Star Trek: Stargazer is a series of Star Trek novels written by Michael Jan Friedman. The novels are about the adventures of the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893), which was Jean-Luc Picard’s first command. While not official canon, these stories can be viewed as a prequel to the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Chronologically, this series is followed by the Lost Era Picard novel The Buried Age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Stargazer