2nd edition - June 1999
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Welcome to The Novel Enterprise, 2nd edition: a comprehensive guide to Star Trek literature.
Have you ever wondered where your favorite novel fits in the overall Star Trek universe?
Do you love stories about time travel and want to find more?
Would you like to know all the Star Trek books written by a particular author?
Maybe you've never read the novels, but might be tempted if you knew more about them?
Well, fellow Star Trek enthusiast, you've come to the right place. This guide explores the world of Star Trek books. It starts with timelines that organize the adult novels and short stories into chronological order based around events from the television episodes and movies, and then provides a brief synopsis for each title. You can simply browse through the various pages or, if you're looking for something specific, try the indexes.
All of the books in the guide have been indexed by author, title, series and subject. The subject index is actually four separate indexes, each focusing on a different theme: characters, situations, aliens, and special genres. If you wanted to find all the "crossover" titles for example, where characters from one series interact with characters from another, you would go to the "Special Genres" subject index. And clicking the purple dot link for any entry in the author, series or subject indexes will take you to the synopsis for the book via the title index.
For those of you who are visually inclined, this 2nd Edition of The Novel Enterprise now has images - lots and lots of images. The 50 plus pages of the synopsis section contain more than 200 pictures which follow the basic chronology of each series along with the books. There is also a gallery which displays the eye-catching cover art of each book. Each page of the synopsis section has a corresponding "wing" in the gallery, so you can read about the books, and then, if you so choose, go the gallery and look at the covers.
Navigation. While the paragraphs above explain some of the content of this site, you also need to know how to move around in it. There are several methods. Direct links to the various sections are provided by the navigation guide at the top of each page. Those same links can be found at the bottom of each page in the form of a pyramid, along with links to the home page and the annex--which contains announcements, awards, graphics acknowledgements, Star Trek links, and webrings. An outline of the entire site (with direct links to each page) can be accessed by selecting "Contents" or "Table of Contents" from a navigation guide.
Now that you understand a little of what The Novel Enterprise is all about, feel free to go exploring. The particulars of each section of the guide are presented below. When you visit various sections for the first time, it would be helpful to stop a moment and read the brief introductions just above or below the page headers. These will provide general information about the section, and in several instances, direct you to a detailed overview / help page. Enjoy your visit.
Introduction to the Sections
Keep scrolling down the page,
or click a section heading below.
TITLE INDEX AUTHOR INDEX SUBJECT INDEX SERIES INDEX
TIMELINES
The Series Timeline establishes time periods for the novels based on significant events from the television episodes and movies. Throughout the guide, the references for these time periods are the series abbreviation and the letter for the period: TNG A, VOY b, etc. Consult the Series Timeline Overview for more information.The Title Timeline arranges the periods from the Series Timeline side by side, with each series starting further along the line, (i.e., Deep Space Nine begins in year six of Next Generation), then lists all the novels in their correct time periods. Several of the main features are noted below. Consult the Title Timeline Overview for more information.
Each novel has been placed in its time period in approximate chronological order, except for the Original Series period B. Those titles are in alphabetical order.
If the events in a novel cover more than one time period, and / or characters crossover with another series, the title will have multiple entries reflecting each specific series and time period.
Crossover titles are displayed on the same row against orange backgrounds, with the main storyline highlighted in blue.
The Title Timeline is expanded in the Chronology / Synopsis pages to include author and publisher information, and a synopsis for each title.
Click on a time period in either of the timelines to go to the corresponding Chronology / Synopsis section.
The timelines section also contains a page on Conflicting Storylines, which addresses the problem of storyline inconsistencies for important events in Star Trek "history".
CHRONOLOGY / SYNOPSIS
As mentioned above, the Chronology / Synopsis is an expansion of the Title Timeline. Each series has it's own section (identified in the navigation guide by its abbreviation), which is divided into one time period per page, with the exception of TOS period B, which is ten pages long. Each of those pages contains the following:
A list with links for the other time periods located at the top. Scroll above the header to view.
A "How to Use" link near the top left corner to access an overview / help page. Scroll above the header to view.
A link to the Book Cover Gallery for the period located just above the Graphics Credits near the bottom of the page.
A listing of the book titles for the period in chronological order, except for TOS period B, which is arranged alphabetically. Besides book titles, each list includes the following elements:
A heading briefly describing events of the period from the television episodes and movies.
Several pictures from the television episodes or movies for the period.
A brief synopsis of each title, with links for multiple time periods and / or series crossovers. (explanation below)
Author and publisher information for each title.
Recommended titles printed in bold.
The "see also" and "crossover" links.
"see also"
Many Star Trek books cover multiple time periods. (for example: a flashback will reveal an important event in the history of a character). When this occurs, the title is entered in each appropriate period, with each synopsis reflecting a different aspect of the story. These multiple time entries are linked by "see also" references in a title's synopsis.
"crossover"
A number of titles also have characters from one series appearing in another. These "crossovers" are noted below the title / author information. As with the "see also" links, each synopsis for a crossover reflects an aspect of the story specific to the series and time period involved.
Short Stories
This section of the Chronology organizes the Star Trek short stories by series and collection. The time period is noted whenever possible, but for some stories it cannot be ascertained. Those which do have a time reference have also been entered in the main series chronology pages. A brief synopsis is provided for each story.
TITLE INDEX
This index lists all the novels alphabetically by title (mixing the series together), with a link to each novel's entry in the Chronology section. To see the synopsis for a title, click its link. The titles in bold are recommended. Several other features of the index are noted below. Consult the Title Index Overview for more information.
Title Index Structure
gallery links:
To view the book cover art for a title, click "cover" in the gallery links column.
basic chronology links
To see the synopsis for a title, click the CHRONOLOGY LINK on the left, which indicates the series and time period.
multiple chronology links
A title with multiple listings in the chronology has a link to each entry, with "crossover" links noted to the right of the title.
For a title with multiple chronology entries, each synopsis reflects a different aspect of the story.
multi-series collections
For multi-series collections, the main entry is under the collection name (e.g. "Day of Honor"), with the link on the left connecting to a synopsis for the entire collection, placing it in the time period for the first book.
The link to the right of a title connects to the series and time period specific to that book.
short stories
Short stories are indexed by the collection title.
If the collection is all about one series, such as "Star Trek: the New Voyages", individual story titles are not listed, but the synopsis can be found by clicking the link for the collection.If it is a multi-series collection like "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" the stories are listed for each series, with a link to the Short Stories Chronology, and an individual link to the main chronologies if the time period has been established.
AUTHOR INDEX
This index lists all the Star Trek novels for each author, with a link for each novel to the title index.
To see the synopsis for a title, click the purple dot preceding the entry, then click the desired chronology link(s) in the title index.
The subject index is divided into four categories, which are defined below: characters, situations, aliens / political groups, and special genres.
The subject guide page lists each of the categories and their subjects.
Click any item in the table to go directly to the list of related titles, or click a heading to go to the beginning of that category page.
subject category definitions
To see the synopsis for a title in any of the category pages, click the purple dot preceding the entry, then click the desired chronology link(s) in the title index.
characters
All the main characters from all the shows are included. Since Kirk, Spock and McCoy have major plotlines in virtually all the Original Series books, the references for them have been restricted to character (personal) history, character in jeopardy, character in love, and short stories. Although Picard, Sisko, and Janeway are also featured prominently in most of their books, general reference listings for them have been included. References for the supporting characters indicate titles where they have significant plotlines. A number of recurring characters (such as Q) are included at the bottom of the "New Frontier" list.
Major themes and plot devices not related to character development.
Major appearances by aliens or groups excluding the main characters. (i.e., the references for Androids, Vulcans and Klingons would not refer to Data, Spock and Worf.)
Denotes movie or TV episode novelizations, comedies, short stories, crossovers between series, and multi-series collections.
SERIES INDEX
This index presents the Star Trek novels in series order, by date of publication and specific format. It also includes subject headings for each title.
Click any category in the opening table of a page to see the related titles.
To see the synopsis for a title, click the purple dot to the left, then click the desired chronology link in the title index.
To see more titles on a specific subject, click the "SUBJECTS" link, then select the desired item from the subject index.
GALLERY
As mentioned earlier, The Novel Enterprise gallery displays the cover art of each book. Selecting "Gallery" on a navigation guide leads to the main lobby where all the exhibit halls are accessible. The halls are organized into wings corresponding to the time periods from the Chronology / Synopsis section. There is also a special exhibit hall devoted to collections, such as the novelizations and multi-volume sagas like "Invasion", "Day of Honor", "The Q Continuum", etc.
To facilitate loading, each wing is comprised of small viewing areas containing up to eight images per page. Each viewing area (except for those in the Special Collections), is linked not only to the main lobby, but also to its matching Chronology / Synopsis page, with a reciprocal link on the Chronology page located just above the Graphics Credits. Direct links to specific book covers can be made from the Title Index.
For the maximum gallery experience, it is possible to visit all the pictures in the five series exhibit halls without ever returning to the main lobby page. The last viewing area of a wing always links to the first viewing area of the next wing, with the last wing for a series connecting to the first wing for the next series.
ADDITIONS
The Additions section lists new entries to The Novel Enterprise, starting from June 1999 with the debut of the 2nd Edition. These entries may include titles, authors, subjects, and time periods. Whenever an update is made, the listings from previous updates will still be available.
ANNEX
The Novel Enterprise Annex is a group of pages which contain information about the site's construction, awards received, and off-site links. They can be accessed directly from the title (home) page, the table of contents, or the pyramid navigation guide. The Annex pages are:
Announcements
General information about updates to the site. For specific information on added titles, authors, etc, refer to the Additions page.
Awards and recognition the site has received.
A list of all the websites and individuals that contributed graphics to this site. Each page of the site also has its own graphics credits located near the bottom.
Links to Star Trek sites not already contained on the graphics, awards or webrings pages. These are primarily indices, general Trek databases, and multi-media sites.
The webrings this site belongs to.
A listing in outline form of all the pages making up the site.
AUTHOR'S NOTEI hope you enjoy using this guide. If you're so inclined, send me an e-mail and let me know what you think (see address below). Also, please let me know if you discover a link going to the wrong place. Thank you for visiting, and come back soon. I will be making updates on a regular basis.
Ruth Stout
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Enterprise courtesy of
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Enterprise-D, Deep Space Nine, Voyager |
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cosmic background courtesy of
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[Top of Page] [Home Page ]
[Introduction] [Table of Contents] [Additions]
[Gallery]
[Series Timeline] [Title Timeline]
Chronologies:
[TOS] [TNG]
[DS9] [VOY]
[NF] [Short Stories]
Indexes:
[Author] [ Series] [ Subject]
[Title]
Annex:
[Announcements] [Awards]
[Graphics]
[Star Trek Links]
[Webrings]
© 1998-1999 by Ruth Stout
e-mail the author
[email protected]
