It’s no secret that my series Firmament is strongly inspired by Star Trek. My dad introduced my siblings and myself to The Original Series when I was in my early twenties, and I was hooked. I loved the characters, the fantastic scenarios, the opportunities for philosophical and political commentary.

I didn’t, however, love the blatant immorality, frequent immodesty, or cringeworthy humanism.

Thus a dream (which is fuzzy in my memory but involved a starship doctor and his daughter) got me thinking — could there be a place for something that had the elements of the series that I love without the parts that bother me so much?

From that simple thought, ideas for eighteen books were born.

Seven books in (well, nine if you count the ones that are written but not published), I haven’t lost sight of that dream or of my inspiration, but it can get discouraging. It’s taking longer than I’d hoped. The series hasn’t, by way of numbers, been very successful. But I love my characters as much as ever, and the spark that ignited it all is still within my heart.

All that said, as I’ve been both writing my books and re-watching (again) Star Trek: The Original Series I’ve been thinking again about the similarities AND dissimilarities, and thought I would compile a list.

What do you think? If you’ve read the series, can you think of any more?