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A series of novels in the Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse, connected to the mainstream modern continuity of the Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse through BroadStrokes. The series features Captain Picard's first command, the U.S.S ''Stargazer'', and his early years as a command officer. There are six books in the series proper:

* ''Gauntlet''
* ''Progenitor''
* ''Three''
* ''Oblivion''
* ''Enigma''
* ''Maker''

Other novels to feature the characters and setting of the ''Stargazer'' include:

* ''Reunion'' (their first appearance)
* ''The Valiant'' (essentially a "pilot" leading into the series proper)
* ''The First Virtue''

Three short stories have been published which involve Stargazer characters:

* "What Dreams May Come" from the anthology ''Tales of the Dominion War'' (2004)
* "Darkness" from the anthology ''Tales from the Captain's Table'' (2005)
* "The Traitor" from the anthology [[Literature/StarTrekMirrorUniverse ''Shards and Shadows'']] (2009)

The ''Stargazer'' crew consists of:

* Captain Jean Luc Picard: Not yet the elderly statesmen of TNG but the youngest captain in Starfleet at 28.
* Commander Gilaad Ben Zoma: A black and Jewish man that was promoted from the Stargazer's chief of security to first officer. Eventually becomes captain of the ''U.S.S. Lexington.''
* Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Wu: A BotheringByTheBook rules lawyer. She eventually retires from Starfleet despite Picard's best efforts.
* Lieutenant Jack Crusher: The future science officer on the ship, husband of Beverly, father of Wesley, and DoomedByCanon. Does not appear in ''Stargazer'' proper but does in flashbacks during post-series appearances.
* Lieutenant Nol Kastiigan: The current science officer who is a DeathSeeker from a ProudWarriorRace that just so happens to be an enormous nerd.
* Lieutenant Vigo was a male Pandrilite who served as weapons officer.
* Chief Engineer Phigus Simenon: An enormous LizardFolk JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* Chief of Security Peter Joseph: A underperforming security officer who eventually becomes an alcoholic [[spoiler: after he abandons Jack Crusher.]]
* Ensign Andreas Nikolas: A Russian security operative who falls in love with a woman from the MirrorUniverse.
* Gerda Asmund: The ship's navigator and part of a pair of human-raised-by-Klingon AlwaysIdenticalTwins. Is a PosthumousCharacter as her death kicked off the events of ''Reunion.''
* Idun Asmund: The ship's flight controller. She survives her sister's death and is forced to live under a cloud of suspicion due to its circumstances.
* Carter Greyhouse: The Chief Medical Officer of the ''Stargazer'' who also has a background in engineering. [[spoiler: Goes insane after the death of Gerda Asmund and tries to kill the rest of the crew.]]
* Morgen: The hereditary ruler of a BloodKnight race that hates the Klingons. He eventually becomes a Starfleet captain.
* Jiterica: A StarfishAlien who is literally a cloud in a containment suit. Her people want to join the Federation despite their extreme biological differences.
* Cole Paris: The uncle of Tom Paris who eventually begins a relationship with Jiterica.
* Obal: A alien who resembles a large turkey in a uniform.
* Tricia Cadwallader: A communications officer who begins a short relationship with Riker.

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!!This series contains examples of:

* AGodAmI: Brakmaktin.
* ActuallyIAmHim: Admiral [=McAteer=] is strolling the Starfleet Academy grounds, and starts thinking about Boothby, whom he admires. At least, he's heard good things about the man. He encounters an elderly groundskeeper whose general attitude annoys him (and who has the gall to tell him off). Eventually, he demands the groundskeeper's name. Upon being told he's talking to Boothby, [=McAteer=] walks off spluttering.
* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Nol Kastiigan, of the Kandilkari race, greatly enjoyed ''Romeo and Juliet''. He particularly liked the ending, in which the lovers perish. See DeathSeeker, below.
* AlternateUniverse: In ''Three''.
* AndIMustScream: Picard's torture by Brakmaktin in ''Maker''.
* BerserkButton: In Binderian culture, the society in which [[UglyCute Obal]] originates, an assault upon a friend who comes to your aid cannot be tolerated. A Binderian responds with immediate - and highly uncharacteristic - violence if their supporter is threatened. [[invoked]]
* BotheringByTheBook: Elizabeth Wu is the living personification of the trope, stalking the halls of the ''Stargazer'' and writing up everyone from Captain Picard to the lowest junior officer for minor infractions. She gets better later on, though, after Ben Zoma engages in his own [[MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours bothering]] to show her how ridiculous she's been.
* BroadStrokes: The relationship of this series to the modern continuity. Events, characters and locations from ''Star Trek: Stargazer'' are frequently mentioned or featured elsewhere, but not every little detail adds up.
* BrokenBird: Guinan begins as one in ''Oblivion'', her spirit shattered by the loss of most of her people to the Borg and her experiences in the Nexus, until she meets Picard for the ‘first time’ (from his perspective) and witnesses his courage and compassion even for a relative stranger like her.
* CallForward:
** On several occasions Dr Grayhorse complains that he's not qualified to deal with psychiatric problems, and the ship really needs [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration a trained counselor]].
** In ''Progenitor'', a teenager on a trading vessel is fascinated by Ensign Jitercia being an organic lifeform who directly interfaces with a machine (her containment suit). He turns out to be Magnus Hansen, whose interest in such beings will eventually lead to him, his wife, and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager his daughter Annika]] being assimilated by the Borg.
** When Picard shaves his head as a disguise in ''Oblivion'', he says it's "only a temporary condition", to Guinan's amusement.
* CharacterWitness: Picard tells Werber he'll put in a good word for him at the court-martial after Werber helps them expose a major plot. Werber is surprised, considering that he's in the brig for trying to mutiny against Picard.
* CrossCulturalHandshake: The Gnalish greet others with a ritualistic movement of the hands; extending them outward, palms down.
* CuttingTheKnot:
** Elizabeth Wu makes everyone's life hell by constantly citing every regulation and preventing them from doing their jobs due to BotheringByTheBook. It means the crew members have no recourse since what she says is technically true. Picard and Ben Zoma solve the issue by simply ordering her to stop.
** Picard is given a crew of oddballs and questionably talented officers. However, as the ship's captain, he deals with the issues of the ones who can be salvaged and cashiers the ones who are hopeless or ethically compromised.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Obviously the reader is already aware that Guinan has lost her family to the Borg and spent a brief time in the Nexus, but ''Oblivion'' expands on that to reveal that the family Guinan lost included her youngest daughter, the child most like Guinan who she gave birth to after all her other children had grown up and moved on.
* DeathSeeker: Nol Kastiigan. It's actually played for laughs; Kastiigan is eager to be placed in peril, so as to just maybe die heroically and earn his family honor. He's not psychologically ill, it's just BlueAndOrangeMorality. Kandilkari culture holds that a heroic death is to be sought out at all costs. He has a habit of sidling up to Captain Picard or another command officer in times of danger, hinting that if a single crewman is needed for a perilous solo mission... well, he's your man. He's usually told, "no thank you, back to work". Unfortunately for Kastiigan, he's a science officer, so his talents simply aren't what's usually called for in such missions.
* DoomedByCanon:
** The Ubarrak Primacy may be a powerful rival to the Federation and Cardassians here (at least in one particular sector) but their lack of appearance in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' or ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' means they can't actually become the major power they're aiming to be.
** Jack Crusher is inevitably going to die before the events of TNG.
** Gerda Asmund will also die due to her death being the triggering event of "Reunion."
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Vigo, despite being a major character in ''Three'', dies off-camera during the Battle of Maxia in ''The Buried Age.'']]
* EnemyMine: Commander Dojjaron of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Nuyyad]] teams up with the ''Stargazer'' crew to take down Brakmaktin.
* EvilIsPetty: Admiral [=McAteer=] spends a good deal of his time trying to wreck Picard's career for no other reason than he was appointed by his predecessor as well as being the youngest captain in Starfleet (and even that he's hypocritical on).
* FantasticRacism:
** In ''The Valiant'', Starfleet displays a huge amount of this to the human descendants of the titular ship's crew due to the fact that they have Gary Mitchell's silver eyes as well as powers.
** In ''Gauntlet'', Joesph Caber displays a 'massive' amount of this to Obal until finally triggering his BerserkButton.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The Balduk, with their High Order, Middle Order, and Low Order militaries. Also the Pandrilites, whose elevated and lower castes are supposedly now united by their adherence to the Three Virtues. Pandrilite protagonist Vigo has come to question this, though; an old mentor became involved with a radical sect insisting oppression of the lower castes is ongoing, and Vigo's faith in his people was shaken. Vigo takes a leave of absence in the final book so that he can return to Pandril and find out of his mentor was right, thinking that if so, a famous upper-caste member like himself would be harder for the government to ignore.
* FollowInMyFootsteps: Cole Paris, son of [[Literature/StarTrekTheLostEra Iron Mike Paris]], and brother of [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Owen Paris]] complains that there was never any question that not only would he join Starfleet, he'd be one of the greatest Starfleet officers ever. When he arrives on the ''Stargazer'', he suffers panic attacks when attempting anything that might bring shame on the Paris name if he gets it wrong.
* HeelFaceTurn: Played with twice. In ''Enigma'', ObstructiveBureaucrat Admiral [=McAteer=] seems to defrost into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. After a dangerous mission alongside Commander Gilaad ben Zoma, he appears to make a peace offering and reveal a more understanding side to his character. However, it transpires he was merely trying to manipulate ben Zoma. In ''Maker'', murderous super-powered alien Brakmaktin also appears to be reconsidering his former conduct and having an epiphany. It turns out it was just him screwing with his captive. He's a jerk, is Brakmaktin.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Admiral [=McAteer=]'s primary objection to Picard is the idea that he's too young to captain a starship. Yet one of his attempts to get Picard removed involves offering command of the ''Stargazer'' to Gilaad ben Zoma...who's a year younger than Picard.
* InadequateInheritor: Most of Starfleet assumes Picard will be this to his predecessor due to his age. Obviously, we know better.
* InterspeciesRomance: A truly odd example with Cole Paris and Jiterica, a non-Humanoid being whose natural form is essentially a cloud of mist.
* {{Jerkass}}:
** Admiral [=McAteer=] is a stupendous example of such, being an ObstructiveBureaucrat SmugSnake carrying out a wholly unjustified vendetta against Picard.
** Joesph Caber proves to be a FantasticRacism suffering bully despite initially seeming to be a nice guy.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Phigus Simenon has a tough personality but is always working for his crew.
* LizardFolk: The Gnalish, who are members of [[TheFederation the United Federation of Planets]], and represented in the main cast by Phigus Simenon. They are split between three subspecies; one is strong and powerful, the second swift and lithe, the third particularly smart. Simenon is of the third group.
* LoveMakesYouEvil:
** [[spoiler: Carter Greyhorse]] is obsessed with Gerda Asmund and her death drives him to plot the murder of the rest of the crew in "Reunion."
** Nikolas suffers a catastrophic breakdown in his ability to do his job after having his heart broken by the MirrorUniverse Gerda Asmund.
* MartyrdomCulture: Nol Kastiigan's culture, the Kandilkari. Dying heroically is their greatest purpose, apparently.
* MindRape: Brakmaktin pulls off a few in ''Maker''.
* MirrorUniverse: The Gerda Asmund that shows up in ''Three'' claims she's not from one. [[spoiler: She's lying.]]
* MisaimedFandom: [[invoked]]Admiral [=McAteer=]'s total {{Jerkass}} status is confirmed when he watches ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' and starts wondering what Creator/WilliamShakespeare had against people with ambition.
* MulticulturalAlienPlanet: The Gnalish, of which chief engineer Phigus Simenon is a member, have three separate subspecies, although they'are able to interbreed (or, at least, fertilize the same eggs). Simenon's subspecies, being either weaker or slower than the others, have learned to be highly resourceful and wily, which helps when you're Picard's chief engineer.
* TheMutiny: Lieutenant Werber tries to pull one shortly after Picard ends up in command, but Vigo overheard the plot and tipped Picard and Ben Zoma off.
* NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands: The series has a habit of inventing new, supposedly powerful spacefaring cultures that are rarely if ever mentioned in other Trek novels. The Ubarrak Primacy is the most prominant of these; apparently a major local power, it's only been mentioned (offhand) in one non-Stargazer novel. Then there's the Nuyyad, the Aristaani... at least the Balduk were canonically established. The Nuyyad at least have the excuse of living on the other side of the Galactic Barrier.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Admiral [=McAteer=] gives Picard assignments he deliberately hopes will cause him to fail and/or humiliate him. He also assigns him a RagtagBunchOfMisfits in hopes it will undermine him. Picard is mystified why the man has it out for him.
* ProudWarriorRace: The Daa’Vit. Bonus points for their ongoing Blood Feud with Trek’s most famous ProudWarriorRace, the Klingons.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Admiral [=McInteer=] assigns a bunch of underperforming officers to Picard in hopes of making the ''Stargazer'' into this. Picard just trains the one who can be trained and removes the ones who prove inadequate, as is his right.
* RaisedByNatives: After their parent's death, the Asmund sisters were raised by Klingons.
* RedBaron: The "White Wolf" is an infamous pirate [[spoiler: who turns out to just be defending a pre-warp culture from exploitation.]]
* RedHerring: The reader is obviously supposed to think the female bartender that Picard meets on Oblivion is Guinan. Nope, she's just a random bartender. Guinan is an unemployed drifter at this time.
* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: A rare in-universe one. Juanita Valderrama was given a chance to repair her underperforming reputation and gives a suggestion that saves the day in "Gauntlet." [[spoiler: This backfires as it turns out she stole credit for someone else's idea and doing so caused Picard to order her off his ship.]]
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: The Balduk, the Ubarrak, the Nuyyad... the series likes this one. Of course, there are far more aliens who aren't of the "scary dogmatic" type, but most of the villains seem to fit the trope.
* TheSchizophreniaConspiracy: Played with - at one point [[TheMole Lieutenant Ulelo]] is misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic who ''believes'' he is sending classified information to mysterious alien masters for unknown reasons.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Ensign Caber tells Picard that his father, a high-ranking Admiral, will not be pleased when he finds out Picard booted his son off the ''Stargazer''. But subverted when Admiral Caber admits his son is a brat that has only gotten by because his other commanders were afraid to discipline him due to his family name.
* SmugSnake: Admiral [=McAteer=] is incompetent as well as utterly full of himself. His feud with Picard is also seemingly motivated solely by the fact he was appointed by his predecessor.
* SpaceStation: ''Oblivion'', or rather ''Obl'viaan'' in the original Ubarrak. It's an enormous construction in orbit of a lifeless planet, consisting of hundreds (if not thousands) of ships and stations welded together. In fact, it's not so much a space station as a space city. It is definitely of a WretchedHive variety. It's also the place where Picard first meets Guinan, although she's a little upset he doesn't know who she is.
* StalkingIsLove: Carter Greyhorse devotes himself to winning Gerda Asmund by challenging her to constant practice battles as well as following her around like a puppy. He even mentions that he'd have recommended therapy to himself if somehow he'd found himself as a patient. It is not played as romantic but creepy.
* StarfishAliens: Nizhrak'a. Native to a gas giant, they are basically sapient clouds of mist. In their usual state, they can grow to the size of a starship. Their representative in Starfleet, Jiterica, compresses herself down to humanoid size, and squeezes into an environmental suit. It's rather uncomfortable.
* StockNessMonster: Apparently, the trope isn't just confined to Earth. The Kandilkari have "The Lake Dweller That Roars", though it's unclear as to whether it's real or not. Nol Kastiigan seems to think so, but it's not certain.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: Simenon tells Werber that their friendship is over - not just because Werber attempted to start a mutiny, but also because Simenon stood up for him and Werber abused that trust.
* TwinThreesomeFantasy: The Asmund twins were raised by Klingons and are not very familiar with human sexuality. One of the sisters notices a crewman ogling them and asks her sister why he's doing that. The sister, being a little more versed in the subject, explains that he's probably imagining what it'd be like to sleep with both of them. The first sister is confused, as Klingon sex is extremely violent, and a threesome would be deadly. Also, she thinks that the man should want to have sex with two women who look different, for a little variety.
* WaterSourceTampering: In ''The First Virtue'', a fanatical Cordracite poisons her city's water supply in order to escalate a conflict with another race, assuming they'll be blamed.
* WeWillNotUseStageMakeupInTheFuture: Averted. Guinan disguises herself and Picard as Cataxxans by shaving their scalps and dying their skin purple.
* YouAreInCommandNow: In ''The Valiant'', Captain Daithan Ruhalter and First Officer Stephen Leach of the ''Stargazer'' are killed and critically injured, respectively, suddenly forcing Picard into the position of temporary CO. He doesn't exactly have an easy time of it, but he eventually gets a two-grade jump to Captain. Subsequent novels reveal that not everybody was happy about the promotion. Specifically, Admiral Arlen [=McAteer=] has his own vision of Starfleet, and it doesn't include young upstart captains like Picard. While [=McAteer=] can't demote Picard himself, as Picard reports to Admiral Mehdi, he can set tasks for him that would reveal Picard's incompetence or lack of experience, forcing Mehdi to reverse his decision.
* YouHaveFailedMe: The Cardassians apparently have a saying; "Those who fail the Union are not demoted; they are ''eliminated''".

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