The Seekers: HBO-esque or Planet 'o Week

[Nathan]

I know, I know, probably the Forward for the new Seeker series hasn't even been written yet, but I wonder if since Vanguard (as I've said is prolly the best thing ever to come to Trek Lit) was HBO-esque, I wonder if the author(s) will shift gears and make more Planet of the Week type books with the reset button at the end.

Personally, I'm hoping for the HBO-esque type series, as I tend to grow weary of the Planet 'o Week type stories with the re-sent button at the end.

Besides, Vanguard, the only things that I've felt Trek Lit has been spot-on with is the Typhon Pact series, Destiny Trilogy, the Lost Era books, and the DRGIII Spock-McCoy-Kirk trilogy. The rest as of late are hit or miss, with a lot of misses (and I say that of books over the past 10 years, but I digress).

At any rate, what is your preference for Seekers being more HBO-type or Planet of the Week.....and ain't saying ALL Planet of the Week type books sux, but I think they are a lot harder to pull off these days.

Your thoughts???

 

[F. King Daniel]

If they're the kind of stories that could just as easily be told in TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY or ENT then this new series is a waste. It has to have something unique.

 

[David Mack]

From the series bible for Star Trek: Seekers —

Unlike the Star Trek Vanguard saga, Seekers is not intended to be a sweeping, serialized tale. Most books would be “stand-alone” tales within the shared continuity, though the premise will allow for occasional “team-up” or multi-book adventures….

Neither will Seekers emulate Vanguard’s “dark and gritty” vision of the Star Trek universe. … Seekers will present tales of exploration that capture the wonder and whimsy, the humor and adventure of the original series, while also staying true to its optimism and ethics.

In short, if Vanguard represents the dark chapter of TOS history, Seekers will be the return of the light, the revival of hope, the fulfillment of the Federation’s promise on its frontier.

If they're the kind of stories that could just as easily be told in TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY or ENT then this new series is a waste. It has to have something unique.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

 

[The Wormhole]

From my perspective (and I admit I mangle things up frequently) it sounds like each book is going to be "planet of the week" type fare but with character arcs to continue to develop over the course of the series.

 

[BillJ]

From the series bible for Star Trek: Seekers —

Unlike the Star Trek Vanguard saga, Seekers is not intended to be a sweeping, serialized tale. Most books would be “stand-alone” tales within the shared continuity, though the premise will allow for occasional “team-up” or multi-book adventures….

Neither will Seekers emulate Vanguard’s “dark and gritty” vision of the Star Trek universe. … Seekers will present tales of exploration that capture the wonder and whimsy, the humor and adventure of the original series, while also staying true to its optimism and ethics.

In short, if Vanguard represents the dark chapter of TOS history, Seekers will be the return of the light, the revival of hope, the fulfillment of the Federation’s promise on its frontier.

Something to look forward to. While I still enjoy the 24th century books, they have been a bit on the dark side for a while. Seekers, along with TOS, will balance things out.

 

[Christopher]

If they're the kind of stories that could just as easily be told in TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY or ENT then this new series is a waste. It has to have something unique.

It does -- the distinct crews of Endeavour and Sagittarius, and the very different type of starship that the latter is from what we're used to. Even if the basic story premises are the same type of adventures we've seen in TOS for decades, they're bound to play out differently due to the different personalities involved.

I just remembered something which is a spoiler for the end of Vanguard:

Spoiler: Vanguard

Didn't Captain Nassir die at the end, leaving Terrell as the captain? So is Terrell going to be the featured captain of the Sagittarius portions? If so, that's great. I've always felt he deserved more focus.

 

[JD]

I'm glad that these are going to be more stand alone. As much as I love getting the big complex arcs like Vanguard, it will be fun to get more exploration heavy stand alone stories.
EDIT:I posted more but as soon as I posted it, I realized I was mistaken.

 

[Skywalker]

Forgive the writers for wanting to do something a little different instead of just more of the same.

Since Seekers seems to be focusing mostly on the adventures of the Endeavour and Sagittarius, I imagine that while each book's main plot might center on a standalone plot, there will probably be character arcs that continue from book to book. So while Seekers will be episodic in terms of "A-plot," it will have a bit of a serialized feel to it where the characters are concerned, rather than getting everybody back to the status quo at the end of the story like old-school Trek.

That's just my take on it, anyway, based on what I've read about the series so far. I'm probably wrong.

 

[Relayer1]

Will there be any carry over from this shared TOS universe into the other TOS novels ?

I don't mean a tight continuity like the 24th century stuff, but the occasional 'nod' in say, one of Greg's books would be nice !

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

If they're the kind of stories that could just as easily be told in TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY or ENT then this new series is a waste. It has to have something unique.

I am sure Dave Mack will kill off a few people, etc... for you Keep things interesting.

 

[Christopher]

Will there be any carry over from this shared TOS universe into the other TOS novels ?

I don't mean a tight continuity like the 24th century stuff, but the occasional 'nod' in say, one of Greg's books would be nice !

The tricky thing is, Seekers will be set between the 5-year mission and TMP, so there aren't going to be many TOS novels that could reference it. Although if I get to do more post-TMP novels someday, I might well work in some nods to it (or maybe we could even arrange some sort of crossover). I'm hopeful this might open the door for more post-TOS material.

 

[Jarvisimo]

Will there be any carry over from this shared TOS universe into the other TOS novels ?

I don't mean a tight continuity like the 24th century stuff, but the occasional 'nod' in say, one of Greg's books would be nice !

The tricky thing is, Seekers will be set between the 5-year mission and TMP, so there aren't going to be many TOS novels that could reference it. Although if I get to do more post-TMP novels someday, I might well work in some nods to it (or maybe we could even arrange some sort of crossover). I'm hopeful this might open the door for more post-TOS material.

Didn't they mention that it will go into the TMP era? This is from the pitch from Dayton's blog:

“Also, whereas Vanguard by design was intrinsically linked to the “canon” and even specific events and episodes of the original Star Trek, Seekers has for its playground the period following the original series (starting in 2269) as well as the largely untapped early movie era of 2270 and beyond.“

 

[flandry84]

It was the "dark and gritty"part of Vanguard that interested me.
Ah well.

 

[Relayer1]

if I get to do more post-TMP novels someday, I might well work in some nods to it (or maybe we could even arrange some sort of crossover). I'm hopeful this might open the door for more post-TOS material.

You aren't on your own there...fingers crossed !

 

[DEWLine]

Hoping for Christopher to get his wish.

 

[Corran Horn]

I wonder if these will be collections of stories, as the Blish books were, or will each be its own novel-length story.

 

[RoB]

I think they will be novel-length story. If I remember correctly, the announcement on Dayton Ward's homepage says they will rotate the perspective from book to book. So, in one book you have the Sagittarius and in the next the Endeavour. And from time to time, there may be crossovers. At least, that's the way I understand it.

 

[Christopher]

^Yup. IIRC, Dave will focus on the Sagittarius and Dayton & Kevin on the Endeavour.

I've realized that between this and Rise of the Federation (presuming that continues past book 2), there will be two simultaneous series which each feature two hero ships, one of which is named Endeavour -- one in the 22nd century, one in the 23rd. Now we just need a series featuring a 24th-century Endeavour (presumably NCC-71805) along with another ship, and we'll have a full set!

 

[indianatrekker26]

i'm looking forward to this series. It got my butt in gear to finally read the rest of the vanguard series. I had read books 1-3, but then I got behind. so i'm starting back with Harbinger, and plan to burn through the whole series. I would think this would make a lot of fellow readers happy. One of the major complaints ive read across the lit boards in recent years, is that most of the trek (TNG era) has been too politically heavy.

 

[Paper Moon]

Regarding the OP's question: I really don't see how it has to be exclusively one or the other. There is an inherent drama to exploring strange new worlds that Star Trek has barely ever tapped. Think about "First Contact" (the episode), "Who Watches The Watchers?," "Move Along Home," "Allegience," "Justice"... While the quality of these stories varies from a real-world perspective, and while the Prime Directive violations mean that they are less palatable exploration experiences in-universe, they offer a taste of the potential for exploration stories to be highly dramatic and meaningful.

Nathan, you assume that visiting one planet in one novel and then visiting another in the next demands a reset button. Narratively, there's no reason for that to be the case; it was only so because of the nature of television at the time. The novels are under no such constraint.

For example, there was no reset button at the end of "Skin of Evil," "Yesterday's Enterprise" notwithstanding. ("Skin of Evil" works as a story, regardless of Crosby's subsequent desire to return to the show.) There was no reset button after Wildfire. You can still tell compelling long-term narratives within the episodic framework.

So yeah. I really don't see why it has to be either-or.