It was originally published in 1981 by Pocket Books .
Is the second in its long - running series of Star Trek novels ( and the first original novel in that series ; the first of the series is the novelization of Star Trek : The Motion Picture ) .
It was originally published in 1981 by Pocket Books and is the second in its long - running series of Star Trek novels ( and the first original novel in that series ; the first of the series is the novelization of Star Trek : The Motion Picture ) .