Star Trek (Bantam Books) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
In 1966,
Bantam Books acquired the license to publish tie-in fiction based on the
science fiction television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
series ''
Star Trek''.
Bantam published a series of novelizations based on episodes of the television series from 1967 to 1978. From 1970 to 1981, a range of original novels, anthologies, and reference books followed. Bantam also produced a line of
photo comics
Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to ...
which adapted popular episodes of the television series using full-color photographic stills.
Many of Bantam's ''Star Trek'' releases remained in print until 1991.
Production
Episode novelizations
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his '' Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel '' A Case of Conscie ...
was known to have expressed an extreme dislike for tie-in fiction; however, he accepted the commission from Bantam Books to
novelize episodes of ''
Star Trek'', at $2,000 per volume.
He later stated his financial stability stemmed from the publication of the novelizations, which likely included the commission for ''
Spock Must Die!
''Spock Must Die!'' is an American science fiction novel written by James Blish, published February 1970 by Bantam Books. It was the first original novel based on the ''Star Trek'' television series intended for adult readers. It was preceded ...
'' (1970), which earned him a $3,000 advance ().
Prior to his relocation to the United Kingdom in 1969, Blish had not seen the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
broadcasts of ''Star Trek''. Nor was he involved in the production of the series in any capacity. His only sources for the adaptations were the draft teleplays sent to him by
Desilu
Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as '' I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchab ...
. Adaptations published after 1970 aligned more with the narrative tone and pacing from the television series, indicating Blish had seen some episodes, mostly likely via broadcasts by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, which began in the summer of 1969.
Blish was credited exclusively for eleven volumes, although it was later acknowledged that volumes published after ''Star Trek 6'' (1972) were written in collaboration with his wife
J. A. Lawrence and her mother, Muriel Lawrence, who was also Blish's assistant. Blish commented favorably about the series in each of his "Author's Notes", however, Josephine Saxton said Blish was "so affected to despise" ''Star Trek'' that he did not write any of ''Star Trek 10'' (1974).
Blish's personal feelings regarding the merit of ''Star Trek'' were expressed by the pun "an enterprise so well conceived" in the "Author's Note" of ''Spock Must Die!''.
Bantam editor
Frederik Pohl was unaware of the Lawrences' contributions until sometime in 1973.
''Star Trek 12'' (1977), published after Blish's death in 1975, was co-credited to J. A. Lawrence.
Adaptations of episodes involving the character
Harry Mudd
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
were reserved by Blish for inclusion in an original novel, possibly a follow-up to ''Spock Must Die!'' However, it is unknown if the book was ever realized. The novelizations of "
Mudd's Women
"Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 1 ...
" and "
I, Mudd
"I, Mudd" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Stephen Kandel (based on a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on Novem ...
" were collected as ''Mudd's Angels'' (1978), which included an original novella by Lawrence: ''The Business, as Usual, During Altercations.'' Lawrence confirmed the Mudd novelizations were written by Blish, and not by her.
Photo comics
In 1977, Bantam published the first volume in a series of full-color,
photo comics
Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to ...
adapting twelve popular episodes. Marketed as a ''Star Trek Fotonovel'', each novel utilized still frames taken from film master of each episode. A format advertised as "action photographs". The images were then overlaid with speech bubbles, with typeset text for dialogue, thoughts and action. Many scenes are either condensed, removed, or altered to fit the available space. Mandala Productions, who produced the series, said their goal was to publish "accurate and faithful recreations" of the episodes. The series included novelizations of "
The City on the Edge of Forever
"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the twenty-eighth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Harlan Ellison, contributors and/or editors to the script included S ...
" and "
Amok Time
"Amok Time" is the second season premiere episode of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, scored by Gerald Fried, and directed by Joseph Pevney, it first aired o ...
", all credited to the original teleplay writers.
Original novels
Frederik Pohl was given control of Bantam's ''Star Trek'' line in 1972, but he later admitted to not paying much attention to the television series, or the book line.
When
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel '' The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including '' The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), hav ...
asked who was responsible for new ''Star Trek'' novels, Pohl answered "You are!" According to
Stephen Goldin, Pohl recruited writers who he felt were dependable enough "to do ''Star Trek''."
Among the first writers Pohl reached out to was his long-time friend
Theodore Cogswell
Theodore Rose Cogswell (March 10, 1918 – February 3, 1987) was an American science fiction author. Profile
During the Spanish Civil War, Cogswell served as an ambulance driver for the Republicans as part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
His ear ...
, whom he tasked with getting the crew of the ''Enterprise'' "off the damned ship!"
The second original novel, ''
Spock, Messiah!
''Spock, Messiah!'' (September 1976) is the second original novel based on television series '' Star Trek'' intended for adult readers, written by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr. It was preceded by '' Spock Must Die!'' (1970), and ...
'', by Cogswell and
Charles Spano, was published in September 1976. ''
The Price of the Phoenix
''The Price of the Phoenix'' (July 1977) by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, is an original novel based upon the 1960s television series ''Star Trek''. It was first published by Bantam Books in 1977, and reissued by Corgi and Titan Books in ...
'', by
Sondra Marshak
Sondra Marshak (née Hassan; born June 15, 1942) is an American science-fiction writer. She is most well known for her work co-written with Myrna Culbreath. She was a co-writer of '' Star Trek Lives!'' (1975), with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and te ...
and
Myrna Culbreath
Myrna Lou Culbreath (born September 1, 1938) is an American science fiction writer and editor, most well known for the '' Star Trek'' tie-in novels and anthologies cowritten with Sondra Marshak. Culbreath was a founding editor of the libertarian ...
, and ''
Planet of Judgment
''Planet of Judgment'' (1977) is a '' Star Trek'' tie-in novel, written by Joe Haldeman.
Plot summary
The crew of the Starship Enterprise detects a rogue planet (dubbed ''Anomaly'') orbited by a miniature black hole. This seems to contravene ...
'', by
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel '' The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including '' The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), hav ...
, followed in 1977.
After completing his second ''Star Trek'' novel, ''
World Without End'' (1979), Haldeman was "fed up…" and left the ''Star Trek'' "enterprise" at "warp factor five".
Haldeman said he wrote his first novel to explore writing when all the "characters are already known to the readers," but did not expect to do a second.
In an interview with ''Fast Forward'', Haldeman said that despite his desire to write for ''Star Trek'', he did not feel he could conform to the process of writing tie-in fiction.
Other writers recruited by Pohl felt differently about their experience.
Gordon Eklund said that ''Star Trek'' left room "for just about anything you might want to write."
Kathleen Sky, who wrote ''
Vulcan!
''Vulcan!'' (1978) is a ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek'' tie-in novel by Kathleen Sky. The book is an adaptation of an unproduced spec script by Sky.
Production
Kathleen Sky submitted a spec script to the producers Star Trek: The ...
'' (1978) and ''Death's Angel'' (1981), said Paramount and Pohl made very few requests, except to add "more aliens" and for the last novel to give "Kirk a romance."
Short fiction and reference works
Writer
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Jacqueline Lichtenberg (born March 25, 1942, Flushing, Queens, New York) is an American science fiction author.
Many of her early novels are set in the Sime~Gen Universe, which she first described in a short story in 1969. Writing the series ...
had begun research on the ''Star Trek'' phenomenon and fandom in the early 1970s. Her intention was to write a newspaper feature on the subject, but her research amassed enough material for a reference work. A query package was assembled and submitted to the major publishers, but the query was rejected by all, including Bantam Books. Following a delay in the production of a new novel from James Blish, Frederik Pohl acquired the query.
After two years of additional research, drafting and rewrites, ''Star Trek Lives!'' was published in 1975. A sequel has been suggested by Lichtenberg, but has never been realized.
''Star Trek Lives!'' was a bestseller, and Pohl began exploring the possibility of publishing an anthology of fan-written stories based on the television series. Fan fiction was explored in the last chapter of ''Star Trek Lives!'', and co-writer Sondra Marshak, along with her writing partner Myrna Culbreath, had collected a number of fan-written stories to potentially anthologize. Pohl eventually encouraged Marshak and Culbreath to move forward with an anthology after persuading
Paramount Pictures such a book would be "impeccably professional."
''
The New Voyages'' was published in 1976, and collected nine short stories, all had been previously published in ''Star Trek'' fanzines, such as ''T-Negative'' and ''Spockanalia''. A second volume, ''
The New Voyages 2'', was published in 1978, which included a short story written by
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was g ...
. Additional volumes were announced by Marshak and Culbreath, but none were published.
''
Star Trek Maps'', designed by Jeffrey Maynard, was published by Bantam in 1980. The box set included four four-color wall maps, and a detailed instructional booklet demonstrating the navigation system utilized by the television series. Highly praised, the charts received special mention during the 1992 ''Star Trek'' Exhibition presented by the
National Air & Space Museum.
Reprints and cover art
The novelizations by Blish and Lawrence were reprinted many times, often with new cover art. The first volume, ''Star Trek 1'', received twenty-nine printings between 1967 and 1980; the cover art was originally created by illustrator
James Bama
James Elliott Bama (April 28, 1926 – April 24, 2022) was an American artist known for his realistic paintings and etchings of Western subjects. Life in Wyoming led to his comment, "Here an artist can trace the beginnings of Western history, see ...
as part of an advertising campaign for NBC. ''Star Trek 11'' was reprinted as ''Day of the Dove'' in 1985, along with the entire range of original novels, with new cover art by Eric Torres-Prat.
From 1993 to 2000, the original novels and ''The New Voyages'' anthologies were reprinted by
Spectra, featuring cover art by Japanese artist Kazuhiko Sano. ''Mudd's Angels'' was reprinted as ''Mudd's Enterprise'' as part of that run.
The adaptations and original novels have been translated and reprinted by various other publishers in Western Europe, Japan, Turkey and Israel.
License and rights
The license for tie-in fiction was awarded to Pocket Books sometime prior to the release of the novelization of
''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' (1979). However, three original novels, and one reference book, ''Star Trek Maps'' (1980), were published by Bantam following this change. Pocket Books opened their own line of original novels with the release of ''
The Entropy Effect
''The Entropy Effect'' is a novel by Vonda N. McIntyre set in the fictional '' Star Trek'' Universe. It was originally published in 1981 and is the first original story in Pocket Books' long-running series of Star Trek novels (and the second pub ...
'' (1981), by
Vonda N. McIntyre. None of the lines created by Bantam were continued.
The copyrights to the episode novelizations, photo comics, and original novels are now held by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. , none of Bantam's ''Star Trek'' titles are available in electronic formats. All titles are out of print.
The copyright and publishing rights for ''Star Trek Lives!'' have since reverted to the original authors. Lichtenberg has attempted to release the book in electronic formats. However, she has been unable to gain the necessary permissions from her co-writers, or in the case of Joan Winston, her estate.
Bibliography
Episode novelizations (1967–1994)
Collected adaptations of the ''Original Series'' episodes:
Original novels (1970–1981)
Bantam never applied an official series name to the novels, instead marketing each volume as a new or original "Star Trek Adventure". The novels are not numbered; however, library catalogs and booksellers applied numbers to the novels in publication order, including ''Mudd's Angels'' and ''The New Voyages''. In 1993, the series was reprinted by Titan Books as ''Star Trek Adventures'' using a different number scheme. The name given to the reprint series has been retroactively applied to Bantam's series by book discovery websites such as
Goodreads
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and read ...
and
LibraryThing.
Reference works (1975–1980)
''New Voyages'' (1976–1977)
''Star Trek: The New Voyages'' collects
fan fiction curated and edited by
Sondra Marshak
Sondra Marshak (née Hassan; born June 15, 1942) is an American science-fiction writer. She is most well known for her work co-written with Myrna Culbreath. She was a co-writer of '' Star Trek Lives!'' (1975), with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and te ...
and
Myrna Culbreath
Myrna Lou Culbreath (born September 1, 1938) is an American science fiction writer and editor, most well known for the '' Star Trek'' tie-in novels and anthologies cowritten with Sondra Marshak. Culbreath was a founding editor of the libertarian ...
. Additional volumes were announced, but none were published.
Pocket Books's ''
Strange New Worlds'' (1998–2016), edited by
Dean Wesley Smith, is similar. The collections are books 2 and 6 in Bantam's original novels series.
''Star Trek Fotonovel'' (1977–78)
Photo comics:
''Classic Episodes'' (1991)
''Star Trek: The Classic Episodes'' omnibus edition collected the novelizations in three volumes. Unlike previous editions the episodes are sorted by television series season. New material by
D. C. Fontana,
Norman Spinrad
Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.
Pe ...
, and others was also included. The novelizations of "
Mudd's Women
"Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 1 ...
" and "
I, Mudd
"I, Mudd" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Stephen Kandel (based on a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on Novem ...
" were not included, nor was Lawrence's original novella, ''The Business, as Usual, During Altercations''.
Related works
''Star Trek Reader'' (1976–1978)
The episode novelizations by Blish, including ''Spock Must Die!'' (1970), were collected in a four volume omnibus published by
E. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.
Creator
Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...
. Variants were also made available to the
Science Fiction Book Club
Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000.
Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizo ...
.
Titan Books (1992–1995)
Reprints intended for the U.K. and AustralianNew Zealand markets.
''New Voyages'' reprints (1992)
Reprints of ''Star Trek: The New Voyages'' short story collections edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. Both volumes include significant spelling corrections and unexplained prose changes.
''Star Trek Adventures'' reprints (1993–1995)
Bantam Book's original novels were reprinted by Titan as ''Star Trek Adventures''. The series name has since been erroneously applied to the Bantam editions by book discovery websites. The novels include significant corrections and spelling changes. Not all printings include a number stamp.
''Classic Episodes'' (2016)
''Star Trek: The Classic Episodes'' is an omnibus edition of the Blish and Lawrence novelizations. Published by
Barnes & Noble in 2016 as part of the ''Collectible Editions'' series.
See also
*
List of ''Star Trek'' novels
*
List of ''Star Trek'' reference books
*
''Star Trek Log''
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Trek (Bantam Books)
Books based on Star Trek
Bantam Books books