8. Imzadi - Peter David (1992)
Even during the post-TV, pre-feature film lull of the 1970s, Paramount still required authors to stick to the basics. As such, not only is Imzadi considered to be both a classic and THE romantic epic, but it was through its inaugural exploration of previously untold, but highly pertinent, back story that it was able to achieve this. Audiences were introduced to Riker and Troi's on/off romance from the very beginning of The Next Generation when the pilot episode, Encounter At Farpoint, hinted at a previous relationship between the two. So important was it to their characters that it was still a major element of not just the final episode, All Good Things..., but also Star Trek Nemesis some 16 years later. But it was here, in the pages of Peter David's prose, that the story of their first meeting and initial courtship is told. Not only answering the many questions of many fans along the way, it does so with the express permission, and even blessing, of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself. Although he unfortunately died before being able to read Imzadi, it was obvious from the outset that this book was special, and received an honour that many Star Trek novels can only dream of. It was published in Hardback. In the following years the Stargazer and Terok Nor mini-series would be devoted to revealing backstory of TNG and DS9 characters respectively, but these wouldn't be released until after the TV series had finished airing. Imzadi not only set the trend, but bravely did so while the story it preceded was still being told.