Alan Dean Foster: The Unsettling Stars. The J.J. Abrams film Star Trek was released over a decade ago now, and as expected, novels featuring the new "Kelvin Timeline" crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise were solicited. Four novels were originally scheduled, but none of them were released... until now! Newly-minted Captain James T. Kirk leads the Enterprise on a rescue mission to save a ship of refugees. Settling them on a nearby planet, all seems well. However, the refugees and their new neighbors are soon at odds for what seems to be the strangest of reasons.

In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson & Dan Gunther welcome legendary author Alan Dean Foster to the show to discuss his new novel, The Unsettling Stars. We talk about the long path to publication for this novel, the experience of writing the alternate Trek characters, the two major alien races in the novel, the unique problem presented by the Perenoreans, Alan Dean Foster's contributions to the legacy of Star Trek, and wrap up with what he is working on now and where he can be found online.

At the top of the show, we report on the newly-released cover for the newest Star Trek Little Golden Book. We also review a DS9 comic, "The Rules of Diplomacy," written by Aron Eisenberg, Nog himself! And finally, we discuss listener feedback from The Babel Conference for Literary Treks 301: Sing a Song of Sixpence. News Star Trek Alphabet Book Cover (00:03:23) DS9: The Rules of Diplomacy Comic Review (00:06:04) Listener Feedback (00:15:32)

Feature: Alan Dean Foster Kicking Off the Kelvin Timeline (00:18:56) Writing the Alternate Characters (00:24:14) The Perenoreans and the SiBor (00:30:36) Being Too Helpful (00:36:25) No Flaws, Then No Drama (00:39:19) Making People Think (00:44:09) Identifying With Aliens (00:47:22) Contributions to Star Trek (00:51:45) More From Alan (01:00:09) Final Thoughts (01:03:08)

Hosts Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson

Guest Alan Dean Foster

Production Bruce Gibson (Editor and Producer) Dan Gunther (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Associate Producer) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate Producer) Jeffery Harlan (Associate Producer) Casey Pettitt (Associate Producer)