Star Trek: Stargazer is a series of Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s written by Michael Jan Friedman

Michael Jan Friedman

Michael Jan Friedman is an author of nearly sixty books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Ten of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list...

. The novels are about the adventures of the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893), which was Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...

's first command.

While not official canon

Canon (fiction)

In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...

, these stories can be viewed as a prequel

Prequel

A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

 to the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

.

Characters

Many of the characters originally appeared in Friedman's 1992 novel Reunion (ISBN 0-671-78755-1).

Main characters in the Stargazer crew include:

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard
  Jean-Luc Picard
  Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
  
  , captain of the Stargazer
• Lieutenant Commander Gilaad Ben Zoma, first officer
• Lieutenant Commander Jack Crusher, second officer (until his death)
• Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Wu, second officer
• Lieutenant Gerda Asmund, navigator
• Lieutenant Idun Asmund, helm officer
• Lieutenant Nol Kastiigan, science officer. He is a Kandilkari and was assigned to the Stargazer to replace the previous chief science officer, Juanita Valderrama, who had been dismissed because of unethical behaviour.
• Ensign Cole Paris, helm officer. Assigned onboard the Stargazer after Ensign Joe Caber was dismissed, and replaced Caber as Ensign Andreas Nikolas's roommate.
• Dikembe Ulelo, communications officer. Replaced by an alien shapeshifter who spied on the activities of USS Stargazer. The alien was discovered and Ulelo found and reunited with the crew.
• Lieutenant Vigo, chief weapons officer
• Lieutenant Phigus Simenon, chief engineer. The crew assisted Simenon with his mating ritual on his home planet.
• Lieutenant Bill Refsland, transporter operator
• Lieutenant Peter Joseph, security chief
• Lieutenant Obal, security guard
• Ensign Andreas Nikolas, security guard. He is somewhat laid-back and not too devoted to his job. He has a way of arriving at assignments and meetings at the last minute, which has earned him the nickname "Nik of time".
• Crewperson Emily Bender, science officer
• Ensign Jiterica, science officer. Jiterica's natural form is a cloud of mist, and she has to constantly wear a heavy, awkward containment suit to facilitate interaction with the Stargazer and fellow crewmembers. Even the face shown in the suit's helmet and her voice are artificial, generated by a portable computer.
• Carter Greyhorse, chief medical officer

Books

The books currently available include:

• The Valiant: Actually three books in one volume. Books One and Three: The S.S. Valiant unsuccessfully attempts to cross the galactic barrier, necessitating the destruction of the ship by Captain Carlos Tarasco. The survivors develop telekinetic and telepathic powers, landing on the planet Magnia. Book Two: Lured across the galactic barrier to investigate Magnia and the Nuyyad, Picard must take command of the Stargazer when its original captain, Daithan Ruhalter, is killed in battle.
• Gauntlet: The Stargazer is ordered to track down and arrest a pirate called the White Wolf.
• Progenitor: The Stargazer’s chief engineer, Phigus Simenon, wants to go on his homeworld to participate in a ritual contest to earn the right to mate. Picard and his crew accompany him.
• Three: A mysterious clone of one of the Stargazer's crewpersons turns up.
• Oblivion: Picard meets Guinan for the first time, and he must beat the Cardassians to reach an alien with vital information.
• Enigma: A mysterious alien ship is attacking Starfleet vessels, one by one. Picard's first officer Gilaad Ben Zoma, and his superior, Admiral Arlen McAteer are kidnapped.
• Maker: A mysterious alien hijacks the freighter Ikton'ji, planning to start a war with the Ubarrak. To prevent the war, Picard must team up with a woman who betrayed him in the past.