Looking for Advice on a List of Old Trek Books

[Therin of Andor]

If Arnold had a problem with that, I bet the stuff established in the DS9R would have made his head explode, although that would of most of the recent post-series books.

Yep. Richard will always defend his actions as he was carrying out GR's wishes, but the Star Trek Office took a dislike to the tie-in writers inventing any new Trek lore, which stymies so many stories. I recall when RA first started doing conventions as a STO representative, there was the story of the convention flier which called their Guest of Honor, Diane Duane, "the creator of the Rihannsu". The flier turned up in the STO at Paramount and GR was livid. Not Diane Duane's fault, of course; she wasn't running around calling herself "the creator", and her reasoning in the novels was so she could give layers of meaning to the Romulus/Remus analogy set up by the show. This was around the same time as Paramount discovered that Franz Joseph had signed a contract that seeming gave him ownership of certain designs and concepts in the "Star Trek Technical Manual", allowing Joseph to license out the designs for "Star Fleet Battles", the roleplaying game (but then known as a "war game"), and Paramount was powerless to prevent Trek being taken in directions beyond GR's "vision".

RA's influence on the tie-ins' manuscripts ended when GR passed away, although he did go freelance as an advisor to other companies seeking to obtain licenses for Star Trek products. But yeah, I'm sure he'd have hated the open endings put onto DS9 and VOY as those TV series ended.

 

[Tracy Trek]

Was it Richard Arnold or someone else that put a stop to novels that focused on original characters other than the main characters? Not that the main characters were not focused on. Or maybe it was re-using original characters from other novels.

I read (maybe on Wikipedia), that a sequel was planned for the novel Uhura's Song by Jean Kagan which would once again feature the character who called herself Evan Wilson. Maybe subsequent books would have revealed her true identity. But for some reason, Pocket Books didn't take it. It's too bad, she was an interesting character and a favorite Trek Lit. character to some fans.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Was it Richard Arnold or someone else that put a stop to novels that focused on original characters other than the main characters? Not that the main characters were not focused on. Or maybe it was re-using original characters from other novels.

Yep. Part of the decree that came out on a Star Trek Office memo in 1987 was that the licensed tie-ins concentrate on "the big seven" (as Richard called them at conventions) of TOS and "the big eight" of TNG, with no regular continuing original characters. And yes, as a result of that memo, Arex and M'ress, Bryce & Konom, Bernie, and Sherwood and Bearclaw all had to disappear from the TOS-movie era Series II stories at DC Comics, and the Bickleys from TNG. Shared original-to-novels characters, such as Ingrit Tomson, Naraht the horta and Mahase the Eseriat could no longer recur.

Jean Kagan which would once again feature the character who called herself Evan Wilson. Maybe subsequent books would have revealed her true identity. But for some reason, Pocket Books didn't take it. It's too bad, she was an interesting character and a favorite Trek Lit. character to some fans.

Janet Kagan. Evan was based on Janet's mother, she once told me in an email. (I always thought she was based on Bjo Trimble, but Janet didn't know Bjo at the time.)

 

[Tracy Trek]

Janet Kagan. Evan was based on Janet's mother, she once told me in an email. (I always thought she was based on Bjo Trimble, but Janet didn't know Bjo at the time.)

Wasn't that rule later repealed? The one that said only main characters could be focused on.

I also read that A.C. Crispin wrote another Yesterday novel featuring Zar, but could not get it published before she passed away. Zar was also a favorite Trek Lit. character for me. As well as Evan also known as TailKinker, Jinx and Brightspot from Uhura's Song.

 

[Christopher]

Wasn't that rule later repealed? The one that said only main characters could be focused on.

Of course -- otherwise there never would've been New Frontier or S.C.E. or any of the other book-original series. Richard Arnold was kicked out of Paramount the day after Roddenberry died, and his policies ceased to carry any weight.

 

[Stevil2001]

And yes, as a result of that memo, [...] the Bickleys [disappeared] from TNG.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Thank God.

 

[Idran]

Every cloud has a silver lining. Thank God.

It's been forever since I read any early TNG books; who were the Bickleys? The name isn't familiar.

 

[Christopher]

It's been forever since I read any early TNG books; who were the Bickleys? The name isn't familiar.

They were in the initial 6-issue DC Comics TNG miniseries by Mike Carlin -- relief conn and ops officers who were a married couple that argued incessantly, based on an old radio comedy series called The Bickersons. For some reason, they wore variant Starfleet uniforms with capes.

 

[Stevil2001]

They were in the initial 6-issue DC Comics TNG miniseries by Mike Carlin -- relief conn and ops officers who were a married couple that argued incessantly, based on an old radio comedy series called The Bickersons. For some reason, they wore variant Starfleet uniforms with capes.

And the joke was not funny at all.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Every cloud has a silver lining. Thank God.

Speak for yourself, I'll buy any Treklit featuring a return of the Bickleys!

They were in the initial 6-issue DC Comics TNG miniseries by Mike Carlin -- relief conn and ops officers who were a married couple that argued incessantly, based on an old radio comedy series called The Bickersons. For some reason, they wore variant Starfleet uniforms with capes.

Drink it in

 

[Stevil2001]

...but why capes?

Mr. Bickley has got some legs.

 

[Christopher]

Oh, that's right. Not only capes, but bare legs, too. Wow.

And Pablo Marcos's art... ugh. He posed characters in such weird, stiff ways a lot of the time. There's this panel in the same issue where Riker and his away team are diving for cover when fired upon, and Riker is stretched out horizontally with an arm outthrust, like Superman in flight, except he's maybe a foot above the ground. He'd bruise a whole side of his body if he landed like that!

 

[Thrawn]

The capes are amazing.

 

[F. King Daniel]

25 years later, and still nobody has done a Bickley cosplay. Fandom has disappointed me.

 

[Avro Arrow]

...but why capes?

It's just Starfleet making allowances for cultural variations in its uniform code, like with Worf's baldric.

They're obviously from the Planet of the 1960s Superheroes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Wasn't that rule later repealed? The one that said only main characters could be focused on.

Richard Arnold's vetting of tie-in manuscripts ended with Roddenberry's death in September 1991. The first new book to have a TAS reference was the novelization of "Unification" (a namedrop of the Phylosians).

I also read that A.C. Crispin wrote another Yesterday novel featuring Zar, but could not get it published before she passed away.

The third Crispin "Zar" novel wasn't completed until much later, but Crispin's manuscript was shorter than contracted and running late (and thus out-of-contract) when received, and was supposed to be Part 1 of a new trilogy. Her commissioning editor had left years earlier and many things about Trek novels had evolved at Pocket in the intervening years.

25 years later, and still nobody has done a Bickley cosplay.

Almost did.

Loved the Bickleys, mainly 'cos so many people hated them.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It hurts that somewhere there's a Zar novel collecting cyber-dust.

if it's too short for a novel, I wonder if they could publish it as an e-novella?

 

[Tracy Trek]

It hurts that somewhere there's a Zar novel collecting cyber-dust.

if it's too short for a novel, I wonder if they could publish it as an e-novella?

Might there not be legal issues with that since the author has passed away?

 

[tomswift2002]

Oh, that's right. Not only capes, but bare legs, too. Wow.

And Pablo Marcos's art... ugh. He posed characters in such weird, stiff ways a lot of the time. There's this panel in the same issue where Riker and his away team are diving for cover when fired upon, and Riker is stretched out horizontally with an arm outthrust, like Superman in flight, except he's maybe a foot above the ground. He'd bruise a whole side of his body if he landed like that!

I wonder if those uniforms were suppose to be the mini-skirt uniforms that we saw both men and women wearing in Season 1 of TNG. But what's with the super hero look?

 

[Therin of Andor]

It hurts that somewhere there's a Zar novel collecting cyber-dust.
if it's too short for a novel, I wonder if they could publish it as an e-novella?

It ends in a cliffhanger, and was supposed to be Part 1 of a trilogy.

I wonder if those uniforms were suppose to be the mini-skirt uniforms that we saw both men and women wearing in Season 1 of TNG. But what's with the super hero look?

No, it was simply another version of the uniform, from the imagination of the artist. And the half-capes were possibly inspired from Sulu's cape in ST IV. They were supposed to be representative of the Bickleys' colony world's culture, similar to Worf's sash, Ilia's Deltan collar (on her leisure robe), Spock's Vulcan collar (under his uniform in TMP) and (later) Ensign Ro's earring.