10 Essential Star Trek Books For Pre-Internet Trekkies
3. Imzadi
On many occasions Star Trek has punted into the future of its characters to offer up alternatives of where they all might end up. The most prominent onscreen would probably be All Good Things or DS9's The Visitor but in the world of the written word there is no better example than Peter David's 1992 tome, Imzadi.
Before TNG's legendary finale, David's novel was impossible to put down. Looking into the future of Picard's crew, Troi is dead and Riker is alone and troubled by his own past. We have Commodore Data now in command of the Enterprise-F and the first (non-canon) look into early years of Will and Deanna's relationship on Betazed.
Exceptionally paced and packing more emotional punch than a Betazed watching a rom-com, Imzadi offered new takes on established characters and pushed the walls of TNG even further. For note, the show was still in the midst of its fifth season when this was released with All Good Things not even a glimmer of a thought.
David was responsible for several of Star Trek's biggest novels in the 1990s also including the Borg conquering Vendetta, Q Squared and created the ongoing series New Frontier.