Trek book Relaunch questions

[Freman]

Okay, it's recently come to my attention that the Trek books relaunched in the last few years with more continuity based stories. I used to read the novels all the time, but the lack of consistency from one book to the next turned me off of them (I'm a fan of the more Star Wars EU type thing, where everything put out is one big story.)

So I was wondering: Do all the Relaunch books tie together? Meaning, are they keeping consistent between the TNG books, and the DS9 books, or the Enterprise and the TOS books, or the Voyager and Titan series?

Also, is there an actual Relaunch series for the TOS books? If so what are they.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Thrawn]

Right now, DS9 is about 4 years behind in in-universe time, but all the rest (Titan, TNG relaunch, VOY relaunch) are together following the events of the huge crossover Star Trek: Destiny (a trilogy), which also included by creative means the Columbia NX-02 from the Enterprise era.

So yes, everything's all tied together.

But it's not quite like Trek books as a whole relaunched with more continuity based stories; it's been a pretty gradual trend, as each show has ended, for that show to move towards long-term arc-based storytelling (since the shows were gone, real changes could be made to the lives of the characters), and they've all slowly been tied together as it's gone along.

TOS is the exception; pretty much the whole lives of the TOS characters have been told in broad strokes already, so TOS novels tend to fill in the gaps rather than making one overarching narrative. The new film also meant Pocket didn't do much with TOS for a while, but there's a new 5YM standalone coming next month.

The rest are all relaunched as long-term arcs, a bit like Star Wars, and yes, everything is together in happy continuity.

 

[Christopher]

^Aside from occasional exceptions like Crucible and the Shatnerverse. And I think New Frontier pretty much goes its own way, and while the other books sometimes reference it, it doesn't always stay consistent with them. I think it's an overstatement to say that all Pocket Trek fiction is in a single continuity; it's just the general preference, rather than a strict policy, to have the books cross-reference each other, sometimes quite subtly, sometimes more overtly.

 

[JD]

That mention of New Frontier reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. Does Peter David use one of the four Andorian sexes for the Trident's first officer?
I looked on Memory Beta, but it doesn't have much about her.

 

[captcalhoun]

nope. i think Desma's just an Andorian female.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Also, is there an actual Relaunch series for the TOS books? If so what are they.

When John Ordover was with Pocket, he announced a so-called line of "lower decks" Star Trek: The Original Series novel trilogies (2002), in hope of "rebooting" the novel series. The Janus Gate, a trilogy by LA Graf and the Errand of Vengeance trilogy by Kevin Ryan, were inspired by a previous unrelated trilogy, "My Brother's Keeper" (1999) by Michael Jan Friedman.

Pocket's initial plan was to revisit the original series episodes through the eyes of "lower deck" crew, but the books were absorbed back into the usual run of TOS fiction - because the resulting stories turned out to be not all that different in style to the regular line. Ryan's sequel trilogy, Errand of Fury, was recently completed with the (delayed) release of its third instalment.

 

[adamisme]

I know we had IDW season 4 of the original series, but would anyone like a season 4 in paperback

 

[Stevil2001]

"Season 4" has been in paperback about a billion times over. There's more adventures happening between "Turnabout Intruder" and the end of the mission than you can stick a shake at.

 

[adamisme]

doh sorry was so tired brain couldn't remember lol.

 

[Freman]

Just another quick question about any new TOS books that are coming out. Can they be considered Relaunch material, meaning are they going to be consistent with each other , and the Vanguard stuff as well?

Like "Troublesome Minds". That's the new one, right?

 

[Christopher]

^Isn't that pretty much the same question you asked in the first post? Thrawn already answered it pretty well in the second post.

"Relaunch" was a term that was originally intended to apply to the marketing campaign for the post-finale DS9 books. It wasn't meant to apply to the series itself, just to the act of relaunching the series. So the term "Relaunch material" doesn't really have any meaning. As I said in the third post, continuity among books is the overall trend these days as a matter of authorial and editorial preference, but it's not a universal policy.

 

[Paris]

Just another quick question about any new TOS books that are coming out. Can they be considered Relaunch material, meaning are they going to be consistent with each other , and the Vanguard stuff as well?

Like "Troublesome Minds". That's the new one, right?

Any new TOS books coming out are not considered part of a relaunch, but keeping books consistent with what came before (at least in the immediate past) seems to be one of the goals that Margaret Clarke and the people at Pocket books have set for themselves. Troublesome Minds, supposedly, is told like an episode from the original 5YM, and supposedly takes place in year 5....

...ahh...I see that while I was typing, Christopher beat me to it!

 

[Sci]

Just another quick question about any new TOS books that are coming out. Can they be considered Relaunch material, meaning are they going to be consistent with each other , and the Vanguard stuff as well?

Like "Troublesome Minds". That's the new one, right?

On the expectation that what you're actually asking is whether or not new TOS novels are being kept in continuity with the larger shared continuity that most Trek novels are being set in these days:

For the most part, yes. The Vulcan's Soul trilogy, for instance, is consistent with the larger continuity, as was the Errand of Fury trilogy and the TOS installment of Section 31. I would be surprised if there was anything in Troublesome Minds that contradicted the larger Trek continuity, though I don't know if there are explicit references to it, given that it's supposed to be a standalone novel done in the style of a TOS episode.

 

[DaveGalanter]

Troublesome Minds[/I] that contradicted the larger Trek continuity, though I don't know if there are explicit references to it, given that it's supposed to be a standalone novel done in the style of a TOS episode.

The story is relatively self-contained. There's a mention of Errand of Mercy's Klingon mind-ripper and a reference to Immunity Syndrom's loss of the U.S.S. Intrepid, but other than that I don't think anything external to the story is really mentioned.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

That mention of New Frontier reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. Does Peter David use one of the four Andorian sexes for the Trident's first officer?
I looked on Memory Beta, but it doesn't have much about her.

Sadly, Peter David's interpretation of the Andorians differs significantly from that offered in what I think of as the "mainstream" novel continuity. The sexes are the least of our concerns when it comes to reconciling New Frontier Andorians with mainstream Andorians. Peter David appears to have taken a more extreme stance on Andorian violence, with their membership in the Federation described as "shaky at best". This, of course, seems incompatible with other accounts of Andor as a leading member (a notion supported by onscreen evidence in various DS9 episodes). Of course, "Paradigm" and "Remembrance of Things Past" both portray the political situation on Andor as volatile, unusually so for a Federation member but in keeping with the Andorian cultural predilection towards passion. However, these stories do not take it to the extreme New Frontier does. Desma's "unique" position as an Andorian in a command position also does not track with portrayals of her species elsewhere. Given that "The Good that Men Do" and "The Chimes at Midnight" have successfully reconciled Enterprise Andorians with mainstream Trek lit Andorians, New Frontier appears to be the only major problem we now have (assuming it is a problem, of course, not everyone is as continuity-obsessed as I!)

 

[Sci]

That mention of New Frontier reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. Does Peter David use one of the four Andorian sexes for the Trident's first officer?
I looked on Memory Beta, but it doesn't have much about her.

Sadly, Peter David's interpretation of the Andorians differs significantly from that offered in what I think of as the "mainstream" novel continuity. The sexes are the least of our concerns when it comes to reconciling New Frontier Andorians with mainstream Andorians. Peter David appears to have taken a more extreme stance on Andorian violence, with their membership in the Federation described as "shaky at best". This, of course, seems incompatible with other accounts of Andor as a leading member (a notion supported by onscreen evidence in various DS9 episodes). Of course, "Paradigm" and "Rememrance of Things Past" both portray the political situation on Andor as volatile, unusually so for a Federation member but in keeping with the Andorian cultural predilection towards passion. However, these stories do not take it to the extreme New Frontier does. Desma's "unique" position as an Andorian in a command position also does not track with portrayals of her species elsewhere. Given that "The Good that Men Do" and "The Chimes at Midnight" have successfully reconciled Enterprise Andorians with mainstream Trek lit Andorians, New Frontier appears to be the only major problem we now have (assuming it is a problem, of course, not everyone is as continuity-obsessed as I!)

New Frontier has also had some strange bits, like a reference to the Klingon Empire being a Federation Member State in the Excalibur trilogy. And then there's the Danteri Empire, which may or may not be a Federation Member State -- I seem to recall that an SCE installment established that they weren't, but they were referred to as a Federation world in Book 1 of NF.

I say we just disregard the bits of NF that don't fit with the larger Trek continuity and keep all the rest.

 

[Paris]

^In House of Cards (NF#1), Picard is visiting Xenex in 2354, and at the time, the Danteri were being assessed as a possible Federation protectorate. I was never confirmed one way or another if they ever ended up as part of the Federation.

And AFAIK, there hasn't really been that much exploration of Commander Desma of the Trident one way or another. Hopefully at some point PAD reconciles his Andorian with the DS9-R/ENT Andorians

As for the Andorians being shaky members of the Federation, I seem to remember that the IDW Alien Spotlight issue that dealt with the Andorians showed people who were part of an anti-Federation movement.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

That mention of New Frontier reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. Does Peter David use one of the four Andorian sexes for the Trident's first officer?
I looked on Memory Beta, but it doesn't have much about her.

Sadly, Peter David's interpretation of the Andorians differs significantly from that offered in what I think of as the "mainstream" novel continuity. The sexes are the least of our concerns when it comes to reconciling New Frontier Andorians with mainstream Andorians. Peter David appears to have taken a more extreme stance on Andorian violence, with their membership in the Federation described as "shaky at best". This, of course, seems incompatible with other accounts of Andor as a leading member (a notion supported by onscreen evidence in various DS9 episodes). Of course, "Paradigm" and "Rememrance of Things Past" both portray the political situation on Andor as volatile, unusually so for a Federation member but in keeping with the Andorian cultural predilection towards passion. However, these stories do not take it to the extreme New Frontier does. Desma's "unique" position as an Andorian in a command position also does not track with portrayals of her species elsewhere. Given that "The Good that Men Do" and "The Chimes at Midnight" have successfully reconciled Enterprise Andorians with mainstream Trek lit Andorians, New Frontier appears to be the only major problem we now have (assuming it is a problem, of course, not everyone is as continuity-obsessed as I!)

New Frontier has also had some strange bits, like a reference to the Klingon Empire being a Federation Member State in the Excalibur trilogy. And then there's the Danteri Empire, which may or may not be a Federation Member State -- I seem to recall that an SCE installment established that they weren't, but they were referred to as a Federation world in Book 1 of NF.

I say we just disregard the bits of NF that don't fit with the larger Trek continuity and keep all the rest.

Agreed, particularly seeing as that's what the other authors seem to do anyway

 

[Paris]

Sadly, Peter David's interpretation of the Andorians differs significantly from that offered in what I think of as the "mainstream" novel continuity. The sexes are the least of our concerns when it comes to reconciling New Frontier Andorians with mainstream Andorians. Peter David appears to have taken a more extreme stance on Andorian violence, with their membership in the Federation described as "shaky at best". This, of course, seems incompatible with other accounts of Andor as a leading member (a notion supported by onscreen evidence in various DS9 episodes). Of course, "Paradigm" and "Rememrance of Things Past" both portray the political situation on Andor as volatile, unusually so for a Federation member but in keeping with the Andorian cultural predilection towards passion. However, these stories do not take it to the extreme New Frontier does. Desma's "unique" position as an Andorian in a command position also does not track with portrayals of her species elsewhere. Given that "The Good that Men Do" and "The Chimes at Midnight" have successfully reconciled Enterprise Andorians with mainstream Trek lit Andorians, New Frontier appears to be the only major problem we now have (assuming it is a problem, of course, not everyone is as continuity-obsessed as I!)

New Frontier has also had some strange bits, like a reference to the Klingon Empire being a Federation Member State in the Excalibur trilogy. And then there's the Danteri Empire, which may or may not be a Federation Member State -- I seem to recall that an SCE installment established that they weren't, but they were referred to as a Federation world in Book 1 of NF.

I say we just disregard the bits of NF that don't fit with the larger Trek continuity and keep all the rest.

Agreed, particularly seeing as that's what the other authors seem to do anyway

KRAD had Admiral Shelby in Q&A, while David Mack included Calhoun and the Excalibur in Destiny, of course both instances can be classified as cameo appearences.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

New Frontier has also had some strange bits, like a reference to the Klingon Empire being a Federation Member State in the Excalibur trilogy. And then there's the Danteri Empire, which may or may not be a Federation Member State -- I seem to recall that an SCE installment established that they weren't, but they were referred to as a Federation world in Book 1 of NF.

I say we just disregard the bits of NF that don't fit with the larger Trek continuity and keep all the rest.

Agreed, particularly seeing as that's what the other authors seem to do anyway

KRAD had Admiral Shelby in Q&A, while David Mack included Calhoun and the Excalibur in Destiny, of course both instances can be classified as cameo appearences.

There are many, many references to- and appearances from- New Frontier characters, races and locations in the mainstream Trek lit. The authors often go out of their way to incorporate elements of- and developments from- New Frontier into the wider Trek lit universe. Peter David doesn't seem to reciprocate (not that he is in any way obliged to, of course, it's simply that I am a big continuity fan).