Confusion about the books.

[Core]

I'm new to ST books, I've only read biographies thus far. In the absence of new ST episodes to watch, and since I love to read, I've been looking into Star Trek books, but so far I'm pretty confused as to where to start.

Mostly what concerns me is that there does not seem to be any particular rules as to what authors can put in their books. I could be completely wrong about that, but from leafing through some books at a bookstore it seems like a good number of authors seem to like to write stories which combine the efforts of the TOS and TNG crews. For reasons I find difficult to define, these "combos" just don't seem very plausible to me.

Therefore I must ask you, the more knowledgeable lot, are all these books considered canon? Are they all authorized by Paramount/whoever owns the ST property now? Do authors need Paramount's permission when publishing these novels?

While I always enjoy a good book, I'm not crazy about the thought of reading books in which the story does not fit into the rest of the Trek universe.

I'd also appreciate it if someone could clear something up for me. In the TNG pilot, we see Admiral McCoy, who says he's 137 years old. He looks the part, too. Now, I'm not sure where the opening sequence in Generations fits into the general ST timeline, but if these books that are written about Kirk and Picard (and their crews) working together are set after Generations intro, or at least after Encounter At Farpoint, then I'd have to say that McCoy aged terribly while the rest of the Enterprise-A crew seem quite springy for their age.

 

[Frodo Lives]

I presume the majority of the books you've come across had William Shatner's name on the cover?

Check the FAQ at the top of the Forum, no books are considered canon.

Oh, and the reason McCoy looks a lot older than Kirk and Scotty is because he actually lived through the intervening 70-odd years between the start of Generations (or end of Undiscovered Country, since that was his final 23rd Century appearence) and The Next Generation, whereas Scotty and Kirk were effectively frozen for that time, and Spock is half Vulcan, a species that ages slower than humans.

 

[Turtletrekker]

NONE of the books are "canon" (which is a meaningless and irrelevant consideration at any rate), but they ALL "fit into the Trek universe". ALL novels are approved by a representative of Paramount/CBS named Paula Block who has been with Paramount for a very long time and worked with Gene Roddenberry before his death.

For a long time, authors were forbidden to write any kind of continuity between the books (ie; no sequels to previous novels, no recurring book-only characters), but that has changed in more recent years, and Pocket has developed an expansive continuity between most of the novels (there are exceptions), with not only cohesion between between, say, the TNG books or DS9 books themselves, but with the larger Trek universe as a whole.

As for TOS characters in the TNG era, with the exception of Scotty and Kirk, who skipped the 75-odd years between generations, all TOS characters that made it into the TNG era have aged just as McCoy did. We have seen McCoy, Uhura, and Chekov (also Spock and Saavik, but Vulcans age slower than humans), all well into their hundreds.

 

[HIj'Qa]

Most of the Star Trek books are written to "fit in" with what has been established from the television shows and movies.

Mirror Universe books, two recent books labeled "Myriad Universe" and books written by William Shatner are considered by some of us knowledgeable folk to be in their own universes.

This page groups books and comics around the episodes and movies they connect with in various ways. It might give you an idea of where to start if you have a fav episode or character.

The first link in my sig lists the books in a timeline of the TV shows and movies, if you want to read in a more chronological order.

 

[Christopher]

Therefore I must ask you, the more knowledgeable lot, are all these books considered canon? Are they all authorized by Paramount/whoever owns the ST property now? Do authors need Paramount's permission when publishing these novels?

While I always enjoy a good book, I'm not crazy about the thought of reading books in which the story does not fit into the rest of the Trek universe.

"Canon" and "authorized" are two different things. The word "canon" is widely misunderstood in fandom, but all it actually means is the original body of work itself, as distinct from tie-in works by other creators or distributors. The canon of Star Trek is the body of TV shows and movies, period.

However, all professionally published ST fiction does have to be authorized and licensed by CBS/Paramount, because it would be copyright infringement otherwise. While not part of the canon, all licensed fiction is required to remain consistent with the canon as it exists at the time of publication, and every outline and manuscript needs the approval of the folks at CBS (formerly Paramount) licensing whose job it is to ensure such consistency.

So all Trek fiction pretty much fits into the Trek universe as it's known at the time of publication. Where inconsistencies arise, it's usually because a later episode or film contradicted what was in a book. That's the difference between canon and non-canon: while tie-ins have to remain consistent with the canon, the canon is under no obligation to remain consistent to the tie-ins.

Of course, with no new canon in production except for the Abrams movie set in the 23rd century, the books are able to advance storylines in the 22nd and 24th centuries with minimal risk of being contradicted. A lot of what's happened in novels over the last few years involves elements that may be unfamiliar to a new reader, but they're still consistent with currently established canon and approved by CBS.

And what's so bad about reading stories that "don't fit in" with the rest of the universe? It's all fiction anyway. The most important thing is that a story is well-told and entertaining.

 

[Core]

Thank you very much for your informative replies.

I, too, just want to read good stories... But I wanted to know if there were certain books or series of books which did not fit into the rest of the ST universe, so to speak.

Many of the Shatner books I saw seemed to be a bit off the wall... But I guess I'll have to read them instead of judging them without having done so.

Thanks again.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Shatner books are far from the best that Pocket has to offer. What are your favorite series/characters?

 

[Osquevel]

The books by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens tend to follow a different continuity from the other "mainstream" novels. This is sometimes referred to as the "Shatnerverse." I've read the first six of these books and they were quite entertaining, if, as you said, a bit off the wall.

Most of the books don't really feature crews crossing over to work with each other -- they tend to stay within their respective series. That said, there are a number of crossover events that have (and will) occurred. A major "event" is coming up starting in October is Star Trek: Destiny which will feature several crews working together.

As others have said, the books have worked to maintain a continuity between them, so while you can technically start anywhere, it's helpful to start at the beginning. Below are some notes on what's going on (spoiler-free with a slight exception for Star Trek Nemesis) and where are some good places to start:

• Star Trek - The Original Series is being left farily quiet of late as to avoid conflicting with the upcoming movie. One recent set of stories is the Crucible trilogy by David R. Geroge III
• The Next Generation - Most of the recent TNG fiction has been set after Star Trek Nemesis and the best places to start are (chronologically) Death in Winter, by Michael Jan Friedman and Resistance by J.M. Dillard. Another excellent source of ongoing TNG fun is the A Time To miniseries focusing on the year leading up to Nemesis and how it brought all of the main characters to their respective career choices.
• Deep Space Nine - the DS9 storyline has been ongoing after the events of "What You Leave Behind." This saga began with the Avatar duology by S.D. Perry. Recently, a trilogy about Bajor during the occupation called Terok Nor was also published
• Voyager - Post-"Endgame" fiction began with Homecoming, by Christie Golden
• Enterprise - The story is also continuing post "These Are The Voyages..." These adventures started with The Good That Men Do by Andy Mangles and Michael A. Martin

There are also several fiction-only series that are quite popular:

• Titan - the adventures of the U.S.S. Titan under the command of Captain Riker, which began with Taking Wing, by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangles
• Vanguard - A series set abouard Starbase 47 during the 23rd Century - this began with Harbinger, by David Mack
• New Frontier - The adventures of the U.S.S. Excalibur under the command of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun - the first novel-only series. The first book is House of Cards by Peter David
• Stargazer - the adventures of Captain Picard and the crew of his first command; begun with The Valient by Michael Jan Friedman (listed as a TNG title)
• IKS Gorkon / Klingon Empire - A series of books about, well, Klingons... begun in Diplomatic Implausibility by Keith R.A. DeCandido (a TNG title)
• (Starfleet) Corps of Engineneers (SCE/CoE) [eBooks] - The adventures of Captain David Gold of the U.S.S. da Vinci and the Starfleet Corps of Engineers; begun with The Belly of the Beast, by Dean Wesley Smith. Omnibus Editions are being printed slowly, the first of which is Have Tech Will Travel

This is by no means of an exhaustive list of what's out there, but should cover the basics for what is likely to be on the horizon (at least through next year) and what is generally discussed here. Some good places to look are the FAQs here and here, Psi Phi, and The Complete Starfleet Library, and of course, this forum.

 

[Turtletrekker]

• The Next Generation - Most of the recent TNG fiction has been set after Star Trek Nemesis and the best places to start are (chronologically) Death in Winter, by Michael Jan Friedman and Resistance by J.M. Dillard. Another excellent source of ongoing TNG fun is the A Time To miniseries focusing on the year leading up to Nemesis and how it brought all of the main characters to their respective career choices.

Actually, for TNG, I definitely would start with the A Time to... series, as I consider it to be the "begining" of the current TNG run, and is actually better than the post-Nemesis stuff.

 

[Thrawn]

I would highly recommend some of the new book series. There is nothing in the whole Trek universe so far to prepare you for how utterly badass Vanguard is, for instance. Just three books so far, and it'll give you a totally new look at the TOS era.

I think when the books shine the most is when they're least like the TV shows, in some ways. Maybe the natural instinct, if you're starting novels new, would be to go with TNG or some standalones that sound like TV episodes, but I'd really recommend against it. The newer TNG books I actually think are some of the most inconsistent, unfortunate examples of Trek Lit these days.

Titan, Vanguard, New Frontier, Gorkon - these are where it's at.

The Deep Space Nine relaunch is also shockingly awesome. Get Twist Of Faith and These Haunted Seas - the first 7 books have been collected in those two volumes, and so that's a brilliant place to start.

 

[JD]

IMO one of the best Trek Lit resources on the web right now would have to be Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki. It has tons of information races, ships, planets, characters, ect., along with general info on the books, comics, and video games themselves.

 

[Osquevel]

Quite true! I knew I was forgetting something

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm new to ST books, I've only read biographies thus far. In the absence of new ST episodes to watch, and since I love to read, I've been looking into Star Trek books, but so far I'm pretty confused as to where to start.

Maybe the licensed book you should have been riffling was Pocket Books' "Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion" by Jeff Ayers, which is a thick guide to all the books up till recent times, complete with extracts of author and editor interviews discussing the ST novels and short stories?

Mostly what concerns me is that there does not seem to be any particular rules as to what authors can put in their books.

All licensed ST novels and short stories - and comics, toys, etc) have to be approved by CBS Consumer Products, representing the current copyright holder.

I could be completely wrong about that, but from leafing through some books at a bookstore it seems like a good number of authors seem to like to write stories which combine the efforts of the TOS and TNG crews.

I'm puzzled as to what books you were choosing at random. Unless you happened to grab only Shatner/Reeves-Stevens "resurrected Kirk" novels, or the "Vulcan's Soul" books, or the "Lost Era" books. Becvause there really aren't that many TOS/TNG team ups compared the all the standalone titles that have come out over the decades.

While I always enjoy a good book, I'm not crazy about the thought of reading books in which the story does not fit into the rest of the Trek universe.

Well, maybe you'd best avoid the "Mirror Universe" and "Myriad Universes" trade paperback collections, since they are clearly marked alternate universe type stories. I guess if you didn't realise they each contain three novels you might be confused about appearances of crew from various eras?

I'm not sure where the opening sequence in Generations fits into the general ST timeline, but if these books that are written about Kirk and Picard (and their crews) working together are set after Generations intro, or at least after Encounter At Farpoint, then I'd have to say that McCoy aged terribly while the rest of the Enterprise-A crew seem quite springy for their age.

You do remember that Kirk died in "Generations", right? The whole idea of the "Shatnerverse" novels was that "The Ashes of Eden" is set post ST VI, "The Return" brings Kirk back from death (as a 24th century villain) and "Avenger" brings him back again as the Kirk we remember. There are a further six volumes of Kirk interacting with Picard's era.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'd definitely reccommend the post-series DS9 novels and Vanguard. The post-series Voyager books are also good, although I have only read two of the four released thus far.

 

[LightningStorm]

I'd definitely reccommend the post-series DS9 novels and Vanguard. The post-series Voyager books are also good, although I have only read two of the four released thus far.

Welcome to the club of about 4 of us that actually like the Voyager relaunch as Christie Golden wrote it. (Granted your opinion may change after Spirit Walk, but who knows). I liked all four of them.

Also in addition to the aforementioned, I'd also recommend the 9 A Time To... books. (Yes all 9 of them, not just the last 3 -- even though the last three are the best.)

 

[DigificWriter]

^ Why might I not like the Spirit Walk duology, JOOC? (I'm not afraid of spoilers, so you don't have to censor your answer)

 

[LightningStorm]

^ Why might I not like the Spirit Walk duology, JOOC? (I'm not afraid of spoilers, so you don't have to censor your answer)

I don't know why not. I did like them, but it seems that those who didn't like the Voyager Relaunch as a whole didn't like the Spirit Walk duology especially.

Some reasons sited are the annoying counselor on the ship, the 'quite' emotional writing style of Christie Golden, and many didn't like how Wesley Crusher was involved and the way the Spirit Guides and all that happened with Chakotay.

 

[Gagarin]

As far as I've read - no book is perfect - or series is perfect. Each are bound to have "jump the shark" moments where you may think the author went too far. I'd say, though, start with the characters you're interested in and forget about what seems to fit easily into what was in the movies/TV shows. But if the plot of the book is, say, a Romulan incursion pre-TOS (don't know how ENT treated this, but it wasn't supposed to have happened), or whatever the incident is, per your own Trek scruples, I'd say stay away. There's nothing more annoying than trying to read a book when it seems to conflict with everything in your heart about Star Trek.

 

[Johnhead99]

^ Why might I not like the Spirit Walk duology, JOOC? (I'm not afraid of spoilers, so you don't have to censor your answer)

I don't know why not. I did like them, but it seems that those who didn't like the Voyager Relaunch as a whole didn't like the Spirit Walk duology especially.

Some reasons sited are the annoying counselor on the ship, the 'quite' emotional writing style of Christie Golden, and many didn't like how Wesley Crusher was involved and the way the Spirit Guides and all that happened with Chakotay.

When was Wesley Crusher involved? Some spirit walk or something right? I think I pretended that chapter didn't exist.

 

[Therin of Andor]

if the plot of the book is, say, a Romulan incursion pre-TOS (don't know how ENT treated this, but it wasn't supposed to have happened)

Who said? From TOS we know only that no human had previously lived to see a Romulan's face (and realise it was a Romulan), and live to tell the tale freely. Earth had already fought a lengthy war with Romulans. Isn't that likely to include "an incursion"?

Certainly, numerous novels have featured secret Romulan characters in tales set pre-TOS, such as "Final Frontier".