I feel like I'm turning into the Star Trek record keeper... Following on the heels of the 50th anniversary of Trek Literature earlier this month is another big milestone. First some caveats. On my Star Trek prose and comics story count ( http://startreklitverse.yolasite.com/story-count.php ) I have kept track of all the print and comic based stories released over the years. This does however include a bit of necessary overlap. For example The Wrath of Khan was a novelization, a photostory, and a three part comic miniseries. Anyway, accounting for everything released through January 2017 the total number of stories published is 2259. This doesn't count audio only stories like the 1970's record stories, or audio books never released in print. That total would be 2270. This still doesn't count video games but I am going to say that figuring out how to count those as individual stories is an impossible task. Counting every episode and film of canon Trek brings us to the total of 739. Originally forgetting about the 11 audio-only stories over the years, I had figured out that the 3000th officially released Star Trek story would be coming out on Wednesday, as Star Trek: New Visions #14- Sam. Taking into account those audio-only stories brings us back to Prey: Hall of Heroes as the 3000th officially released Star Trek tale. Anyone trying to work their way threw all 3000 starting now has quite a long list to make their way down.
Wow, that is really cool. I don't think there's a lot of franchises that can say they have 3000 stories released,
Hmm.... First, hats off to you for tackling this. However, I think the results should factor in things like multiple versions of the same story (count it once, regardless of medium in which it was introduced), and definitely include Book/record sets and audio only stories. That way, we get something closer to a true number of total unique Trek tales told. It sounds like you've got the numbers, already, so maybe just a little tweaking is in order? I'm guessing the count will come down if you disregard things like your Khan example, but then maybe that means we can all start actually fighting for the milestone 3,000th slot.
Yeah I (or someone) would have to look back threw my count pages and figure out how many overlapping stories there are. But at the same time, The Wrath if Khan, Issue 2, for example, is a unique and complete published work.
Sorry for the double post but I was just realizing we'd be quite a long way off if we eliminate duplicates. All the TOS and TAS novelizations would be over a hundred alone.
I have to admit, I'd never really given it thought, but I'm now genuinely curious as to how many unique Trek stories there are. Curse you and your stats.
A quick count gave about 183 adaptations of episodes and films of various kinds. Most people might not have counted each of the two halves of the Gold Key comics seperately, but many of them have seperate titles so I did. Removing those would cut it by an additional 56 stories. So counting what comes out this week, using this criteria, a person would come up with 2772. I think. It's late.
So did you count the different versions of Wrath of Khan as the same story or separate stories? Why does the Gold Key entry say 1 comic, 116 comic stories? And what's the difference between a comic and a comic story? I think it's best to count each video game as one story. Otherwise, you'll get a total of more than 100,000 stories, most of which will be player-created Foundry missions from Star Trek Online. Did you count the various extended versions and director's cuts as separate stories?
Player-created Foundry stories in STO are not licensed work and therefore count as fan-made. Also, each game = 1 story, otherwise one would have a hard time counting each mission in every ST game ever released.
In the count that ended up at 3000, yes. In the 2772 version, no. That's what I ended up calling the comic version of the difference between a novel and a short story. There's probably a better name for it if anyone can think of it. So for example, the new Waypoint comics count as two stories though they are published in one product. Like I was saying before, every issue but one of the Gold Key comics are broke up into two parts, many times with different titles for Part 1 and Part 2. No I only counted each episode and film once.
The "license" in that context is more about the end user agreement so far as using the software to design missions/etc., and keeping Foundry within a space that's harmonious with Cryptic's overall licensing agreement for STO. The stories/scenarios generated in that environment are basically a form of fan fiction (and I don't mean that in any sort of derogatory manner), and the rules governing their creation are more akin to the guidelines now in place for fan films.
You can pull a Doomsday World and team up for the 3000th story. While exploring the Odyssean Pass the Enterprise Crew has to team up with the DTI... In the Delta Quadrant! And then the Excalibur that just returned from 2267 (where they accidentally brought Starbase 47 back to the present) and 2376 (where they were boarded by the crew of the IKS Gorkon) appears and everything goes nuts! Featuring flashbacks to Picards Stargazer time Written by Dayton Ward, Christopher Bennett, Kirsten MF Beyer, Peter Dacid, Kevin Dilmore, David Mack and guest starring: Keith R.A. DeCandido and Michael Jan Friedman
Throw in Mirror Universe Nanietta Bacco wielding a Highlander sword and dragging Khan (both of them) by chains around their necks, and I'm in.
Perry Rhodan looks to have a higher page count http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/PerryRhodan