So can we see Cardassians?
Pocket's 2010 Schedule Announced on TrekMovie.com
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So can we see Cardassians?
So was the April book canceled or just put on hold? Why?
Possibly. As long as a "canon basis" for something can be established, its inclusion can usually be justified. Though I wouldn't expect to see a story focusing heavily on Cardassians. That's more the purview of the Prime-universe books. Besides, what makes the Cardassians distinct and interesting is the broader politics, culture, history, etc. surrounding them, and that's the sort of thing you could only explore in the Primeverse.
Um, yeah, never mind from me as well...
That sucks.
These two lines cause me to ask this question: In your mind (and if any of the other authors who will be writing nuTrek novels want to chime in, please do) what will you be doing in your work to make the nuTrek books distinct from Just-Plain-Trek? Or do you even fell it necessary to do so? Apologies up-front if this is a stupid question.
Well, I think that instead of trying to do "not the old Trek," the focus should simply be on trying to capture the feel and style of the movie, its world, and its characters. It's better to define something by what it is; if it's defined solely by what it isn't, it ends up being a hollow exercise.
So that means telling stories that take advantage of the potentials created by the movie, that build on the characterizations and story elements it established, and that have a similar energy, pace, and sense of fun. In keeping with the style of the movie, I'm trying to be more informal with dialogue; my first impulse was to make all the guest-alien characters speak in the usual Formal Alien Diction, but I realized that wasn't the right approach to take here and gave them more informal, individualized voices that have turned out to be a lot of fun to write. It also helps to keep the new actors' voices and delivery in mind. Pine's Kirk has a very different way of speaking and acting than Shatner's, and I'm finding him a lot of fun to write. Scotty-as-Pegg is a lot of fun too.
It also means recognizing that we're writing for an audience that may be new to Star Trek and not know much more about it than what they saw in theaters this summer, so the stories need to be accessible and straightforward, not mired in continuity and Trek history.
So basically it's not about self-consciously trying to be different from old Trek. You just try to be true to new Trek and the rest takes care of itself.
Maybe the book sucked?
Not that I'm denigrating Mike Barr here. (I seem to recall "Gemini" taking considerable criticism.) Sometimes novel proposals sound great and yet many things can go wrong between submitting that, getting it approved, and the author finishing the manuscript, and getting that approved. We don't know how far along the continuum it got, and maybe the timing just wasn't right. After all, there are already numerous TOS (and related-TOS) and JJ ST novels coming out close together.
Who knows how many cool proposals get to the same point but are never announced as forthcoming ST novels? Steve Roby's site lists lots of "lost ST novels", but there would be many other concepts that cross the editors desk and go no further. We just happened to hear about this one.
But good ideas don't necessarily go away forever, and if Mike Barr has a strong April story in him it's sure to come out, in some form, one day.
People are so ready to criticize the editors, but part of their job in keeping the standard high is to quash novels that aren't working, or to order the author to keep tinkering with them until they do.
Eventually some literary projects run out of steam (as I well know, sob).
If you can capture JJ's ST in novel form as well as you captured the flavour of ST:TMP in "Ex Machina", you are the right man for the job!
Amen to that! Chris, you have nothing less than our FULL confidence, mate!
FINALLY! Some new TOS era books. The Movie eras look interesting as well.
The more I think about the nuTrek books, the more excited I am. Knowing the authors are deliberately trying to capture the feel of the new film is kind of exciting, in that it's a new flavor of Trek. It's not just the same old stories, just re-told while we picture new faces in our heads. It's... nuTrek. I'm sure I'm probably the only one who just got this, but when something hits me, it hits me hard.
That being said, it was a smart move to choose some regular Trek authors to do these new novels, because I'm sorry to say if it were new people I probably would not have given them a chance. So I think that was a smart editorial decision -- capturing some of the new market that has formed around the new movie who wouldn't care who the author is anyway, while pulling in some of us regulars, too.
I can kind of picture in my mind what you mean here... I often sometimes tire of the "Greetings, Captain," or "What is the meaning of this?" lines of dialogue. Even the "Good evening, Lieutenant. Do you mind if I join you?" "Not at all," exchanges. I mean, it's classic Trek so I appreciate it for what it is, but a lot of times it's not realistic in terms of how actual people speak or act toward each other. So I'm looking forward to little stuff like this.
I'm also wondering, like others, if Spock-prime will show up. He is, after all, no longer in the Prime universe. I imagine he might be some kind of anchor for us old fans, if needed, if things get too "different" for us.
But from what I gathered there was stuff planned that hadn't even begun to take shape. I agree we're always waiting when it comes to the next book but now you get a DS9 book that skips over what people were waiting for.
Technically, aren't we always waiting when it comes to trek-lit? I've been an avid comic book collector for 12 years, and I used to think waiting for a month in between issues was long. After I got into treklit, the real meaning of waiting was revealed to me. Most of us blow through the new books as soon as they hit the shelf, and then all of us ask, "when is the next part coming out?" These books take these authors months of work and it only takes us hours to enjoy it. Recently, i've finished Full Circle in 24 hours, Treason in even less time, and Losing the Peace in just under 48. Now I have to wait 17 months (until January 2011) for a new TNG book; after Unworthy, i'll have to wait for at least a year and a bit for more Voyager (if i'm lucky), and the next New Frontier will only be 11 months now as opposed to a few years (like the last time).
Hopefully we'll get some more DS9 in 2011, and it can expand on what we've all missed
Maybe they should do it like a time jump ala BSG.
Amen to that! Chris, you have nothing less than our FULL confidence, mate!
Oh man, I didn't expect comedy in this thread.
I hated Abrams-trek, so unless I'm desperate and the library has those four, I'll skip them. No offense, author-type people. Everything else seems at least intriguing, though I'm much more of a TNG fan than TOS. And after listening to the authors talk about the post-Destiny novels dealing with the growth of the Typhon Pact, I'm pretty jazzed.
Karen
Karen
Oh man, I didn't expect comedy in this thread.
I...fail to comprehend the humor of the situation.
Well, this schedule overall does not excite me as much as this year's has (this year I've been excited for nearly every book released) but I don't mind most of what I see.
I share in many people's concern about DS9 jumping forward as that is my favorite ongoing storyline and I really hope they don't just abandon existing plotlines or wrap them up in an awkward and rushed way. However, I am optimistic that whatever they do they will make it work. Either way, I will reserve judgement for the time being.
I also think 4 novels set in the new movie's timeline is a bit more than necessary, but I will probably buy them. I did enjoy the new movie and some great authors are taking on the challenge. If it were me (and I know I'm no expert so take it for as little as it is worth) I'd say do only one (or two at most) novels set in this timeline and in addition make one of the trade paperbacks an anthology of short stories set in this timeline. That way, lots of authors could play in this new sandbox without devoting so much of the schedule to it.
I never got into NF so I'll be skipping those as usual.
I'm interested in seeing what is done to expand upon Sorrorws of the Empire, as that was my favorite story in the MU Trade Paperbacks. I'm interested enough in Pike to see what that one is all about, and I'm really excited about the Saavik novel. Inception, by its description alone doesn't sound like the most appealing story to me, but I have great faith in the author and am sure it will be great.
I'm highly excited about the Typhon Pact novels in the later part of the year and look forward to each installment.
The 7 deadly sins anthology sounds fantastic. I'll probably get the Myriad Universe one too, but I still need to find the time to read the first two of those.
I share in many people's concern about DS9 jumping forward as that is my favorite ongoing storyline and I really hope they don't just abandon existing plotlines or wrap them up in an awkward and rushed way. However, I am optimistic that whatever they do they will make it work. Either way, I will reserve judgement for the time being.
I also think 4 novels set in the new movie's timeline is a bit more than necessary, but I will probably buy them. I did enjoy the new movie and some great authors are taking on the challenge. If it were me (and I know I'm no expert so take it for as little as it is worth) I'd say do only one (or two at most) novels set in this timeline and in addition make one of the trade paperbacks an anthology of short stories set in this timeline. That way, lots of authors could play in this new sandbox without devoting so much of the schedule to it.
I never got into NF so I'll be skipping those as usual.
I'm interested in seeing what is done to expand upon Sorrorws of the Empire, as that was my favorite story in the MU Trade Paperbacks. I'm interested enough in Pike to see what that one is all about, and I'm really excited about the Saavik novel. Inception, by its description alone doesn't sound like the most appealing story to me, but I have great faith in the author and am sure it will be great.
I'm highly excited about the Typhon Pact novels in the later part of the year and look forward to each installment.
The 7 deadly sins anthology sounds fantastic. I'll probably get the Myriad Universe one too, but I still need to find the time to read the first two of those.
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