Look at Titan. That's about as episodic a novel series as there is in the 24th-century novelverse, yet there are evolving character arcs and several novels in the series have ended with characters leaving, starting new relationships, or going through other major changes.
And Titan hits at the core of what Star Trek is all about: seeking out strange new worlds, etc. This Seekers sounds like it will be in a similar vein. I can't wait!
I agree with both of you, although I frankly hope that Seekers is a bit more even in its quality than Titan. And for my tastes, Titan's "episodes" tended to be a bit longer than was able to hold my interest.* If Seekers found a way to have more adventures in each story, that would be okay with me. (Hopefully that made some sense...) *Well, that's not quite true. They held my interest, but they sometimes left me frustrated because they didn't "feel" like television episodes; every Titan novel could easy have filled up six or even a dozen live action episodes.
Good point. And, honestly, it was only the most recent two that "dragged down the average," so to speak, of the series significantly.
But isn't it kind of the whole point of doing the novels things they can't do on TV, like telling bigger, more complex stories?
I'm not sure I would describe the point of novels as being exclusively to do things they can't on TV, though I understand where you're coming from. I think there was more reason to do that when Trek was on TV, but since it's not right now, and won't be for the foreseeable future, I think it would be okay for the novels to occasionally be more like TV Trek. And there are still ways to have the novels do what couldn't be done on TV without necessarily telling bigger, more complex stories. Do more detailed worldbuilding for away missions. Have nonhumanoid aliens. Depict alien cultures that would never be aired on American television. "Let us redefine progress to mean that simply because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily mean that we must do that thing."
Seekers sounds like an awesome idea. Especially as when doing the "new planets" thing it allows many more perspectives than a typical episode. The detail fetishist in me really really wants to see this series bible, though.
But, of course, the real question is: Do they find Natalie Wood or not? And where does Jeff Hunter fit in?
When I think "Seeker," I think of the boxy but sleek runabout-type ships they used in Filmation's Space Academy: http://www.smallartworks.ca/PS/OtherKits/SeekerPage/SeekerPage.html