In the Star Trek literary community there hasn’t been much in the way of announcements for 2025, but now, fan-favorite author Greg Cox announced he has a new Original Series novel in the works.
Star Trek has had a robust literary scene, with novels and short fiction being produced as tie-ins to the shows for decades. Most notably was the Trek Lit-Verse that continued characters’ stories after The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager were off the air. This timeline was abandoned because of Picard and Lower Decks and shut down a couple of years ago, but there have been a few bright spots in Trek literature since then.
Greg Cox has been writing for Star Trek for a long time, best known perhaps for his background work on Khan Noonien Singh and the Eugenics Wars, giving detailed backstory to the character that was so popular in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. He’s done fiction for various different series though, and with his attention to detail on continuity he’s become a fan favorite for his work.
Last year, Cox came out with the novel Lost To Eternity, that not only followed up on Star Trek IV, but ties it into a mystery that brings some depth to the character Saavik in a highly regarded installment to TOS.
This year, he’s announced he’s coming out with a new novel after a pre-order page appeared on Amazon for a new Original Series Star Trek Adventure. The book is called Identity Theft and it’s described as:
This all-new Star Trek novel celebrates the 60th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series—continuing the legacy of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.
2269: The prospect of peace had seemed unattainable until the assistance of the Federation. Finally, countless ancient enemies have stopped their conflicts simply by listening to one another. On the planet Voyzr, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aided the planet to realize peace.
2289: Invited to celebrate twenty years of peace, the crew of the USS Enterprise-A is returning to Voyzr as honored guests. Security Chief Pavel Chekov remembers his visit to the planet as a green ensign. He has always believed the negotiations were too easy, and he wondered if there are people on the planet who still long for war—and have been waiting for just the right moment to upend the peace. Unfortunately, Chekov discovers he is right when he finds himself in the middle of a dangerous ploy.
This marks another installment by Cox that combines two time periods of Trek to create a deeper story.
When asked about how he got the assignment on Trek BBS, he said, “I pitched a new TOS novel at just the right time! Honestly, aside from some short stories, I don't think I've pitched a non-TOS Trek novel since the nineties!”
So far, there are only three Star Trek novels listed for 2025 for release, a big slow down compared to when Star Trek was in its prime, and even compared to recent years. This is the only non-Kurtzman Trek novel slated for 2025 as the other two are Strange New Worlds tie-ins.
What do you think of the new Greg Cox Star Trek novel? Leave a comment and let us know.
For a great alternative to mainstream publishing, with sci-fi spy thriller action, read The Stars Entwined on Amazon!
