Star Trek: The Latter Fire is out now!

Turn your eyes to the skies (or at least to your nearest bookstore) because my newest novel The Latter Fire is on sale this week; the official release date is the 23rd but it's already been sneaking out in the UK, USA and Australia, so you should be able to find it on sale very soon - and eBook editions will quickly follow.

The five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise has brought the vessel and her crew to the forefront of an important first contact operation.

Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, the ship is heading to the planet Syhaar Prime in the Beta Quadrant—the homeworld of an alien civilization preparing to take its first steps onto the galactic stage.

One year earlier, the Enterprise came across a badly damaged Syhaari explorer vessel drifting in deep space. In collaboration with the explorer’s captain, Kirk and his crew were able to restore the ship to full function and send it on its way.

And now, as the Syhaari display rapid technological progress in the past year, hard questions must be asked. Is it possible that the Enterprise crew leaked advanced technology or information to the Syhaari during their first encounter, in violation of the Prime Directive?

Star Trek: The Latter Fire is my first novel set in the "classic" era of Star Trek: The Original Series and it's an era I've been wanting to write a tale for since I first started working on Trek stories; it's also the first novel release this year to feature the 50th Anniversary logo, as part of the celebration of the original show's half-century.

I had a great time writing The Latter Fire - it's a novel in the tradition of some of my favourite ST:TOS episodes (with some nods to the animated series too!), a big and brassy epic with a 60's SF tone - and I hope readers will enjoy it...