The Star Trek franchise has a long and rich history of published, original novels. Throughout the years, spin-offs and tie-ins of every Star Trek series and movie were published, including comic books and graphic novels. To coincide with Star Trek Online's recent launch, publisher Simon and Schuster just revealed the details of its upcoming MMO tie-in novel, The Needs of the Many.

The Needs of the Many is written by Michael A. Martin, will be released directly to paperback and is noted as 432 pages long, according to the publisher's Web site. The 'Trek community and STO fans will both be happy to learn that the upcoming novel revisits the mysterious Species 8472, introduced in the Voyager series and alluded to be a part of STO's later gameplay. According to the publisher's site, the introduction synopsis reads, "Prior to the terror-filled times of the Long War-the seemingly endless struggle against the Undine, a paranoid, shape-shifting race once known only as Species 8472-enemy sleeper agents quietly penetrated every echelon of Federation society, as well as other starfaring civilizations throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants."

DS9's Jake Sisko appears to be one of the story's main protagonists, offering a "comprehensive 'living history' of this tumultuous era." The Needs of the Many is scheduled for release on March 30 in both paperback and digital formats. Once again, you can check out the publisher's site for more information.