70s Trek: Star Trek In The 1970s

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. Bantam Takes a Chance 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. Strange New Worlds Their first attempt could be compared to just sticking a toe in the water to