2021 books announced

[Christopher]

I'm pretty sure 32nd-century salons can figure out the technology to give someone hair extensions.

The question is when and why, though. She's supposed to have been busy all year doing courier work and searching for the cause of the Burn. Where did she find the time and the motivation for something as nonessential as really, really long hair extensions/stimulated growth? Was it something she adopted for some mission, as a disguise or something, and it just stuck?

I have the same issue with Daisy Johnson in Agents of SHIELD season 6. How, in the course of a year of itinerant living aboard Zephyr One searching the backwaters of the galaxy, a journey established in the premiere as arduous, austere, and draining of physical and psychological resources, did Daisy manage to maintain that supermodel-gorgeous blonde-and-purple-dyed coif she sported that season? And more importantly, why? I'm all in favor of women looking great onscreen, but if it's in a context where you'd logically expect a more functional, low-maintenance hairdo, it raises questions that demand answers. (See also the 1977 Logan's Run TV series, where Heather Menzies managed to maintain a perfect Farrah Fawcett hairdo while roaming the post-apocalyptic wilds for months in a small hovercraft.)

 

[Stevil2001]

The question is when and why, though. She's supposed to have been busy all year doing courier work and searching for the cause of the Burn. Where did she find the time and the motivation for something as nonessential as really, really long hair extensions/stimulated growth? Was it something she adopted for some mission, as a disguise or something, and it just stuck?

I just don't see any reason to get hung up on this. This is the future of the future. Even if it takes "time," why do we not think Michael had 20 minutes a day to spray her hair with polarons or something?

 

[Tuskin38]

And I don't see any reason to think they don't have follicle regenerators. (Insert your own name for it, I'm just matching the dermal regenerator.) And let's say they've had them for thousands of years, that's how the Disco Klingons suddenly had long hair in season two. Same goes for when characters go undercover, except when explicitly stated to be wearing wigs.

They had the tech/medical knowledge in Voyager.
I believe it’s mentioned in regards to Seven after her implants are removed.

And maybe when Janeway and co. were unassimilated later.

 

[Christopher]

I just don't see any reason to get hung up on this.

Wondering is not "getting hung up." It's not an obsession, it's just curiosity. Curiosity is a good thing. Ask anyone in Starfleet.

After all, I'm a writer. Asking questions about what motivates characters' actions, large and small, is where stories come from.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I hope Wonderlands explains how Burnham managed to achieve 5-6 years' worth of hair growth in just one year.

Ex-Borg Seven of Nine's hair was regenerated in a few hours in VGR. And many 21st century people with traditional braids use hair extensions, don't they?

Ah, late to the party.

 

[Markonian]

Ex-Borg Seven of Nine's hair was regenerated in a few hours in VGR. And many 21st century people with traditional braids use hair extensions, don't they?

Ah, late to the party.

The Doctor also restored Jhet'leya's "Ensign Lyndsay Ballard" physiology, including a new hairstyle, within a day. ("Ashes to Ashes").

 

[F. King Daniel]

The question is when and why, though. She's supposed to have been busy all year doing courier work and searching for the cause of the Burn. Where did she find the time and the motivation for something as nonessential as really, really long hair extensions/stimulated growth?

When all it takes is waving a wand over your head...

 

[DimesDan]

The cover looks grand, as for the whole Burnham hair thing, christ on a bike, it grew, end of, there is no need for more than that on the subject.

 

[Christopher]

When all it takes is waving a wand over your head...

Again, the question is not how, but why. It's not about technology, it's about believable character motivation. Why does someone struggling for survival in a dystopian environment with few luxuries, whether Jessica in Logan's Run or Daisy in AoS or post-Burn Burnham or anyone else, take the time to do something so glamorous with her hair? It seems incongruous. It seems like compromising credibility for the sake of glamour and sex appeal, and it pulls me out of the narrative.

Didn't Nana Visitor specifically ask the producers to give Kira a shorter, simpler haircut after the DS9 pilot because she didn't think it was plausible that a guerilla fighter living in caves, or a militia officer busily working to rebuild her society, would have the luxury of tending to a high-maintenance hairstyle? And then there's the Furiosa look, which takes that logic to the extreme.

 

[Jinn]

I think if we haven't learned why Starfleet changes its uniform design every three months in 50 years, we'll be fine without knowing why Burnham decided to change her hair style.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Again, the question is not how, but why. It's not about technology, it's about believable character motivation. Why does someone struggling for survival in a dystopian environment with few luxuries, whether Jessica in Logan's Run or Daisy in AoS or post-Burn Burnham or anyone else, take the time to do something so glamorous with her hair? It seems incongruous. It seems like compromising credibility for the sake of glamour and sex appeal, and it pulls me out of the narrative.

Didn't Nana Visitor specifically ask the producers to give Kira a shorter, simpler haircut after the DS9 pilot because she didn't think it was plausible that a guerilla fighter living in caves, or a militia officer busily working to rebuild her society, would have the luxury of tending to a high-maintenance hairstyle? And then there's the Furiosa look, which takes that logic to the extreme.

I take it you've never seen a teen or twentysomething dye their hair a crazy colour or totally change their style when going through a rough time? It's the 32nd century version of that.

And in that era it's far easier than the current-day equivalents.

 

[Christopher]

I take it you've never seen a teen or twentysomething dye their hair a crazy colour or totally change their style when going through a rough time? It's the 32nd century version of that.

If so, then it's a character beat that should be acknowledged and used in the story. If it isn't, then it just feels gratuitous. It's not that I can't think of an explanation on my own -- that is literally my job, you know -- but that I think story and character details should serve a purpose and not be arbitrary.

And that's why I said I hope the novel addresses it. Novels are good at delving into character nuances that episodic TV doesn't have room for.

 

[James Swallow]

"Maybe she's born with it; maybe it's Michaelburnam!"

 

[flandry84]

Long hair Michael is just fine by me...
Just sayin...

 

[Christopher]

Long hair Michael is just fine by me...
Just sayin...

I'm not objecting to it, just saying it could use some explanation. It's such an extreme change that it couldn't possibly happen just by a year's normal growth, so there has to be something more to it, and that means there could be a story worth telling.

 

[mastadge]

We're all going to feel silly when it turns out to have been the result of a transporter malfunction.

 

[Therin of Andor]

If so, then it's a character beat that should be acknowledged and used in the story. If it isn't, then it just feels gratuitous.

For me, it's the same mystery as "Why doesn't Khan remove one of his gloves?" Nick Meyer just said to Ricardo, "No, leave that one on." And the audience, if they notice, fills in the details.

We saw Burnham go through several hairstyles already. I was expecting another style change.

 

[historypeats]

First book to get the new logo!

I know this is such a small thing, but GOD did I dislike the original Discovery title font. I loved the redesign for S3, and didn't realize how nice it would look on a book cover. That thing just pops perfectly.

 

[JD]

Is the Star Trek usually so tiny?

 

[Stevil2001]

I know this is such a small thing, but GOD did I dislike the original Discovery title font. I loved the redesign for S3, and didn't realize how nice it would look on a book cover. That thing just pops perfectly.

Yes, Redrail Superfast is too fussy, and the colors too dark. Never looked good on the spines.