
In today’s episode, Kirk is wracked with guilt when he has to put an old friend down. But when Spock decides that giving his captain an opportunity to yap about his feelings will help him understand humanity better, he ends up getting an earful about a former boyfriend. Where did James “R.” Kirk come from? Do aunts and uncles make better parents? And what makes someone a “walking freezer unit”? All this and more in Republic, the book that has no time for people who can’t make the jump.


In today’s episode, we’ll have a double order of Starfleet Academy, hold the artwork. Six cadets start out hyperventilating over a broken group project, but they soon go on to bigger, better, and much more dangerous things. How high is the bar for a Trill’s first host? How many swirlies did Harry Kim get as a cadet? And how many progressive points do Star Trek‘s first openly gay characters earn it? All this and more in The Best and the Brightest, the book that plays fast and loose with the Vulcan names.
In today’s episode, when Geordi tags along to the asteroid belt with some upperclassmates, there’s a refreshing lack of locker-stuffing and wedgie-giving. But when he has a tough time understanding a spectral visitor’s point, it might mean getting sifted out by the Academy’s plebe filter. Is the specter a prank? Who would you name an asteroid after? And can Geordi’s VISOR get smudged? All this and more in The Haunted Starship, the book that overestimates the thrill of the word “outstanding”.