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"Essential Legends" of Trek?

Corran Horn

Corran Horn

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Several of the old Star Wars EU books are being reprinted in a much nicer TPB format. Though the 'mainline' books continue in the 'new' continuity, these older books have been reprinted and repackaged and I have to say I've re-bought more than a few (the X-wing books for certain, natch) and in thinking about it I'd be tempted to do it for Trek as well. But which books would you like to see in such a format if it was done?

My short list:

Vendetta
Dark Mirror
Reunion
Final Frontier
Enterprise: TFA
Vanguard - Harbinger
A Stitch in Time
Articles of the Federation
In the Name of Honor
The Buried Age

(to be honest, all of Vanguard, Section 31, and The Lost Era would be most welcome)
 
Love this idea

Thinking along the lines of most essential from the novel verse I’d go with

Destiny
Typhon Pact
The Fall
Coda

And maybe some stand alone like Control

But as far as which ones are best and should be re-published I’d go with

Federation
Everything Diane Duane wrote
Everything A C Crispin wrote
Prime Directive
 
TBH, I probably wouldn’t rebuy any… money’s not unlimited, and if I already have a physical copy, I probably don’t feel the need to upgrade from MMPB to TPB. (Paradoxically, though, I might be more tempted if they were upgraded to the more expensive HC.) That being said, I could possibly be convinced to upgrade Articles of the Federation or A Stitch in Time to TPB if the covers were really nice. (Destiny would have also made the cut, but I believe I already bought the TPB omnibus… I think?)

Corran Horn said:
Dark Mirror
Reunion
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Miami Vice Admiral said:
Federation
Prime Directive
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I’ve managed to pick up the HCs of these over the years, so TPB would be a downgrade. :)

Miami Vice Admiral said:
Coda
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Coda was released as TPB originally, so not sure what the point would be?

(Nice username, BTW!)

FredH said:
Planet of Judgment
Star Trek: The New Voyages (1&2)
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Those are both Bantam, aren’t they? I don’t know that a rerelease would even be possible. (Too bad, I’d like to get some of those pre-Pocket books as ebooks, but alas.)

Markonian said:
Imagine these novels got rewritten to fit current continuity before rerelease.
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My therapist is trying to get me to stop imagining awful outcomes.
 
Avro Arrow said:
Coda was released as TPB originally, so not sure what the point would be?

(Nice username, BTW!)
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For me I like the idea of the Legends Essential collection because it gets the books back on the shelves and catches the eye of people that haven’t read legends yet. I probably wouldn’t buy new copies either but I’d love it if more Star Trek fans knew about the novel verse. I guess I’m part of the problem because I want them to release things but don’t want to pay for them

Also thank you! All my hours in the pun username laboratory have finally paid off!!
 
Federation and Prime Directive would definitely be on my list! I'm slowly realizing I'm simply re-recreating the old Giant Novel and Hardcover releases though, heh.
 
F. King Daniel said:
It's the weirdness and stuff that doesn't fit anymore that give those old books their charm.
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I'm not here for charm, I'm here for stories that add to the tapestry of continuity. Correcting old novels might make them more relevant again. Like updating a science book to a 2nd edition.
 
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Markonian said:
I'm not here for charm, I'm here for stories that add to the tapestry of continuity. Correcting old novels might make them more relevant again. Like updating a science book to a 2nd edition.
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Whereas I love seeing the Star Trek universe as those writers imagined it when there was less canon to build on. The older books especially fill in the blanks in some interesting ways!
 
Markonian said:
Imagine these novels got rewritten to fit current continuity before rerelease.
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Ye gods, no! That way madness lies!

Seriously, we're not talking non-fiction here. We're talking non-canon novels, many of them written by authors who are no longer with us. Do we really want to start rewriting the works of John M. Ford, Ann Crispin, Vonda McIntyre, James Blish, Peter David, Dave Galanter, Josepha Sherman, Janet Kagan, and so on, every time some new episode or movie contradicts a vintage Trek novel?

Lord knows I don't intend to keep rewriting my old books to keep them "relevant" -- and I wouldn't want anybody else messing with the either!
 
F. King Daniel said:
Whereas I love seeing the Star Trek universe as those writers imagined it when there was less canon to build on. The older books especially fill in the blanks in some interesting ways!
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Agreed! I think that’s part of why TOS was so popular, because it was just a tiny slice of a universe where anything could happen. It seems like in media today there is more focus on concrete world building and the space for pure imagination is diminishing.
 
Miami Vice Admiral said:
Agreed! I think that’s part of why TOS was so popular, because it was just a tiny slice of a universe where anything could happen. It seems like in media today there is more focus on concrete world building and the space for pure imagination is diminishing.
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Exactly. For some folks, it's almost like the "universe" and the world-building is more important than, say, the actual stories and characters. (See also the Marvel and DC "cinematic universes.")
 
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