As reported earlier this year Pocket Books recently decided to streamline its publication of Star Trek novels and that change became effective in June of this year. In the past the number of new books being released was inconsistent. Now the new schedule of one mass-market paperback title and one S.C.E. eBook per month is firm. In addition to the consistent two titles per month there will also be hardcover titles and trade paperback editions spread throughout the year.

Sadly this decision was seen by many fans as yet another sign that Star Trek is a dying franchise. Nothing could be farther from the truth; at least as far as the fiction line is concerned. The quality of the stories being told has progressively improved over the past four or five years and this past year has been one of the most successful for the fiction line. Readers know that there are plenty of really good original stories set in the Star Trek universe to be had at their public library or local bookstore.

No matter what series you prefer, or if you are one of the steadily growing numbers of readers who relish the literary based series, there is plenty to look forward to in 2006 and beyond. At the recent Shore Leave convention Marco Palmieri, one of the fiction line's editors at Pocket Books gave fans a preview of what's coming up.

The third Star Trek: Titan novel Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett will be released in January. Orion's Hounds will see Titan finally get to embark on the mission of exploration it was intended for because the Romulan storyline necessary to wrap up the lose threads that the ending of Nemesis mandated will be concluded in the preceding novel The Red King.

Peter David fans will be delighted to hear that the mass-market paperback edition of the last New Frontier novel After the Fall will be available in February. Also hitting shelves that month will be a hardcover edition of Missing in Action the nineteenth New Frontier adventure.

The Star Trek: Voyager String Theory trilogy finishes up in March with Evolution by Heather Jarman. Jarman has won critical acclaim for her Deep Space Nine novels.

April will bring the next post-finale Deep Space Nine novel Warpath by David Mack. Warpath picks up right where the last story in Star Trek: Worlds of Deep Space Nine, Volume 3, "Olympus Descending" left off. According to David Mack, "Warpath is going to deal with Taran'atar and Vaughn as sort of two opposing polls." Taran'atar will be on the run with Vaughn in pursuit.

Enterprise returns in fiction form in May with Last Full Measure by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin. This is the Maco novel that fans have been anticipating.

A mass-market edition of the Greg Cox novel about Khan's years in exile on Ceti Alpha V, To Reign in Hell will be out in June. So will the second book in the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, Exiles, by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz. Exiles will be a hardcover.

Arriving next summer, most likely in July, is the Star Trek Fiction Companion by Jeff Ayers. Fans have been pleading for something like this for a long time. A trade paperback, the Star Trek Fiction Companion will explore the history of fiction based Star Trek including the Bantam and Ballentine years. Also included will be the third edition of the Star Trek Fiction Timeline which is an invaluable reference.

July will also see the release of the second Star Trek: Vanguard novel Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. The first Vanguard novel, Harbinger, is just about to hit stores and it's already creating a buzz. Running parallel to the events of TOS, Vanguard provides a fresh perspective on that era with both original characters and familiar faces.

2006 marks the 40th anniversary of the show that started it all, the Original series. To mark the occasion an as yet untitled novel about Captain Christopher Pike by Margaret Wander Bonanno will be released in August. Additionally, sometime in the second half of the year there will also be a short story anthology to mark the anniversary. As usual the anthology will be a trade paperback.

Following each other in consecutive months will be the three novels in a TOS trilogy. Written by David R. George III Crucible Book One, Provenance of Shadows will be out in September followed by the second and third books in October and November.

Rounding out the year is the long awaited U.S.S. Excelsior novel Forged in Fire in December. Forged in Fire by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin will, among other things, tell the story of how Sulu came to be captain of the Excelsior.

Beginning in 2006 the compilations of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers eBook series will switch from being published as mass-market editions to trade paperback. The next in line, Aftermath, will be out sometime during 2006. It is possible that two S.C.E. compilation volumes may be published in 2007 but nothing firm has been decided yet. Likewise the number of novellas in each volume still needs to be worked out.

What you won't see next year is any I.K.S. Gorkon novels or post-finale Voyager. Keith R. A. DeCandido who pens the Gorkon books, and Christie Golden who has written the first four Voyager books both plan more but each is also busy with other writing projects. DeCandido also edits the S.C.E. books as well as contributing to that series as an author.

Looking farther ahead to 2007 it's a bit vaguer as far as exactly when, but certain projects are planned.

Another Lost Era book, this time a story of the eight "missing" years between Jean-Luc Picard's command of the U.S.S. Stargazer and his assuming command of the Enterprise is in the works. As is the fourth Titan novel and the second book in the Errand of Fury trilogy, Demands of Honor by Kevin Ryan.

In tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Next Generation there will be a short story anthology and the first post-Nemesis fiction set on the Enterprise-E, Resistance by J.M. Dillard.

Deep Space Nine: Terok Nor is currently planned as a four book series. The Terok Nor books will examine the years that the Cardassian's occupied Bajor from both the point of view of the Bajorans and the Cardassians. It's not likely that all four books will come out in 2007; this project will probably trickle on into 2008.

Also in the works is a two volume trade paperback collection of Mirror Universe novels. Margaret Clark, the editor who will shepherd the post-Nemesis TNG books, will tackle one volume, while Marco Palmieri will take on the other. The Enterprise, TOS and TNG books will be grouped together in the first book and the DS9, Voyager and New Frontier in the second.

In addition to the upcoming books presentation the editors and authors attending Shore Leave also participated in a number of panels devoted to specific fiction projects where they were able to go into a lot more detail. Check back for reports on even more news about the Star Trek fiction line in the coming days and weeks.

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