View source for Star Trek: New Earth

{{Short description|Series of Star Trek novels}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox book series
| name = ''Star Trek: New Earth''
| image = WagonTrain.jpg
| caption = Cover of the 2000 novel ''Wagon Train to the Stars''.
| books = {{Ubl
  |''Wagon Train to the Stars'' (2000)
  |''Belle Terre'' (2000)
  |''Rough Trails'' (2000)
  |''The Flaming Arrow'' (2000)
  |''Thin Air'' (2000)
}}
{{----}}
''Challenger'' (2000)
| author = ''Various''
| country = United States
| language = English
| genre = [[Science fiction]]
| publisher = [[Pocket Books]]
| pub_date = 2000
| media_type = Print ([[Paperback]])
| number_of_books = 6
| preceded by = My Brother's Keeper
| followed by = The Eugenics Wars
| website = {{URL|startrekbooks.com}}
}}
'''''Star Trek: New Earth''''' is a series of interlinked novels inspired by [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s original [[Pitch (filmmaking)|pitch]] for ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'': "Wagon train to the stars."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-01-03|title=Gene Roddenberry's Western in space|url=https://www.newsweek.com/wagon-train-stars-410030|access-date=2019-01-16|website=[[Newsweek]]|language=en}}</ref> Created by [[John J. Ordover]], the novels follow the crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|''Enterprise'']] as they escort a colonial expedition into a hostile region of unexplored space.

The novels occur during the second five-year mission, sometime between the episode "[[Turnabout Intruder]]" and ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]''. The series was intended to be the springboard for a flagship new book line similar to ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'', called ''Star Trek: Challenger''.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Ayers|first=Jeff|title=Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion|title-link=Voyages of Imagination|date=2006-11-14|publisher=[[Pocket Books]]|isbn=9781416503491|location=New York|pages=430–433}}</ref>

== Production ==
[[John J. Ordover]] told Jeff Ayers, in ''[[Voyages of Imagination]]'' (2006), the concept for ''New Earth'' originated as "a personal reaction to ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]''."<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|430}} He believed there was no stakes for those characters, no "emotional tie" to the region that ship was passing through. Ordover asked, “What if you went outside the known galaxy or outside the common area to find a new colony and you were assigned to stay there and protect them for a while?” His answer was the concept for ''New Earth''.

=== ''Wagon Train to the Stars'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''Wagon Train to the Stars''''' by Diane Carey, who also told Ayers that Ordover wanted a “new captain, new ship, new crew, and new situation, bringing ''Star Trek'' back to the original concept of ‘being out there’ with limited contact, essentially in a wild west town and having to fake it, hacking our way to civilization the hard way.”<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|430}} Carey and her husband, Greg Brodeur, developed the series concept. Carey wrote the first and sixth novels in the succession.

=== ''Belle Terre'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''Belle Terre''''', the second novel, was to be written by Carey. However, Ordover recruited [[Dean Wesley Smith]] to complete the novel based on Carey's outline.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|431}}

=== ''Rough Trails'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''Rough Trails''''', co-written by [[Julia Ecklar]] and Karen Rose Cercone as L.A. Graf, was inspired by the [[Johnstown Flood]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|431}}

=== ''The Flaming Arrow'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''The Flaming Arrow''''' was co-written by [[Jerry Oltion]] and with his wife [[Kathy Oltion|Kathy]]. They found the experience of writing a multi-author series difficult, saying: “It felt like we were building a bridge between two shores that were both shrouded in fog, while trolls were busy knocking out the supports from under us. The last-minute changes kept rolling in, so we did the only prudent thing we could do: We finished our book first so everybody else would have to follow our lead from then on.”<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|432}}

=== ''Thin Air'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''Thin Air''''' was co-written by husband-and-wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. Smith told Ayers, the novel was "a fun idea … foam covering a planet as a way to attack it." He also said he "had a blast" writing the developing and writing the novel.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|433}}

=== ''Challenger'' (2000) ===
'''''Star Trek: New Earth'''{{Snd}}'''Challenger''''' was written as a possible introduction to a new book series.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|434}} The namesake flagship was named in honor of the [[Space Shuttle Challenger]] by Ordover.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|434}}

=== ''Chainmail'' (2001) ===
'''''Star Trek: Challenger'''{{Snd}}'''Chainmail''''', by Diane Carey, is the second novel of the ''Gateways'' (2001) crossover series, and it was intended to be the introduction of a new flagship  series similar to ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier|New Frontier]]'' by [[Peter David]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|434}} ''Chainmail'' is a direct sequel to ''Challenger'' (2000), and includes characters and settings from other ''New Earth'' novels. The novel is often erroneously cataloged as the seventh volume in the ''New Earth'' series.  The titular flag ship is the {{Ship|UFPF|Challenger|OV91951L|wl=no}}, a ''Mongrel''-class frigate assembled from the multifarious vessels used to transport colonists to Belle Terre. Only one ''Challenger'' novel has been published.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Publication: Chainmail|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?15127|access-date=2019-01-16|website=[[ISFDB]]}}</ref>

== Reception ==
Michelle Green of Little Review wrote, ''New Earth'' was "fun to read, with several compelling plots unfolding at once[,] and the original Enterprise crew having a lot of fun in between heroics."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Green|first=Michelle Erica|title=New Earth|url=http://www.littlereview.com/getcritical/tvbooks/newearth.htm|access-date=2019-01-16|website=www.littlereview.com}}</ref>

Jeff Millward commented ''Challenger'' was, "a pretty good ending to an extremely long series."<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Earth - Challenger by Diane Carey|url=http://www.trekkieguy.ca/pb2000_07.shtml|access-date=2019-01-16|website=www.trekkieguy.ca}}</ref> However, his wish was that "nobody writes a story that spans [six] novels again" after offering less enthusiastic reviews for the previous books in the series. Randall Landers of ''Orion Press'' praised Carey's abilities as a storyteller, in ''Challenger''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Landers|first=Randall|title=Challenger -- a review by Randall Landers|url=http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/reviews/challenger.htm|access-date=2019-01-16|website=www.orionpressfanzines.com}}</ref> But, he noted, Carey's "[[purple prose]]" limited the appeal of the novel.

== Novels ==
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
!Title
!Author(s)
!Released
!ISBN
|-
|1
|''Wagon Train to the Stars''
|[[Diane Carey]]
| rowspan="2" |June 2000
|{{ISBNT|0-671-04296-3}}
|-
|2
|''Belle Terre''
|[[Dean Wesley Smith]] and Diane Carey
|{{ISBNT|0-671-04297-1}}
|-
|3
|''Rough Trails''
|[[Julia Ecklar|L.A. Graf]]
| rowspan="2" |July 2000
|{{ISBNT|0-671-03600-9}}
|-
|4
|''The Flaming Arrow''
|[[Kathy Oltion]] and [[Jerry Oltion]]
|{{ISBNT|0-671-78562-1}}
|-
|5
|''Thin Air''
|[[Kristine Kathryn Rusch]] and Dean Wesley Smith
| rowspan="2" |August 2000
|{{ISBNT|0-671-78577-X}}
|-
|6
|''Challenger''
|Diane Carey
|{{ISBNT|0-671-04298-X}}
|}

== ''Gateways'' miniseries ==
Characters and settings from the ''New Earth'' appear in two entries of the ''Gateways'' crossover miniseries:
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
!Title
!Author(s)
!Released
!ISBN
|-
|2
|''Chainmail''{{Indent|2}}{{Small|({{Teal|''Challenger''}}, Book 1)}}
|[[Diane Carey]]
|July 31, 2001
|{{ISBNT|0-7434-1855-7}}
|-
|7
|''What Lay Beyond'' (anthology){{Indent|2}}— "Exodus" by Diane Carey
|[[John J. Ordover]], ed.
|October 30, 2001
|{{ISBNT|0-7434-3112-X}}
|}

== See also ==
* [[List of Star Trek novels|List of ''Star Trek'' novels]]
* ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|startrekbooks.com}}
* {{Isfdb series|34052}}
{{Memory Alpha|Star Trek: New Earth}}

{{Star Trek publications}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Trek: New Earth}}
[[Category:Book series introduced in 2000]]
[[Category:Novels based on Star Trek|New Earth]]
[[Category:Novels based on Star Trek: The Original Series|New Earth]]
[[Category:Science fiction book series]]