What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write it?

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Jarvisimo, Mar 1, 2012.

  1. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Dale Brown.

    not that da Vinci Code fuckwit.

    Dale Brown is an ex-USAF bomber pilot who writes techno-thrillers in which test pilots from the secret High Technology Aerospace Weapons Centre at Groom Lake routinely save the world with their latest hi-tech mad modified bomber.

    having him do something with some interstellar crisis and a maverick starship designer takes out a highly classified new starship and saves the day, doing the right thing, whilst breaking the rules and ignoring the asswipe politcians who command him but only care about political expediency could be fun.
     
  2. Hugh Cambridge

    Hugh Cambridge Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Lois Mc Master Bujold coud write a very good TOS book, Robert J Sawyer for a TNG one (he wrote a novel which looked like a Trek Novel and was good), Peter F. Hamilton, Aaron Allston.

    Also, I saw on a website that Philip Jose Farmer did write one, I would have liked to read it if it is true.
     
  3. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Off the top of my head - humanity 'X' million years in the future always looking pretty much like most thinkers reckon it would look like in the next century with tech to match, the Tardis towing the Earth and numerous others...
     
  4. Jarvisimo

    Jarvisimo Captain Captain

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    And the series which Duane loved the most was TOS was never more than essentially a conservative programme (even with its slight and often over-estimated racial depictions). It is thoroughly humanist mid-century, modernist depiction of the future, containing an almost colonial approach to the world-made-universe, and being couched in mid-century scientific awe (compared to the unrefined 1980s-90s postmodernity of TNG and - more particularly - DS9). And TOS also retains many of the conservative trappings of a wild west in space, though in this instance it is the military not the sheriff or gun-toting vigilante who are the heroes. I think Duane's books continue much of the militarism and intervensionism, but she then she contributed a wonderful non-humanist depiction of trek-verse as well.
     
  5. Jarvisimo

    Jarvisimo Captain Captain

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    I've noticed that many of these authors, especially Clancy, & resultant suggested ideas are 'action'-focused. Yet many (though not all) critically acclaimed Trek episodes, such as The City on the Edge of Forever, The Measure of the Man, The Inner Light, Duet, The Visitor, In the Pale Moonlight, etc., do not have any action in them at all. Are there authors who would write more emotional or intellectual trek and whose dramatic foci would not be brought to bare through action (though they might use it well) but in the other narrative pursuits.
     
  6. Jarvisimo

    Jarvisimo Captain Captain

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    RTD is definitely not a hard SF writer, yah? SF is not defined by being scientifically possible, surely. Many SF writers do not write hard SF, yet write good 'speculative' science fiction? [I say this not actually liking Dr Who that much]

    Certainly Star Trek suffers from similar imaginative failure, by putting into the future almost unchanged the late-20th/early-21st century society, and (not that I am opposed to these) very American approaches to the world, including depicting the future with what are American political, legal & educational systems? RDM's BSG did the same, except in its gender depictions. Firefly tried not to, with its wonderful Chinese-English synthesis and essentially libertarian political beliefs (the other side of the western genre?), but was sabotaged by being a tv program that had to contain enough familiarity for its audience (and that was shot in America).
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2012
  7. Captain April

    Captain April Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Bernard Cornwell could write something quite exciting I'm sure. Also Dan Abnett would provide a very action oriented story. Perhaps Dmitry Gluhkovsky, who wrote Metro 2033, might provide a different perspective on Star Trek. Ben Bova might also be a good choice, especially for a TOS novel.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Not quite -- IIRC, what happened was that he adapted one or two rejected TOS pitches into original works of fiction.
     
  9. Hugh Cambridge

    Hugh Cambridge Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    ^Do you know if they can be found somewhere ?
     
  10. Daddy Todd

    Daddy Todd Commodore Commodore

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    He's been dead for 27 years, but I think I would've enjoyed a Star Trek novel (TOS, clearly) by A. Bertram Chandler. I'm a big fan of his "John Grimes" space operas, which were written between the late '50's and early '80's. He could have captured the essence of early TOS, which always seemed to have a postwar, almost anti-"beat" vibe. Long before became pure '60's cornball (Turd Season, I'm looking at you) the earliest episodes drew upon the wartime experiences of Roddenberry and other writers. Chandler could've done something interesting with that.
     
  11. Daddy Todd

    Daddy Todd Commodore Commodore

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Just one that I know of: the short story "The Shadow of Space" was published in the November, 1967 issue of Worlds of IF. It was collected in Farmer's 1971 collection Down in the Black Gang.

    Maybe the Phase II guys could adapt it back into an episode. That would be kinda cool.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2012
  12. Hugh Cambridge

    Hugh Cambridge Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    ^Thanks, I will try to find this one :)
     
  13. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i


    Ooh, that takes me back - I'd completely forgotten his very existence, but, now that you mention him, I know I read a bunch of them when was about 12 or so....
     
  14. Daddy Todd

    Daddy Todd Commodore Commodore

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Baen is in the process of republishing the John Grimes novels as big TP omnibuses. They mostly hold up pretty well -- with the exception of a few howlers, like Spartan Planet and its sequel, The Last Amazon.
     
  15. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    I'm on a James Rollins kick right now, and it occurs to me that he could probably do a seriously cool historical treasure hunt through the Star Trek universe, featuring intrepid amateur archaeologist Jean-Luc Picard . . . .
     
  16. Yevetha

    Yevetha Commodore

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    L. Neil Smith:
    Ralph Offenhouse's Quest for the Nagusship.
     
  17. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Wrong state. Offenhouse is serving as Federation Secretary of Commerce in President Bacco's administration. He's not a Ferengi, though I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out you can buy Ferengi citizenship.
     
  18. Yevetha

    Yevetha Commodore

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i


    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
     
  19. PKS8304

    PKS8304 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Orson Scott Card could write a decent series about Starfleet Academy or even a book about Wesley Crusher during his time there and after when he became a Traveler
     
  20. Jarvisimo

    Jarvisimo Captain Captain

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    Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

    Neil Gaiman in full allusive mode tackling Trek, writing it not in his pulp style (like 1602) but in the (admittedly aloof & demanding) literary manner that is typical of his literary works (and which compares with Wolfe).

    Whether the lyrical and diffuse style of Sandman and its constant recourse to literature and history, or the more contemporarily fashioned discussions of American Gods, I wouldn't mind.

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