For those who loved Lower Decks, some of you might be interested in something similar.
First, some history: by the 1990s, Pocket Books' lines of licensed "numbered" Star Trek tie-ins were wildly successful, so series editor John J. Ordover was willing to experiment with "one-shots," crossover books, miniseries, and regular "big event" hardcovers.
In 1997, Ordover and frequent Trek novelist Peter David launched
Star Trek: New Frontier --the first (but not the last) novel series
not based on a TV series. Using characters from David's Young Adult
Starfleet Academy books (another of Ordover's successful experiments), a few obscure TNG extras, and several new characters created for the series, New Frontier spanned 21 novels, a short story anthology, two graphic novels, and numerous crossovers.
(sorry about the edit; I couldn't find a good copy of the cover art)
It's not perfect; written in the 90s, it
is a product of its time. Some of the humour is. . . dated, and Peter David (who wrote all but the "No Limits" short story collection) can be an acquired taste, but it is a solidly dramatic series (and would lay the groundwork for the tightly-interconnected post-2000 "relaunch" continuity), and is very much Star Trek as inspired by the likes of
Stripes,
MASH,
McHale's Navy,
Police Academy, and
Sgt. Bilko.
(Clipped from
the Almighty Star Trek Lit-verse Reading Order Flow Chart by Thrawn.)
Conveniently, the novels are laid out much like a TV series, with books 1-8 spanning the "first season" (ending on a cataclysmic cliffhanger), 9-14 as S2, 15-18 as S3 (picking up after a three-year timeskip), and books 19-21 ("The Returned") as a big series-ending movie. The series spans 2373 (season 5 of DS9, season 3 of Voyager, and just after the events of "First Contact") to 2381 (the timeframe of Lower Decks, or well into the non-canon "Relaunch" timeline).
The Captains Table is part of a series of stand-alones (each book focused on one captain),
Double Time is a graphic novel, and
Double Helix is a crossover (though each book is pretty stand-alone, as multiple different crews each tackle one aspect of the crisis).
Gateways is a more tightly-plotted crossover, with several novels and a short story collection to wrap it up. "No Limits" is another short story anthology, and there are other shorts in the "Tales of the Dominion War," "Tales From the Captain's Table," and
Mirror Universe anthologies ("Obsidian Alliances" and "Shards and Shadows").
Turnaround is a five-part comic series tying the "Prime" and Mirror Universe storylines together.
These are the voyages of the Starship
Excalibur; Starfleet's dumping grounds for its oddballs, misfits, washouts, and people generally too weird even for Starfleet.
Its current mission; to patrol Sector 221-G, which up until recently was the Thallonian Empire. The Empire has collapsed, and
Excalibur is needed to step in and offer assistance and humanitarian aid, becoming a beacon of order and security in this lawless frontier.
Captain Mackenzie Calhoun
Born M'k'n'zy of Calhoun on Xenex, a world under occupation by the brutal Dantari, M'k'n'zy led his people in a revolution when he was still a teenager, and Captain Picard (then of the USS
Stargazer) convinced him to try joining Starfleet. Mac's Starfleet career was. . . tumultuous, and he was eventually court-martialled for decking a superior officer. Picard (now on the
Enterprise) intervened again, convincing Starfleet that Calhoun is the perfect choice to command the
Excalibur.
Commander Elizabeth Shelby
Most well-known from "Best of Both Worlds," Starfleet assigned Shelby believing that an ambitious by-the-book martinet would be able to curb Calhoun's more reckless tendencies. They were wrong. Shelby and Calhoun had a pre-existing history, but broke up when Mac was court-martialed. Later in the series, Shelby becomes Captain, then Admiral --which lines up with her appearance in season 3 of
Picard.
Burgoyne 172
Burgoyne (s/he, hir) belongs to the nonbinary Hermat species (I know, but society wasn't quite ready for The Discourse in 1997), but is an outcast from hir peoples' insular and repressive culture. Burgy's gender situation is not handled with the utmost delicacy, but s/he's never made the butt of jokes (at least, no more than every other character from time to time), being more likely to serve as the source of wacky hijinks and sarcastic commentary.
Zak Kebron
Zak is a Brikar --the same species as
Prodigy's Rok-Tahk. David invented the character, and the Brikar themselves, as part of his
Starfleet Academy books, making Zak the first-ever representative of the now-canon species. Zak is a comically stoic grump for most of the early stories, though he eventually undergoes a metamorphosis that makes him more verbal.
Si Cwan
Former crown prince of the Thallonian Empire, Si Cwan has three goals; find and rescue his sister, exact vengeance on those who brought down the empire, and restore peace to his people --and he is willing to use anything and anyone to achieve these goals. He comes aboard the Excalibur as an "ambassador" and local guide, and immediately becomes a sort of best-frenemy to Kebron.
Selar
Dr. Selar appeared in ony one episode of TNG (S02E06, "The Schizoid Man"), but was referred to/addressed off-camera in several others, and had a respectable presence in numerous tie-in novels and comics. Selar is a tragic figure, with PTSD relating to a dead husband, and a troubled family history that makes her emotional control sometimes questionable.
Robin Lefler
Another minor TNG character, Lefler is mainly known for dating Wesley Crusher in that one ep with the mind-controlling video game (she also appeared in "Darmok" but didn't do much except follow Geordi around). New Frontier makes her a regular character, and goes into more detail about her odd family life (odder than even she realizes, it turns out, with an unexpected connection to
TOS --and even to
Strange New Worlds).
Mark McHenry (as depicted in the
Starfleet Academy books, which is the only pic that really captures his essence)
McHenry is. . . weird. Like, "falls asleep at his console, wears his uniform inside out, has long conversations with a patch of bulkhead on deck 13" weird. Despite his often-concerning eccentricities, McHenry is a supernaturally gifted helmsman. . . literally, as it turns out (and even anticipates a plotline shared by a late-appearing
Lower Decks character).
Soleta
Another character from David's
Starfleet Academy novels, Soleta is an unusually angry Vulcan (actually, being angry is pretty usual for her). Soleta's emotional control is even more tenuous than Selar's, though Soleta is more. . . explosive. Like many characters on this ship, Soleta has a deep, dark secret, only revealed in "season 2."
Ed Jellico
Every band of misfits needs an obstructive old man to complain about them, and that role in
New Frontier is played by now-Admiral Edward Jellico, famous from that one episode of TNG and the thousand memes it launched. Notably, he also appears as an Admiral in
Prodigy, so that part at least lines up with canon.
Also, that thing about Calhoun punching out a superior officer? That was Jellico. He had it coming.
As the series goes on, it brings in more colourful characters, including Si Cwan's questionably-sane sister, an immortal TOS-series character, a couple of time-displaced characters from
The Animated Series, Mac's bastard (in every sense) son, and even a hyperintelligent Mugato.
(That's hyperintelligent by Mugato standards, which is why he's still an Ensign.)
Tracking down hardcopies is a challenge, but everything should be available as ebooks. While
New Frontiers (like the rest of the decades-long Relaunch timeline) was overwritten by the modern canon established by
Picard, it remains a fascinating look at
Lower Decks before
Lower Decks was a thing.
And now, a moment of Zak.
