How do you read a Star Trek novel?

[Lt. Tyler]

Hi everyone. I was curious. When reading say a the TOS novel for instance, do you guys normally picture the actors and have say Shatner's or Nimoy's voice in your head when reading their lines in a novel or do you just read the story with no actor or actresses voices in your head. It may be a weird question to ask but I hope it makes sense to some of you. I have tried in the past reading a book as if it were an original series episode and the actors and their portrayal of the characters do not seem to translate into some of the novels out there.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yes, I imagine the actors while reading a novel.

 

[Tuskin38]

I actually didn't start reading any TOS novels until after the JJ movies, so I had to go rewatch some TOS to get the voices straight.

 

[20fridge]

I usually picture and hear the actors/actresses. I admit there are some TOS novels where the author writes the characters far enough out of character that I can't "hear" them, but it has to be really bad for that to be a problem.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I imagine it all in my head. Even the warp-jumps (using the new effects, LOL)

I actually didn't start reading any TOS novels until after the JJ movies, so I had to go rewatch some TOS to get the voices straight.

I read Shatner's Star Trek Academy: Collision Course novel right after seeing the '09 movie, I imagined all the (then) new actors in the roles. It was a perfect fit.

 

[Starbreaker]

I definitely imagine the established actors in the role. If there's a character from an episode I haven't seen in a while, I'll normally go back and watch that episode after I finish and go "oh, that's what they were like!" New characters, I'm free to imagine however I want, obviously.

 

[Christopher]

I usually imagine the established actors, but lately I tend to imagine Bruce Greenwood as Pike even when reading a Prime Universe novel. He was just so much better in the role.

Also, a while back I was re-reading The Three-Minute Universe from 1988, and I realized that, while its dialogue style didn't feel quite right for the TOS cast, it was a nearly perfect fit for the current movie cast, although it didn't quite fit the movie continuity (no Spock/Uhura relationship, of course).

 

[Tirius]

I tend to picture everything in my head too. In fact, if I fail to do so... that's probably a sign of a book I'll end up disliking for poor characterization. "Hearing" the characters talk as we would expect from the show (or from previous books if they're lit-only) to me means the author understands his/her characters.

For the lit-only characters, I tend to form a picture of them in my head too, though I do revise that the moment they appear on a cover. For characters with multiple actors or different appearances (such as the German cover images) I tend to just go with the one I like best, usually also the original version.

 

[Greg Cox]

Not quite the same thing, but, growing up, I always imagined Vincent Price's voice when reading Poe . . . .

 

[Jinn]

I imagine it all in my head. Even the warp-jumps (using the new effects, LOL)

I imagine everything in 480 pixels

 

[Reanok]

Yes I do imagine the actors when I read the different series of Star Trek books.

 

[Stevil2001]

I do sometimes but not others. It depends on the author. Diane Duane and Barbara Hambly are writers who I think are great at capturing the characters of the original crew, but not particularly interested in aping their television dialogue patterns. And that's fine by me, they should play to the strengths of the novel as a medium. Things like The Wounded Sky and Crossroads capture how Kirk thinks, and that's what matters.

There are some writers who are really good at evoking the actors but who then tend to fall flat with original characters: when there's no actor to mimic (or they're mimicking an actor, but you don't know who it is, because they've done some mental casting), it reveals there's no there there.

When Una McCormack writes, though, you get the best of both worlds.

 

[Kilana2]

I read Star Trek novels with the actors in my head, but with the German voice-actors as I usually watch the shows in German.

As to lit-only characters: the characterization is successful if I have a firm picture in my mind. Some characters I have difficulties to picture, though. Therefore I like the "Picture the novelverse" thread to get a fresh perspective on things.

 

[Admiral Rex]

I picture the actors when reading Trek books, although a few times, I've pictured the actors from the JJverse if the story takes place before the 5 year mission. When reading The Autobiography of James Kirk, I pictured Chris Pine as Kirk and then shifted to William Shatner in the later years. It wasn't a conscience decision. It just happened that way.

When I read The Tears of the Singers a few years ago, it was the first time I purposely pictured the JJverse actors going into it. I wanted to see if the new actors would work for me for a novel that was written in 1984 with the intention of using the original actors' portrayals. It really did work well and made the story feel like a new JJverse novel, especially having Zoe Saldana as Uhura who is very prominent in the book.

 

[Christopher]

Along similar lines: When I wrote my cancelled Abramsverse novel Seek a Newer World, I wrote it with the new cast's voices in mind, but when I did my revised draft, I imagined it with the original cast's voices, since I wanted to write something that would work either way. (In terms of mental casting, that is -- the story could only have happened in the Abramsverse.) After all, in the 2009 movie, Spock Prime recognizes Kirk and Scott on sight, so in-universe, they're the same people; we just see them portrayed by different actors in different works, like Saavik or Tora Ziyal. So in theory, you could read an Abramsverse novel and imagine Shatner, Nimoy, etc. in the roles, or read a Prime Universe novel and imagine Pine, Quinto, etc. in the roles. Or even mix the two casts, pick and choose your favorites from each one.

 

[JD]

I always have some kind of mental image of all of the characters in the books, both on screen characters and new characters. I always picture the actors for the on screen characters, and I try to pick actors for the new characters. I've actually put together my own cast lists for each series, with both the original actors for the screen characters and my picks for the new ones.

 

[bfollowell]

Along similar lines: When I wrote my cancelled Abramsverse novel Seek a Newer World, I wrote it with the new cast's voices in mind

Speaking of which, has there been any news on this several year-old front? Any firm answers as to why these were cancelled or whether or not they're likely to ever see the light of day?

 

[Jinn]

I always imagined Si Cwan talking with the German voice of Teal'c and zak Kabron as the Thing from the best animated show Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (Not to be confused with Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes. Mavrel really needs to find more creative names for its children cartoon series.)

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

It occasionally happens spontaneously. On the one hand, it's rather pleasant; on the other hand, it tends to slow one down a bit (not always a bad thing).

At the other extreme, I occasionally find things that throw me completely out of the story. Usually in-jokes. Occasionally good enough to be worth being thrown out of the story.

For some reason, the phrase, "Spock Uhura Relationship" in this thread rather abruptly brought to mind something from TrekLit that involved a transporter accident transposing Kirk, Spock, Sulu, and Uhura's minds into each other's bodies. Can't recall exactly what it was; might have been from one of the last four "Star Trek Log" novelizations. I think Klingons were involved.

 

[Christopher]

Speaking of which, has there been any news on this several year-old front? Any firm answers as to why these were cancelled or whether or not they're likely to ever see the light of day?

There's nothing more to say that hasn't been said already, really. They're defunct, although there's nothing to stop their authors from cannibalizing their ideas for other works. It's been six years, and we've all moved on.

For some reason, the phrase, "Spock Uhura Relationship" in this thread rather abruptly brought to mind something from TrekLit that involved a transporter accident transposing Kirk, Spock, Sulu, and Uhura's minds into each other's bodies. Can't recall exactly what it was; might have been from one of the last four "Star Trek Log" novelizations. I think Klingons were involved.

That was the last of the three distinct sub-stories that Alan Dean Foster added to the adaptation of "The Slaver Weapon" in Log Ten. It was the second appearance of Kirk's Klingon rival Commander Kumara, whom Foster had introduced in Log Seven.