also hinted at his plans for future Star Trek books. While nothing is set in stone yet, he is looking to do a five-year-mission TOS novel, and later, another Titan novel.

You can hear both David Mack and James Swallow talking much more about their books by listening to their complete interviews, on Trek Mate and Trek FM respectively .

In other books news, German readers have several new translations on the way from Panini. Three of the recent quirkier books are all coming out in February:

• Stellar-Kartographie (Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library), originally published by 47North in December 2013.
• Das Star Trek-Bastelbuch (The Star Trek Craft Book), originally published by Pocket Books in April 2013.
• Sprich wie ein Klingone, Buch mit Soundkonsole: Essenzielle Phrasen für den intergalaktischen Reisenden (How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler), originally published by Chronicle Books in April 2013.