In a new novel that came out at the end of July - The Enterprise War - author John Jackson Miller explores where Captain Pike and the Enterprise were during season one of Star Trek: Discovery. More precisely - he explores what the ship and its crew was doing while the rest of the Federation was fighting the Klingon War. In a new interview with the website DynamicForces.com, Miller discusses how the story of the novel fits with Discovery canon, and “bridging the gap” between “The Cage” and the modern Star Trek era.

In The Enterprise War, while the Klingon War rages in the Beta Quadrant, Enterprise has been tasked with exploring the hellish nebula called the Pergamum. Pike and the crew happen upon their own strife there, which will test not only their mettle as a crew, but also as individuals. In addition to Pike, Spock, Number One and some other Enterprise crew members from Discovery make an appearance in the novel. But how do our characters fit in to what we already know from The Original Series, and later, from Discovery?

Miller says he was aiming to “bridge the gap”. He said, “One of my goals — as I recently told Anson Mount — was to bridge the gap between what Jeffrey Hunter was playing and Mount’s interpretation of Pike. Pike in ‘The Cage’ was about to hang it all up after a handful of casualties; with Enterprise War, I wanted to give him a much greater loss to worry about. We’ll see how he bounces back.”

Miller also described Spock’s character: “Spock still isn’t the Spock we see later on; he’s very reserved, very protective of himself. He and Pike aren’t yet as friendly as they would be later on, either. But the novel is aware of that, and we see their relationship evolving as it goes along.”

Despite the familiar characters, though, Miller said that reading The Enterprise War won’t be one big spoiler. “I worked with Kirsten Beyer, one of the writers on the series,” he said, “to develop a story that tied in with what would be happening in season two; a number of the moments you see in flashback or hear mentioned in that season, you actually see in the book. That said, since it takes place during season one in a place far away from its action, you don’t have to know anything about what happened in the show. It’s thus a very safe book to read in terms of Discovery spoilers.”

The solicit for the novel reads: “Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another—with not just the Enterprise but her crew as the spoils of war.

“Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew—all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test…with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome….”

This article was written for the podcast Daily Star Trek News.

Alison Pitt is the writer, producer, and host of Daily Star Trek News, on the Roddenberry Podcast Network. A veteran Star Trek podcaster, she started her career on the weekly show Priority One: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast in 2015. She has appeared on panels at Star Trek Las Vegas, WonderCon, and San Diego Comic Con.