Will Trek Lit continuity go past the year 2400

[Christopher]

I really think that if any of the series got to the point where the original cast members are all gone, then they would have to at least abandon the title. Now I'm not necessarily saying that the series would have to end, I just think that the editors or authors would need to find a way to differentiate the stories with the new characters from the stories featuring the TV characters.

There's an assumption being made here that the books are bound to keep moving forward in time indefinitely. I doubt that's going to happen. Things go in cycles, and I expect that sooner or later, people are going to want to see more stories set in the "classic" eras of the various Trek series. So instead of, say, continuing TNG forward until Picard dies and then ending it, or whatever, we'll just start seeing more TNG books set in the series or movie eras, either filling in gaps in the continuity or just being a separate continuity.

I believe that at the time we wrote this book, it was established that this was the furthest ahead that continuity of any major characters was being established.

I'd say furthest but one. The Jake/Nog stuff in TGTMD is before the timeframe of "The Visitor"'s frame story, and "Revisited," the frame story in Prophecy and Change, is simultaneous with "The Visitor"'s frame, basically showing the equivalent events in the "real" timeline (or rather the new one created by Jake's actions that undid the "Visitor" timeline).

 

[Shazam!]

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain? I know Kirk told him to never take promotion but I never expected Picard to take that literally. It makes him a little tragic. He and Beverly should bog off to France and retire.

 

[apenpaap]

^Vaughn is 102 now, and still active. I could see Picard being captain until his 120s.

 

[Gotham Central]

I don't think Janeway was the heart and soul of Voyager in the same way that Picard was for The Next Generation. Voyager, to me, was more about the journey through the Delta Quadrant than about the people actually making the journey -- it was an intensely plot-oriented program, and characterization was always secondary. Further, we've already seen a continuation of Voyager without Janeway but with most of the TV cast -- whereas with the Next Generation novels, half the TNG cast is gone, and Picard is one of the few real points of continuity with the original TNG cast (and, really, the only essential point of continuity with the TNG cast).

Noted.

So...if Picard dies or retires...then we can safely assume that TNG is over, then?

So...what about DS9 or VOY? Should we expect them to last so long as any of the original characters stay on...or will they just go on and on with new characters?

DS9 unique in Trek in that the story is about a place. The final scenes of "What You Leave Behind" is all about how people move on yet the places they leave continue on without them.

I would say that ALL of the characters on the show could gradually change, but as long as the stories stayed interesting, the story could go on indefinately

 

[Shazam!]

^Vaughn is 102 now, and still active. I could see Picard being captain until his 120s.

24th century or not, that's mental.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain?

More like 80something. Picard was born in 2305, and I forget what year it is 'now' but it's gotta be close to the 2380's.

 

[William Leisner]

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain? I know Kirk told him to never take promotion but I never expected Picard to take that literally.

How does one figuratively refuse to be promoted out of his command?

 

[Christopher]

^Vaughn is 102 now, and still active. I could see Picard being captain until his 120s.

24th century or not, that's mental.

Why? If anything, Star Trek is conservative about how much longevity may be extended in the future. Given the advances we're beginning to make in genetics, it's possible that within a century, the aging process could be all but halted, or at least that we could stay healthy and vigorous throughout our lives.

More like 80something. Picard was born in 2305, and I forget what year it is 'now' but it's gotta be close to the 2380's.

Picard was born July 13, 2305, meaning that as of the end of the most recent TNG novel, Losing the Peace (which concludes in May 2381), he is 75 years, 10 months old.

 

[Mike Farley]

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain? I know Kirk told him to never take promotion but I never expected Picard to take that literally. It makes him a little tragic. He and Beverly should bog off to France and retire.

How is it tragic? Based on what we've seen of human lifespans in the 24th century Picard is somewhere around the midpoint of his life. He's got decades ahead of him. Especially since the books are not bound by the aging of an actor. And he's doing the job that he loves. He doesn't work because he needs to in order to make money to support himself, he works because he wants to.

Picard's life isn't tragic. He's doing what we all wish we could do: the job that he loves for no other reason than the fact that he wants to.

Does anyone think Jean Luc Picard would be happy retired and hanging out at the vineyeard or powerwalking around the mall?

 

[JD]

^Vaughn is 102 now, and still active. I could see Picard being captain until his 120s.

Oh yeah, I agree. We already have people living into their 110s, or at least close to it, today.
I just checked on wikiepedia, and it says that the oldest person living right now is an American woman named Gertrude Baines , who is 115 (she was born 6 April 1894) as of 2 January of this year. It also says that the oldest person ever was a French woman named Jeanne Calment who lived to be 121 (21 Feburary 1875 - 4 August 1997).

 

[Freman]

Does anyone think Jean Luc Picard would be happy retired and powerwalking around the mall?

I'd read that book! LOL.

 

[Mike Farley]

Hey, buddy, I said that, not Shazam!

I might read it too...

If I can just make it to Dillard's in under thirty seconds, Picard thought, I'll beat my best time! And I can try to make the next go-round even faster! Oh No! That old Andorian bitch is about to pass me! Not, I think, today, madam! Step it up Jean Luc!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain? I know Kirk told him to never take promotion but I never expected Picard to take that literally. It makes him a little tragic. He and Beverly should bog off to France and retire.

I fail to see how it is tragic. Picard much rather remain doing what he loves to do: exploring. He wouldn't be able to do that as an Admiral. As for retiring, I could see him eventually doing that for only one reason: to focus on his old love of archaeology.

 

[Shazam!]

How does one figuratively refuse to be promoted out of his command?

I imagine Picard has enough sway to say "I don't want to be promoted"

Why? If anything, Star Trek is conservative about how much longevity may be extended in the future. Given the advances we're beginning to make in genetics, it's possible that within a century, the aging process could be all but halted

What a horrible thought.

 

[Rush Limborg]

On the subject of aging..."Too Short A Season" has an admiral who's, what...eighty-something?

Anyway...he's all frail and deteriorating until that drug takes effect--the drug that eventually kills him, BTW.

 

[William Leisner]

How does one figuratively refuse to be promoted out of his command?

I imagine Picard has enough sway to say "I don't want to be promoted"

You're not grasping the meanings of "literally" and "figuratively", huh?

 

[Christopher]

Why? If anything, Star Trek is conservative about how much longevity may be extended in the future. Given the advances we're beginning to make in genetics, it's possible that within a century, the aging process could be all but halted

What a horrible thought.

The only horrible thing I can see about living longer, healthier lives is the population and resource problems it would create, but those could be coped with through space colonization, replicator technology, and the kind of birth-rate reduction that tends to occur spontaneously in societies where women are educated and equal.

Besides, your personal feelings aside, this is a question of established Trek continuity; precedents such as Admiral McCoy and Elias Vaughn demonstrate that there's no reason to assume Picard is anywhere near retirement age; if anything, the 70s would be more like midlife-crisis age (which would explain why Picard was driving the Argo around like a madman in NEM).

On the subject of aging..."Too Short A Season" has an admiral who's, what...eighty-something?

Anyway...he's all frail and deteriorating until that drug takes effect--the drug that eventually kills him, BTW.

As a show created by multiple different people, ST hasn't always been fully consistent in its futurism. Given the revolving-door writing staff in the first season, a lack of consistency is only to be expected.

Perhaps part of the reason Admiral Jameson was so willing to risk a dangerous youth-restoring drug is because he was aging faster than was typical for his era.

 

[Shazam!]

You're not grasping the meanings of "literally" and "figuratively", huh?

Well I genuinely have no idea what you're asking.

All I said was that I never expected Picard to cling onto Captaincy for as long as possible just because Kirk told him to.

 

[Shazam!]

Weren't Geordi and Picard were retired in All Good Things?

 

[Christopher]

You're not grasping the meanings of "literally" and "figuratively", huh?

Well I genuinely have no idea what you're asking.

Let's review. You said:

Surely Picard must be pushing retirement by now. He's... what 70something and still Captain? I know Kirk told him to never take promotion but I never expected Picard to take that literally.

Bill replied:

How does one figuratively refuse to be promoted out of his command?

I think that what you meant was that you never expected Picard to take the "never" part literally, i.e. to stay a captain indefinitely regardless of how old he gets. I think Bill misunderstood which part of the sentence you meant "literally" to modify. The gist of his question, which I took as a joke, was: if you refuse promotion, how do you do it figuratively rather than literally?