I know there are still TOS novels but will we ever see a TNG,VOY,DS9, or ENT novel that is set during the series?
Not quite a novel, but my TNG novelette in Seven Deadly Sins was set during the series. If I did another TNG or VOYAGER book, I'd probably want to set it during the tv series, but that's just my personal preference.
As much as I am enjoying the Relaunches, I wouldn't mind some stuff set during the series. For me it's not so much wanting new stories set during those time frames so much as wanting to see the current authors write stories set then.
Good thing for me is, they've made so many Trek novels over the years that if I want one during the series', there's always some oldies I haven't read yet. Right now I'm reading (and enjoying) the first original Voyager novel, The Escape. Written so early in the show's run (in fact, before the premiere of "Caretaker" - the writers did pretty good job on the characterizations considering they only had a script, a 30 second trailer and some set photos to go on), it has a much more authentic season one vibe than, say, the TNG season one-set Double Helix: Infection.
I'd only be interested in stuff set during the shows if it fills in details like Una's Hollow Men. I had quite enough of the 'everything back in the sandbox' novels back in the day. The relaunch actually goes somewhere...
Seconded, but I'd also dig more flashbacks paralleling stories in the current time frame. Filling in the blanks for certain characters and situations from the runs of the shows. But i guess that's just story structure ideas...
I'd like something along the lines of Captain's Peril, going between intertwined stories in the present and TV series-era past. Now's the time - TNG on Bluray is gonna have casual fans psyched for some Next Gen thats familiar. It'd be a great way to bring in newbies and get them up-to-date with the novelverse.
I've always thought that there were fewer DS9 novels than TNG one set during the series was not only due to TNG being more popular but to the tightly-knit storyline of DS9. Certainly, in later years when there was such an ongoing arc, with linked storylines, it's harder to see where and how the novels could fit in. For example, the Millennium Trilogy is one of my favourite Trek novels and my all-time face DS9 one, but even as I read it, I had to swallow my disbelief that all this could have happened during the time frame it's supposed to have happened and not be subsequently referenced during the show! Admittedly, they try to address this by having Jake reflect that it all felt like a dream and the more time went on, the less he could remember about those events, but it still felt like a bit of a stretch. Having said that, the story made the swallowing worthwhile!
Maybe that's a factor. I suppose there were fewer "numbered" DS9 novels in the later years of the series. But probably a bigger factor is that there was simply a larger time window for series-set TNG novels -- not only did they start coming out five years before DS9, but it wasn't really possible to start doing post-series (or post-Generations) TNG novels until after First Contact introduced us to the Enterprise-E and the new status quo. The first post-series DS9 books (Millennium in part and A Stitch in Time) came out only seven years after the first original DS9 book, but we didn't see the first E-E novel, Ship of the Line, until nine years after the first original TNG novel, and then continued to get a mix of E-D and E-E novels for the next four years after that. Also, I think we just got more TNG than DS9 novels overall; in 1998-9, for instance, there were nearly three times as many of the former as the latter. This might be partly due to DS9's tighter storyline, but it's more likely just because TNG was the more popular series and its books sold better.
There's nothing wrong with there being a mix is there? You're right that the relaunches have been good, but now after so many years of just that, I see nothing wrong with novels set in the respective series timeframes. In fact, I'd welcome it.
I enjoy the the books that take place within the timeline of their series. I really enjoyed the Voyager Section 31, The Kobayashi Maru (TOS), Crossover, and a few others. I stopped reading the relaunch stuff when a Borg Cube ate Pluto. Someone please tell me it got better.
It sure got much better, yes. This stuff with pluto was in before dishonor if I recall correctly and since, a lot of great books have been published. I'm currently reading "the eternal tide" and very much enjoying it. Kirsten Beyer resurrected Voyager for me. (And David R George III just resurrected DS9 too in fact)
I am re-reading that series of novels currently, and finished Before Dishonor this morning. The little incident with Pluto was in that novel. Actually my favorite part of the entire novel was the entire Pluto discussion, and Neycheyev/Jellico interacting in the Bunker... Mike
I really enjoyed the Jellico/Neycheyev scene where Jellico hears Seven call Captain Picard "Commodore Picard". Jellico asks who promoted him. Seven says it was Calhoun, and Jellico says (roughly), "oh. of cousrse he did." I thought it was one of the best things about a not so great book