Basically! One of the very first Forge books, btw, was Seven Steps to Midnight by Richard Matheson, which we published as a mainstream thriller rather than horror. I remember that there was a Tower Books in NYC that automatically shelved anything with "Tor" on the spine in the sf section, including murder mysteries, historical romances, westerns, you name it. Used to drive me nuts . . . Hence, the need for Forge.
I've always wondered, when you write the back cover blurb, do you actually get to read the whole book, or just a more detailed synopsis?
Depends. On media tie-in books, back in the day, I often just read the outlines, since I already knew the characters, universe, etc. For original novels from Tor or Nightshade or Ace or whomever, I'm usually sent a draft of the ms.--which I may or may not read in its entirety, I'll often read the first 100 pages closely, to get the general idea and tone, then skim the rest, depending on how complicated the plot is and how quickly it takes me to figure out what the main selling point of the book is. Thrillers tend to be the easiest, since the basic premise is usually laid out early on. "Terrorists have kidnapped the First Lady . . . and only special agent Marc Uzi can save her!" Multi-generational family sagas, on the other hand, take forever to get a handle on. ("So who is the main character here? The mother? The daughter? The grand-daughter? I'm lost. . ..") On rare occasions, I've been asked to whip something up out of nothing but a vague description, but that's the exception to the rule. "Special operatives Jim Smith and Caitlin O'Rourke have faced many challenges, but nothing like the harrowing mission before them now--which will test their courage and ingenuity to the limit!"
Will this novel by chance reference The Final Frontier and try to logically retcon some of the implausibilities in the movie?
^Dayton Ward's debut novel In the Name of Honor is set right after TFF and does some of that, I think. But the span between TFF and TUC is several years long. There's no reason why every adventure set there should have to reference that single movie.
While I'm sure something from the movie will be referenced, but probably just a throw-away line. "Oh you mean like last year with Sybok" sort of thing. One should keep in mind the novel is just set after the movie. It is not meant to be a "correction" of the movie like The Good That Men Do was for TATV.
Personally, I'm hoping more for offhand references here and there to the Volume 2 DC Comics stories (which are set in the very same timeframe as this novel) as much as anything from the preceding movies. As Christopher pointed out, the timespan is pretty large between TFF and TUC, and there's lots of room for many tales to occur there.
I wouldn't hold my breath there either. Greg Cox's novels usually tend to be accessible to everyone with references usually just to the shows and movies. His novels usually aren't connected to any novel continuity, and I don't think any of his novels reference the novel continuity either. Even No Time Like the Past's 24th century portion is set during the run of a TV series, making it the first 24th century novel in a while to not be connected in some way to the novel continuity. Although, that novel did feature a subtle reference to another of Greg's TOS novels, The Weight of Worlds.
^The Rings of Time made a passing reference to DTI: Forgotten History, and vice-versa. Easter-egg nods don't have to make a work inaccessible; if they're subtle enough, they won't even seem like references except to those who recognize them.
Yeah, Easter-egg type stuff is pretty much what I was thinking of, there, as opposed to massive asides concerning stories that many readers wouldn't necessarily have been exposed to. Just tiny, unobtrusive, little touches to acknowledge that those stories happened (without derailing anything in the main plot). Makes it all feel like part of a greater, unified whole.
Well No Time Like the Past does also reference Yesterday's Son, a first for 21st century novels I think.
That's pretty much it, as far as TFF goes. There's some throwaway references to "that business with Sybok," etc, but this is not really a follow-up to TFF. To be honest, it's much more of a loose sequel to "Conscience of the King," twenty years after the fact. (Sorry not to respond earlier, btw. I've been traveling and visiting family, so I've been off-line for awhile.)
you are correct. i just received my copy yesterday. the historian's note reads: "the events in this narrative take place in 2273, only months prior to earth being threatened by the massive machine life-form known as v'ger." the tough part for me (and organizing my bookshelf!) is does serpents take place before or after recovery? the fiction companion timeline from 2006 says recovery happens "just weeks" before TMP, but places it in 2272, and TMP in 2273. from what i've read of the book so far (about 2/3 through), the narrative suggest after recovery.
i just received my copy yesterday. the historian's note reads: "the events in this narrative take place in 2273, only months prior to earth being threatened by the massive machine life-form known as v'ger."