The State of Star Trek Literature

[stonester1]

I'm VERY pleased with the state of Treklit right now. Not about a reset button, not about a happy/joyjoy universe. It's showing a scenerio never done before, about how Paradise CAN fall, and to prevent it's falling, heavy lifting must be done. It is showing real government, real societies, real people, real problems.

Yes, our characters are still noble and heroic, but they are reacting like real people put under pressure. Star Trek is at it's strongest when it dwells in emotional truth. And guess what? One of the key emotional truths of life, is that life is, or can be great pain.

Heroes face the struggle and rise above it, take a bad situation and make it better.

My favorite stuff? Vanguard, Titan, New Frontiers and the post Borg 24th century storylines. But I'm finding time for it all.

Nevermind the naysayers who want their frozen in amber/reset button happy happy back. This is good stuff.

 

[stonester1]

the new Department of Temporal Investigation novels (what a great idea)

Not novels, just one novel. No current plans for any more.

I'm SO looking forward to what sounds like a new twist on Time Travel.

 

[Christopher]

In that case the youngsters have "Countdown", "Nero", "Spock Reflections" and the movie adaptation mini-series. That's sixteen comics (only two issues not yet out) and four trade collections! Already!

But are comics these days really being read by kids? It seems to me they tend to skew older, and a lot of mainstream comics are very much not for kids, with excessive violence and darkness and a fair amount of sexual content.

 

[garoo1980]

Nevermind the naysayers who want their frozen in amber/reset button happy happy back. This is good stuff.

Here here. I read these books because I want to know what happens to the characters, not to just recycle old story lines and ideas.

Its hard to find a good balance between holding on to the old and brining in the new, but from Destiny on they've nailed it. Special props to Losing The Peace.

 

[stonester1]

Exactly. I've been deployed to war/post war zones, and I've another coming next year. The feel of what they wrote captured that kind of scenario, just on a far grander scale than I've ever seen it.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Perhaps the feeling of too much death and destruction comes not only from Destiny but also the fact that we lost two major planets in the latest movie. The move is still in the future for the books but that's a lot of death in a short time span.

Perhaps it's part of the post 9/11 mindset that the biggest incident gets the most attention. How often are the number of dead Iraqi's mentioned as opposed to those who died when the towers fell? It's well over 30 times as many civilians and non-combatants. But, they happened in smaller numbers, a few at a time for the most part. Maybe we're just numbed to the smaller tragedies and need something on the scale of an entire population being killed in order to catch your attention?

Star Trek is about optimism for the future. It doesn't have to be "happy, happy, joy, joy" like some have said but it doesn't have to be about genocide on a galactic scale either.

 

[RonG]

I have to say I'm quite surprised at all the talk of genocide and genocide-chic at Trek Lit since Destiny .

For me, Star Trek Destiny was about perseverence, strength and triumph of spirit in spite of overwhelming odds and optimism towards the future. The Federation's ideals were tested but prevailed and the ultimate victory over the Borg was not in killing them, but rather by accepting them "back home" so to speak.

Yes, it was the UFP's darkest hour, with death and destruction all over known space, coupled with a test of character for our main heroes... and in the end, they prevailed, lived to face the future with the great shadow of the Borg lifted at last.

Destiny was a great, epic story which changed the galactic landscape (whether for the better of for the worse would depend on your outlook as well as whether you're looking at the immediate / short term effects or the long term ones), but IMO reaffirmed Star Trek's ideals forevermore.

That's whay it's a bit strange to me to read these "genocide" remarks regarding the post-Borg novels...

YMMV, of course...

 

[garoo1980]

Is everyone else really excited about the Typhon books coming up? I thought at the time that killing off the Borg was a brave move but that it would leave a pretty good gap. Namely a really good threat. The rebuilding aspect is great, and like others have said before I think its important we see the UFP rebuild and grow again. But a good threat is needed for the books too

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Take the manga, for example. Tokyopop supported that pretty well -- they issued annual volumes of Star Trek manga from 2006 - 2009. But they apparently didn't sell well enough for them to continue putting them out, so there apparently won't be a 2010 volume. Tokyopop decided they could make more money putting out some other book, so that's what they're doing.

Tokyopop has had serious financial problems in the past two years. I wouldn't read anything more than that into their decision not to do a follow-up to the TNG manga. I happen to know that the TNG manga actually sold well.

I have wondered at times if Paramount's licensing terms on Star Trek are such that many potential tie-in products are either borderline profitable or outright unprofitable.

 

[stonester1]

Is everyone else really excited about the Typhon books coming up? I thought at the time that killing off the Borg was a brave move but that it would leave a pretty good gap. Namely a really good threat. The rebuilding aspect is great, and like others have said before I think its important we see the UFP rebuild and grow again. But a good threat is needed for the books too

Not only are the Borg gone, but the political landscape has shifted considerably. Me, I'm looking forward to these stories, as the Typhon Pact will detail.

 

[Thrawn]

The little hints in Needs Of The Many about the exploration of the Gorn are really exciting, too. I think the Typhon Pact books are going to be outstanding.

 

[chelly]

I wish the books would come out a little earlier then dated.

 

[kkozoriz1]

I didn't see Destiny as the Federations darkest hour. I saw it as a way to remove the overused Borg from the scene. We'd already had the Federation face the Dominion War which showed us a darker side. There was dialog talking about how badly things were going. How planets were falling to the Dominion. Destiny, while a story of epic proportions, felt more like it had to one up the Dominion war. As if a war that brought the Federation together with the Klingons and the Romulans wasn't big enough. And yet, in a way, Destiny felt smaller. The emphasis was on the hero ships with passing mention of some others, mostly when they were destroyed. The Dominion War arc had time to tell the story. To show how widespread it was.

In The Siege of AR-558 Sisko says "They're not just names, it's important we remember that. We have to remember...". The planets that were devastated by the Borg were just numbers. So many billion killed at such and such. As if simply increasing the numbers increased the drama. But, to me at least, it didn't. It was just window dressing for the sake of window dressing. Showing how bad the Borg were though sheer numbers.

Give me the early DS9 reboot stories about finally exploring the Delta Quadrant. Give me Titan, finding new life and seeing the wonder. Stop feeling that everything has to be tied together just because they various ships exist in the same universe. A little crossover goes a long way.

 

[RonG]

Is everyone else really excited about the Typhon books coming up? I thought at the time that killing off the Borg was a brave move but that it would leave a pretty good gap. Namely a really good threat. The rebuilding aspect is great, and like others have said before I think its important we see the UFP rebuild and grow again. But a good threat is needed for the books too

While I'm excited for the TP novels, it's not because I see them as an uber-threat, the way the Borg and Dominion had been.

Star Trek, as opposed to Star Wars, isn't about *always* going from one war to the next. We've had a few rough years (some of the most exciting times in Trek IMO, but it's time to shift gears), and now we're in a "new world" - new political landscape, new challanges, etc.

I *would* like to see the TP in a "cold war" scenario for several years, giving the UFP a run for their money with conflicting ideologies, dealings with new / neutral species, etc.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to some crazy morally ambiguous fights between the TP and the UFP over potential new member worlds.

 

[RonG]

Not to mention, this could be just the imperative to bring back Section 31 to the forefront .. who better to wage morally-questionable struggles?

 

[Therin of Andor]

But are comics these days really being read by kids? It seems to me they tend to skew older, and a lot of mainstream comics are very much not for kids, with excessive violence and darkness and a fair amount of sexual content.

I agree with you. Not to mention that I wouldn't expect to see IDW comics on US newsstands the way that "Little Dot", "Richie Rich", "Archie" or Gold Key's "Star Trek" - or even DC's "Star Trek" titles - were.

 

[JD]

Not to mention, this could be just the imperative to bring back Section 31 to the forefront .. who better to wage morally-questionable struggles?

Maybe some of this will be what leads to their downfall.

 

[garoo1980]

I *would* like to see the TP in a "cold war" scenario for several years, giving the UFP a run for their money with conflicting ideologies, dealings with new / neutral species, etc.

I'm all for that. A strong threat, roughly comporable to the Federation but not an all out war. I think that could carry the series for quite a while.

 

[pookha]

Does any of that really change Steve Roby's original point that Star Wars occupies more bookstore shelf space because the franchise is simply more popular?

It is more popular.

My original point was that new, young fans are seemingly being fed into the SW fanbase all the time, through re-releases of the movies and the continued presence of SW toys, still aimed squarely at children. Whereas ST seemingly hasn't been able to do this to the same extent since the days of 70s TOS syndication and the Saturday morning airings of TAS. The Art Asylum/Diamond Direct ST figurines are aimed at adult collectors.

The fanbase for ST was aging and diminishing (until JJ), while the SW fanbase has stayed broader and is continually being replenished.

one thing that helped star wars is that most of the time they have had younger characters that actually appealed to those under 21.
while star trek and especially tng had a far more sketchy history with this.

so yeah i will give you they have been bringing younger fans while still having issues with star wars being more popular with the young overall.

when star wars came out there were as many or often more exited adults or older teens (say over 17) then kids in those lines.