Star Trek: Stargazer

A series of novels in the Star Trek Expanded Universe, connected to the mainstream modern continuity of the Star Trek Novel Verse through Broad Strokes. The series features Captain Picard's first command, the U.S.S Stargazer, and his early years as a command officer. There are six books in the series proper:


 * Gauntlet
 * Progenitor
 * Three
 * Oblivion
 * Enigma
 * Maker

Other novels to feature the characters and setting of the Stargazer include:


 * Reunion (their first appearance)
 * The Valiant (essentially a "pilot" leading into the series proper)
 * The First Virtue

Three short stories have been published which involve Stargazer characters:


 * What Dreams May Come from the anthology Tales of the Dominion War (2004)
 * Darkness from the anthology Tales from the Captain's Table (2005)
 * The Traitor from the anthology Shards and Shadows (2009)

This series contains examples of:

 * A God Am I: Brakmaktin.
 * Actually, I Am Him: Admiral McAteer is strolling the Starfleet Academy grounds, and starts thinking about Boothby, whom he admires. At least, he's heard good things about the man. He encounters an elderly groundskeeper whose general attitude annoys him (and who has the gall to tell him off). Eventually, he demands the groundskeeper's name. Upon being told he's talking to Boothby, McAteer walks off spluttering.
 * Alternate Universe: In Three.
 * And I Must Scream: Picard's torture by Brakmaktin in Maker.
 * Berserk Button: In Binderian culture, the society in which Obal originates, an assault upon a friend who comes to your aid cannot be tolerated. A Binderian responds with immediate - and highly uncharacteristic - violence if their supporter is threatened.
 * Bothering by the Book: Elizabeth Wu is the living personification of the trope, stalking the halls of the Stargazer. She gets better later on, though.
 * Broad Strokes: The relationship of this series to the modern continuity. Events, characters and locations from Star Trek: Stargazer are frequently mentioned or featured elsewhere, but not every little detail adds up.
 * Cross-Cultural Handshake: The Gnalish greet others with a ritualistic movement of the hands; extending them outward, palms down.
 * Death Seeker: Nol Kastiigan. It's actually played for laughs; Kastiigan is eager to be placed in peril, so as to just maybe die heroically and earn his family honor. He's not psychologically ill, it's just Blue and Orange Morality. Kandilkari culture holds that a heroic death is to be sought out at all costs. He has a habit of sidling up to Captain Picard or another command officer in times of danger, hinting that if a single crewman is needed for a perilous solo mission...well, he's your man. He's usually told, "no thank you, back to work". Unfortunately for Kastiigan, he's a science officer, so his talents simply aren't what's usually called for in such missions.
 * Doomed by Canon: The Ubarrak Primacy may be a powerful rival to the Federation and Cardassians here (at least in one particular sector) but their lack of appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine means they can't actually become the major power they're aiming to be.
 * Enemy Mine: Commander Dojjaron of the Nuyyad teams up with the Stargazer crew to take down Brakmaktin.
 * Fantastic Caste System: The Balduk, with their High Order, Middle Order and Low Order militaries. Also the Pandrilites, whose elevated and lower castes are supposedly now united by their adherence to the Three Virtues. Pandrilite protagonist Vigo has come to question this, though; an old mentor became involved with a radical sect insisting oppression of the lower castes is ongoing, and Vigo's faith in his people was shaken. Vigo takes a leave of absence in the final book so that he can return to Pandril and find out of his mentor was right, thinking that if so, a famous upper-caste member like himself would be harder for the government to ignore.
 * Heel Face Turn: Played with twice. In Enigma, Obstructive Bureaucrat Admiral McAteer seems to defrost into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. After a dangerous mission alongside Commander Gilaad ben Zoma, he appears to make a peace offering and reveal a more understanding side to his character. However, it transpires he was merely trying to manipulate ben Zoma. In Maker, murderous super-powered alien Brakmaktin also appears to be reconsidering his former conduct and having an epiphany. It turns out it was just him screwing with his captive. He's a jerk, is Brakmaktin.
 * Interspecies Romance: A truly odd example with Cole Paris and Jiterica, a non-Humanoid being whose natural form is essentially a cloud of mist.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Phigus Simenon.
 * Lizard Folk: The Gnalish, who are members of the United Federation of Planets, and represented in the main cast by Phigus Simenon. They are split between three subspecies; one is strong and powerful, the second swift and lithe, the third particularly smart. Simenon is of the third group.
 * Martyrdom Culture: Nol Kastiigan's culture, the Kandilkari. Dying heroically is their greatest purpose, apparently.
 * Mind Rape: Brakmaktin pulls off a few in Maker.
 * Misaimed Fandom: Admiral McAteer's total Jerkass status is confirmed when he watches Macbeth and starts wondering what William Shakespeare had against people with ambition.
 * New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: The series has a habit of inventing new, supposedly powerful spacefaring cultures that are rarely if ever mentioned in other Trek novels. The Ubarrak Primacy is the most prominant of these; apparently a major local power, it's only been mentioned (offhand) in one non-Stargazer novel. Then there's the Nuyyad, the Aristaani...at least the Balduk were canonically established. The Nuyyad at least have the excuse of living on the other side of the Galactic Barrier.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: Admiral McAteer.
 * Proud Warrior Race: The Daa’Vit. Bonus points for their ongoing Blood Feud with Trek’s most famous Proud Warrior Race, the Klingons.
 * Raised by Natives: After their parent's death, the Asmund sisters were raised by Klingons.
 * Red Herring: The reader is obviously supposed to think the female bartender that Picard meets on Oblivion is Guinan. Nope, she's just a random bartender. Guinan is an unemployed drifter at this time.
 * Scary Dogmatic Aliens: The Balduk, the Ubarrak, the Nuyyad...the series likes this one. Of course, there are far more aliens who aren't of the "scary dogmatic" type, but most of the villains seem to fit the trope.
 * Space Station: Oblivion, or rather Obl'viaan in the original Ubarrak. It's an enormous construction in orbit of a lifeless planet, consisting of hundreds (if not thousands) of ships and stations welded together. In fact, it's not so much a space station as a space city. It is definitely of a Wretched Hive variety. It's also the place where Picard first meets Guinan, although she's a little upset he doesn't know who she is.
 * Starfish Aliens: Nizhrak'a. Native to a gas giant, they are basically sapient clouds of mist. In their usual state, they can grow to the size of a starship. Their representative in Starfleet, Jiterica, compresses herself down to humanoid size, and squeezes into an environmental suit. It's rather uncomfortable.
 * Stock Ness Monster: Apparently, the trope isn't just confined to Earth. The Kandilkari have "The Lake Dweller That Roars", though it's unclear as to whether it's real or not. Nol Kastiigan seems to think so, but it's not certain.
 * Twin Threesome Fantasy: The Asmund twins were raised by Klingons and are not very familiar with human sexuality. One of the sisters notices a crewman ogling them and asks her sister why he's doing that. The sister, being a little more versed in the subject, explains that he's probably imagining what it'd be like to sleep with both of them. The first sister is confused, as Klingon sex is extremely violent, and a threesome would be deadly. Also, she thinks that the man should want to have sex with two women who look different, for a little variety.
 * Water Source Tampering: In The First Virtue, a fanatical Cordracite poisons her city's water supply in order to escalate a conflict with another race, assuming they'll be blamed.
 * We Will Not Use Stage Make-Up in the Future: Averted. Guinan disguises herself and Picard as Cataxxans by shaving their scalps and dying their skin purple.
 * You Have Failed Me: The Cardassians apparently have a saying; "Those who fail the Union are not demoted; they are eliminated".