Posts Tagged ‘Vanguard’

Feliz quinceañera, Star Trek Vanguard

Fifteen years ago saw the premiere of Harbinger, the first book in the Star Trek Vanguard series, which I co-created with Pocket Books senior editor Marco Palmieri.

What was Star Trek Vanguard? Dayton Ward sums it up thusly:

Vanguard as created by editor Marco Palmieri and author David Mack is a series of books that served as a “literary spin-off” of the original Star Trek television series. Running in parallel with the original show, Vanguard was set aboard a space station in a hotly contested area of space called “the Taurus Reach.”

In the years that followed, I wound up alternating writing privileges on the series with Dayton and his hetero life-mate and frequent writing partner Kevin Dilmore. This, among other things, led to them becoming two of my closest friends, with whom I shared the most artistically satisfying creative endeavor of my career to date.

Photo of Dayton Ward, Marco Palmieri, Kevin Dilmore, and David Mack
The Vanguardians of the Galaxy: from left, Dayton Ward, Marco Palmieri, Kevin Dilmore, David Mack. Taken at Shore Leave Convention, July 2011.

Marco, who left Simon & Schuster after editing the fourth Vanguard novel, subsequently returned to the saga as an author, contributing the novella “The Ruins of Noble Men” to the Vanguard anthology volume Declassified. And acclaimed international best-selling thriller author James Swallow took Vanguard into the Mirror Universe with his short story “The Black Flag,” in the anthology Shards and Shadows.

Furthermore, we had the amazing good fortune that all of our series’ cover art was created by the brilliantly talented Doug Drexler. Every single one of his covers is worthy of being enlarged to billboard size and plastered onto the side of a skyscraper.

Dayton has done an amazing write-up about Vanguard — what it is, how it came to be, and what it has meant to all of us who were fortunate enough to work on it. I doubt I could improve upon it; I would only end up paraphrasing it. So I’ll just say, go read his excellent tribute to this series we built with love, sweat, and imagination.

If you’ve never read the Star Trek Vanguard saga, here is your guide:

Star Trek Vanguard Bibliography

Harbinger – David Mack
Summon the Thunder – Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Reap the Whirlwind – David Mack
Open Secrets – Dayton Ward (story by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore)
Precipice – David Mack
Declassified – four novellas by: Dayton Ward; Kevin Dilmore; Marco Palmieri; and David Mack
What Judgments Come – Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore (story by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore and David Mack)
Storming Heaven – David Mack (story by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore and David Mack)

There also are a few additional stories that, while not essential to enjoying the main “saga,” might be of interest:

Distant Early Warning – Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore (a Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers story and Vanguard prequel)

In Tempest’s Wake – Dayton Ward (sort of a coda to the Vanguard series)

The Black Flag” – James Swallow
(Included in the anthology Star Trek: Mirror Universe – Shards & Shadows)

You can also load up on SPOILER-FILLED, behind-the-scenes goodness with my Vanguard Finale page.

Dayton, Kevin, and I have agreed that we have no intention of ever re-opening the toy box that was Star Trek Vanguard. From the outset, the saga had been planned with a clear beginning, middle, and ending, and ultimately we hewed fairly closely to that original plan. What’s more, we ended the saga on our own terms, by design rather than by necessity, a privilege one is rarely afforded in the world of media tie-in writing.

Sometimes I daydream of seeing Vanguard as a new Star Trek TV series. But then I remember that it likely would never be as good on the screen as it is in the theater of my imagination, and I’m content to leave it where it is.

As Pennington wrote at the saga’s end, “Let the world forget; I’ll remember.”

My Star Trek eBooks on Sale in May

Good news, everyone! All eBook versions of two of my many Star Trek novels are on sale to U.S. readers for just $0.99 now through the end of May 2020.

The first title on sale is my Deep Space Nine action-thriller Warpath. From the back cover:

They were created to be killing machines. Highly intelligent, resourceful, and deceptively complex, the Jem’Hadar are a species engineered for war and programmed at the genetic level for one purpose: to fight until death as soldiers of the sprawling stellar empire known as the Dominion. No Jem’Hadar has ever lived thirty years, and not even their masters, the shape-shifting Founders, know what such a creature is capable of becoming were it to be freed of its servitude.

One Founder, however, has dared to wonder.

Appointed by Odo himself to learn peaceful coexistence aboard Deep Space 9™, Taran’atar, an Honored Elder among the Jem’Hadar, had for months been a staunch, if conflicted, ally to the crew of the station, ever struggling to understand the mission on which he was sent … until something went horrifically wrong.

Consumed by self-doubt and an ever-growing rage, Taran’atar has lashed out against those he was sworn to aid. While Captain Kira Nerys and Lieutenant Ro Laren both lie near death aboard DS9, their assailant has taken a hostage and fled into Cardassian space, pursued by Commander Elias Vaughn on the U.S.S. Defiant. But as the hunt unfolds, Taran’atar’s true objective becomes increasingly less certain, as the rogue Jem’Hadar leads the Defiant to a discovery even more shocking than his crime.

The second title on sale is Harbinger, the first volume in the eight-book (plus two eBook novellas) Star Trek Vanguard saga, which I created with editor Marco Palmieri and alternated writing duties with the team of Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore. From the back cover:

Returning from its historic first voyage to the edge of the galaxy, the damaged U.S.S. Enterprise journeys through the Taurus Reach, a vast and little-known region of space in which a new starbase has been unexpectedly established. Puzzled by the Federation’s interest in an area so far from its borders and so near the xenophobic Tholian Assembly, Captain James T. Kirk orders the Enterprise to put in for repairs at the new space station: Starbase 47, also known as Vanguard.

As Kirk ponders the mystery of the enormous base, he begins to suspect that there is much more to Vanguard than meets the eye. It’s a suspicion shared by the Tholians, the Orions, and the Klingon Empire, each of whom believes that there are less than benign motives behind the Federation’s sudden and unexplained desire to explore and colonize the Taurus Reach.

But when a calamity deep within the Reach threatens to compromise Starfleet’s continued presence in the region, Kirk, Spock, and several key specialists from the Enterprise must assist Vanguard’s crew in investigating the cause of the disaster and containing the damage. In the process, they learn the true purpose behind the creation of Vanguard, and what the outcome of its mission may mean for life throughout that part of the galaxy.

This is a great deal on two of my seminal early works. Grab ’em while the grabbing’s good!

#SFWApro

Get all of Star Trek Vanguard for under $9 until March 31

If you’ve been putting off trying the Star Trek Vanguard saga, which I developed with editor Marco Palmieri and on which I alternated writing duties with the team of Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, you can get the whole saga now in eBook form for just $8.91!

As part of a Kindle Monthly Deal, Amazon is offering all nine works that together constitute the Star Trek Vanguard saga for just $0.99 each:


VANGUARD: HARBINGER

VANGUARD: SUMMON THE THUNDER

VANGUARD: REAP THE WHIRLWIND

VANGUARD: OPEN SECRETS

VANGUARD: PRECIPICE

VANGUARD: DECLASSIFIED

VANGUARD: WHAT JUDGMENTS COME

VANGUARD: STORMING HEAVEN

VANGUARD: IN TEMPEST’S WAKE


This is an amazing offer, and there’s no telling when it might come around again, so snag it while you can!

 

Vanguard eBooks just 99 cents through end of March

Of all my contributions to Star Trek literature, the one I had the most fun creating, and remain proudest of, is the STAR TREK VANGUARD saga. It spans seven novels, one anthology, and one novella coda.

The series offers readers a look at what was going on in other parts of the Federation during the time of the Enterprise‘s on-screen missions in The Original Series. The idea was to show that events off-screen precipitated situations that Captain Kirk and his crew encountered, and that actions they took had consequences beyond what was shown on-screen.

I developed the Star Trek Vanguard saga with editor Marco Palmieri and alternated writing privileges with the super-duo of Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore. It was a strange way to collaborate on a series, but it worked for us, and we all had a blast doing it. Working on this series with these wonderful guys was an experience for which I’ll always be grateful.

Now I’m thrilled to report that the entire Star Trek Vanguard saga is on sale in eBook format for just $0.99 per title through the end of March 2018. Get the complete saga—which tells a self-contained Star Trek epic tale—for just $8.91!

Here they are, in reading order and everything:

Harbinger
Summon the Thunder
Reap the Whirlwind
Open Secrets
Precipice
Declassified
What Judgments Come
Storming Heaven
In Tempest’s Wake

Tell all your friends who love Star Trek (especially The Original Series) to get in on this.

#LiveLongAndProsper

Talking Trek & Rush on ENGAGE

I talked last week with Jordan Hoffman of Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast about my work for Star Trek — in particular, the Vanguard saga. We also touch briefly upon my upcoming projects, including my novel based on the new CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery.

We also spent a fair amount of time talking about my love for the work of Canadian rock trio RUSH, and the major influence their work has had on my own. And every time you think we might finally be done talking about Rush, we circle back to it. It was a hell of a thing.

If you just can’t get enough of the dulcet tones of my voice, or the brilliant insights of my warped brain, give it a listen. (My segment starts about 10-11 minutes in.)

Write back (not) in anger (#SFWApro)

hugo_rocketTo be a writer is to invite criticism. It can be hard to decide with which critics, if any, one should engage. Polite critics can sometimes be acknowledged with courtesy, but as a general rule it’s best to accept their feedback in silence and not attempt to rebut their points, especially when one is discussing matters of subjective opinion.

Poison-pen critics should in nearly all cases be ignored, except when the author of such a letter offers one the possibility of a “teachable moment.” Even then, unless it’s a subject that seems in dire need of examination, most such impulses to retort to one’s detractors run the risk of leading one to self-immolation. In those rare instances when one elects to respond to a detractor, a measure of restraint still is called for.

Every once in a rare while, however, one must sound the trumpets and let slip the dogs of war.

(more…)

WIRED: Binge on DS9, then try Vanguard

The good folks over at WIRED publish a series of binge-watching guides for those interested in trying out classic TV series via streaming media. Today they unveiled the Wired Binge-Watching Guide to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

STDS9-1024x683

First let me say that I agree unreservedly with all their editorial recommendations with regard to the small handful of DS9 episodes that one might be able to skip and still enjoy the majesty of the series’ long-form story arcs. I also think they selected some excellent episodes to serve as “must-see” moments from the series.

I’m particularly chuffed to see that one of their “can’t miss” episodes was It’s Only a Paper Moon,” for which I co-wrote the story with John J. Ordover, and which was scripted by Ronald D. Moore.

vanguardThe icing on the cake? At the end of the article, its author, Graeme McMillan, wraps up the concluding section, “If you Liked Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, You’ll Love…,” with this choice paragraph:

“The best suggestion, however, isn’t another TV show at all; for those who fall for the mix of politics, science fiction, and derring-do that Deep Space Nine serves up, the ideal follow-up is actually the Star Trek Vanguard series of novels, which pretty much takes the DS9 approach and applies it to the original series’ era with just a little bit more of a bloodthirsty edge. Highly recommended.”

That’s one of the best plugs Vanguard has ever received. So if you haven’t read it yet, don’t take my word for how good it is — listen to Wired.

That is all.