Star Trek: Discovery‘s first tie-in novel, David Mack’s Desperate Hours, was a big hit with Trek book readers — check out our review here — and now the second chapter in Discovery‘s literary life has been announced for 2018.
We’ve known since the summer that Trek author Dayton Ward would be taking on the next novel in the Discovery, and today Simon and Schuster has announced that Drastic Measures will be the title of the next book in the series.
As many have suspected — given early details about the tale would be set some ten years before the television series — we’re headed to Tarsus IV in the new book, where a young James Kirk barely survived life under the rule of Kodos the Executioner.
Here’s the official synopsis:
It is 2246, ten years prior to the “Battle at the Binary Stars,” and an aggressive contagion is ravaging the food supplies of the remote Federation colony Tarsus IV and the eight thousand people who call it home. Distress signals have been sent, but any meaningful assistance is weeks away. Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Lorca and a small team assigned to a Starfleet monitoring outpost are caught up in the escalating crisis, and bear witness as the colony’s governor, Adrian Kodos, employs an unimaginable solution in order to prevent mass starvation.
While awaiting transfer to her next assignment, Commander Philippa Georgiou is tasked with leading to Tarsus IV a small, hastily assembled group of first responders. It’s hoped this advance party can help stabilize the situation until more aid arrives, but Georgiou and her team discover that they‘re too late—Governor Kodos has already implemented his heinous strategy for extending the colony’s besieged food stores and safeguarding the community’s long-term survival.
In the midst of their rescue mission, Georgiou and Lorca must now hunt for the architect of this horrific tragedy and the man whom history will one day brand “Kodos the Executioner”….
One last Star Trek: Discovery update for the day comes this evening as we approach the series’ fifth episode — “Choose Your Pain” — this weekend, with the arrival of a bunch of new images from Sunday’s chapter of the saga.
Along with one image previously released back in September, seven new episodic shots arrived from CBS from episode 105, featuring the inaugural appearances of Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson) and Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) in the series.
Choose Your Pain (Click to Enlarge)
1 of 8
Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) captured. (CBS)
Lorca encounters Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson). (CBS)
Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd. (CBS)
Mudd and Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif). (CBS)
Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham. (CBS)
Saru (Doug Jones) and Burnham. (CBS)
Saru, Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz), and Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp). (CBS)
Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber. (CBS)
“Choose Your Pain” debuts this Sunday on CBS All Access and Space, followed by the latest live episode of After Trek. Both will arrive on Netflix next Monday.
Star Trek: Discovery has five more episodes to premiere before the winter break, and now we know all the remaining titles for 2017’s upcoming episodes, thanks to a release from CBS today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaJ4ffdAKsv/
While we’ve already discussed the titles to Episodes 105 and 106, the new ones are interesting too: Episode 107’s title is from Homer’s The Illiad, referencing a passage about Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus replied at once, “Hera, queen of the skies, daughter of mighty Cronus, tell me what’s on your mind. I am eager to do it— whatever I can do . . . whatever can be done.”
Quick with treachery noble Hera answered, “Give me Love, give me Longing now, the powers you use to overwhelm all gods and mortal men! I am off to the ends of the fruitful, teeming earth to visit Ocean, fountainhead of the gods, and Mother Tethys who nourished me in their halls and reared me well.
They received me from Rhea, when thundering Zeus drove Cronus under the earth and the barren salt sea. I go to visit them and dissolve their endless feud— how long they have held back from each other now, from making love, since anger struck their hearts. But if words of mine could lure them back to love, back to bed, to lock in each other’s arms once more . . . they would call me their honored, loving friend forever.”
Aphrodite, smiling her everlasting smile, replied, “Impossible—worse, it’s wrong to deny your warm request, since you are the one who lies in the arms of mighty Zeus.”
With that she loosed from her breasts the breastband, pierced and alluring, with every kind of enchantment woven through it . . . There is the heat of Love, the pulsing rush of Longing, the lover’s whisper, irresistible — magic to make the sanest man go mad.
And thrusting it into Hera’s outstretched hands she breathed her name in a throbbing, rising voice: “Here now, take this band, put it between your breasts — ravishing openwork, and the world lies in its weaving! You won’t return, I know, your mission unfulfilled,
whatever your eager heart desires to do.”
The title of Episode 108 translates to, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Episode 109’s title comes from a quote by naturalist John Muir, “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
“Choose Your Pain,” “Lethe,” “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum,” and “Into the Forest I Go” will all debut on CBS All Access, SPACE, and Netflix the next five Sundays.
Announced on Twitter last night by executive producer Aaron Harberts, Star Trek: Discovery has officially wrapped primary production on its first season.
That's a wrap on Season 1 @startrekcbs. Thanks to cast, crew, and fans. You have made this show soar. #startrekdiscovery
The series has been filming for more than ten months up in Toronto, and at New York Comic Con last weekend director Akiva Goldsman noted at the Saturday panel that the final episode of the season was still being filmed to conclude the year’s shooting schedule.
While there is still weeks of post-production work left to conclude to get the year’s final episodes completed for the back half of the broadcast schedule — to solidify the needed VFX elements and so forth — Discovery has left five more hours this fall, and then the show returns in January for its final six episodes.
As for a potential second season of Discovery, producer Alex Kurtzmanmade comments over the weekend that negotiations for a second year are “going very well,” and CBS president Les Moonves made it clear in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that Star Trek: Discovery is a big asset for the company’s CBS All Access streaming platform, and that “future seasons” are likely:
Looking at the future of CBS, streaming and OTT is a very important part of it. There’s real upside for our company to have All Access be successful.
There’s a lot riding on Star Trek.
Star Trek: Discovery returns this Sunday with episode 105: “Choose Your Pain.”
At last week’s New York Comic Con, Star Trek model producer Eaglemoss shared with fans some previews of their upcoming Official Starships Collection releases, headed to wide release in the coming months – from the expansion of the Starships XL Editions to the beginnings of Discovery‘s entry to the Starfleet armada.
Before we get to our photos, check out this great spot with our friend, Eaglemoss’ Ben Robinson, who spoke to Adam Savage’s TESTED in a lengthy on-camera interview:
First up is Eaglemoss’ next planned jumbo-sized “XL Edition” of the starships Enterprise NX-01 and Voyager, both set to warp in by the end of 2017; each one measures more than 8.5″ in length.
These two ships will be the fourth and fifth large-sized ships to join the “XL” line, following the classic Enterprise NCC-1701 (watch for our review soon) and the Enterprise-D and -E.
Eaglemoss also had one of their brand-new Deep Space Station K-7 from “The Trouble with Tribbles,” taking center stage on their booth’s display counter.
Deep Space Station K-7 (Click to Enlarge)
1 of 4
We also finally got up close and personal with the forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery models coming in early 2018, with the golden-hued Discovery and grey-and-red Shenzhou making their public debuts.
(Please note these models do not have finalized paint schemes.)
Discovery and Shenzhou (Click to Enlarge)
1 of 10
We’ll be bringing you more reviews from The Official Starships Collection in the coming weeks!
In Eaglemoss’ US store, TrekCore readers can use promo code TREKCORE at checkout for 10% off any ‘Star Trek’ collectible purchase $50 or greater (Starships, Plaques, Binders, Graphic Novels).
While the extent of how that comment would translate to Discovery was unclear, series producer Alex Kurtzman finally confirmed that rumored development at Saturday’s New York Comic Con event.
When asked by ComicBook.com if the USS Discovery‘s experimental spore drive engines could lead to stories about “classic Star Trek plots” like time travel or alternate universes, Kurtzman both referenced and confirmed Frakes’ earlier statements:
Well, it sort of leaked that we are gonna be en… doing some episodes about the Mirror Universe, yes. We will absolutely be paying homage to the original.
This development is one that is certain to be controversial to some fans, with our known first Starfleet contact with the alternate universe set in TOS’s “Mirror, Mirror,” referenced specifically as “the first crossover” in DS9’s “Crossover.”
Viewers of Star Trek: Enterprise, however, will remember the 2005 two-parter “In a Mirror, Darkly” took place entirely within the confines of the Mirror Universe without any contact with the Federation.
That being said, Lorca and the Discovery already have some secrets on board thought not known until the classic Trek days, so it’s possible contact with the Mirror Universe may be added to that collection.
Jason Isaacs photographed for ‘Variety’ magazine in August on the Discovery bridge set.
LEFT: Plaque from “Butcher’s Knife”; RIGHT: The plaque from the ‘Variety’ shoot.
With a different insignia, upper-section text, and “ISS” designation, it certainly appears to be from the dark side of the galaxy, following in the naming scheme for Terran Empire starships first used in “Mirror, Mirror.”
We’ll have to wait and see to what extent the Mirror Universe plays a role in the rest of Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season.
As her first real meaty assignment aboard the Discovery, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is tasked by Capt. Lorca (Jason Isaacs) with studying the tardigrade creature found aboard the USS Glenn — which Landry nicknames ‘Ripper’ — to determine how its power and composition can be best weaponized for the war effort.
Burnham learns the creature isn’t simply a vicious monster but the key to getting Lorca and Stamets’ (Anthony Rapp) spore-based drive system to work. In the meantime, Voq (Javid Iqbal) and L’Rell (Mary Chieffo), whose ship and crew have been stranded for six months with fading power and depleted food following “Battle at the Binary Stars,” beam aboard the abandoned USS Shenzhou to retrieve its dilithium chamber in hopes of using it to get T’Kuvma’s ghost ship up and running again.
Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) on the USS Discovery bridge. (CBS)
“Butcher’s Knife” finds Star Trek: Discovery committing its first fumble after three promising introductory episodes. To its credit, the episode — with its alien monster mystery, colony in distress jeopardy plot, and final-act deux ex machina that wraps the story up nicely in time for next week’s episode — feels like a true Star Trek story in the traditional, episodic sense.
Burnham’s ability to connect the dots and determine that the creature is the needed ‘supercomputer’ that solves the problems with the new drive system (and also solves some of the lingering mysteries from the Glenn) is an inspired Trekkian revelation. Even Burnham’s apparent empathy for the exploited tardigrade toward the episode’s end fits nicely in the Trek playbook.
Where the episode stumbles, however, it stumbles pretty hard. Some of the decisions make absolutely no sense; chief among them is having security chief Ellen Landry (Rekha Sharma) killed by Ripper in an insipid scene where she frees the creature in order to, as she puts it, “lop off its claws” to find out why it’s so good at killing Klingons.
Commander Landry (Rekha Sharma) studies tardigrade with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). (CBS)
I’m not going to say that Landry was the most relatable of characters, but she was set up as an interesting pebble in Burnham’s shoe and a possible ongoing obstacle along Burnham’s path toward assimilation aboard ship, and her obvious devotion to Lorca could have made her an interesting foil down the line — butoffing her in this way so early was just ridiculous. (And does anyone else find it somewhat problematic to confine and then free a powerful creature in a room full of precious weapons and artifacts when there’s a chance he could damage them?)
This week’s plot concerns Corvan 2, a mining colony under attack by the Klingons. The attack provides urgency to get the new transport experiment resolved so that Discovery can fly over to the planet and rescue the inhabitants — and after a false start almost flinging the Crossfield-class ship into a star — Lorca and the Ripper-helmed ship zips over to the colony in a wild visual effect and after destroying the Klingon forces… Discovery zaps away.
We know Lorca is a hardened, battle-worn leader, but not rendering medical aid to a colony that had been under attack for a long span of time, and with confirmed causalities, seems almost criminally negligent.
Saru and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) enter the Discovery bridge. (CBS)
I’m starting to get a little worried about Saru’s character at this point, and I’m hoping he gets more to do than just show up and remind Burnham of her mutiny aboard the Shenzhou. The show also needs to resolve some questions regarding his relationship with Lorca, a captain who seems to have no thoughts leaving his first officer out of the loop on such a bombshell decision like recruiting Burnham to the war effort.
In “Context is for Kings,” he tells Burnham when he first sees her aboard Discovery that he will do everything he can to protect his new captain. Yet, in “Butcher’s Knife,” he seems almost conflicted about Lorca when he dismissively tells Burnham that her insincerity will ensure she will fit in nicely with Lorca and the crew.
The continuing butting-of-heads between Stamets and Lorca over the efficacy and use of the spore drive remains a satisfying and credible element of character conflict in this new Trek series. Purist fans may wince at the element of blatant conflict within the ranks, but in this context of war, it works.
Lorca may not seem like the type of person who tolerates defiance or insubordination, but he knows he needs Stamets, and Stamets knows this too, at least for now. Could Lorca be grooming Burnham as Stamets’ successor?
Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp). (CBS)
With the Klingons being such a crucial element of the story arc in Discovery, it’s painful to have to admit that Voq’s B-plot feels distracting here. The heavy prosthetic makeup isn’t doing the actors many favors, making it difficult to tell if they’re even able to emote through the thick appliances, and the constant use of subtitles — no doubt maintained for authenticity — stands in the way of maintaining viewer investment.
The addition of Kol (Kenneth Mitchell) to the ongoing Klingon storyline adds a little dimension to what has been to this point a series of long scenes of Klingons growling at each other, and L’Rell’s ploy to play on both sides of the fence has potential, but for now it’s still a bit of a chore to get through that half of the plot.
A compelling takeaway from the Klingon element of the episode is L’Rell’s recognition that the survival of the stranded crew will require incorporation of Federation technology, something Voq is reluctant to do at first — though it’s certainly curious that Starfleet left the Shenzhou floating about the binary system with functional Federation technology intact.
L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) aboard the frozen, abandoned Shenzhou. (CBS)
One has to wonder if the writers were suggesting that survival, in the broader sense, will rest on the ability of the two cultures to integrate and co-exist… something we know will ultimately happen with the Klingons and Federation.
With L’Rell’s ominous warning that Voq must sacrifice “everything” to follow her guidance to the matriarchs of Mo’Kai, hopefully this side of the tale will pick up some steam soon.
Star Trek: Discovery returns this Sunday with episode five: “Choose Your Pain.” Watch for our ongoing Canon Connections series to continue later this week as we look for the ties to Trek‘s past in this most recent episode!
Rob Heyman is a freelance journalist and entertainment critic. He is a regular contributor to both TrekCore and The Logbook, where he has written episode reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, and the Star Trek movies.
TrekCore is hosting a new Star Trek Online contest to celebrate the recent release of Season 14 — Emergence — with a chance for five lucky winners to receive a Tzenkethi Shuk Din Escort!
Our STO Tzenkethi Shuk Din Escort Giveway is over. The winners have been notified by email.
The Tzenkethi Shuk Din Escort is an extremely rare and powerful ship. As expected with Tzenkethi design, this ship (T6) is highly maneuverable, with immense shielding capabilities for its size.
It comes equipped with the latest in Tzenkethi shield technology, which allows the starship to massively increase defensive capabilities along all non-Forward shield facings. The forward array is tuned to offense, increasing the damage dealt by the ships’ weaponry against any foe within their forward-facing 90-degree arc.
In addition to the 5 Tzenkethi Shuk Din Escorts, 100 winners will receive an Accelerated Officer Training Pack. The Accelerated Officer Training Pack unlocks a retrofitted 23rd Century Constitution-class Cruiser (T1), a Large Experience Booster and free gear requisitions from Level 10 through 50 to keep captains and their starships up to date.
1 of 4
To enter the contest, just email us with your name by 11:59PM on October 24. We’ll then follow up with our selected winners on October 25 to receive the in-game redemption codes for each prize, with instructions how to add the ship to your Star Trek Online PC account.
First announced in late September, high-end uniform replica retailer ANOVOS showed off its early Star Trek: Discovery costume prototypes at New York Comic Con this past week.
While the command and science uniforms on display pretty well represent the Discovery uniforms worn on the series, a representative from the company told us that there is still a bit of tweaking to some of the materials and textures yet to be finalized before locking down the final product.
Unlike some early, unlicensed replicas which have already found their way to market, the ANOVOS uniforms feature raised delta shields in the side panels, manufactured in a way to be a close visual match to those worn by the on-screen Starfleet crew.
While the company is taking preorders for the new Discovery costumes now, no firm release date has been announced since the designs are still in development — though ANOVOS told us they are looking towards a Summer 2018 release.
* * *
In addition, ANOVOS also had their new “Shore Leave” Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform tunic on display; this is a one-piece, short-sleeved replica of the first-season TNG Starfleet uniform with colored piping across the shoulders and an embroidered Starfleet commbadge.
While the Command red version of the uniform shirt is currently available, ANOVOS has the Sciences teal and Operations gold editions available for preorder ahead of an anticipated late-2017 release.
Keep coming back to TrekCore for more Star Trek product news!
Hallmark continued to showcase its plans for 2018’s Star Trek Keepsake Ornaments at New York Comic Con this past weekend, following up on the previous reveals from earlier this year.
Their new NYCC reveal, expanding next year’s releases to a third entry, a Starfleet tricorder based upon Wah Chang’s classic Trek design.
It’s been a number of years since Hallmark released a TOS-era gadget ornament; the company previously put out a classic Trek communicator in 2008, and a Type I phaser in 2009.
Come back to TrekCore often; we’ll bring you more news on next year’s Hallmark offerings as it breaks!