A Very Humble Request

[CaptainGold]

I appreciate all the great work by the novelists who are keeping the Trek brand alive. I regularly try to read the novels and other book material that comes out, and I enjoy them.

In the future, going forward, I have a request.

I am growing tired of the following three things: Federation vs. Borg, Dominion (or pieces of it) vs. Alpha Quadrant, and Section 31 is corrupt and the evil underside of the Federation.

Good v Evil is, of course, the most popular and easiest to use theme for all kinds of stories in literature. But, the Trek books are starting to get a little stale, with the evil facing the heroes being the same, different only in degree or technology, or depth of evil.

Even the new Next Gen. book series are another take on Federation v. Borg, adding a new captain to the Pantheon of leadership. Even books in other series that are not Borg or Dominion based always start with "Starfleet is re-(something) from the 'last' Dominion War/Borg Invasion."

If it is simply the problem that these books are selling, go for it. Profit is no problem with me. But, if some ST lines of stories have grown beyond Federation v. Klingon v. Rommulan, great. Please let ST:NG now grow beyond Fed and allies vs. Borg or vs. Dominion.

My impression is that the universe of Trek lit is filled with story lines full of potential competitors or enemies that would offer new challenges to the Starfleet of Picard and Riker. Let's seem them.

Or just as good, let's see Picard and Riker bring peace with the Borg and the Dominion to the Federation, as more or less happened with Rommulus and the Klingon homeworld. That could be a very interesting read.

Thanks for reading my opinion, and your consideration of it.

 

[KRAD]

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.......................

 

[Starbreaker]

What, you got something up your sleeve you sneaky Hynerian?

 

[BryanSorensen]

that was a weird tone in that he he he he he he

 

[MichaelS]

With Keith, there always is ...

 

[David Mack]

It was just easier to type than "Bwu-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

CaptainGold, I will be curious to hear your reactions after the Destiny trilogy is finished — and particularly after you find out what Keith has wrought in A Singular Destiny.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

I appreciate all the great work by the novelists who are keeping the Trek brand alive. I regularly try to read the novels and other book material that comes out, and I enjoy them.

In the future, going forward, I have a request.

I am growing tired of the following three things: Federation vs. Borg, Dominion (or pieces of it) vs. Alpha Quadrant, and Section 31 is corrupt and the evil underside of the Federation.

Well, to be fair...there hasn't been much fiction with the Dominion or Section 31--maybe around a half-dozen titles cumulatively, probably less--since 2001. And those intervening years were filled with dozens of other books having nothing to do with either of those groups. And while the Borg have been a focus of late, there hadn't been much fiction about them previously.

Please let ST:NG now grow beyond Fed and allies vs. Borg or vs. Dominion.

My impression is that the universe of Trek lit is filled with story lines full of potential competitors or enemies that would offer new challenges to the Starfleet of Picard and Riker. Let's seem them.

Riker deals with new challenges in each and every Titan novel.

As for the rest...you're gonna want to keep reading.

 

[captcalhoun]

if anything, i think some left-overs of the Dominion or resurgance of the Dominion is actually more fan-fictoin's over-riding thing...

 

[JeremyW]

However, don't dismiss the Dominion out of hand right away. Surely, a war like that is not easily forgotten. I like how the current crop of books acknowledge it without necessarily dwelling on it. But, don't forget that there is still potential to see the Dominion in the Deep Space Nine literature, because for that line, the war's been over for just over a year, and the events of Olympus Descending set the stage for an evolution of the Dominion, especially in light of the ongoing story with the Ascendants, and now, Illiana Ghemor's crusade to become the Emissary to the Prophets in the Mirror Universe.

As for Section 31, they had that 4 parter that dealt with them early in 2000-2001, and have really only been seen in A Time To Kill, A Time To Heal, The Good That Men Do and Kobayashi Maru (actually, only referenced in the last book), and references made to them in Vulcan's Soul and Articles of The Federation. I think the current crop of fiction's doing okay, but I'm excited as the next man to see what happens in A Singular Destiny, and the ending of the Destiny trilogy.

 

[Judith Sisko]

Arg!!! SPOILERS ABOVE!!! Fix it! Fix it!

 

[JD]

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.......................

Hmmm, intersting reaction, considering you're righting the first post-Destiny book. This makes me thing some very interesting things are in store for us in the new future.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I definitely think the Borg have been overused. There are definitely still a lot of good stories to tell about them, but they have been coming in too close together. I realize that it is part of a bigger story, but other than Krad's recent book we have hardly had a break from them. Instead of feeling dread when they appear now, it is more like "this again?"

I don't think the Dominion is overused because they are confined to the DS9 books for the most part. I don't mind the whole "we are still recovering from the war" line, though I think they should start moving away from that at this point. Also we never got to learn a lot of things about their culture during the series. I want to see another mission in the Gamma Quadrant in the DS9 books sooner rather than later.

Section 31 is just too interesting to me. I think they have the potential to be overused, but I don't think we are at that point yet.

I would like to see three things in the future of Trek Lit:

1. I want to know more about the underused aliens in the Trek universe. The Tholians got some play in Vanguard, but we still know so little about them. I want more Gorn, more Melkots, more of the Sheliak, more of the 1st Federation (not counting the Shatnerverse)...not just appearances but a general fleshing out of their cultures.

2. I would like to see a return to smaller stories, at least for awhile after Destiny ends. I feel like the whole "Federation/Galaxy on the edge of being destroyed" angle has been played up too often lately. These types of stories need to be spaced out a bit more so they can have they proper amount of impact.

3. I would like to see exactly how species like the Klingons, Cardassians or Romulans react to dealing with Apollo or Lincoln in space type threats. I refuse to believe that only the NCC-1701 encountered these types of creatures..What are some of these shoot first ask questions later species going to do when violence WON'T work??

That said, I am still really happy with the general direction that Trek Lit is taking. Just picking some nits here.

 

[Marco Palmieri]

I don't think the Dominion is overused because they are confined to the DS9 books for the most part. I don't mind the whole "we are still recovering from the war" line, though I think they should start moving away from that at this point.

None of the post-TV DS9 stories portray the Dominion as "recovering from the war." Is it possible you're confusing them with the Cardassians?

Also we never got to learn a lot of things about their culture during the series.

David R. George III's Olympus Descending from Worlds of Deep Space Nine, Volume Three offers a look at the Dominion from the inside.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I didn't state it very clearly. I meant the Federation recovering from the Dominion War.

 

[terpette]

If we're throwing out wish lists... I'd like to see:

1. A character named after me. Could work as a Vulcan (T'rpet) or perhaps someone could create a new race of really cool turtle-like creatures.

2. More Corps of Engineers (yeah, I know the eBooks are pretty much dead. But still... engineers rule).

3. A bad-ass female captain. See, I'm in charge of my local Star Trek group, and the only captain of note I can compare myself to is Janeway. While we both have a coffee fetish and long hair, that's about where the similiarities end.

4. Or, just keep publishing a stream of tasty books so I always have something to put on my holiday and birthday lists.

Karen

 

[Trent Roman]

3. A bad-ass female captain. See, I'm in charge of my local Star Trek group, and the only captain of note I can compare myself to is Janeway. While we both have a coffee fetish and long hair, that's about where the similiarities end.

What about Kira? Granted, she has short hair, but it is red... and she's all over badass.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

 

[Hardin]

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.......................

Hmmm, intersting reaction, considering you're righting the first post-Destiny book. This makes me thing some very interesting things are in store for us in the new future.

that's not just interesting. That's downright scary!

 

[JWolf]

3. A bad-ass female captain. See, I'm in charge of my local Star Trek group, and the only captain of note I can compare myself to is Janeway. While we both have a coffee fetish and long hair, that's about where the similiarities end.

What about Kira? Granted, she has short hair, but it is red... and she's all over badass.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

And now we have Captain Ezri Dax.

 

[JD]

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.......................

Hmmm, intersting reaction, considering you're righting the first post-Destiny book. This makes me thing some very interesting things are in store for us in the new future.

that's not just interesting. That's downright scary!

Oops, I didn't realize when I was writing that that I had the wrong write, my bad.

 

[Trent Roman]

And now we have Captain Ezri Dax.

Keeping in mind that I haven't gotten around to reading Destiny yet... but I don't think of Ezri Dax as particularly bad-ass. Not that one would want every captain out there to be a balls-to-the-wall warrior, of course; diversity of command styles is good.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman