The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.
Star Trek spin-off fiction frequently fills in "gaps" within the televised show, often making use of backstage information or popular fan belief.
[1] Much fiction is set in a second five-year mission of Kirk's Enterprise, which the Okuda chronology dates after Star Trek: The Motion Picture (although novels often placed it before).
Backstories and fates of characters are often elaborated on, an example being Leonard McCoy's divorced status, and his daughter, Joanna, originally intended to appear in what became the TOS episode "The Way to Eden".
Several novels depict the careers of the younger members of the Enterprise crew after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The 2006 novel Vulcan's Soul: Exiles has an Admiral Pavel Chekov, and Uhura is still serving as head of Starfleet Intelligence in 2377, at the age of 138.
Novels in the 1980s by Diane Duane and John M. Ford established a complex backstory and culture for the Romulans (Rihannsu) and Klingons respectively, which were later not taken up by TNG.
The first publisher of Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was Bantam Books, which initially produced a bestselling series of novelizations of the original 79 episodes by James Blish that began in 1967.
This era saw disputes between authors and the Star Trek production office – specifically Roddenberry's "assistant", Richard Arnold – with many novels being rejected for not focusing directly on the main TOS cast.
[3] A change of personnel at the Star Trek offices in the early 1990s – specifically the firing of Arnold immediately following the death of Gene Roddenberry in 1991 – led to a relaxation of policies regarding tie-in novels.
[4] Paula Block, director of CBS Consumer Products, is quoted in Voyages of the Imagination as saying, "Jeri Taylor's books were considered quasi-canon for a while because our licensees really wanted some sort of background structure".
[3] Starting from the mid-1990s, several ranges of books were created based upon original continuing characters and situations set in the Star Trek universe.
This series features a group of highly trained engineers stationed aboard USS da Vinci and their adventures on various planets.
This series tells of the adventures of an all-new Qang (Chancellor)-class war cruiser, on a mission to conquer new planets for the Klingon Empire.
Trip's death is shown in a holodeck program in the time frame of the TNG episode "The Pegasus", and The Good That Men Do establishes that the historical record has been altered.
[5] Nine Star Trek novels, in the form of three thematic trilogies, have been written by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
A fourth Shatner/Reeves-Stevens trilogy, focusing on Kirk's time at Starfleet Academy and based on an idea pitched to Paramount for a TV series was launched in October 2007.
The Star Trek: Gateways crossover was published in 2001, featuring entries from TOS, Challenger, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and New Frontier.
A number of novels have been written or co-written by series actors, such as John de Lancie, J. G. Hertzler, Andrew J. Robinson, William Shatner, and Armin Shimerman.
The Star Trek Expanded Universe website, a wiki designed to collect in-universe "facts" from fan-created content.
The first two issues of the Gold Key run was illustrated by Italian artist Nevio Zaccara, and the first half of the series was drawn by Alberto Giolitti, who being based in Rome did not see any of the Star Trek TV episodes until several years after he retired.
[13] Golden Press, another division of Western Publishing, reprinted several of the Gold Key Star Trek comics in four volumes.
Through a misunderstanding between Paramount and Marvel, the writers had been misinformed that they could not use any previously used characters from the TV series or the movie except for the main crew of the Enterprise.
Among the highlights of Wartenkin's strips was his final story, a Harry Mudd adventure featuring his view of a rare glimpse at the news media of the Star Trek universe.
The strip concluded with Gerry Conway and Dick Kulpa sharing writing credit, with Ernie Colón handling the art.
[17] An ongoing monthly series was launched from October 1989, and was mainly written by Star Trek: The Next Generation novelist Michael Jan Friedman.
[22][23] They also introduced two new series, Star Trek: Early Voyages which dealt with Captain Pike's adventures as captain of the Enterprise (as depicted in the rejected TOS pilot "The Cage") and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy which dealt with a group of cadets, including Deep Space Nine's Ferengi, Nog.
The ongoing series were canceled in 1998 due to sales being below expectations, with Early Voyages leaving an unresolved story by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
[31] Due to poor sales and issues involving Wildstorm's merger with DC Comics, the license was allowed to expire in 2002 without renewal.
SFU games include: The following computer games used elements from both the Paramount and ADB universes: Star Trek Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, 1988 Great American Adventure Amusement Park, Santa Clara near San Jose, Calif. Several fan-made or unofficial films have been produced, using Star Trek characters or settings.