This page lists and describes unpublished prose, unpublished works of literature that never made it to publication. This includes novels, short stories, and ebooks, which, while known to have been in development, have failed to reach our shelves.
Novels[]
The God Thing[]
Originally announced in the late 1970s, The God Thing was a TOS novel by Gene Roddenberry. The story was originally conceived as the first Star Trek film or the start of a new Star Trek TV series; however, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was made instead. The novel would reportedly deal with humanity's relationship with gods. Originally commissioned by Bantam Books the novel went through various delays and was eventually passed onto Pocket Books. Over the years several other authors have rewritten the novel, including Walter Koenig and Michael Jan Friedman.
- For more information see The God Thing page at The Complete Starfleet Library.
Harm's Way[]
Harm's Way was to be the second trilogy of the TOS "lower decks" relaunch. The trilogy was to be written by Jerry and Kathy Oltion. However, following The Janus Gate trilogy by L.A. Graf, the relaunch continued with Kevin Ryan's Errand of Vengeance.
The Yesterday Saga[]
Following the success of A.C. Crispin's Yesterday's Son and Time for Yesterday, the author set about writing a sequel, a trilogy of books taking Kirk, Spock and Zar to Vulcan's past and the time of Surak. Working titles for the trilogy were Return to Yesterday, Yesterday's Vulcan and Yesterday's Destiny. The trilogy was apparently almost completely written but for some reason was canceled.
A Time to Create and Destroy[]
The TNG miniseries A Time to... was originally conceived as a twelve-part series. One duology, comprised of the novels A Time to Create and A Time to Destroy by Daffyd ab Hugh, was canceled, and the final duology, originally to consist of A Time for War and A Time for Peace, was compressed into a single book.[1][2]
Walking Wounded[]
A post-finale DS9 novel by Bradley Thompson, Walking Wounded was to cover a group of Starfleet veterans recovering from the Dominion War. The novel was canceled in 2005.
Academy: Trial Run[]
Academy: Trial Run is the title of a William Shatner (with Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens) novel, a follow-up to the 2007 novel, Academy: Collision Course. The title was announced in the aforementioned Collision Course, but the project has yet to see publication.
Crucible omnibus[]
An early solicitation cover released for the book
There were plans to release an omnibus book of the Crucible trilogy. The book was to have been published in May 2009, to coincide with the release of the new Star Trek movie. It was planned to be a hardcover, and to feature several new short stories. The content was to have been as follows:
- New preface: "Talismans and Spells"
- New short story: "The Potentials of Emptiness"
- McCoy novel: Provenance of Shadows
- New short story: "The Delicate Currents of the Past"
- Spock novel: The Fire and the Rose
- New short story: "The Weight of Too Few Years"
- Kirk novel: The Star to Every Wandering
- New short story: "Into the Void"
- New short story: "Confluence, Enduring"
David R. George III had completed work on all the additional content, however in December of 2008 the book was announced as having been cancelled.[3]
The Millennium Bloom[]
The Millennium Bloom was to be a TOS novel featuring the Enterprise under Captain Robert April. It was originally announced for release in 2010, to be authored by Mike W. Barr. The novel was removed from the schedule in later announcements, having apparently been canceled. It reportedly got no further than the outline stages.[4]
Star Trek (2009) tie-in novels[]
In July 2009 a series of four novels tying into the recently released film, Star Trek, were announced. The books were each to be stand-alone stories, with the authors instructed to maintain the status quo established in the film. The books were scheduled to be released in a four month block from June to September in 2010.[5] However, in January 2010 Pocket Books announced the books had been put on indefinite hold, pending further development of the new universe. They released a short statement saying:[6]
- With last summer’s blockbuster STAR TREK movie, JJ Abrams created a new vibrant, layered version of the Star Trek universe. After careful consideration, we decided to hold off on telling new stories while JJ and his team continue to develop his vision.
The books had all be written by this time, and many of the authors have commented that they hope or anticipate a future release once the next film is more developed.[7][8][9] Whilst Seek A Newer World and The Hazards of Concealing were reworked and published as different novels, both More Beautiful Than Death and Refugees, renamed as The Unsettling Stars, were published in 2020.
Prior to the cancellation all four books were solicited in a Pocket Books catalog, giving them early blurbs and covers. These are as follows:[10]
| Refugees (published in 2020 as The Unsettling Stars) | 
|
|---|---|
| by Alan Dean Foster | |
| In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Trek movie tie-in, Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise must decide if a group of refugees are actually a menace—or just misunderstood.
When a strange distress call comes in and Kirk orders the Enterprise to answer it, they encounter a large colony ship of refugees under attack. Unable to convince the Dre’kalk to cease fire, Kirk engages them and drives off their ships. The refugees—the Perenores, a race of furry bisymmetrical people—are starving, battered, and many are injured. Their ship wandered off course and their fuel and food is running out, so Kirk and the crew find a place for these displaced refugees. But just two months later, the Barran are threatening the Federation with war for protecting the Perenore menace. But Kirk and Spock are puzzled, the Perenores are peaceful people, what could have happened? | |
| Seek a Newer World | 
|
| by Christopher L. Bennett | |
| When the Enterprise is outnumbered and under attack, the crew manages to escape and discovers an entire hidden civilization in this exciting new original Star Trek novel.
Stung by Nero’s escape, the Klingons are looking to salvage their pride by besting the ship that took him down: Enterprise. Command has assigned Kirk to observe and watch how the new captain performs his duties. A boring expedition becomes a fight for survival as the Klingons attack, outnumber, and outflank the young captain and his Enterprise crew. But just as the Enterprise escapes, the crew comes across an entire civilization of worlds within worlds hidden in a radiation belt of a large planet. A civilization so powerful that they can create all this? Kirk wonders just what are they hiding from and will do whatever it takes to find out. | |
| More Beautiful Than Death | 
|
| by David Mack | |
| An all-new adventure featuring the new Enterprise crew on a mission to broker a Federation trade agreement, from critically acclaimed Star Trek author David Mack.
Captain Kirk leads the crew of the Enterprise on a mission to Akiron, a world known for its rich dilithium deposits and isolationist government. Aboard is Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek, who is hoping to set up a trade agreement for the Federation with the planet. Pleased that the Federation has entrusted him with this mission, Kirk pledges everyone on Enterprise will grant the ambassador their full cooperation. Spock is happy to see his father and his Vulcan staff putting the destruction of their world behind them. But Sarek, however, has a secondary agenda while on board Enterprise... | |
| The Hazards of Concealing | 
|
| by Greg Cox | |
| An all-new adventure featuring the new Enterprise crew—from New York Times bestselling author Greg Cox.
The events of the recent movie have left one important loose end: the elder Spock from the 24th century. His knowledge of both technology and future events makes him one of the most important strategic assets in the galaxy. Starfleet Command wants Ambassador Spock to rejoin Starfleet and share that information with them, but Spock is reluctant to interfere with the unfolding of the new timeline. Will he be able to escape a sinister plan wrought by the enemies of the Federation, or will their quest to exploit Spock’s wisdom succeed, with disastrous consequences? |
E-Books[]
Shards and Shadows tie-in[]
There were plans for a mirror universe Star Trek: Corps of Engineers ebook to be released at the same time as the mirror universe short story anthology Shards and Shadows. Unfortunately the original e-book line was put on hiatus before that time and as such the CoE story was canceled. The story could not be added into the anthology itself as there was not sufficient budget to add a thirteenth story at that stage, so CoE remains unrepresented in the Mirror Universe series.[11]
Short stories[]
Now You See Her...[]
This story by Fred Bronson was originally to be published in the TNG 20th Anniversary anthology The Sky's the Limit. Bronson had to pull out due to other commitments. According to Bronson, "Now You See Her..." takes place between Seasons 1 and 2 of TNG and was a Riker-centric story.
"Non-fiction" books[]
The Unseen Frontier: Declassified Images from the History of the Federation[]
A book of new computer generated images by Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz inspired by the success of the Ships of the Line calendars, chronicling the history of the Federation in a National Geographic-style layout. After several years of delays the book was canceled.
A Ships of the Line book was published in 2006 collecting together images previously published in the calendars but other than the covers not including any original images as this book would have.
External links[]
- Lost Books page at The Complete Starfleet Library.