2026 Novel Releases
- Thread starter The Wormhole
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Yeah, there's plenty of threads that I'd like to see explored, in either novels or in movie form like the Georgiou movie (I tend to think of that as a "Long Trek"). Especially considering the way that it felt like a lot of the Picard characters introduced in season one were unceremoniously dumped by the end of season two. Motivated at least partially because of budget, so the third season could bring back the TNG cast in full? Sure. Narratively unsatisfying all the same.
Elnor at the Academy? I'm here for it. A story about Rios during WWIII? Absolutely. A father-daughter adventure with Data and Soji? 100%. Jurati's Borg developing over the roughly four centuries she's been queen of her collective? Gimme. Various adventures of the TNG cast between Nemesis and Picard? Yep, I want that. There are many stories I'd like to see branch out of Picard's portrayals. Whether they're novels or filmed, I'd like to see them.
Elnor at the Academy? I'm here for it. A story about Rios during WWIII? Absolutely. A father-daughter adventure with Data and Soji? 100%. Jurati's Borg developing over the roughly four centuries she's been queen of her collective? Gimme. Various adventures of the TNG cast between Nemesis and Picard? Yep, I want that. There are many stories I'd like to see branch out of Picard's portrayals. Whether they're novels or filmed, I'd like to see them.
Broken record poster wants more TOS and TOS movie era novels.
Likewise, as those eras are the only ones for which I read tie-ins. But I wonder-- does the introduction of a 'new' Kirk, Scott on SNW indicate that a TOS-era show will be paramount's post-SNW play, and if so does that mean that we're at the end of the road for actual TOS tie-ins? (This question for general discussion only; I'm not asking a writer to comment on their livelihood). It may be a distinction without a difference for some, but personally I would not be interested in a tie-in to a 're-imagined' 2260s novel.
(Of course, paramount may well have no post-SNW play in mind at all)
I don't see the distinction. All the shows are presumed to take place in the same continuity, with the inconsistencies between them treated as imperfections in the dramatization rather than in-universe differences. There have always been contradictions between and within different Trek productions (e.g. TOS killing Lt. Leslie off one week and bringing him back the next, TSFS saying the Enterprise was 20 years old even though it couldn't have been less than 28 years after "The Cage," Data using contractions and showing emotions until he was retconned as incapable of it, etc.), and the approach of the novels has always been to gloss over those inconsistencies and treat everything as part of a unified whole, because that's the pretense of the canon as well.
So if, hypothetically, Paramount and Secret Hideout did go on to make a show taking place during the time frame of TOS, I'm sure its makers would continue the conceit that it was nominally consistent with the events of TOS even if certain details of the depiction were altered, and our job as novelists would be to continue writing under the assumption that it all fits together as a consistent whole, just as we've always done. There would be no "reimagining," just the same kind of updating to incorporate new ideas into the TOS time frame, as TOS novelists have been doing since the late '80s. When it comes to the different portrayals of the ship, equipment, uniforms, etc., we'd probably just try to be hazy on the details, so that it could be interpreted either way.
Sure, it's possible that the novel covers would use the new cast and ship design for marketing purposes, but the characters inside would still be Kirk, Spock, etc. regardless of how they looked on the cover. Readers would be free to imagine whichever set of actors they wanted in the roles, since they're just different performer interpretations of the same character, like Kirstie Alley vs. Robin Curtis for Saavik.
Maybe they'll mix-and-match, the way the early Pocket TOS novels did, having characters and ships from the series and the movie put together all willy-nilly.
(An idea I've heard, inspired by Paul Wesley's age, was that an SNW sequel series might do a big time-skip and be set post-TMP.)
I doubt that, since that was probably the result of the cover artists having limited access to reference materials and not necessarily knowing enough about Trek to know the difference between TV- and movie-era references. I doubt it's something they would do as a conscious choice.
That would be cool. It's wide open territory, a perfect place to put a new series without stepping on continuity, and there's a lot of unexplored potential.
Although there'd be a downside for me, since it would no doubt contradict my post-TMP novels, leaving even fewer of my books still compatible with current canon.
Yeah, now that we've gotten the story of how Seven joined the Fenris Rangers, this is probably my most wanted Picard story.
If it's an actual full on reboot, then we'd probably get books using based off of both versions, we already saw this happen with the Kelvin Universe movies, even after they came out we still got TOS book, and while we didn't get Kelvin books until after the movies were over, we did have both TOS and Kelvin comics coming out at the same time. So Paramount/CBS clearly doesn't have a problem with tie-ins set in two different Universes at the same time. If the new show is in the Prime Universe before or after TOS, then which version of the cast and ship are used would probably depend on when it's set, if it's set during TOS they'd use it's versions and if it's set in the during the new show they'd use those versions.
TOS novels are the best selling of the entire Star Trek novel line. We'll always be seeing at least one new TOS novel a year.
Mods, should this thread be merged together with that other one?
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2026 TOS novels
A comic book story arc. https://screenrant.com/star-trek-lore-war-comics-destroy-universe/#:~:text=Star%20Trek's%20The%20Lore%20War%2C%20Explained&text=The%20Lore%20War%20is%20the,showing%20its%20depth%20and%20diversity.
www.trekbbs.com
I don't really think that's necessary. The other thread is asking a specific question about how S&S should commemorate the 60th anniversary, specifically centred around TOS novels. This one is our general announcement/discussion thread for all the novels (based on any show) for a given calendar year, which as you noted in an earlier post, we do every year. Despite the similar titles, they don't really seem close enough in content to merge.
Although I do contain multitudes, there is technically only one of me.
I do. The Spock, Chapel, Uhura, Gorn, T'Pring and Kirk (and to a lesser extent Pike) of SNW are not the same as those of TOS, by design. Not merely the actors (no kidding) but the characterizations and backstories as well. That is neither surprising nor objectionable; a 2025 production need not be beholden to a 1966 one. But for some of us it means the loss of at least a portion of the things that got us to love Star Trek in the first place. For me, TOS is a distinct idiom that can't be recaptured simply by naming characters Kirk, Spock, McCoy etc.
If what you are saying is that you think you can write a book that is ambiguous enough to be both a TOS tie-in and a SNWified Kirk & Co. tie-in (as per the preferences of the individual reader) I have my doubts, but hey you're the writer--I'll give it a chance before I pass judgment.
For what it's worth, one such novel was already sort of written about fifteen years ago. According to the author's note in the novel Children of Kings, a Pike era TOS novel from 2010, the intent was to write a novel that could take place in either the Prime or Kelvin timeline, with the author even claiming his depiction of Pike in that novel was based on Bruce Greenwood, although an image of Jeffrey Hunter was used on the cover. Granted, there are aspects of the narrative which make it clear it's supposed to be in the Prime Universe, or at least not the Kelvin Timeline, such as the Enterprise having bathtubs, Robert April being mentioned to have commanded the Enterprise prior to Pike and even an explanation for why they were using paper printouts in The Cage.
As I said, Trek has always had plenty of inconsistencies within itself, as is inevitable in any long-running franchise created by multiple people. Our job as tie-in authors, however, has always been to approach it with the assumption that it all represents a single reality, and to reconcile or gloss over any inconsistencies.
There is nothing new happening here. Decades ago, there were fans who insisted that TMP & TWOK couldn't possibly take place in the same reality as TOS, because the Klingons, Starfleet's technology, the greater militarism of TWOK, etc. were too different to be reconciled. But tie-in authors were not constrained by those fans' opinions. Reconciling inconsistencies is a basic part of a tie-in writer's toolkit.
As for Spock/Chapel, I find that while their past relationship contradicts our assumptions about their relationship in TOS, it isn't that hard to reconcile with the actual text. If anything, Chapel's feelings toward Spock in TOS work far better as an ex-lover wishing to reclaim something they once had than as a hyperemotional female having a pathetic crush on an unattainable man. It's far less sexist and unflattering to Chapel, and it's a change I'm glad they made.
As for Uhura, Kirk, and Pike, I see no significant inconsistencies. We learned so little about Uhura in TOS that there's plenty of flexibility in fleshing her out. (And Celia Rose Gooding is vastly more believable as a younger version of Nichelle Nichols than Zoe Saldana ever was.) As for T'Pring, there are some slight inconsistencies of detail (like Uhura not recognizing T'Pring in "Amok Time"), but no greater than the many, many inconsistencies there have always been between episodes and series, and no more difficult to gloss over.
I agree that SNW's Gorn are completely unrecognizable, but even that can be reconciled. SNW established that the Gorn are capable of rapid evolution, which suggests that the Gorn could have numerous different subspecies with different appearances and behaviors.
There have always been fans who were unable to reconcile old and new productions. I can think of two prominent fans who used to be members of this BBS who were absolutely adamant that nothing from TNG onward, or even from TWOK onward, counted as "real" Trek or was capable or deserving of being reconciled with TOS. But again, our job as authors under contract to the studio is to write according to the studio's approach to the franchise, not to the opinions of individual fans.
Writing books that merge together elements of different Trek productions and eras and figuring out ways to reconcile them is nothing I haven't been doing since the earliest days of my professional career as a tie-in author two decades ago. Heck, figuring out how to synthesize disparate bits of continuity into a consistent, unified whole has always been part of the fun for me.
And is available in shops on DVD and Blu-Ray, being discovered by new fans every day. Like every other Trek series and movie.
This sub discussion is potentially disturbing to me. Assuming TOS+movie novels continue after SNW S5,will the characters be written as they were in TOS, or evolved SNW versions? Plus will the ship be depicted and function as a TOS Connie or the SNW version?
Just wondering: How much difference would there be, and how could the reader know, since the visuals (the ships, the uniforms, the SFX) are mostly in the reader's imagination anyway?
If I'm writing a TOS novel and I type that "Kirk was decked out in his dress uniform" or that "the Enterprise came into view on the Klingons' sensors," the reader can visualize it however they like. And any changes in art direction or casting on the TV versions aren't actually going to have any impact on the plot.
And for the the backstories of the characters . . . well, you're just addiing new details, not changing anything.
I mean, TOS Uhura had no backstory to speak of prior to SNW, so lifting details from SNW -- when required -- isn't going to contradict anything from TOS. Likewise, Spock having a long-lost foster sister who he seldom mentions anyway. (Okay, Chapel is likely to be more viviacious than the TOS version, but that's hardly a bad thing, assuming Chapel is a major character in a novel at all.)
Nine times out of ten, the characters are going to act the same way, and perform their duties the same way, when facing whatever the present crisis is.
Minor bits of decor -- like holographic displays -- are just set dressing. They're not going to change the stories significantly.
Right. There have been stage productions of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar performed in Roman dress, in Elizabethan dress, in modern dress, probably even in a futuristic sci-fi setting. But the story and the words are still the same.
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