2021 books announced

[Thrawn]

Can someone clarify which books are part of the “relaunchverse?”

Basically everything in the flowchart in my signature. The boundaries are permeable - many books not intended to be a part of the ongoing continuity were later referenced in it (ie, Vendetta referenced in Before Dishonor) - but this is a pretty good version of an answer to that question.

 

[Sci]

Or maybe Vale transferred off. The canon timeline has to diverge from the Titan novels sometime before Destiny, since the events of Destiny don't happen and Riker & Troi have a son instead of a daughter.

Just for the record, the fact that Riker and Troi's first child was a boy named Thaddeus when he died in 2396 does not preclude Deanna giving birth to a girl. Thaddeus could have been born Natasha Troi-Riker and then transitioned into a boy during his childhood or early adolescence -- "Profit and Lace," for all its flaws, established that sex transition medical procedures are very easy and fast in the 24th Century.

 

[Thrawn]

I give the odds of the writers choosing to go through that level of continuity twisting just to reconcile a single fact from the LitVerse which is wholly not reconcilable from at least 2381 onwards anyway as extraordinarily low.

 

[tomswift2002]

I was also referencing how more recent novels have said that she actually was on the Enterprise during NEM, just off-screen.

Which books? From what I recall, they all agree with “War/Peace” which is part of the Relaunch.

 

[Sci]

I give the odds of the writers choosing to go through that level of continuity twisting just to reconcile a single fact from the LitVerse which is wholly not reconcilable from at least 2381 onwards anyway as extraordinarily low.

I mean, I don't expect them to do that, but it's an option they retain. I don't expect this, but it wouldn't be that hard for Swallow to, for instance, include a scene or two in the next PIC book where Thad realizes he's transgender at age 11 and transitions; "Profit and Lace" established that sex transition surgery can be successfully completed in an afternoon.

If the authors were to do this, they could retain a bit more of the old continuity and have an interesting bit of background story for Thad beyond his later illness. Again, not expecting it or demanding it -- but it would be cool if it happened and wouldn't be that big a deal or complication.

 

[ryan123450]

Can someone clarify which books are part of the “relaunchverse?”

Also see my website, in my signature, for a very extensive record of every story linked with and to the Litverse.

 

[Damian]

I give the odds of the writers choosing to go through that level of continuity twisting just to reconcile a single fact from the LitVerse which is wholly not reconcilable from at least 2381 onwards anyway as extraordinarily low.

Yeah, I tend to agree. What'd be the point?

Maybe they'd consider that if, say, half or 3/4 of the novelverse can be made consistent with Picard. Then, maybe someone would consider doing that to make one more thing consistent. I can see some merit.

But lets face it, probably more than 95% of the novelverse is inconsistent with Picard from Destiny on. There'd really be no point in a plot device for that just so we can say, 'oh, now Picard is only 94.5% inconsistent instead of 95.

 

[David cgc]

Which books? From what I recall, they all agree with “War/Peace” which is part of the Relaunch.

“Absent Enemies” and “Sight Unseen,” though at least the former seems to have been seamlessly corrected in the eBook version, so I expect the latter was, too. Luckily, the threads where we talked about them are still on the board, so I didn’t have to doubt my sense of reality too much when I couldn’t find the reference at first.

 

[Markonian]

Yeah, I tend to agree. What'd be the point?

Maybe they'd consider that if, say, half or 3/4 of the novelverse can be made consistent with Picard. Then, maybe someone would consider doing that to make one more thing consistent. I can see some merit.

But lets face it, probably more than 95% of the novelverse is inconsistent with Picard from Destiny on. There'd really be no point in a plot device for that just so we can say, 'oh, now Picard is only 94.5% inconsistent instead of 95.

I’m just re-reading DTI: The Collectors, and so far it is entirely compatible with PIC.

 

[thribs]

All books seem to be prequels so far. Nothing set after Nemesis

 

[Christopher]

I’m just re-reading DTI: The Collectors, and so far it is entirely compatible with PIC.

Not really, because it relies on backstory and character arcs from Watching the Clock, which is heavily dependent on post-Destiny continuity. Pretty much the only DTI story that still fits continuity is Forgotten History, if you gloss over a couple of references in the 24th-century portions or assume its DTI characters are from an alternate future. I wrote it so it could stand alone as a TOS novel, since I thought that was how it would be branded, so it still mostly works that way. Plus it's part of my overall post-TMP continuity, which has not yet come into conflict with canon (in fact, this week's Discovery more or less supported its portrayal of Saurian visual range).

 

[JoeZhang]

I mean, I don't expect them to do that, but it's an option they retain. I don't expect this, but it wouldn't be that hard for Swallow to, for instance, include a scene or two in the next PIC book where Thad realizes he's transgender at age 11 and transitions;

That is not the sort of thing that the tie-in writers get to decide - why add in that level of complexity? To what end?

The hope with these books is that you pick up people who saw Picard but may have never read or have not faithfully followed the litverse. It would be amazing random to add in what you are suggesting.

 

[Sci]

Not really, because it relies on backstory and character arcs from Watching the Clock, which is heavily dependent on post-Destiny continuity. Pretty much the only DTI story that still fits continuity is Forgotten History, if you gloss over a couple of references in the 24th-century portions or assume its DTI characters are from an alternate future. I wrote it so it could stand alone as a TOS novel, since I thought that was how it would be branded, so it still mostly works that way. Plus it's part of my overall post-TMP continuity, which has not yet come into conflict with canon (in fact, this week's Discovery more or less supported its portrayal of Saurian visual range).

Well, there's a bit of a contradiction insofar as Forgotten History posits that the Enterprise's minor temporal displacement in "The Naked Now" was the first time the Federation was ever able to travel through time and that all subsequent time travel incidents and research grew out of that, whereas DIS Season Two establishes that Section 31, at least, had developed a highly-sophisticated time travel suit by 2236.

On the other hand, that was also a secret project, so you've got a built-in reconciliation device there...

That is not the sort of thing that the tie-in writers get to decide - why add in that level of complexity? To what end?

The hope with these books is that you pick up people who saw Picard but may have never read or have not faithfully followed the litverse. It would be amazing random to add in what you are suggesting.

It may well not be something the licensor would allow them to do! But I don't think "Thaddeus was transgender" is all that complicated either.

 

[Stevil2001]

Have there been any trans characters in the fiction yet? I'm not up to date (I'm back in the 2013-17 range, except for CBSAA tie-ins), so maybe there have been since, but I feel like it would be unfortunate if trans characters were introduced only on behalf of convoluted retcons.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Have there been any trans characters in the fiction yet? I'm not up to date (I'm back in the 2013-17 range, except for CBSAA tie-ins), so maybe there have been since, but I feel like it would be unfortunate if trans characters were introduced only on behalf of convoluted retcons.

That’s what I’ve been thinking since the idea was first floated a few months back. It would be especially unfortunate given that the character is required canonically to die young; the last thing Star Trek needs to do is add another entry to the long list of LGBTQ characters in media with tragic fates.

 

[Christopher]

Have there been any trans characters in the fiction yet?

Yes -- Morgan Kelly, the armory officer of the Essex in the later Enterprise: Rise of the Federation books, is a trans woman. (TNG: "Power Play" established the character but did not specify their gender, while Starfleet: Year One portrayed Kelly as male.)

 

[thribs]

No one speaks of Discovery. That’s a different universe. .

 

[Greg Cox]

No one speaks of Discovery. That’s a different universe. .

I'm having fun dropping DISCOVERY references into my old-school TOS novels.

 

[thribs]

I'm having fun dropping DISCOVERY references into my old-school TOS novels.

I’m only messing around. It’s fine in the books as you can make it fit with your head.

 

[Ronald Held]

Should Ebooks be edited to be consistent with PIC, or DSC?