Current novels set in the TV time-frame?

[MikeS]

I finished reading Indistinguishable From Magic yesterday. Excellent book. I liked that the author tried to incorporate a bit of hard sci-fi. And although it may come across as "fan-wankery" to some, I liked that there were alot of characters we're familiar with - it allowed me to better imagine how they were saying things, tones and looks. I will ignore the terrible editing, although it sometimes took me out of the story - one minute The Controller was a "he" the next a "she" - and some terrible spelling, but that was down to the editor not the author.

Sorry. Never meant for this to turn into a review. I realise there are pre-existing threads for that. It was reading those threads and being a little unfamiliar with the "relaunch-verse" that got me wondering; are there still novels being written about events within the time-frame of the television shows? There seemed to be a huge outcry in the review threads that events in this novel were subsequently forgotten about or explained away (Geordi's promotion for example). The relaunch-verse is a little complicated for those not in the know (why is Romulus still there? What is the Typhon Pact?) and I wouldn't mind reading about an adventure that took place between The Next Phase and I, Borg or Symbiosis and Skin of Evil. There are hundreds of interesting stories that can be told within that timeframe.

Whilst I'm on the subject, why the big need for continuity in the novel-verse anyway? Other "franchises" such as Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes or Batman are constantly re-imagined - that makes them timeless. It is the charaters that matter. It doesn't matter if Barclay is "supposed to be in the Delta quadrant", for the purposes of this novel, he's not!

Sorry, I realise I've rambled a little. The "Trek Literature" board seems a very tight-knit and sensible community. I'm interested to hear your thoughts about my thoughts.

[Christopher]

MikeS wrote:

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It was reading those threads and being a little unfamiliar with the "relaunch-verse" that got me wondering; are there still novels being written about events within the time-frame of the television shows?

Only in TOS, for the most part. Books set during the other series have come along intermittently in recent years, but there's nothing currently on the schedule. Although you could count something like my DTI: Watching the Clock, which had flashback chapters covering various time-travel episodes of the three 24th-century shows, or the earlier The Never-Ending Sacrifice, which tells a story paralleling events in the DS9 series and novel relaunch.

Whilst I'm on the subject, why the big need for continuity in the novel-verse anyway? Other "franchises" such as Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes or Batman are constantly re-imagined - that makes them timeless.

And Trek Lit has been reimagined too. There was an inter-novel continuity emerging in the '80s, but it got scuttled when TNG came along and contradicted a lot of its core assumptions, and the books were without continuity through the '90s. New inter-novel continuity began to become widespread around 2000, and it's grown from there, not as some kind of mandate but just because it was what the authors and editors wanted to do, and because a lot of the audience responded positively to it. But there's always been room for books that weren't part of the main continuity, like the William Shatner novels or the Crucible trilogy.

[Greg Cox]

The TOS books are still largely set during the original five-year mission, or occasionally the movie era. And you still sometimes get TV-era stories involving the latter-day crews.

If you'll allow me a shameless plug, my TNG novella in Star Trek: Seven Deadly Sins was very much set during the run of the TV show, as was my TNG story in Star Trek: The Sky's the Limit . . . .

[DS9forever]

2005's Hollow Men was set during DS9, shortly after "In the Pale Moonlight" and before "His Way".

[MikeS]

Greg Cox wrote:

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If you'll allow me a shameless plug, my TNG novella in Star Trek: Seven Deadly Sins was very much set during the run of the TV show, as was my TNG story in Star Trek: The Sky's the Limit . . . .

Please, shameless-plug away! The reason I was reading Indistinguishable From Magic was because of a recommendation on here. I will be trying to find all books mentioned in this thread.

[ryan123450]

Being a huge fan of the Lit-verse heavy trajectory of the novel line, I've never really considered how uninteresting it could seem to someone mostly preferring stories set during the series. I myself wish there were far fewer stories published during the series than the few that are. Especially TOS.

[Thrawn]

I don't know if you're an ebook reader, but there are a TON of old books set during the shows that are great and easy to get a hold of. Are you a long-time treklit fan that has read all the old ones, or are you coming to it now? Because the biggest reason that it doesn't bother me that few new books are set within each series is because there's always more to go find if I want them.

Just off the top of my head, Vendetta, Reunion, Imzadi I and II, Q-Squared, Immortal Coil, Masks, Q-In-Law, A Time To Kill > A Time To Heal, and Federation are all fabulous novels that take place either during TNG or in between TNG movies. (Federation is a crossover, and it also contradicts First Contact, but man it's awesome.)

[MikeS]

Thrawn wrote:

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...Immortal Coil, Masks, Q-In-Law,... Federation...

I'll have to check these out.

[Garrovick]

MikeS wrote:

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...I wouldn't mind reading about an adventure that took place between The Next Phase and I, Borg or Symbiosis and Skin of Evil.

Survivors (TNG #4) by Jean Lorrah was one of the earliest TNG novels. Most of it was set just after "The Arsenal of Freedom" and the end was set just after "Skin of Evil". The novel focuses heavily on Tasha Yar and almost as heavily on Data. You have to take into account the fact that it was written and published in the late 1980s into account when reading it but it does expand somewhat on the events surrounding Tasha's death and the crew's reactions to it. It's definitely well worth reading - if you can't find a copy I'm sure it's available as an e-book.

[Greg Cox]

MikeS wrote:

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Please, shameless-plug away! The reason I was reading Indistinguishable From Magic was because of a recommendation on here. I will be trying to find all books mentioned in this thread.

Okay, dare I mention The Weight of Worlds, a TOS novel coming out in April? Or The Rings of Time, which came out last year?

Heck, pretty much all of my novels (except maybe the Khan books) take place during the time-frames of the various series. That's just how I roll . . .

[tomswift2002]

You might also want to check out the Starfleet Academy series that was out in the 90's. The first three books by Peter David feature Worf (plus a number of characters who would play major roles in the New Frontier series) only 4-8 years before Encounter At Farpoint (unfortunately Tasha Yar does not appear).

But then there are also the Young Adult Deep Space Nine novel series that was running at the same time that featured adventures of Jake and Nog on DS9 (with one book featuring Alexander and being part of the Day Of Honor story arc), but are set, primarily, between the episodes of Seasons 1 and 2.

[Sci]

MikeS wrote:

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The relaunch-verse is a little complicated for those not in the know (why is Romulus still there? What is the Typhon Pact?)

Romulus is still there because ST09 established that it's not destroyed until 2387, and no novels have yet been written set in that timeframe.

The Typhon Pact is an alliance of states founded in 2381 by the Romulan Star Empire, the Gorn Hegemony, the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Tzenkethi Coalition, and the Holy Order of the Kinshaya. As of mid-2384, it is in a state of unofficial cold war with the Federation and its allies (the Klingon Empire, the Ferengi Alliance, and the Cardassian Union, all of whom have signed an expanded Khitomer Accords), although some Typhon Pact governments are far more hostile towards the Accords powers than others.

[The Super Brando]

The novels mentioned above are good, but if you're only going to read a couple books then read the Destiny Trilogy. It takes place right after the shows and movies, and it's a freaking good read. Plus it's a great entry way for the rest of the novelverse, which is a really enjoyable experience to see what happens "next" with our cherished characters.

[bfollowell]

Thrawn wrote:

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Vendetta, Reunion, Imzadi I and II, Q-Squared, Immortal Coil, Masks, Q-In-Law, A Time To Kill > A Time To Heal, and Federation

I've finally almost caught up with the current novels. I found out that the Cold Equations trilogy, or at least the first installment of it, is a direct sequel to Immortal Coil so I'm just about to finish it up in preparation to start the aforementioned trilogy. I can highly recommend Immortal Coil. Technically though, it doesn't take place during the original TNG series run time-frame. It takes place sometime after ST: TNG: First Contact, as the hostilities are starting between the Alpha Quadrant powers and the Dominion.

After reading so much "modern" or up-to-date, relaunch novels, I wasn't sure how it would be going back several years but it has been an excellent romp and I've loved it.

- Byron

[TJ Sinclair]

I'll chime in with another recommendation for Immortal Coil. It's one of my favorite Next Gen novels.

It's been a while since I've seen Jeffrey Lang's name on a Trek novel. Hopefully he'll do another sometime soon.