Feeling nostalgic, I want the crews back where they belong. give me a book from TNG DS9 and VGR that take place during the series that are actually good.
I want to go home again...
- Thread starter Chancellor M'rek
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I'll admit, I'm not opposed to a novel set in the TV series timeframe, indeed a few years ago when No Time Like the Past was out, getting TV series era Voyager was kind of a welcome treat, as brief as it was.
While I understand and agree with the reasoning why everything has gone into story arcs post finale/Nemesis, I don't think it would cause too much of a disruption to do one TV series era novel a year for one of the 24th century shows. At the very least, this is a totally legitimate option while the whole 2387 thing looks like a shadow over the novel continuity.
While I understand and agree with the reasoning why everything has gone into story arcs post finale/Nemesis, I don't think it would cause too much of a disruption to do one TV series era novel a year for one of the 24th century shows. At the very least, this is a totally legitimate option while the whole 2387 thing looks like a shadow over the novel continuity.
I wouldn't call it a legitimate option as there doesn't seem to be an actual problem. The books and storyline will move on, "we" just will not bare witness to what actually happened to Romulus, it'll just get mentioned in passing just like the other times things in Trek 09 have been mentioned in the last eight years.
Of course, having a story set during the timeframes of the TV programmes is a good idea.
My biggest issue with novels set during the show, is that a lot of the drama is gone for me because none of the events can have a lasting effect. And that's why I love all the post-series novels. The events from Control? Damn..... That's gonna change so must. And I love that. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but for me, that's more interesting than Riker going through some stuff during a novel, but knowing he was chipper and fine in the episode the novel is set just before, it takes me out of whatever is happening to him. There have been a few exceptions of course, and I wouldn't mind a novel or two set during one of the shows. But the Star Trek Univese is so much bigger than the years 2266/2269 and 2364 through 2377 and three ships plus a station.
Of course another interesting idea would be another Vanguard or Seekers type novels that cover stuff that went on on other ships or starbases or whatever during the TV series eras.
Oh yes, I'm all for that, really!
Actually, if you read Voices of the Imagination, those novels were created because the editors and whatnot wanted a storyline where the characters could "change" and "grow" (two overrated concepts if there ever was one, er, or two). That's where that stuff should have stayed. The very appeal of the onscreen casts are their settings on the shows, and the novels since the relaunches have taken that away and distorted what those shows were about. Except TOS. That's the only novel series being done right, and while I have absolutely NO objection to that whatsoever, I have wondered why that is. I really hope that someday the 24th century books end the convoluted mess they've become and return to what they used to be. I don't expect it though.
There's still room for mind-bending plot twists. It is sci-fi, after all. Plus, for me, the excitement comes from finding out how they get out of their predicament. Throw in a guest star whose fate is up in the air.
That's the part for me that's 'each to his own', like I said earlier. Although I said cup of tea.
To me, Star Trek is about the characters and the long lasting events that have impact on the Federation/galaxy OR the main characters I've come to love. So, a novel with the usual deadly threat to the Federation in 2367, with Riker putting his life on the line..... Nah, doesn't do it for me.
Really? Me, I love the 24th century now. The writers of these novels actually dared to do things with the characters the shows never did. Picard marrying and having a baby? Ro Laren finding a stable life? Kira Nerys doing something else with her life that doesn't involve military? Harry Kim being promoted??
Life isn't constant, never the same. Expecting fictional characters to simply remain the same FOREVER is boring.
So what's happening at the same time in a corner of the universe relatively unaffected/differeently affected by these events (but still with Humans and such)
Doing the same thing forever is not boring. Trust me. There's something both comforting and reassuring about it.
And your opinion is why I don't see anything wrong with the 24th century books doing both new stuff (what you like), and showing us an adventure during the series years every other book. That way, we both get what we want. It would slow things down, sure, but you guys have had your way since 2001. It's time to go back to the status quo for a while.
That's the part for me that's 'each to his own', like I said earlier. Although I said cup of tea.
But that's the point, isn't it? Different people have different tastes, so there should be books that appeal to those different tastes. Some people want 24th-century books with lots of continuity and change, but others want 24th-century books set during their respective series. So why not have both? Isn't it better if the books have something for everyone, rather than exclusively going with one over the other?
I guess, though, that back when there were 2 books a month instead of 1, it was easier to have enough books that catered to multiple tastes. Now, I guess, there's more pressure to emphasize what's more successful. Which appears to mean self-contained, episodic books for TOS and continuing serials for the other series.
I suppose that's what short story collections and e-books accomplish...
There are something in the area of 130 familiar-paradigm TOS novels, something in the area of 70 or so familiar-paradigm TNG novels, something in the area of 30 familiar-paradigm DS9 novels, something in the area of 30 familiar-paradigm VOY novels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_novels
Personally, I prefer to move forward instead of looking back.
Personally, I prefer to move forward instead of looking back.
But how many of those familiar paradigm novels (particularly the TNG and onwards) are written in the new more detailed style that has come about recently, not the 1970s/80s format?
Why should I care about static characters? Honest question.
That's a big reason why TOS and early TNG, and episodic fiction in general, is so "eh" to me; nothing that happens to these people will (in general) matter in the long run, there's no impact or reflection or effect on who they are as people except for what we read into it. It's just a bunch of stuff that happens before the next disconnected set of stuff happens.
For you. Not for everyone. I had just a year or so like that once, and god was it a horrible experience for me.
Hence me saying twice already, each their own.
And sure, there's no problem with doing novels that cater to everyone. It's not like I buy all novels now. I know some people only buy the TOS novels, I usually skip those. That's so nice about TrekLit, there is something for everyone.Although, I freely admit, for those wanting novels set during the shows, TNG, DS9 and VOY are simply not represented.
^anymore.
@Christopher , @Greg Cox , either of you know whether anyone's even pitching series-set stories to the publisher anymore?
@Christopher , @Greg Cox , either of you know whether anyone's even pitching series-set stories to the publisher anymore?
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