What unseen Star Trek event do you want to read about next?

[Odo]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Unless, of course, they just wanted a Sherlock Holmes (or Star Trek) fix . . . .

Some people want their archetypes and icons, some people want their character development and change. Both are important.

[Lee Son of Pete]

What about scenes from the books that you'd like to see on screen? Personally I'm thinking Ro Laren the time she pretended to be a Dabo Girl, that I'd like to see.

[Lee Son of Pete]

Odo wrote:

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Some people want their archetypes and icons, some people want their character development and change. Both are important.

Yeah totally. I suppose my point was I hope Pocket Books don't neglect the latter for the perceived marketability of the former. I think it mainly applies to the developing timeline(s) set after the TV shows.

[Greg Cox]

Lee Son of Pete wrote:

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Yeah totally. I suppose my point was I hope Pocket Books don't neglect the latter for the perceived marketability of the former. I think it mainly applies to the developing timeline(s) set after the TV shows.

I would hope that there would be room on the list for both. It can be fun to expand beyond the TV shows, as with Christopher's DTI books, but it would probably be a mistake to assume that every reader wants to leave the TV shows behind. There's a reason that "STAR TREK" is printed in big type on the front covers--to attract fans of the movies and TV shows!

(Says the guy who has a new 5YM book coming out!)

[TJ Sinclair]

Really, I'd love to see some more "Second 5-Year Mission" stories again. The era between TMP and TWOK. It's been quite a few years since we've had any, and there's still room for some exploration in there.

And I know it would never happen, but I'd love to see what's become of Belle Terre (from New Earth / Challenger) in the 24th century.

[JD]

I would be interested in seeing some first contact stories for some of the major races, like the Trill, the Betazoids, Bolians, Catians, ect.

[Christopher]

TJ Sinclair wrote:

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Really, I'd love to see some more "Second 5-Year Mission" stories again. The era between TMP and TWOK. It's been quite a few years since we've had any....

No, it hasn't. The second half of DTI: Forgotten History, which came out only 9 months ago, is set in the post-TMP era.

[Deranged Nasat]

JD wrote:

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I would be interested in seeing some first contact stories for some of the major races, like the Trill, the Betazoids, Bolians, Catians, ect.

Agreed. There's great potential for interesting exploration/diplomacy stories centred on worlds that will go on to join the Federation. The fact that these would be cultures with a confirmed future role to play, rather than random planets-of-the-week, would add greater significance to the proceedings, and it would be a chance to really flesh out some of these races.

How much do we really know about Saurians, or Grazerites, or Arkenites? Only scattered tidbits. And a political piece detailing the untold story behind Betazed or Efros' entry into the UFP would be fascinating.

After Rise of the Federation explores the earliest years, I hope we'll see novels - or even a series - about the blossoming of the Federation and its swift expansion. When we "last" saw the Federation it was a fledgling nation with five member states, when we "next" see it in the mid-23rd century it has about a hundred members, some quite exotic. I'd love to have some of the stories told, especially as it would satisfy both those wishing to see more "pure" Trekkian tales (exploration, discovery, new worlds) and continuity fans (who would get to see the history of established planets developed further). In fact, such stories would be a great way to satisfy fans of continuity without bogging the novel down in the minutiae, making it easily accessible to casual readers also.

Can you tell I'm enthusiastic?

Oh, and someone take us to Denobula, for goodness sake!

[TerraUnam]

Christopher wrote:

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I didn't have solid plans, but I thought it would be cool to organize a multi-author collaboration, sort of a cross between how Mere Anarchy and Vanguard were done. A series of books spanning the whole era and covering major events in that time, from early human-Vulcan relations to the founding of the first human colonies and the rise of the Space Boomers to the Warp 5 Project. But I never actually talked to anyone else about it -- I thought I should float it with the editor first and see if there was any prospect for it before I got anyone else involved.

But it would've been difficult to pull off, and wouldn't have felt too much like Trek, because we couldn't really have used that many aliens -- Vulcans mostly, plus maybe Denobulans and Draylaxians at some point -- and the technology would've been a lot less advanced. It would've felt more like an original near-future SF series than a Trek series -- which would've been an interesting challenge for me creatively, but probably not an easy sell for Trek readers. In retrospect, though, it's more fun to do something like Rise of the Federation where I've got a lot of aliens and interstellar politics and such to play with. And it might give me the opportunity to explore the pre-ENT period in retrospect, at least to some degree.

I always think of it as the "Great 98", 2063-2161, First Contact to the Federation. I always wanted to see how United Earth managed to pull itself together. Some notions crossed my mind as Earth pulls itself up by the bootstraps.

I was born in 1982 so I'd be 81 in 2063 at First Contact and therefore could be around chronologically. Zeframe Cochrane would be my niece's generation; she's 20 months old.

I did the math in the movie theatre when I saw First Contact and it gave me a kick.

[TJ Sinclair]

Christopher wrote:

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No, it hasn't. The second half of DTI: Forgotten History, which came out only 9 months ago, is set in the post-TMP era.

But dealing with time travel, alternate timelines and stuff. I'd just like to see a straightforward "Second 5-year mission" tale. A little exploration, a little first contact, with a threat that isn't quadrant- or galaxy-spanning.

Is that too much to ask?

[Solarbaby]

USS Einstein wrote:

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Star Trek should be creative and awe inspiring - we might as well have wormhole-drives and exploration of other galaxies.

My thoughts exactly. I felt the only way to push the trek universe forwards was to do just this. I doubt a series on TV with a new crew could be sustained with interesting stories about exploring our own galaxy, as it has been done so much, very well and sometimes ridiculously. Either do the new galaxy concept or take the emphasis of exploration away and replace it with something as compelling. Such as the drama of BSG.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

USS Einstein wrote:

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WWIII would never be done justice, and is so close to our time, that any claims would likely insult someone or another - hence why screenwriters also probably kept it as nebulous as possible, only dropping hints about it's nature

That would explain why the term "Eastern Coalition" was invented. Whenever the ECON was mentioned in ST:FC, it was supposed to be China. They changed it at the last minute.

In any case, they could always invent similar names like that for other groups of nations. Isn't that what The Sundered did?

That being said, I have heard that a particularly excellent TBBS fanfic, First Contact: The Iron Horse was to be expanded into a full length actual novel. I don't know if they are still planning that, but I dearly hope so.

You can look it up.

[TJ Sinclair]

Uhm, guys... it's kinda not cool to post links to fanfic in here... For the writers' and editors' sake, please don't.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Why the hell not?

I mean, I was posting a link to a TrekBBS thread (in the Fan Fiction forum) into another TrekBBS thread (here). Seems pretty harmless!

Everyone, you should really check Iron Horse out, BTW. Think "Star Trek meets Damnation Alley", but without any killer cockroaches.

[ATimson]

Greg Cox wrote:

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There's a reason that "STAR TREK" is printed in big type on the front covers--to attract fans of the movies and TV shows!

You'd think they'd want to use the movie or TV show logos, instead of the ugly lump that the 24th century novels have been saddled with for the last few years.