I sit in front of my computer giving some thought to something about the Star Trek novels that has been seeded and grown in the back of my mind for some time now. Having finished Brinkmanship recently, it sorta brought into focus what Ive been batting around. Dont get me wrong, I am a fan of the interconnected ongoing storyline we've been given over the past handful of years, continuing the the Star Trek series. However I share Picard and Ezri Dax's frustration in Brinkmanship. There is this huge, political, war driven juggernaut set firmly on its path which a small part of me cant help but feel is taking the franchise away from its core. Remember the feeling you shared with Picard at the end of Encounter at Farpoint, "Lets see whats out there." Yes we have Titan, which while takes the crew to unknown space, is still tied to the storyline back home. Im about to start "Fallen Gods" and I wince a little because already before page 1 the reader is set up for "How does the Andorians leaving the Federation impact Riker and the crew" The previous Titan novel was a Typhon Pact book with the Gorn, and while I enjoyed it, I was personally more excited about the new story ahead for Tuvok's character based on his experiences and their results/consequences to him. I get it, I understand that a book with Picard, Sisko or Spock will sell off the shelf better than some guy in a Starfleet uniform but I really feel like we need a brand new crew, removed from the larger picture to provide all new stories. To boldy go where no one has gone before Seeking out new life and new civilizations. Staying inverse, some of the plots and characters are becoming stale because its inevitable that there is a question as to what to do with them. Geordi became Captain in "Indistinguishable From Magic" and then chose to step down because the Enterprise doesnt need 2 Captains in "Plagues of Night/Raise the Dawn" Thats a huge step forward and a giant fall back on your ass move. Beverly is left furious with her part in Brinkmanship (as she should be) and personally even though it would suck a little, I really think the next move with her would be to say, "You know what, Im a mother to Rene now, living on the Enterprise in a hostile tense atmosphere created by the Typhon Pact situation all the while letting my personal career wilt and become stagnant is not the best thing for me." But therein lies the problem, because Picard is the Captain and nobody wants to see him settle down in France and make wine or even go to Earth as an Admiral. Their family scenario would have worked well in season 7 of the show on the Galaxy Class exploration ship Enterprise. So what to do with her, we already have the struggles of relationship with officers going on with Sisko and Kasidy so that doesnt need to be rehashed here and honestly wouldnt be as believable with Picard and Crusher as Sisko had specific reasons for his part in that story that from his perspective and plot points prior were justifiable. I really dont know if the New Frontier series works anymore, PAD has a following that will buy and read his books and the series does have its fans (I enjoy it) but there is a disconnect between it and the others that just makes it feel like a square in a triangle hole. Because there is an underlying attempt to pull it into the overall story. So while New Frontier may not be the solution to what Im talking about (though Id like a closure novel at least) it does offer at least step in the direction I feel Star Trek needs to go. I will gladly buy and read the Typhone Pact novels Im a fan of the characters and want to know what happens to them. I just think there is a lot more Star Trek can offer. I almost think the books need to make a jump and get a Next Generation treatment for them.
Kirsten Beyer's Voyager books are all about exploring and meeting new life. Other than Voyager's mission spinning off from Destiny, there is no link to the Typhon Pact or space politics.
Also, the 24th-century stuff is only one part of Pocket's ST output. There are still plenty of standalone TOS adventures on the schedule, plus my upcoming Rise of the Federation about the formative years of the UFP.
I feel similar about all the TP astral-political books lately. Don't get me wrong i like reading them but the best books recently have been the ones that have been different and taken us somewhere new like IFM and DTI. I just hope we continue to have a mix of 24C storylines.
I think with the number of TV episodes and earlier novels there's been more than enough exploration. Its the political stuff that's really interesting me these days. Plus there are enough exploration novels with Titan and Voyager at the moment without TNG going down the same route...
I'd prefer TNG exploration myself, because picard is far more interesting as an explorer then riker or chakotay More then enough exploration? There'll never be "enough" exploration. "Risk is our business" "Let's see what's out there" etc etc
Yes, but how many Planet of the Week stories can you do without them starting to feel repetitive? I'm more interested in exploring the cultures we already know in greater depth. In seeing how they live with each other, not just seeing them as a Planet of Hats with a Crisis of the Week that gets resolved by a single starship showing the flag.
Well tons, because you can do a lot more then "Planet of the Week" with exploration. Not that I'm saying every book should be exploration, do note I was replying to someone who was suggesting we didn't really need many exploration books. I've been a bit burnt by that with all the godawful andor based books, but yeah, they can be a lot of fun(lotus flower & a stitch in time sping instantly to mind). Just saying that exploration is what I look forward to the most, and kirk and picard are far and away my favourite captains to be doing it.
I've generally enjoyed the books recently but yes I do feel the political/espionage/military stuff has been a bit too much at times. My main issue is that almost all of it is happening to the Enterprise crew so it does start to feel a little repetitive even when its happening in what are overall very entertaining books like Mack's two recent ones. Yes I know Voyager and Titan have more of an exploration feel but it would be nice for the Enterprise and its crew to have those type of stories occasionally as well. In the same way that that the 4 book explore the Gamma Quadrant DS9 series of what 5+ years back was so refreshing because it was so rare for that crew to have that type of story.
Exploration's never been that important to me. It doesn't matter to me where they go or what strange new stuff they encounter, it's how the characters are affected by whatever situation in which they find themselves that does. You don't need (as Sci put it) a Planet of Hats with a Crisis of the Week for that.
This feels akin to the seeming schism between fans of different aspects of the franchise: between the exploration style Trek of TNG & Voy, and the more stationary, more realpolitik-focused style of DS9.
I like both approaches, but the politics side seems to be a little heavy in the 24th century books. I miss Picard as an explorer because it was something he was clearly passionate about.
There's been nothing to indicate that Picard has lost his love of exploration, nothing I've seen in either the live-action or books.
I know that. But that doesn't mean it can't or won't happen (it probably won't, most fans don't like change ).
While I do enjoy the exploration stories, I'm more interested in stories that deal more with the Federation, and build up the major races. We got plenty of strange new worlds on TV, I'm glad the books are exploring familiar, old worlds.
Going too far in any 1 direction is the issue, for a time everything was all a bit TP/Cold War heavy. Like i said earlier as long as we have a good mix thats all good.
I think it only seems that way because we're in the middle of a lot of TP-related books being released. Remember, over a year went by between the publication of Paths of Disharmony and the release of Plagues of Night. You need to take a longer view than just the immediate couple of months.