The Lower Decks: a novel approach

compiled by Ian McLean

This is my attempt at an appearance chart for the so-called "lower decks" Star Trek: The Original Series novel trilogies that Pocket Books experimented with in 2002, in hope of "rebooting" the novel series. Pocket's initial plan was to revisit the original series (TOS) episodes through the eyes of "lower deck" crew, but the books have been absorbed back into the usual run of TOS fiction because the resulting stories turned out to be not all that different in style to the regular line.

My aim is to provide a linear guide for fans wishing to track recurring "lower deck" crewmembers through story arcs in these publications. Episode order is as per the 2006 version of the Pocket Books' timeline. That is, TOS episodes are listed in production order (TOS episodes were not originally screened in anything like the order they were produced) and TAS in the order those episodes appear in Alan Dean Foster's "Star Trek Log" adaptations (Ballantine Books).

Additions to the canonical TOS episodes' crewmember names and titles are shown in bold where first mentioned in novels. Numerals in parentheses track the cumulative appearances of characters in aired episodes. Sometimes certain characters appeared in TOS episodes without lines or an end credit. Question marks show where a particular actor cannot be confirmed if playing a new or familiar role, or if a novel only suggests the identity of a lower deck crewmember. Pavel Andreievich Chekov is treated as a lower decks character for Season One of TOS, and has either left the ship or returned to the lower decks during TAS. The final column is not meant to be exhaustive, but is an attempt to track other appearances of TOS characters in other Pocket novels and stories.

The key to the six 2002 books was that they entwined the aired episodes and featured an ensemble cast of familiar faces: the "lower deck" characters, red-shirts, semi-regulars and guest star crewmembers of TOS. As I suspected (and as was mentioned in "Voyages of the Imagination" by Jeff Ayres, 2006), the novel trilogies were inspired by a previous trilogy, "My Brother's Keeper" (1999) by Michael Jan Friedman. That trilogy has also been added to the matrix. The chart is also current for: The Janus Gate, a trilogy by LA Graf; the Errand of Vengeance trilogy by Kevin Ryan; and two instalments of Ryan's sequel trilogy, Errand of Fury: Seeds of Rage and Demands of Honor. (The third volume is due in 2008.)

I have now added original characters used by Alan Dean Foster in his "Star Trek Log" adaptations of the animated series (TAS) and, just for fun, I'm tracking characters in David R George III's new "Crucible" trilogy, which commenced in 2006 and celebrate the 40th anniversary of TOS. Book 1 is "McCoy: Provenance of Shadows", Book 2 is "Spock: The Fire and the Rose" and Book 3 is "Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering" - Ian.

Click for Appearance chart with spoilers (pink background) or No spoilers (yellow background).

Toon Trek: References to Filmation's Star Trek: The Animated Series in latter day tie-ins

Author annotations to Aftermath (SCE/CoE)
Author annotations to Articles of the Federation (TNG movie era)
Author annotations to The Buried Age (Lost Era)
Author annotations to Constellations (TOS anthology)
Author annotations to Ex Machina (Post-TMP)
Author annotations to The Future Begins (SCE/CoE)
Author annotations to Harbinger (Vanguard)
Author annotations to In the Name of Honor (Post-ST V)
Author annotations to Many Splendors (SCE/CoE)
Author annotations to Mere Anarchy, Part 1: Things Fall Apart (Pre-"Where No Man...")
Author annotations to Mere Anarchy, Part 4: The Darkness Drops Again (Post-TMP)
Author annotations to Orion's Hounds (Titan)
Author annotations to Places of Exile (Myriad Universes: VOY)
Author annotations to Rogue (Section 31, TNG)
Author annotations to Summon the Thunder (Vanguard)
Author annotations to Sword of Damocles (Titan)
Author annotations to A Time for War, A Time for Peace (TNG movie era)
Author annotations to Warpath (DS9 post-series)

Single short stories:
Author annotations to "The Aliens Are Coming!" - SNW III anthology (TOS)
Author annotations to "Almost... But Not Quite" - SNW II anthology (TNG movie era)
Author annotations to "Brief Candle" - Distant Shores anthology (VOY)
Author annotations to "Friends With the Sparrows" - The Sky's the Limit anthology (TNG)
Author annotations to "The Immortality Blues" - SNW 9 anthology (pre-TOS)
Author annotations to "... Loved I Not Honor More" - Prophecy and Change anthology (DS9)
Author annotations to "So a Horse Walks into a Bar..." - SNW 10 anthology (DS9)

A Rogues' Gallery of Andorians

A Summary of the Physiological Roots of Andorian Culture

Races of the United Federation of Planets

The Andor Files
The Andor Files

This page revised January 2009
URL: http://www.oocities.org/therinofandor/index.html
Email Therin and Ian at: lindsay96@ozemail.com.au