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Okay, let’s explore the bite-sized brilliance of Star Trek: Short Treks! These short films offer unique glimpses into the Star Trek universe, expanding on existing characters and introducing new ones. Choosing just ten is tough, as they vary in style and tone, but here’s my take on the Top 10 Star Trek: Short Treks:
Top 10 Star Trek: Short Treks
- “Calypso” (Season 2, Episode 2): This is arguably the best of the Short Treks, a beautiful and haunting story about a lone AI named Zora who falls in love with a human who stumbles upon the Discovery a thousand years in the future. It’s a poignant meditation on loneliness, connection, and the enduring power of hope. Aldis Hodge gives a fantastic performance. It also ties directly into the plot of Discovery season 2, and gives us a hint of where the ship will eventually end up in the far future.
- “The Trouble with Edward” (Season 2, Episode 1): A hilarious and darkly comedic look at the origins of the Tribbles’ rapid reproduction. H. Jon Benjamin steals the show as Edward Larkin, a deeply incompetent scientist whose experiments go horribly wrong. It’s a fun and irreverent take on a classic Star Trek element.
- “Q&A” (Season 2, Episode 4): This short features Spock’s first day on the Enterprise, where he’s trapped in a turbolift with Number One. It’s a charming and insightful look at the early relationship between these two iconic characters, with great performances from Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn. We also get a hint at the musical talent that Number One will eventually showcase in Strange New Worlds.
- “The Girl Who Made the Stars” (Season 1, Episode 4): A beautiful and inspiring story that Burnham tells to a young Tilly to comfort her during a crisis. It’s a visually stunning animation that explores themes of courage, hope, and the power of storytelling. It showcases Burnham’s ability to lead and inspire, and offers a message of hope during dark times.
- “Ephraim and Dot” (Season 2, Episode 3): A fast-paced and visually inventive animated short that follows a tardigrade and a repair drone through decades of Star Trek history, including moments from TOS and the first six Star Trek films. It’s a fun and nostalgic trip through the franchise, told from a unique perspective.
- “Ask Not” (Season 2, Episode 6): This short features Cadet Thira Sidhu facing a seemingly impossible test when Captain Pike is taken hostage. It’s a tense and suspenseful story that explores themes of duty, sacrifice, and the qualities of leadership. It’s a great showcase for the character of Pike, and sets up his relationship with Sidhu that will play out in Strange New Worlds season 2.
- “Children of Mars” (Season 2, Episode 8): This short provides a poignant and heartbreaking look at the attack on Mars that sets the stage for Star Trek: Picard. It’s a powerful story about the human cost of conflict, told from the perspective of two young girls on Mars. It does an excellent job of setting the stage for Picard, and showcasing just how devastating this attack was.
- “The Brightest Star” (Season 1, Episode 3): This short explores Saru’s backstory and his decision to leave his home planet and join Starfleet. It’s a beautiful and moving story about following your dreams and the importance of finding your place in the universe. It provides valuable context for Saru’s character in Discovery.
- “Runaway” (Season 1, Episode 1): This short features Tilly encountering a runaway alien teenager, Xahean princess Po, on the Discovery. It’s a fun and heartwarming story about friendship and understanding, and it provides further insight into Tilly’s character, and showcases her ability to connect with others.
- “The Escape Artist” (Season 1, Episode 4): Harry Mudd returns in this fun and twisty short, once again played by Rainn Wilson. It’s a clever and entertaining story that features multiple versions of Mudd, showcasing just how slippery and untrustworthy he can be.
Honorable Mentions: “The Bird Of Prey”, which features a Klingon point of view of the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Star Trek: Short Treks may be short in length, but they’re often big on ideas and emotion. They provide a unique opportunity to explore different corners of the Star Trek universe and experiment with different storytelling styles. They’re a great example of how Star Trek can continue to innovate and evolve, even in bite-sized formats. They also did an excellent job of setting up plot points, or providing backstory for characters that would appear in the main shows.
10 Best Selling Books About Star Trek
The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman
This Star Trek history book uses an oral-history format to document how the franchise was conceived, produced, and sustained through its first quarter-century, with attention to creative decisions, studio dynamics, and shifting audience expectations. It is often selected by adult readers looking for a Star Trek behind-the-scenes book that focuses on the people who built the original era of the franchise rather than on episode recaps alone.
The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman
This follow-on volume continues the Star Trek production history into the period dominated by The Next Generation and the later screen era, capturing how the franchise expanded in scale, tone, and business structure. It serves adult, nontechnical readers who want a detailed Star Trek book that connects creative choices to the realities of television production, film development, and brand management over time.
The Star Trek Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded Edition by Michael Okuda
This Star Trek reference book compiles in-universe entries that organize characters, places, species, technologies, and organizations into a single navigable guide designed for fast lookup and cross-referencing. It is frequently used as a Star Trek companion book by readers who want consistent terminology and continuity cues across multiple series without needing a technical background.
Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future by Michael Okuda
This Star Trek chronology organizes major events into a timeline-style narrative, helping readers place missions, political changes, and cultural milestones into a coherent sequence across eras. It is commonly used by readers who want a Star Trek timeline book that clarifies when key developments occur and how separate storylines relate without requiring deep prior knowledge of every series.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda
This Star Trek technical manual presents a structured, readable model of how the Enterprise-D and its systems are portrayed to function, using diagrams, subsystem descriptions, and operational concepts that remain accessible to non-engineers. It is often chosen as a Star Trek design and technology book by adult readers who enjoy the “how it works” side of the franchise while still wanting a narrative-friendly presentation rather than dense engineering text.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition by Larry Nemecek
This Star Trek guidebook provides a structured way to revisit The Next Generation through episode-focused entries that prioritize clear summaries and context for how the series was made and received. It is often used as a Star Trek episode companion by readers who want a practical, quick-reference format that supports rewatching while still supplying production-facing details in plain language.
The Star Trek Book New Edition by Paul J. Ruditis
This illustrated Star Trek overview surveys the franchise across multiple eras, using short topical sections to explain major themes, settings, ships, and recurring ideas in a way that supports browsing rather than linear reading. It is often selected by adult readers who want a single Star Trek book that orients them across series and films while still offering enough detail to be useful between viewings or while sampling new parts of the canon.
Imzadi by Peter David
This Star Trek novel centers on character-driven consequences and personal history within the Next Generation cast, using a plot that balances relationship dynamics with a broader sci-fi mystery structure. It is regularly recommended as a Star Trek Kindle book for readers who prefer Star Trek fiction that prioritizes voice, emotional stakes, and continuity-aware storytelling over purely episodic adventure.
Spock’s World by Diane Duane
This Star Trek Original Series novel uses the political and cultural history of Vulcan to frame a larger story about identity, governance, and the long-term pressures of federation membership. It is frequently picked up by readers seeking Star Trek books that develop worldbuilding through society-level detail while still keeping the narrative focused on recognizable characters and accessible themes.
The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence M. Krauss
This nonfiction Star Trek science book uses well-known concepts from physics to discuss which elements of Star Trek align with real-world scientific understanding and which remain speculative, while staying readable for general audiences. It is commonly chosen by adult readers who want a Star Trek-themed way to think about space, energy, and constraints on technology without needing advanced math or a specialist background.
