Monthly Archives: February 2014

Most popular Star Trek novels

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To arrive at a rough guess of the popularity of all original Star Trek novels to date, I began with Wikipedia’s list of Star Trek novels, and I built Goodreads shelves for original novels related to each of the Star Trek TV series and one shelf for crossover/miscellaneous original fiction titles, separating out adaptations and young adult novels onto their own shelves as well. Then, I calculated the cube of the current rating for each novel (expressed as a percentage) times the log of the number of folks rating the novel, resulting in the rankings below. As usual, I’ve eliminated the Goodreads data, leaving only the orderings. YMMV.

The 57 most popular of 570 original Star Trek novels

  1. David Mack, Lost Souls (Misc.; Star Trek: Destiny, #3)
  2. Andrew J. Robinson, A Stitch in Time (DS9)
  3. David Mack, Mere Mortals (Misc.; Star Trek: Destiny #2)
  4. David Mack, Gods of Night (Misc.; Star Trek: Destiny #1)
  5. Diane Duane, Spock’s World (TOS)
  6. Peter David, Q-Squared (TNG)
  7. Peter David, Imzadi (TNG)
  8. David Mack, The Persistence of Memory (TNG; Star Trek TNG: Cold Equations, #1)
  9. Judith Reeves-Stevens, Federation (TOS)
  10. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy (VOY)
  11. Marco Palmieri, The Lives of Dax (DS9)
  12. Janet Kagan, Uhura’s Song (TOS)
  13. David R. George III, Raise the Dawn (Misc.; Star Trek: Typhon Pact, #7)
  14. Judith Reeves-Stevens, Prime Directive (TOS)
  15. A.C. Crispin, Time for Yesterday (TOS; Star Trek: The Yesterday Saga, #2)
  16. Peter David, Stone and Anvil (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #14)
  17. A.C. Crispin, Sarek (TOS)
  18. Diane Duane, My Enemy, My Ally (TOS; Star Trek: Rihannsu, #1)
  19. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: Full Circle (VOY)
  20. S.D. Perry, Unity (DS9)
  21. Peter David, Q-In-Law (TNG; Star Trek: The Next Generation, #18)
  22. A.C. Crispin, Yesterday’s Son (TOS; Star Trek: The Yesterday Saga, #1)
  23. James Swallow, The Poisoned Chalice (Misc.)
  24. David Mack, A Ceremony of Losses (Misc.)
  25. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: The Eternal Tide (VOY)
  26. Peter David, Gods Above (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #13)
  27. Diane Duane, Doctor’s Orders (TOS)
  28. Peter David, Requiem (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #9)
  29. David Mack, Silent Weapons (TNG; Star Trek TNG: Cold Equations, #2)
  30. David Mack, Storming Heaven (Misc.; Star Trek: Vanguard, #8)
  31. Peter David, House of Cards (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #1)
  32. David Mack, Reap the Whirlwind (Misc.; Star Trek: Vanguard, #3)
  33. Christie Golden, Homecoming (VOY; Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming, #1)
  34. Peter David, Renaissance (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #10)
  35. Peter David, Restoration (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #11)
  36. Una McCormack, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice (DS9)
  37. Peter David, Once Burned (Misc.; Star Trek: The Captain’s Table, #5)
  38. William Shatner, Collision Course (TOS; Star Trek: Academy, #1)
  39. William Shatner, The Return (TOS; Star Trek: Odyssey, #2)
  40. Barbara Hambly, Ishmael (TOS; Star Trek, No 23)
  41. Peter David, Being Human (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #12)
  42. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: Children of the Storm (VOY)
  43. Greg Cox, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (TOS; Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars, #1)
  44. Peter David, Into the Void (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #2)
  45. Peter David, Fire on High (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #6)
  46. Julia Ecklar, The Kobayashi Maru (TOS; Star Trek: The Original Series, #47)
  47. Peter David, End Game (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #4)
  48. Jean Lorrah, The Vulcan Academy Murders (TOS)
  49. Jeri Taylor, Mosaic (VOY)
  50. John de Lancie, I, Q (TNG)
  51. Margaret Wander Bonanno, Strangers from the Sky (TOS)
  52. Peter David, The Two Front War (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #3)
  53. Peter David, After the Fall (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #15)
  54. Greg Cox, The Eugenics Wars, Vol. 2: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (TOS; Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars, #2)
  55. S.D. Perry, Avatar Book Two (DS9)
  56. Peter David, Dark Allies (Misc.; Star Trek: New Frontier, #8)
  57. S.D. Perry, Avatar Book One of Two (DS9)

The 20 most popular of 195 original Star Trek: TOS novels

  1. Diane Duane, Spock’s World
  2. Judith Reeves-Stevens, Federation
  3. Janet Kagan, Uhura’s Song
  4. Judith Reeves-Stevens, Prime Directive
  5. A.C. Crispin, Time for Yesterday (Star Trek: The Yesterday Saga, #2)
  6. A.C. Crispin, Sarek
  7. Diane Duane, My Enemy, My Ally (Star Trek: Rihannsu, #1)
  8. A.C. Crispin, Yesterday’s Son (Star Trek: The Yesterday Saga, #1)
  9. Diane Duane, Doctor’s Orders
  10. William Shatner, Collision Course (Star Trek: Academy, #1)
  11. William Shatner, The Return (Star Trek: Odyssey, #2)
  12. Barbara Hambly, Ishmael (Star Trek, No 23)
  13. Greg Cox, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars, #1)
  14. Julia Ecklar, The Kobayashi Maru (Star Trek: The Original Series, #47)
  15. Jean Lorrah, The Vulcan Academy Murders
  16. Margaret Wander Bonanno, Strangers from the Sky
  17. Greg Cox, The Eugenics Wars, Vol. 2: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars, #2)
  18. Diane Duane, The Romulan Way (Star Trek: Rihannsu, #2)
  19. Diane Carey, Best Destiny
  20. J.M. Dillard, The Lost Years (Star Trek: The Lost Years, #1)

The 12 most popular of 120 original Star Trek: TNG novels

  1. Peter David, Q-Squared
  2. Peter David, Imzadi
  3. David Mack, The Persistence of Memory (Star Trek TNG: Cold Equations, #1)
  4. Peter David, Q-In-Law (Star Trek: The Next Generation, #18)
  5. David Mack, Silent Weapons (Star Trek TNG: Cold Equations, #2)
  6. John de Lancie, I, Q
  7. Peter David, Vendetta: The Giant Novel
  8. David Mack, A Time to Kill
  9. Diane Duane, Dark Mirror
  10. David Mack, The Body Electric (Star Trek TNG: Cold Equations, #3)
  11. Keith R.A. DeCandido, A Time for War, A Time for Peace
  12. David Mack, A Time to Heal (Star Trek: The Next Generation: Time, #8)

The 6 most popular of 57 original Star Trek: DS9 novels

  1. Andrew J. Robinson, A Stitch in Time
  2. Marco Palmieri, The Lives of Dax
  3. S.D. Perry, Unity
  4. Una McCormack, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice
  5. S.D. Perry, Avatar Book Two
  6. S.D. Perry, Avatar Book One of Two

The 4 most popular of 39 original Star Trek: Voyager novels

  1. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy
  2. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: Full Circle
  3. Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Voyager: The Eternal Tide
  4. Christie Golden, Homecoming (Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming, #1)

The 2 most popular of 13 original Star Trek: Enterprise novels

  1. Andy Mangels, The Good That Men Do
  2. Christopher L. Bennett, Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures

The 11 most popular of 109 miscellaneous original Star Trek universe novels

  1. David Mack, Lost Souls (Star Trek: Destiny, #3)
  2. David Mack, Mere Mortals (Star Trek: Destiny #2)
  3. David Mack, Gods of Night (Star Trek: Destiny #1)
  4. David R. George III, Raise the Dawn (Star Trek: Typhon Pact, #7)
  5. Peter David, Stone and Anvil (Star Trek: New Frontier, #14)
  6. James Swallow, The Poisoned Chalice
  7. David Mack, A Ceremony of Losses
  8. Peter David, Gods Above (Star Trek: New Frontier, #13)
  9. Peter David, Requiem (Star Trek: New Frontier, #9)
  10. David Mack, Storming Heaven (Star Trek: Vanguard, #8)
  11. Peter David, House of Cards (Star Trek: New Frontier, #1)

The 4 most popular of 38 original Star Trek young adult novels

  1. John Vornholt, Capture the Flag
  2. Rick Barba, The Delta Anomaly (Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, #1)
  3. Rudy Josephs, The Edge (Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, #2)
  4. Alan Gratz, The Assassination Game (Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, #4)

Selected SF/F Previews for 02/2014

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As part of my ongoing experiment to discover more of what’s up in SF/F as a whole, I’ve tried all the available Amazon previews of new titles linked in SFSignal’s February round-up, and I’ve chosen a few to highlight.

  • Andy Weir, The Martian. A fairly gripping survival thriller about an astronaut stranded on Mars. Surprisingly, he’s pretty phlegmatic about it and intends to survive the four years it’ll take to get rescued.
  • Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation. This appears to be a weird fiction take on Roadside Picnic. I have minor qualms about the prose, but I love the basic premise of explorers going into extremely mysterious and dangerous terrain that’s been mythologized because of past discoveries and extraordinary failures therein.
  • Charles Adler, Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction. This is sort of like a “physics of Star Trek” book, except it has a good bit more math in it and a much greater focus on written SF, making it more intriguing to me than most pop sci books about SF/F. I could definitely see this being used as a textbook in a “physics for poets” class.
  • Sharon Lee, Carousel Sun. The sequel to Carousel Tides, which I have not read yet either. It’s sort of an urban fantasy set at a beach town in Maine and featuring a carousel owner who is also part dryad? OK, well, that’s unusual. It’s also smoothly written and warm in tone, which is typical for Sharon Lee.
  • Daniel Price, The Flight of the Silvers. A very cinematic SF story about two sisters saved from death twice by some folks with strange powers. Somehow, I got sort of a Heroes or FlashForward vibe from it, but I may have imagined it—looking at the description, those shows may not reflect the direction the book goes in.
  • Ian McDonald, Empress of the Sun. This seems to be an exaggerated and somewhat campy YA SF adventure novel combining steampunk, parallel Earths, and the discovery of an Alderson disk. The first in the series is Planesrunner.
  • M. D. Waters, Archetype. A dystopic thriller about a woman whose memory and identity have been manipulated to make her an ideal wife in a society where women are scarce. I suspect the reader’s own experience of gender dynamics may be critical to appreciating it fully, but I can understand it having an audience.
  • Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me. Apparently, this is the conclusion to a YA series that’s kind of a big deal, although I had never heard of it. The prose is certainly distinctive, which is an accomplishment, but it’s pushed nearly to the point of self-parody. Still, part of what I’m doing here is learning about new things in SF/F, and when I went back and looked at the preview for the first book, Shatter Me, it became clear the series is at least noteworthy.