GaryH found one! With luck there will be several more to come later in the year! Star Trek: Picard — Firewall (02/2024) by David Mack: Two years after the USS Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds herself rejected for a position in Starfleet…and instead finds a new home with the interstellar rogue law enforcement corps known as the Fenris Rangers. The Rangers seem like an ideal fit for Seven—but to embrace this new destiny, she must leave behind all she’s ever known, and risk losing the most important thing in her life: her friendship with Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek (03/2024) by Nana Visitor: Nana Visitor, Star Trek’s Kira Nerys, explores how the series has portrayed and influenced women. Interviews with the stars, writers, producers, and celebrity fans reveal the struggles and triumphs of women both behind and in front of the camera throughout the sixty-year history of Star Trek, and how they have mirrored the experiences of women everywhere.
I'm kinda disappointed that the majority of the Picard novels have been flashback stories rather than stories in the context of the series, Captain Rios on the Stargazer or Seven coming onboard the USS Titan.
TrekLit kinds took a dump on what it was. Playing it safe. This is, by the way, not an attack to the writers. Their work is really still good. Just... The limitations on the stories they're allowed to tell... It sucks.
Part of the problem is where such stories would fit in the timeline - Discovery and Picard both have been heavily serialized, with no real time between episodes for additional adventures. There is some room in between seasons, sure, but for Picard, each season started with characters dispersed afterwards, not really leaving much room for more stories.
It's the way tie-ins to ongoing series naturally work. The only reason the novels had so much freedom over the past two decades is because the series they tied into were over. You can't expect anything remotely like that for an ongoing series. And I don't see it as a limitation, I see it as taking advantage of an opportunity. Picard set up a lot of information about characters' lives before the series, or after the last time we saw them. Exploring those unseen events is exactly the sort of thing tie-ins are good at. Lots of past tie-ins have been prequels or in-between stories -- The Final Reflection, Enterprise: The First Adventure, Final Frontier, Spock's World, Imzadi, Mosaic, etc. A number of my own novels count, notably The Buried Age and The Captain's Oath. Generally stories like that have been considered special, exceptions to the general episodic approach. But since Picard isn't an episodic series, just a trio of miniseries telling a single story each, there isn't really anything else you can do but fill in the backstory or interstitials. And PIC season 1 established a ton of backstory, so there are a wealth of stories to be told. I don't see how that's a bad thing.
Exactly. Fleshing out the backstory of how Seven became a Fenris Ranger sounds like exactly the sorta thing that the novels are well-suited for. Not a limitation at all. (Says the guy who got two whole novels out of couple of lines of dialogue in "Space Seed.")
This would have been my first pick for a new novel in 2024! Other Picard novels I’d love to see…Captain Worf’s Final Adventure, Captain Rios’s First Adventure, Beverly and Jack Vs the Galaxy, The Many Adventures of Altan Soong, and The Final Flight of the Titan (aka The Tragedy of the Riker Family).
What's the point unless Star Trek: Legacy is first greenlit to establish new show staff to approve tie-in premises? Indeed.
I don't think the shows' writing staffs are responsible for approving premises, with the possible exception of Kirsten Beyer, who takes an atypically direct role as liaison with the novels and comics because of her prior experience as a novelist. Normally they're too busy making the shows. Approval is the responsibility of the studio licensing department, though I suppose they consult with show staff where feasible.
Simon & Schuster For Sale Again Impact To 2024 Novels . . . ? I decided to pose this question here rather than start a new thread. I read in the past few days that, though the acquisition/merger between S&S and Penguin Random House was blocked, Paramount has again put S&S up for sale. I heard a podcast or two over the past year where a couple authors stated the limited supply of fiction was partly due to Gallery Books refraining from moving forward with acquisitions in order to let the supposed sale of S&S occur and any fallout settle. Are any authors or editors able to comment on this and provide any insight? Is the answer that we are all more-or-less in a wait-and-see mode? Thanks for any news or insight. Donnie
Is there any chance you could mention what the new Picard novel might be please or post a linkt to the new book info on Amazon.com thank you.
The information is in the top post, but here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fi...trek+firewall,stripbooks-intl-ship,136&sr=1-1
Thanks Laura. I'm excited we'll be getting a Seven of Nine novel to fill in her backstory after Voyagers finale. And joining the Fenris Rangers.