Books in New Trek universe - spoilers in link?

[Smitty]

Just saw and read this early this morning....

http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/11...et-in-New-Movie-Timeline-Minor-Spoilers.shtml

Ugh.... I am not sure I am going to like this or not. Since most of not all the authors mentioned post here I was wondering if any insight about the characters. Are they familar, same type of response or mannerisms?

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ The idea is to make these books logical outgrowths of the new film, and the characters as portrayed there during that point in their lives. The interpersonal dynamics will therefore be somewhat different from the "tried and true" characterizations of "classic" TOS books.

At least, that's the plan.

 

[Greg Cox]

Exactly, the idea is to capture the spirit and feel and characterizations of the movie.

As I've said before, if my book feels like an old-school TOS novel, I will have failed in my mandate.

 

[Christopher]

And as I've said before, I approached Seek a Newer World similarly to Ex Machina -- as an elaboration and continuation of the character arcs in the film it follows.

However, although these versions of the characters have their differences from the originals, they're still the same people at the core. And that's the approach I took. To a large extent, SaNW is about exploring the characters' journey from where they were at the end of the movie toward the personalities and relationships we know from TOS.

 

[mattburgess]

Have you guys (authors) not sat down and discussed this with each other? Like, which (if any) characters specifically won't end up like they were in the tv series,
what New Kirk would be like in a given situation (considering his past is now completely different, and therefore suggests that he is a very different person now),
what the new group dynamics will be,
how the alpha quadrant is different since the arrival of Eric Bana as a Romulan,
what effect Old Spock will have on the universe,
and how it will be different from the original TOS books, in order to keep it fresh, etc.

There seems (to me) to be far too many important questions to be answered, before they are "made up on the spot".
(Please don't infer criticism from my choice of words, it is unintentional. And to be clear, I am not looking for answers to these questions, just using them as examples. For answers, I will read the books )

 

[Therin of Andor]

Just saw and read this early this morning....
http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/11...et-in-New-Movie-Timeline-Minor-Spoilers.shtml

Ugh.... I am not sure I am going to like this or not.

If you didn't like the film, why are you even interested in novels based upon its themes and approach? Otherwise, I can't see anything specific in the quoted link that would cause one to say, "Ugh."

If you did like the film, then look forward to tie-ins based upon it!

Have you guys (authors) not sat down and discussed this with each other? Like, which (if any) characters specifically won't end up like they were in the tv series

When do ST novelists get opportunities to travel across the country (potentially the globe) to have summit meetings on future ST novels? Not very often. And who pays the travel expenses? (Email and telephone more likely, but not compulsory. Maintaining consistency between the books is essentially the editor's job.)

Since the second movie isn't even written yet, any hints about possible future directions by the characters will have to be given with the knowledge that the next canonical tale is yet to be created, so longterm decisions are not the tie-in authors' to make.

My personal suppositions only, of course.

 

[David Mack]

I purged my mind of all things Star Trek, accepted the conceit that the new movie constituted the whole of the Star Trek universe, and then I wrote my novel based on that. My editor and the licensor have told me that they think I did a fine job of capturing the tone of the new film and the dynamic of the new versions of the classic crew.

[Forrest Gump]And that's all I have to say about that.[/Forrest Gump]

 

[Greg Cox]

Have you guys (authors) not sat down and discussed this with each other? Like, which (if any) characters specifically won't end up like they were in the tv series,
what New Kirk would be like in a given situation (considering his past is now completely different, and therefore suggests that he is a very different person now),
what the new group dynamics will be,
how the alpha quadrant is different since the arrival of Eric Bana as a Romulan,
what effect Old Spock will have on the universe,
and how it will be different from the original TOS books, in order to keep it fresh, etc.

There seems (to me) to be far too many important questions to be answered, before they are "made up on the spot".
(Please don't infer criticism from my choice of words, it is unintentional. And to be clear, I am not looking for answers to these questions, just using them as examples. For answers, I will read the books )

Most of that stuff, like any major changes to galactic politics, is best left to the next movie. I can't speak for the rest of the guys, but I wasn't trying to lay down the rules for the new timeline or anything. I was just trying to write an exciting standalone adventure story featuring the characters from the new movie. And one that will (hopefully) appeal to both long-time fans and people who have only seen the new movie.

The long-term development of the new timeline is up to the movie people, not us.

 

[Christopher]

Have you guys (authors) not sat down and discussed this with each other? Like, which (if any) characters specifically won't end up like they were in the tv series,
what New Kirk would be like in a given situation (considering his past is now completely different, and therefore suggests that he is a very different person now),
what the new group dynamics will be,
how the alpha quadrant is different since the arrival of Eric Bana as a Romulan,
what effect Old Spock will have on the universe,
and how it will be different from the original TOS books, in order to keep it fresh, etc.

Like Greg says, those things aren't for us to decide. Our job is to tell standalone stories that are consistent with the first movie and try to avoid establishing things that could be contradicted in the second. We're getting paid to maintain the status quo as it exists at the end of the movie, not to change it.

I did say that my book deals with moving the characters toward what they'll become, but maybe that was misleading. I know where Abrams' "Supreme Court" intended the characters to be personality-wise and relationship-wise at the end of the film, and that's where they'd presumably be at the start of the next one; but I figured maybe the journey to get there would've required more than just the events of the film itself. Maybe they'd have to go through a bit more in order to reach that point -- to solidify their relationships, to heal from the film's traumas, that sort of thing.

As for the writers getting together and talking, I'm sure that would be a lot of fun, and I'm very curious about what the others are doing. But our mandate is to tell self-contained stories without any continuity between them, so we've been working independently of each other. Ideally our books won't contradict each other either, but that's an editorial responsibility. To date, I've only talked a little bit with Dave about our respective books, back at Shore Leave.

 

[Greg Cox]

My editor and the licensor have told me that they think I did a fine job of capturing the tone of the new film and the dynamic of the new versions of the classic crew.
]

Congrats!

 

[bbailey861]

It's just too bad there is such a long wait time for these to hit the shelves.

 

[Smitty]

When do ST novelists get opportunities to travel across the country (potentially the globe) to have summit meetings on future ST novels? Not very often. And who pays the travel expenses? (Email and telephone more likely, but not compulsory. Maintaining consistency between the books is essentially the editor's job.)

not sure all this is necessary, we have a wonderful thing called the internets and webmeetings.

As for the writers getting together and talking, I'm sure that would be a lot of fun, and I'm very curious about what the others are doing.

I bet you guys would love to do that, it would be cool just to be a fly on the wall for that....

 

[Dayton Ward]

Happens several times a year, to varying degrees, depending on the authors involved, at different conventions. Shore Leave is a prime example where brainstorming of this type is carried out with wild abandon.

 

[Greg Cox]

Depends on the project, too. Dave Mack and I exchanged many phone calls and emails regarding the 4400 books, not to mention a couple of drinks at the Shore Leave bar!

 

[seigezunt]

I think this is an interesting time to be reading new Trek. Because this new universe only has one movie to its credit, the pallet is wide open, kind of like during the time of the early TOS novels.

And no Richard Arnold!

I'm still going to want my Prime Trek fiction, which I'm a little worried about losing, but, hell, there are plenty of books left to read before that happens.

 

[JarodRussell]

When do ST novelists get opportunities to travel across the country (potentially the globe) to have summit meetings on future ST novels? Not very often. And who pays the travel expenses? (Email and telephone more likely, but not compulsory. Maintaining consistency between the books is essentially the editor's job.)

It's the 21st century. We have things called Skype or ICQ now.

 

[Greg Cox]

When do ST novelists get opportunities to travel across the country (potentially the globe) to have summit meetings on future ST novels? Not very often. And who pays the travel expenses? (Email and telephone more likely, but not compulsory. Maintaining consistency between the books is essentially the editor's job.)

It's the 21st century. We have things called Skype or ICQ now.

Hey, I'm still trying to figure out how the warp drive works . . . .

 

[David Mack]

Hey, I'm still trying to figure out how the warp drive works . . . .

Water pressure. And magnets.

 

[Mike Farley]

I assumed there was Pixie Dust dissolved in the water. But that's a topic best left for the Trek Tech forum.

 

[JarodRussell]

Isn't it a bit too early for nuTrek literature? I mean, with 4 novels for 2010, and possibly another 4 to 8 novels before the next movie is released, won't you risk that most of the stories and character developments will be rendered pointless by the next movie, and/or risk to take a good story idea away from the next movie? How do you know what you can write and what you can't? Or will the scriptwriters consider the books and don't contradict them, in order to keep them interesting for people who are supposed to get interested in the tie-in literature by watching the movies?