Bantam began publishing Star Trek books in 1967 with the first James Blish episode adaptation, today known as Star Trek 1. Of course, the Blish books were a huge success in the 1970s.
After Star Trek the Animated Series left the air, Bantam began publishing the Star Trek Log series written by Alan Dean Foster. These were episode adaptations of the Saturday morning show.
But writing and publishing original stories on a regular basis hadn’t begun yet. Prior to 1976, there had only been one original Star Trek novel. That was Spock Must Die! by James Blish released in 1970.
It’s hard to imagine today, but there was a time when book publishers were not sure that Star Trek fiction would sell. It had been six years since the release of Spock Must Die! but the editors at Bantam saw the growing Trek phenomenon in the 1970s and editor Fred Pohl decided to take a chance at original Star Trek fiction.
Their first attempt could be compared to just sticking a toe in the water to see how fiction would be received by fans. Bantam decided to publish several short stories or novellas in an anthology. What made Strange New Worlds so unique is that the stories were written by fans. It is possibly the first time that fan fiction was ever professionally published.
The editors wanted to make this collection even more special, though. So they invited Gene Roddenberry to contribute a foreword and also asked each cast member to write an introduction to one of the stories. It is the only time the actors were involved with the novels in this way.
Strange New Worlds was a success and it emboldened Pohl to authorize professionally written fiction. The result was 12 original novels and one more anthology released between 1976 and 1981. Those books are:
In 1979, Paramount decided to not to renew with Bantam and awarded Pocket Books with its publishing license. In fact, the novelization for Star Trek The Motion Picture was released in 1979 by Pocket Books, even though Bantam would continue to publish novels under its contract through 1981.
Bantam’s last Star Trek book, Death's Angel, was published in April 1981. Pocket Books released its first novel in its new Star Trek line, The Entropy Effect, just two months later.
The Bantam novels were significant to the Star Trek franchise because they were the first real attempt at publishing professional fiction. The 12 novels proved that their was an audience hungry for Trek stories and that they would buy!
They are also responsible for lighting the fuse that lead to the explosion in content in the 1980s, '90s, 2000s and beyond!
The gamble that Bantam made in 1976 paid off!
