If you grew up in the 70s, and were a Trek fan, you probably came across the Star Trek series of books by James Blish. Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto take a look at these books in this episode of 70s Trek.
James Blish
Award-winning science fiction author James Blish was approached by Bantam Books to write short adaptations of Star Trek scripts. He had never seen the show before, but felt that with the scripts he would be able to carry out the project.
What Blish didn’t know, however, is that he based his work on early draft versions of the scripts, not from the final shooting scripts. As a result, his stories often included elements that never made it to the screen. Having never watched the show, he often invented solutions to things that didn’t make sense to him.
Because of this, the James Blish books have a uniqueness to them. They are a fresh take on the episodes and often contain new information in the stories. It makes the adaptations more than just a rehash of the episodes.
He is credited for writing 11 books through 1975. But his wife Judith Lawrence actually began taking over the writing duties around Star Trek 7 when her husband could no longer work due to his cancer. In fact, Blish knew he was dying and pushed himself hard in 1975 to write as much as possible before the end came. He died later that year.
Judith finished the series, writing Star Trek 12 in 1977.
James Blish also wrote the first Star Trek novel for adults in 1970, Spock Must Die. It was a sequel to the episode Errand of Mercy. But more importantly, it marked the beginning of publishing original Star Trek novels that continues today.
Reaction to the Books
The twelve adaptations, Star Trek 1 through Star Trek 12, collectively sold over 4 million copies! They made more money for him than any other books he wrote during his life.
While the books were a money maker and helped keep Star Trek alive in the 1970s, the show’s creator was not a fan. Gene Roddenberry often remarked that something had to be done about, “the damn books!” Gene hated the inconsistencies between the on-air episodes and the adaptations and finally made a policy that only shooting scripts could be sent to Blish.
The Blish books proved that there was an audience for written Star Trek material, and that audience was large! They also proved that novelized Star Trek would sell and helped create the publishing franchise that continues today.
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