2022 ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Novel Could Bridge The Gap Between Seasons 1 And 2

Paramount+ has promised the second season of Star Trek: Picard will arrive in 2022, and fans are still mulling over the time-twisting teaser trailer released In June. Some clues as to where things are headed may arrive in a newly announced Picard tie-in novel set to arrive in early 2022. We have details on that, plus an update on what’s coming for Star Trek fiction in 2021.

Star Trek: Picard: Second Self to follow Raffi after season one

Simon & Schuster has announced a new “thrilling untold adventure” tied to Star Trek: Picard. And unlike the three tie-ins that precede it, this new novel – titled Second Self – will be set after the events of the first season of the show, and (presumably) before the events of season two. Penned by author Una McCormack (who wrote the well-received first Picard tie-in, The Last Best Hope) this new novel will focus on the character of Raffi.

Here is the official description from the publisher:

Following the explosive events seen in season one of Star Trek: Picard, Raffi Musiker finds herself torn between returning to her old life as a Starfleet Intelligence officer or something a little more tame—teaching at the Academy, perhaps. The decision is made for her though when a message from an old contact—a Romulan spy—is received, asking for immediate aid. With the help of Cristobal Rios and Dr. Agnes Jurati, and assistance from Jean-Luc Picard, Raffi decides to take on this critical mission—and quickly learns that past sins never stay buried. Finding the truth will be complicated, and deadly….

The description indicates that following the events of season one, Raffi may be ready to return from her sort of exile and rejoin Starfleet. This could be something picked up in season two of Picard. And it looks like the book could give us an update on what the other Picard characters are up to, and possibly more on the aftermath from the season one finale.

There is no cover for the book yet, but it is set to be released on April 26, 2022. While not definitive, that could be around the time season two arrives. You can pre-order Second Self now at Amazon in hardcover or Kindle eBook.

Michelle Hurd as Raffi

More Star Trek novels for this year

Fans will have to wait until next year for Second Self, but there is a lot of Star Trek reading arriving in 2021 from Simon & Schuster. This includes a Picard tie-in, the introduction of two new authors, and the big “Coda” trilogy, wrapping up the post-TNG-era “litverse” series.

Out now – TOS (movie era): Living Memory – by Christopher L. Bennett

While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space. Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past—one that she no longer remembers….

[Available now on paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

July 13 – TNG: Shadows Have Offended by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The USS Enterprise has been granted the simple but unavoidable honor of ferrying key guests to Betazed for a cultural ceremony. En route, sudden tragedy strikes a Federation science station on the isolated planet Kota, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has no qualms sending William Riker, Data, and Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher to investigate. But what begins as routine assignments for the two parties soon descends into chaos: Picard, Worf, and Deanna Troi must grapple with a dangerous diplomatic crisis as historic artifacts are stolen in the middle of a high-profile ceremony…while nothing is as it seems on Kota. A mounting medical emergency coupled with the science station’s failing technology—and no hope of rescue—has Doctor Crusher racing against time to solve a disturbing mystery threatening the lives of all her colleagues….

[Pre-order Paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

August 17 – Picard: Rogue Elements by John Jackson Miller

Starfleet was everything for Cristóbal Rios—until one horrible, inexplicable day when it all went wrong. Aimless and adrift, he grasps at a chance for a future as an independent freighter captain in an area betrayed by the Federation, the border region with the former Romulan Empire. His greatest desire: to be left alone.

But solitude isn’t in the cards for the captain of La Sirena, who falls into debt to a roving gang of hoodlums from a planet whose society is based on Prohibition-era Earth. Teamed against his will with Ledger, his conniving overseer, Rios begins an odyssey that brings him into conflict with outlaws and fortune seekers, with power brokers and relic hunters across the stars.

Exotic loves and locales await—as well as dangers galore—and Rios learns the hard way that good crewmembers are hard to find, even when you can create your own. And while his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard is years away, Rios finds himself drawing on the Starfleet legend’s experiences when he discovers a mystery that began on one of the galaxy’s most important days…

[Pre-order Hardcover, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

September 28 – Coda Book 1: Moments Asunder by Dayton Ward

The crews of Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker unite to prevent a cosmic-level apocalypse—only to find that some fates really are inevitable.

REALITY ITSELF IS UNDER ATTACK.

The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy begins when the unexpected arrival of an old friend triggers a desperate mission to avert a fast-spreading temporal disaster.

[Pre-order Paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

October 12  – Coda Book 2: The Ashes of Tomorrow by James Swallow

The crews of Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker unite to prevent a cosmic-level apocalypse—only to find that some fates really are inevitable.

THE FUTURE IS AT WAR WITH THE PAST.

The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy continues as friends become foes, the Temporal Apocalypse accelerates, and the catastrophe’s true cause is revealed.

[Pre-order Paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

November 30 – Coda Book 3: Oblivion’s Gate by David Mack

The crews of Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker unite to prevent a cosmic-level apocalypse—only to find that some fates really are inevitable.

THEIR MOST DAUNTING MISSION WILL BE THEIR FINEST HOUR.

The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy comes to a shattering conclusion as the Temporal Apocalypse forces Starfleet’s greatest heroes to make the greatest sacrifices of their lives.

[Pre-order Paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

December 21 – DS9: Revenant by Alex White

An all-new novel based on the landmark TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from the acclaimed author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe!

Jadzia Dax has been a friend to Etom Prit, the Trill Trade Commissioner, over two lifetimes. When Etom visits Deep Space Nine with the request to rein in his wayward granddaughter Nemi, Dax can hardly say no. It seems like an easy assignment: visit a resort casino while on shore leave, and then bring her old friend Nemi home. But upon arrival, Dax finds Nemi has changed over the years in terrifying ways…and the pursuit of the truth will plunge Dax headlong into a century’s worth of secrets and lies!

[Pre-order Paperback, eBook and Audiobook on Amazon]

 


Find more news and reviews of Star Trek books at TrekMovie.com.

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I was about to ask how the heck there could be a “novelverse” DS9 novel *after* the “Coda” trilogy. Derp, it’s about Jadzia — the answer’s obvious. LOL.

Looking forward to most of these, if not all. I can’t imagine “Coda” will be capable of satisfying every novelverse fan but I applaud the writers for trying. It’s great that this timeline gets to go out (sort of) on its own terms, unlike Star Wars Legends.

Really curious about “Second Self.” My one fear is that too much of what ought to get put on screen winds up in these pages instead. But that fear is as yet unwarranted. “The Last Best Hope” didn’t feel like it was cut out of the season one scripts or anything. In Uma We Trust.

Zero interest in a novel to be used as a way to show things not on screen.

Yet here you are commenting in a thread that’s exactly about that.

Nice attempt at a personal attack.

Guess I hit a nerve. How sad for you.
All you’re doing is proving my point.

Wait wait wait, what is a novel for if not to explain lore and things not seen on screen in a universe? one that just tells what we see on screen seems awfully redundant.

The writers room at CBS works closely with the tie in novelists. (Won’t drop names, sorry) I like how it fills in small details of the storylines. It’s good for universe building, especially now, seasons are only 10-12 episodes.

My issue with novels is just that… when is it canon and when isn’t it. Trek novels that aren’t endorsed as canon always seem wasted to me, personally, because once they aren’t canon, it “never actually happened” in the Trek universe.

Unless you want to make yourself feel better that the novel is occurring in one of the infinite parallel universes?

Actual Star Trek on-screen is fiction… but the novels are fiction of THAT fiction. So then the two cancel each other out and all that’s left is The Orville.

I am so excited for the Coda trilogy!!!!! And I just bought the TOS novel, Living Memory, and pre-ordered the TNG novel, Shadows Have Offended. I am excited to see a TNG novel set during the series. It’s the first one since 1997,I believe.
So this will be a nice change of pace for the TNG line. The Picard novel sounds very intriguing. I hope the gangsters that are mentioned are the Iotians and not just another alien culture that’s been influenced by Earth. The DS9: Revenant novel has me really excited too!
Not just because it’s set during the series but because that’s the crew I love on Deep Space Nine. In the most recent DS9 books, nobody’s there that I recognize from the show anymore, except for Quark. The station’s not even the same. They blew it up in a crossover!
So it’ll be nice to get a DS9 with some familiarity in it for once. Plus, there hasn’t been a regular DS9 novel set during the show since 2005(Hollow Men by Una McCormack)so we’re overdue for one. The Picard novel for Raffi sounds cool and I can’t wait for that to come. But that doesn’t come out until April 2022.
So I wonder what’s coming out in January, February, and March 2022 for the Star Trek book line? Also, I just wanted to say really quickly too that I think they dropped the ball on celebrating the 20th anniversary of Enterprise in the book line. I really thought it was going to be celebrated with a book or a comic book even. Now the 20th anniversary for it will come and go with nothing to show for it and that’s not right🖖.

Not a chance.

Star Treks extended universe seems to be alive and well. CBS has no fear of mutiple canons or timelines and continuities. Disney ended the Star Wars extended universe because they said managing two novel timelines was exhausting and confusing. Its Star Trek’s gain i can now enjoy Star Trek to my hearts content. I like Star Trek having a less narrow and broader view of canon the way Marvel comics or DC does. The people in charge have the intellect to know the difference between tie in fiction and the tv shows and movies. Not limiting themselves or boxing themselves into an all one canon nonsense.

Whatever happened to Jurati turning herself in and facing consequences for that pesky “offing Bruce Maddox” fiasco?

Wait and See.

It was nothing a nice weekend at one of those Federation penal colonies couldn’t fix right up.

Is “Living Memory” good??
Seems interesting with an exploration of the Reliant crew and Uhura…?
It’s crazy but the movie era still seems so unexplored!! Always expected some saga in how we go from Kirk Chief of Starfleet Operations with the Enterprise as flagship to him seemingly demoted to commandant of Starfleet Academy and the Enterprise as a training vessel. FASA used to hint at that.
Some like the Chronology describe a whole five year mission having taken place during that time!
I think Kirk as Chief of Starfleet Operations would have a story or two!
It’s always fun to know we can escape to these novels.

I wonder what the difference between “help” and “assistance” is? The former are with her, while Picard is mostly behind-the-scenes?

I wonder if the TOS novel ties into the next season of Discovery.

Wasn’t Raffi having some substance abuse issues? Nothing a couple days in rehab couldn’t take care of, I guess??

How is Dr. Jurati still not in prison?????