Are you apprehensive about the new series?

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by ryan123450, Nov 2, 2015.

  1. dansigal

    dansigal Captain Captain

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    I think this is really really unlikely. It's not like CBS is putting the new series on All Access because it thinks its the best way for the series to make money, and maybe a better way will come around. It's the opposite. CBS views the new series as the best way to launch All Access.
     
  2. trampledamage

    trampledamage Clone Admiral

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  3. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yup. And in the '70s, Star Trek Phase II was going to be the anchor for a fourth network run by Paramount, until those plans fell through and it was reworked into ST:TMP. It's a recurring pattern.
     
  4. trampledamage

    trampledamage Clone Admiral

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    Okay - I scrolled through my unread threads and manage to miss that this was also about the new TV series. I will merge our two trek lit threads :)
     
  5. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    The thing that just occurred to me is that I'm disappointed that Bryan Fuller was just recently announced to be developing an Amazing Stories revival, because I know he's expressed an interest in reviving Trek for TV in the past, and he would've been an interesting showrunner for it.
     
  6. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Except, in a very real way, it really is up to them. For good or ill, Time Warner and Verizon are monopolies, and they have, in the past, fought tooth and nail to maintain their monopolies and stifle competition. (Which is why they're opposed to things like Net Neutrality and regulating broadband access as a public utility.) If Google were to ever seriously threaten their monopoly, I have no doubt that Time Warner and Verizon would fight it out in the courts and the legislatures.
     
  7. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Even if the new series would be set in the Prime universe, couldn't the novels continue by saying, "We are adhering to canon, we're just in a slightly different timeline."? Basically, all of TrekLit would become one particular strand of Myriad Universes.

    I don't care about canonicity as long as the material is licensed. I love my TrekLit, STO, Trexels, The Spectrum War etc. I don't want to see their production stopped for the sake of a few hours of screen entertainment. Specifically, think of VOY ending right in the middle of a storyline.

    But whatever the result, I'll embrace every licensed iteration of Trek. Here's to Star Trek: Series VII.
     
  8. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    There are a number of precedents of exactly that kind of thing happening - TrekLit's 80s continuity when Next Generation came out, the recent Disney Star Wars nullifying the prior EU, the new Doctor Who causing the long, epic 8th Doctor novels to come to a close, etc.

    I mean, of course I'll read and enjoy whatever Trek there is, I have been a fan my whole life, but while it is too early to know for sure, it's certainly a real possibility that the current LitVerse is basically all overwritten.
     
  9. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    But you're missing the big question: How will that affect the AMAZING STORIES magazine? :)

    (I'm only half-joking. I made some of my first professional sales to AMAZING back in the day and have a nostalgic fondness for the magazine. It would be nice if a new TV show gave it a boost.)
     
  10. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    No, because no matter the form it takes the purpose of Treklit is to promote the franchise. Unless CBS decides to take a sudden reversal on things (which would be very surprising and out of character), Treklit's always subsidiary to screen Trek. They wouldn't allow the book line to do that.
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Not as their primary strand, surely. The purpose of tie-in novels is to tie in, to support and supplement the core work and follow its lead. If the onscreen Prime universe went in a direction incompatible with the novels, then that would have to become the main thrust of the novels, because that's what makes sense from the standpoint of drawing the interest of the new show's audience. If the current continuity survived, it might have to be as an occasional sideline of some sort, more a niche-market sort of thing.
     
  12. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Heck, I'm perversely proud of having overwritten one of my own Underworld novels in order to keep current with the ever-evolving movie continuity.

    It's bound to happen any time you're writing tie-in books based on a franchise that is still a going concern--or might become a going concern again.
     
  13. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    To be fair, he's basically asking "what if they weren't tie-in novels anymore?" Though that would never happen anyway; I can't think of any time a tie-in line was converted into a parallel continuity in any franchise.

    Except maybe the Stargate-the-movie novels if you squint.
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Then they wouldn't be called Star Trek or be set in the universe or use any of its characters. The category isn't about continuity, it's about the fact that the work is adapting a property that belongs to someone else. The preference for supporting the existing continuity is a consequence of that, not the basis for the definition.
     
  15. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    It's not the case that all works in a given franchise must be either mainline or tie-in. That's the format many franchises use, but certainly not all of them. There are franchises that instead just have parallel active continuities that support one another thematically rather than some tieing into a central core.

    Markonian was wondering if Star Trek could transition into this style of franchise. Which it couldn't, yeah. But that's what he was wondering.
     
  16. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    As we currently know squat about this new show it's too early to worry about what impact if any they can have on the novels as we don't know which era or timeline it's set in. In fact, I'd put slim chances on it being in the 24th century of the Prime Universe. The most likely scenarios I see are:

    -Abramsverse
    -New Timeline
    -Prime Universe 25th century (or later).

    None of which will have any real impact any of Pocket's current line, although the 24th century stuff might have to be a bit more careful about gamechangers. Really, the most significant change would be Pocket having to make room in the schedule to accommodate novels related to the new show, but even that should be minimal. For example, while Enterprise was on the air were there ever more than two Enterprise novels a year published (excluding novelizations)?

    But even if it is set in the Prime Universe in the 24th century and overrides Pocket's continuity, it should come as a shock to no one. Yeah, it'll suck but the truth of the matter is we all knew this day could come. So, I hope that if this does indeed happen, Trek fandom can take it with a bit more dignity than Star Wars fandom took the loss of the EU last year.
     
  17. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    The books in the current novel-verse continuity are the only Trek books I buy and are the only Trek books I have any desire to buy. They're the only real Star Trek left.
     
  18. Idran

    Idran Commodore Commodore

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    That wasn't because of schedule troubles as far as I know, it's because the novelists kept accidentally treading ground that the show itself ended up treading after the novels were written but before they were published.
     
  19. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    If I had to guess, I'd guess that the chance that the new show is going to be set in the prime timeline would be exceedingly slim.

    So, apprehensive? No, not right now. Right now I'm still shocked from this surprise news, and I'm more excited then anything else. Do I want the novelverse "wiped out"? No way! But at the moment, my head is still stuck at "OMG, NEW STAR TREK SHOW! :D"

    (And since I'm not in the US, there's still a small chance that I may actually get to watch it on actual TV... ;))
     
  20. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That only happened once as I recall, the novel Surak's Soul which is very similar to the episode The Seventh. In fact, there was only a small handful of months between when the episode (November 2002) aired and the novel published (March 2003).

    Although, I guess there were problems maintaining continuity between them. The second original Enterprise novel involves the first death of a crewmember on the ship, when in fact no one died on the ship in the show until season 3.