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Cold Equations by David Mack???

After the revelations of "Nemesis", I told Jeff Lang that if he ever did a sequel to "Immortal Coil", perhaps the prototypes would be B-1, B-2 and B-3.

As I've said before, that doesn't work for me because B-4 was simply too crude to be the fourth prototype out of six.

Sure, and "Immortal Coil" cleverly manages never to describe the three prototypes that Juliana had actually met, even though they were in the background of scenes in "Immortal Coil". These three prototypes may well have been barely recognizable as humanesque robotic forms. (Playmates put a little non-canonical plastic robot/android in as an accessory for their Dr Soong action figure.) In any case, we know that Julia had met three prototypes before Lore, IC mentioned Data having located them and storing them, and "Nemesis" showed that Soong had created at least one other.

I've suggested, B-1 through B-3 might've been nonhumanoid prototypes of just the positronic brain

I imagine more work would have been spent getting just the brain right. It's rather weird how often the entire android body is put aside just because the positronic brain wasn't functioning correctly.

Or, Soong could have gave himself a countdown to perfection, starting with beta test models B-4 ("before"), then B-3, B-2, B-1, and resorting to "Lore", who turned out to be a disaster and then "Data" when he'd run out of numbered designations.

With so little canonical information a lot of possibilities are there. Thankfully, the revised script for "Nemesis" ditched the previous name of "B-9" ("benign").
 
Thank you.

Hey, David only said that the events of the comic wouldn't come to pass.

And given the terribad "uh, b4 got enough intelligence to apparently decide to sacrifice himself to let data return", or whatever it was way countdown went about it, I should hope not.

Just to keep you in a state of terrified anticipation
 
^ Tasha Yar and the bizarre situation on Turkana IV needs a book beyond what Jean Lorrah covered in the 80's.
 
^The movie made it pretty clear that B-4 was very simple and incapable of the kind of growth and learning that Lal showed. I mean, that was the whole thematic point behind the character.

Sure. That in itself doesn't preclude the possibility that he was the fourth prototype of six: B-4 did demonstrate reasonably advanced language and cognition skills, and it's imaginable that the previous three were significantly less functional.

I think Mack should throw a curveball and upload Tasha Yar's brain into B-4.

LOL!
 
So if the editorial decision were made to make the novels consistent with Countdown, there's no reason they couldn't be. After all, that comic sold very well, so there could be good marketing/economic reasons to tie into it. It would just be something that both the novels and STO chose to be consistent with, just as they're both consistent with canon. It would just fit into their respective tapestries in different ways.

It's worth noting that the STO history doesn't diverge overly from Treklit. The Needs of the Many, for instance, cites pressure from the Gorns' various allies--the Romulans, Tzenkethi, Breen, Tholians, and Kinshaya, i.e. the other Typhon Pact polities in the main Treklitverse--as key in preventing an early outbreak of Gorn-Klingon war.

As for incorporating the events of Countdown, well, what we glimpsed there is but the tip of the iceberg. How much did we really see of the broader astropolitical background?
 
It's worth noting that the STO history doesn't diverge overly from Treklit. The Needs of the Many, for instance, cites pressure from the Gorns' various allies--the Romulans, Tzenkethi, Breen, Tholians, and Kinshaya, i.e. the other Typhon Pact polities in the main Treklitverse--as key in preventing an early outbreak of Gorn-Klingon war.

Sure, the folks who make STO have borrowed some concepts from Trek Lit, just as they've borrowed concepts from a lot of other sources. But they've also blatantly contradicted a lot of Trek Lit continuity, particularly where DS9 and VGR are concerned.
 
Which is as it should be. As for STO not diverging overly from TrekLit - I thought that the Destiny trilogy didn't happen?
 
Which, you know, as much as I love and prefer the litverse, is completely understandable. They couldn't make a big-budget video game title designed to appeal to the masses (and specifically released to come shortly after the release of the Abrams film), and not only have it not include one of the franchise's most popular villains, but have it be something that happened a while back in some books that most of their players will never read.

Its unfortunate, but that's marketing for ya. I greatly enjoy STO, but not for the plot. Its a sandbox that I use to fly around and blow stuff up.
 
^Right. The game and the novels have different needs and somewhat different audiences, so it only makes sense for them to strike different courses.
 
cold equations is now ready for preorder on the nook color. I can't wait so looking forward to it.
 
Blurbs for all three novels are now up at the Simon & Schuster website (the one for the third book went up first, a few days ago):

The Persistence of Memory said:
The start of a new trilogy by the national bestselling author of Star Trek: Destiny!

A brazen heist: Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew race to find out who has stolen one of the Galaxy’s most important technological achievements—and for what sinister purpose.

A broken promise: One desperate man risks everything for what he abandoned decades ago—but is he ready to pay the price for redemption?

A daring mission: Against overwhelming odds, and with time running out, Commander Worf has only one chance to avert a disaster—but how high a price will he pay for victory?

http://books.simonandschuster.com/S...ions-1-The-of-Memory/David-Mack/9781451650723

Silent Weapons said:
The second book in a new trilogy by the national bestselling author of Star Trek: Destiny!

Three years after the disastrous final Borg Invasion, a bitter cold war against the Typhon Pact has pushed Starfleet’s resources to the breaking point. Now the rise of a dangerous new technology threatens to destroy the Federation from within.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew answer a distress call, only to become targets in a deadly game of deception. To protect a vital diplomatic mission, they must find a way to identify the spies hiding in their midst, before it’s too late. But Worf soon realizes thecrew’s every move has been predicted: Someone is using them as pawns. And the closer they get to exposing their enemy, the deeper they spiral into its trap…

http://books.simonandschuster.com/S...ons-2-Silent-Weapons/David-Mack/9781451650730

The Body Electric said:
The climax of a new trilogy by the national bestselling author of Star Trek: Destiny!

At the center of the Galaxy, a planet-sized Machine of terrifying power and unfathomable purpose hurls entire star systems into a supermassive black hole. Wesley Crusher, now a full-fledged Traveler, knows the Machine must be stopped…but he has no idea how. He enlists the help of Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew, who also fail to halt the unstoppable alien juggernaut’s destructive labors. But they soon divine the Machine’s true purpose, which threatens to exterminate all life in the Milky Way Galaxy. With time running out, Picard realizes he knows of only one person who might be able to stop the Machine in time to avert a galactic catastrophe—but he has no idea how to find him.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Star-Trek-TNG-Cold-Equations-3-The-Body/David-Mack/9781451650747
 
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