John Jackson Miller: The High Country.     One of the joys of a new Star Trek series is when the literature is able to fill in gaps and create new adventures for the crew. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Casey Pettitt are joined by author John Jackson Miller to talk about his new book, the first Strange New Worlds novel, The High Country. We discuss the timeline, the genesis, an event novel, as utopia's turn, willful blindness, everyone is trapped, you can't stop time, technology, use of characters, everything means something, what's next for John and our final thoughts.  In the news we have a new issue of The Illyrian Enigma to review!   News The Illyrian Enigma #3 (00:03:17)                  Feature: John Jackson Miller The Timeline (00:09:53) The Genesis (00:16:12) An Event Novel (00:33:16) As Utopia's Turn (00:38:46) Willful Blindness (00:44:01) Everyone is Trapped (00:46:01) You Can't Stop Time (00:52:34) Technology (01:04:12) Use of Characters (01:11:10) Everything Means Something (01:13:28) What is Next for John (01:17:19) Final Thoughts (01:23:12)        Hosts Matthew Rushing and Casey Pettitt  Guest  John Jackson Miller Production Matthew Rushing (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate Producer) Casey Pettitt (Associate Producer)

Greg Cox: The Antares Maelstrom. A 23rd century gold rush kicks off when a rare element is discovered on planet Baldur III, and it's up to the crew of the Enterprise to maintain order when the small colony world is overrun by pioneers hoping to strike it rich. Complicating matters is the nearby Antares Maelstrom, a treacherous area of space that has claimed the lives of many explorers over the years. With his crew stretched thin, can Kirk manage to prevent tragedy? In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther welcome author Greg Cox to the show to discuss his The Antares Maelstrom. We talk about the pergium discovery that starts things off, an old-fashioned western set in space, Sulu's mystery woman and the role they play, a side quest for Spock and Chekov, a major crisis the colony faces, the mysteries of the Antares Maelstrom, and wrap up with projects that Greg is currently working on and where he can be found online. At the top of the show, we review issue #4 of Star Trek: Year Five from IDW, and respond to listener feedback from the Babel Conference for Literary Treks 277: You're Meant to Be Confused. News Star Trek: Year Five #4 Review (00:02:49) Listener Feedback (00:11:37) Feature: Greg Cox Una in the Legacies Trilogy (00:19:01) There's Pergium in Them Hills (00:25:32) Khan's Antares Maelstrom (00:30:11) An Old Fashion Western (00:33:07) Sulu's Old Flame and Mystery (00:40:24) A Shady Character (00:48:37) Uhura's Dance Hall (00:51:03) Spock and Chekov's Tea Mission (00:52:48) Yurnos (00:55:39) Thunderbird Power Plant (01:00:36) Getting Through the Maelstrom (01:02:35) More From Greg (01:14:52) Final Thoughts (01:19:08) Hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson Guest Greg Cox Production Bruce Gibson (Editor and Producer) Dan Gunther (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager) Ken Tripp (Associate Producer) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate Producer) Jeffery Harlan (Associate Producer)

Ethan Siegel: Treknology. Ever since Star Trek first hit television screens in 1966, audiences have been fascinated by the amazing technologies that are a part of every day life in the 23rd century. Over the past 51 years, Trek fans have imagined what it would be like to transport instantaneously from one place to another, have any kind of food or material replicated with a simple voice command, or travel to the stars aboard a warp-capable starship. In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson and Dan Gunther are joined by author and scientist Dr. Ethan Siegel to discuss his new book, Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive. We talk about a number of technologies covered in the book, the process of writing it, the influence Star Trek has had on our collective imaginations and the technology of modern society, where our technologies may go in the future, and wrap up with where you can find Dr. Siegel online. In our news segment, we reveal the back-cover blurb for Dayton Ward's upcoming Discovery: Drastic Measures, and review two comics: Boldly Go #12 and New Visions #18. News Blurb fir Drastic Measures (00:02:35) Boldly Go #12 (00:06:06) New Visions # 18 (00:12:41) Feature: Ethan Siegel The Science of Star Trek (00:21:48) The Process (00:23:37) Warp Drive (00:30:38) The Spore Drive (00:39:59) Transporters (00:46:00) Trans-Warp Beaming (00:50:32) Writing (00:51:26) The Holodeck (00:57:27) The Format (01:03:21) The Spirit of Star Trek (01:06:55) Final Thoughts (01:10:18) Hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson Guest Ethan Siegel Production Matthew Rushing (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager) Ken Tripp (Associate Producer) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Associate Producer) Bruce Gibson (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate Producer)

John Jackson Miller: Takedown. Star Trek fans have been pitting captains against each other since Picard came on the scene in 1987. The debate on whether Kirk or Picard is better still rages on internet message boards or any given weekend, in any city hosting a sci-fi convention. But what if Picard went up against his protege, William Riker, who would be the victor? In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunther talk to John Jackson Miller about his first full length Star Trek novel Takedown where Picard and Riker do go head to head. We discuss John catching up with the continuity, inspirations for the story, being concurrent with The Missing, humor in the book, major spoilers as well as writing Admiral Riker and Captain Dax. In the news we talk about the new Almighty Flow Chart on The Trek Collective as well as Gary Seven's upcoming appearance in John Byrne's New Vision comics in issue, you guessed it, seven.    Hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunther   Guest John Jackson Miller   Editor and Producer  Matthew Rushing  Richard Marquez   Associate Producers Will Nguyen Lisa Stevens Kenneth Trip   Production Manager Richard Marquez   Content Coordinator Will Nguyen   News New Almighty Flow Chart (00:02:02) Gary Seven is Coming (00:05:34)   Feature: John Jackson Miller Takedown (00:08:19) Catching Up With Continuity (00:09:00) First Full Length Trek Book (00:11:15) Inspirations for the Story (00:15:49) Being Concurrent with The Missing (00:25:24) Humor and Tone (00:30:07) Spoilers! (00:32:40) The Mystery Revealed (00:33:37) The Mira Romaine Center (00:46:26) Back to Admiral Riker (00:47:43) Writing Captain Dax (00:52:55) What is Next for John (01:04:21) Closing (01:11:01)   Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm/ Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm   Support the Network!   Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep our shows coming to you every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Lost Apollo. With the five-year mission finally underway, IDW's Star Trek Ongoing comics are set to deliver strange new worlds that harken back to the true flavor of The Original Series. Lost Apollo tells the story of an American astronaut from NASA's Apollo program who the Enterprise crew discovers on an alien world nearly 300 years after he lifted off from the moon. (Yes, from the moon… turns out NASA was up to more than the public knew.) In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones take you through the two-parter, penned by Mike Johnson with art by Erfan Fajar, and discuss how it captures the spirit of the original television series so well that it can almost be read as part of the Prime Universe, not just the Abramsverse. We also share our thoughts on the story, imagine the tourism campaign for this distant and colorful world, and try to avoid the details of what Captain Kirk and Carol Marcus are doing in the decon chamber. In our news segment we run down the 2015 Star Trek books release schedule, ponder why we aren't getting more dedicated Deep Space Nine novels, and take a sneak peak at Fun with Kirk and Spock.   News 2015 Star Trek Books Release Schedule (3:35) Sneak Peak at Fun with Kirk and Spock (21:08) Sponsor: Audible (26:43)   Feature: Lost Apollo Part 1 (29:53) Part 2 (50:06) Closing (1:08:57)

David Mack: A Ceremony of Losses. Over the past decade the prime universe has grown richly complex as print adventures have taken over where television left off. Now, in a new five-book series titled "The Fall," some of Star Trek's greatest authors are going to rock the Federation to its core with an adventure that takes place over a period of sixty days and involves TNG, DS9, and Titan. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones continue our series of interviews with the authors of The Fall as David Mack joins us to talk about his entry in the series, A Ceremony of Losses, which falls right in the middle of the saga and centers around the Andorian reproductive crisis. We learn about the genesis of his part of the story, the challenges in bringing DS9 characters back into the fold, the real-world historical bases for may aspects of the story, and a bit more about David’s upcoming books Seekers and Section 31: Disavowed. In news we get an update on Kirsten Beyer’s next Voyager novel, Protectors, and we have some Fun with Kirk and Spock.

Emmett Plant. Planning a trip to Qo’noS? Marrying into a warrior family? If so, you won’t want to miss this episode of Literary Treks in which we’re joined by Emmett Plant to learn how to speak Klingon. Alright, we won’t actually be learning many Klingon phrases—that’s what the book is for—but we will be learning how this new book, How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler, came to be and about the production of the audio elements. Along the way Emmett also talks about the state of Star Trek audiobooks in general, the challenges in producing them, and whether or not we might expect more audible Trek in our future. In our news segment we look at updates on two novels: Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures by Christopher L. Bennett and From History’s Shadow by Dayton Ward. Cover art for both books has been unveiled along with extended synopses that give us a better picture of what to expect.