On May 24, 2025, author Peter David passed away after a long series of health maladies. He was 68. David was best known to Trekkies as the writer of the best “Star Trek” tie-in novels, usually bringing a whimsical sense of humor and a lot of larger, headier concepts into his books. David penned the well-known “Star Trek: The Next Generation” novels “Imzadi,” “Vendetta,” and “Double Helix: Double or Nothing,” along with the Q-related books “Q-Squared,” “Q-In-Law,” and “I, Q,” which he penned with actor John de Lancie. He also wrote the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” novels “The Siege” and “Wrath of the Prophets,” and three spinoffs of the original series called “The Rift,” “The Disinherited,” and “The Captain’s Daughter.”
Most notably, David created his own “Star Trek” spinoff series in the form of “Star Trek: New Frontier.” David assembled multiple supporting characters from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (including Commander Shelby, Dr. Selar, and Robin Lefler) and put them on a new Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Excalibur alongside multiple new, original characters, including Captain MacKenzie Calhoun, a member of the Xanexian species. From 1997 to 2015, David authored 21 “New Frontier” novels. Trek novels are not canonical (as has been mandated by Paramount), but many Trekkies consider the “New Frontier” series to be at least as worthy of consideration as some of the “Star Trek” TV shows.
David also wrote many “Star Trek” comic books and even co-authored “Beam Me Up, Scotty,” James Doohan’s autobiography. And that’s just his work with “Star Trek.” David has written 13 movie novelizations (mostly for high-profile superhero movies), “Babylon 5” tie-ins, and other I.P.-related works besides, including books based on “Fantastic Four,” “Alien Nation,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Halo,” and “Dinotopia.” As for original works, he invented the character of Psi-Man, wrote the Photon novels, and invented the comedic knight Sir Apropos of Nothing. The world lost a great talent.
Oh yes, and we still have to explore his career writing comic books, and the sad circumstances of his death, which involved a struggle against the American medical industry.