Book picks similar to
The Empty Chair by Diane Duane


star-trek
science-fiction
sci-fi
fiction

The Last Roundup


Christie Golden - 2002
    James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ have finally gone their separate ways. Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and the others are spread out across the galaxy, pursuing their individual destinies -- until an interstellar crisis touches all their lives.Bored with retirement and ill-suited to teaching at Starfleet Academy, Kirk jumps at the chance to help his nephews colonize an uninhabited planet in a distant corner of the Alpha Quadrant. He even manages to persuade Scotty and Chekhov to come along for the ride.But Kirk soon discovers that the hardy human colonists are not alone on the planet they call Sanctuary. An alien race, of whom little is known, has also establish an outpost on Sanctuary for its own mysterious reasons. Suspicious, Kirk investigates, only to discover a terrifying threat that strikes at the security of the entire Federation.Light-years from Strafleet Command, without a ship or a crew to call his own, Kirk thinks he faces the menace alone. yet the bonds of loyalty transcend even the awesome distances of space, bringing together a legendary crew for one final, fantastic adventure.

Cast No Shadow


James Swallow - 2011
    Now, as part of the ongoing efforts to undo the disastrous fallout from the destruction of Praxis and with the help of aid supplies from the United Federation of Planets, reconstruction is in progress, and after years of slow going hindered by political pressures and old prejudices, headway is at last being made. But the peace process begun by the Khitomer Accords is still fragile just as the deadly plans of what is believed to be a hard-line Klingon isolationist group violently come to fruition. Yet the group thought responsible for the deadly attack has been dormant for decades, and its known modus operandi doesn’t match up to the manner of the strike. And further investigation leads to an unexpected revelation connected to the Gorkon conspiracy of 2293, and in particular one disgraced and very familiar Starfleet lieutenant….

Republic


Michael Jan Friedman - 1998
     Stardate 1312.4. -- A young Captain Kirk, early in his legendary career, faces the crisis of his life when he must kill his best friend in order to save the Enterprise. Later, alone in his quarters, be cannot help recalling how he first met Gary Mitchell: At Starfleet Academy, Gary is reckless and fun-loving while Kirk is driven, ambitious, but awkward around other people -- especially women. Their friendship begins with a fistfight. Then their routine training mission on the U.S.S. Republic is diverted to a planet where centuries of bloody interplanetary conflict are about to end in a ceremony of reconciliation. Assigned to help with security on the planet's surface, Kirk and Gary quickly find themselves in the middle of a life-and-death struggle against terrorists determined to disrupt the ceremony. With the future of two planets at stake, Kirk and Gary must find a way to work together before a mission of life and peace becomes one of death and despair.

Vulcan's Heart


Josepha Sherman - 1999
    Now a diplomat for the United Federation of Planets, Spock agrees to a bonding with Saavik, his former protege and an accomplished Starfleet officer in her own right. More than a betrothal but less than a wedding, the sacred Vulcan rite is attended by both Spock's father, Sarek, and a nervous young Starfleet officer named Jean-Luc Picard. Plans for the consummation of the pair's union are thrown off course when Spock receives a top-secret communication that lures him into the heart of the Romulan empire. Enmeshed in the treacherous political intrigues of the Romulan capital, undone by a fire that grows ever hotter within his blood, Spock must use all his logic and experience to survive a crisis that will ultimately determine the fate of empires!

Ex Machina


Christopher L. Bennett - 2004
    In the aftermath of the astonishing events of "Star Trek(R) The Motion Picture, " the captain and officers of the "U.S.S. Enterprise" remain haunted by their encounter with the vast artificial intelligence of V'Ger...and by the sacrifice and ascension of their friend and shipmate, Willard Decker. As James T. Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy attempt to cope with the personal fallout of that ordeal, a chapter from their mutual past is reopened, raising troubling new questions about the relationship among God, Man, and AI. On the recently settled world of Daran IV, the former refugees of the Fabrini worldship Yonada are being divided by conflicting ideologies, as those clinging to their theocratic past vie with visionaries of a future governed by reason alone. Now, echoes of the V'Ger encounter reverberate among the "Enterprise" officers who years ago overthrew the Oracle, the machine-god that controlled Yonada. Confronting the consequences of those actions, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy also face choices that will decide the fate of a civilization, and which may change them forever.

Sarek


A.C. Crispin - 1994
    Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson, is dying, and Spock returns to the planet Vulcan where he and Sarek enjoy a rare moment of rapprochement. But just as his wife's illness grows worse, duty calls Sarek away—once again sowing seeds of conflict between father and son. Yet soon, Sarek and Spock must put aside their differences and work together to foil a far-reaching plot to destroy the Federation—a plot that Sarek has seen in the making for nearly his entire career. The epic story will take the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ to the heart of the Klingon Empire, where Captain Kirk's last surviving relative has become a pawn in a battle to divide the Federation... and conquer it. With Sarek's help, the crew of the Starship Enterprise™ learns that all is not as it seems. Before they can prevent the Federation's destruction, they must see the face of their hidden enemy—an enemy more insidious and more dangerous than any they have faced before...

That Which Divides


Dayton Ward - 2012
    During this brief window, the people of Xondaii undertake a massive interplanetary operation: mineral ore is ferried from the mining operation while supplies, crew replacements, and so on are transported from the planet. Also, communications with the mining colony on the planetoid are possible only when the rift is open.  Science vessel U.S.S. Robert Ballard is severely damaged during its mission to the system, and the U.S.S. Enterprise is dispatched to investigate and render assistance. But Kirk, Spock, and Sulu also collect the data about the rift, and the evidence they’ve gathered regarding its artificial nature is compelling. How has this not been discovered by anyone from Xondaii, especially when considering the extensive mining operations that have been in place for decades? And what can prevent enemies of the Federation from exploiting this newfound power?

Wagon Train to the Stars


Diane Carey - 2000
    Kirk is called again to the final frontier. His new mission: to lead a valiant group of settlers to a distant world, to defend the struggling colony from alien threats, and to explore the diverse mysteries and dangers of a strange new Earth!Far from the Federation, a newly discovered M-class world has been eyed as a potential home by a group of hardy and determined colonists. Star?eet can spare only one starship to escort the would-be settlers on their perilous voyage, but that ship is none other than the legendary starship Enterprise, commanded by the most well-known captain in the quadrant. Now Kirk finds himself responsible for the lives of 30,000 men, women, and children -- a task that grows all the more difficult when the expedition is caught in the middle of an ancient feud between two dangerous alien races!

Strangers from the Sky


Margaret Wander Bonanno - 1987
    But when an alien spacecraft crash-lands in the South Pacific bearing visitors from another world, the Vulcans, Earth must decide whether to extend the hand of friendship, or the fist of war. In the distant future, horrible dreams torment Admiral James T. Kirk, dreams prompted by his reading of Strangers from the Sky, a book about that historic first contact. He dreams of an alternate reality where he somehow changed the course of history, and destroyed the Federation before it began.

The Weight of Worlds


Greg Cox - 2013
    Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs . . . even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter. Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade’s distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

The Children of Kings


Dave Stern - 2010
    The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, responds. Starbase 18 lies in ruin. There are no survivors. And there is no clue as to who is responsible for the attack, until Captain Pike’s brilliant science officer discovers a means of retrieving parts of the station’s log. Lieutenant Spock has detected signs of a unique energy signature, one that he believes is Klingon. There are unsubstantiated reports that the Klingon Empire has made a technological leap forward and created a cloaking device—code-named Black Snow Seven—that can shield their ships from even the most advanced sensors. The destruction of the base and the unique energy signature that remains prove that the Empire has succeeded. For generations the Orions have been known as pirates,operating at the margins, outside of legal conventions. A proud and powerful race, the Orions were once a major force in the sector, and they have been using the tension between the Klingon Empire and the Federation to rebuild their power. Captain Pike is charged with trying to foster cooperation between the Orions and the Federation. A distress call from an Orion vessel offers him the perfect opportunity. But the Orion ship lies in disputed space long claimed by the Klingon Empire, and crossing it could be the spark that sets off an interstellar war.

War Dragons


L.A. Graf - 1998
    Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story...even beyond the final frontier. Captain James T. Kirk must join forces with Captain Hikaru Sulu, new commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior, to resolve a simmering political situation in a distant star system. For more than twenty years, the ancient enmity between Nykkus and Anjiri has resisted the best efforts of Federation diplomats. Now Kirk and Sulu have one last chance to end the bloodshed -- before it erupts into a full-scale interstellar war!

Troublesome Minds


Dave Galanter - 2009
    Berlis, member of a telepathic species calling themselves the Isitri, claims not to know why those from his homeworld want him dead. Captain James T. Kirk wants to believe him, but the damage is done: the Enterprise can neither leave the stranger to die nor turn him over to those who would kill him. Berlis seems harmless, but his people say he cannot live among them: his telepathy is so strong that their wills are subsumed to his. The same fear that compels the Isitri to seek the death of one of their own drives the neighboring Odib people toward genocide. For every time a "troublesome mind" dominates the Isitri, the Odib pay the price in their own blood. With Spock becoming erratic under Berlis's influence, and the Isitri begging Kirk to allow them to destroy the man who threatens their existence, matters take a disastrous turn when Berlis makes his way back to Isitra...and an entire world falls to his whims.

Excelsior: Forged in Fire


Michael A. Martin - 2007
     A vicious pirate known as the Albino is cutting a deadly swath across space, creating turmoil in the Klingon Empire that threatens to spill into the Federation. But this criminal also has a secret that could shake the halls of Imperial power, and his genocidal plans against the race that bore him will have consequences even he cannot imagine, as several unlikely allies join swords to bring the Albino to justice: Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior; Klingon captains Kor, Koloth, and Kang; and a hotheaded young Federation diplomat named Curzon Dax. Tempered in the flames of their shared adversity, a captaincy is forged, a Blood Oath is sworn...and a hunt begins that will stretch from one generation to the next.

Federation


Judith Reeves-Stevens - 1994
    Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 are faced with their most challenging mission yet—rescuing renowned scientist Zefram Cochrane from captors who want to use his skills to conquer the galaxy. Meanwhile, ninety-nine years in the future on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, Picard must rescue an important and mysterious person whose safety is vital to the survival of the Federation. As the two crews struggle to fulfill their missions, destiny draws them closer together until past and future merge—and the fate of each of the two legendary starships rests in the hands of the other vessel...