42 books like Star Trek

I love a great Spock story, especially when his struggle between logic and emotion is at the forefront. That struggle is externalized and emphasized in this book when he discovers he has an adult son who has not been raised as a Vulcan. The tension between father and son plays off Spock’s troubled relationship with his own father.

It came out just a year after Star Trek II, four years prior to The Next Generation, so I eagerly awaited each book for my Trek fix, especially when they played off an episode because it was often a challenge to see the old shows in the eighties. In the episode “All Our Yesterdays,” Spock, stranded in the distant past, had reverted to a pre-logic Vulcan and fallen in love, providing Crispin with her setup; she eventually wrote a follow-up, Time for Yesterday.

The standout hook for me is the presence of Roberta Lincoln from the episode, "Assignment: Earth"; I wish the inimitable Terri Garr had reprised the role in an episode of The Next Generation, where she could have demonstrated the same growth of character from clueless receptionist to temporal secret agent that’s on display in this action-packed novel.

Time travel has often resulted in some of my favorite Trek stories, and From History’s Shadow dives deep into the many temporal twists and turns the franchise has introduced over the decades. There’s also a healthy helping of the space race, alien invasions, and flying saucer coverups, all very much in my geeky wheelhouse. And I love period settings—here we get scenes spread across the 1950s and 1960s in addition to being on the Enterprise during Kirk’s classic five-year mission.

A novel from Greg Cox is always going to bring me the kind of deep-cut Trek continuity I love, but Foul Deeds Will Rise goes above and beyond by bringing me the sequel I didn’t know I needed: the return of Lenore Karidian, last seen twenty years earlier suffering a psychotic break after accidentally killing her mass-murderer father in the episode “The Conscience of the King.”

I also love when Trek plays in other genres, and here we get a murder mystery: Kirk has to investigate whether Lenore was successfully rehabilitated after serving her time for psychiatric treatment, or if has she fallen off the wagon and gone on a killing spree that could derail an entire peace process. Beyond the immediate plot, it plays amusingly well off Kirk’s long history of getting involved in doomed relationships. 

I always wanted to know what happened after the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver," which ended with a young crew member sent off to the mysterious First Federation—never to be heard from again in the shows. I always enjoy Christopher L. Bennett’s meticulous sci-fi world-building, and in his hands, the First Federation is revealed to be a suitably fascinating, if isolated, society.

I loved the sense of vastness achieved by getting beyond the United Federation of Planets. I also enjoy when a story takes full advantage of the continuity of the franchise, and The Face of the Unknown smoothly sets up elements of the often overlooked Animated Series of the 1970s as well as Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

This is the one book on the history of terrorism that I wish I had written. Zamoyski spins out a great tale, one that reads like a spy thriller. It’s the story of how early 19th-century European politicians and statesmen overreacted to small, marginalized, underground revolutionary movements, turning them into existential threats to the civilized order.

In doing so, men like Austrian leader Klemens von Metternich created both our modern understanding of the terrorist boogeyman and the mechanisms and justification of the modern police state. Zamoyski is a great writer, and I eagerly followed him down his conspiratorial rabbit hole. I hesitate to say it, given the subject matter of the book, but this is one fun read.

John Gray is an exceptional writer. In that respect alone, he is already reminiscent of the Stoics, who are some of the best writers among philosophers. Black Mass deals with the pitfalls of anger and ideology, when it comes to politics. The Stoics were famously skeptical of both, and urge practitioners to resist becoming too impassioned in political affairs—which reliably roil the soul.

I was enthralled by this book. If memory serves me correctly, C.J. Cherrryh was awarded the title of Grand Master by an SF organization for this book and it’s obvious why.

The scope of the story universe she has created is mind-boggling. The characters are believable, and the action makes your heart beat faster. There are scenes in the book that make you want to see them in a movie. I can say that this book and her style of writing has had a bigger impact on my own writing than any other author.

If military SF is your thing, you’ll love this book.

Sepetys never disappoints, but I Must Betray You grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go. I read this book in twenty-four hours.

Sepetys has a way of character development that never underestimates her readers. This story is raw and haunting, with a hard punch of constant action. I Must Betray You takes us behind the Iron Curtain to 1989 Communist Romania, where high schooler Cristian must become an informer to save his family. What unfolds is a story of bravery, sacrifice, and love.

Sometimes, you just want to retire and have a nice, quiet cup of tea. And world-ending magical plots keep getting in the way. Adoulla Mahmoud, once the best Ghul hunter alive, is just trying to retire. Unfortunately, the world has other plans for him. Alongside the pious warrior Raseed bas Raseed, and the shapeshifting Zamia Badawi, Adoulla faces the greatest threat yet. One that could destroy not just his favorite teahouse, but the world. 

While there is some good-natured humor within this book, Saladin Ahmed establishes right away with a torture-scene prologue that Throne of the Crescent Moon will be dark and gory. I love the magic system and the Arabia-inspired world. The only downside to this book is that Ahmed doesn’t seem to be working on the sequel.