All future Kirk/Spock novels to be in new timeline?

[gastrof]

Are we pretty well settled that all novels published from this point on, if they involve Kirk and Spock, will be in the new timeline? (The new article here seems to suggest that.)

I'm figuring/hoping 24th century stories allow for the timeline more or less straightening itself out to some extent by that era, leaving it pretty much unchanged, so I'm not even thinking about them. Just future Kirk/Spock novels.

Wacha think?

 

[JoeP]

I highly doubt that would be the case, though I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of a break to allow the new timeline crew some spotlight for a bit. Of course, the break happening after what's already on the schedule like Inception, Children of Kings, etc.

 

[Christopher]

Are we pretty well settled that all novels published from this point on, if they involve Kirk and Spock, will be in the new timeline? (The new article here seems to suggest that.)

No, there's no reason to assume that, particularly given that there are several Primeverse TOS books coming out over the next few months: February's Inception by S.D. Perry, focusing on the young Kirk and Spock and their relationships with Carol Marcus and Leila Kalomi; April's Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno, featuring Saavik after ST IV; and May's The Children of Kings by Dave Stern, featuring Pike and Spock. True, none of them are in the timeframe of TOS per se, but they show that Pocket is not abandoning the Primeverse TOS continuity.

 

[Thrawn]

First of all, everyone who's in any kind of position of power has stated that the Abrams universe is a completely alternate timeline. So there's no need to even consider the timeline "straightening itself out" by the 24th century; it's not the same timeline in the first place.

Second, when The Dark Knight came out, Batman comics with the comic continuity kept being published. I have little doubt Kirk/Spock books based on TOS will still be published. Still, it's just a prediction; there's a new editor at Pocket, and we haven't technically heard one way or another yet. Certainly the Febuary, April, and May books this year are all old-school TOS, but as I said, that was a different editor.

 

[Greg Cox]

Exactly. It's way too soon to be making any sweeping predictions.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Are we pretty well settled that all novels published from this point on, if they involve Kirk and Spock, will be in the new timeline?

Huh?

Highly doubtful.

I recall many fans in the early 80s expressing doubt they'd ever see TOS stories from Pocket Books, expecting them all to be set in a post-TMP continuity, and yet their very first original novel was set in the 5YM! Even though the early Pocket TOS novels often had movie-inspired cover art, esp. if published the same month as a new movie, the stories continued to be a mix of time periods.

Pocket has been handling multiple ST universes ("Myriad Universes", "Mirror Universe", the Shatnerverse) alonside the regular timeline stuff for some time now. Why would they suddenly drop back to only one set of circumstances for TOS, esp. when it's not been proven that TOS TV series novels don't sell well any more? And there are no sales figures known for the four announced-but-not-yet-published Abramsverse novels?

(The new article here seems to suggest that.)

Which bit?

 

[Good]

I'm figuring/hoping 24th century stories allow for the timeline more or less straightening itself out to some extent by that era, leaving it pretty much unchanged. . .

No way, without things becoming ludicrous. Vulcan, along with most Vulcans, is gone. Think for a minute how this changes everything. Trillons of decisions be made differently, and each of those decisions will lead to a trillion more decisions. With each seond that passes in the new timeline, it becomes increasingly less likely that anything resembling the 24th century that we've seen will remain.

 

[JD]

But it will remain, just not in that timeline.

 

[gastrof]

(The new article here seems to suggest that.)

Which bit?

The fact that it said upcoming novels (two? three?) were based on the new timeline. I hadn't heard of anything else, so I figured the original TOS era was now lost to us.

If not, I'm not complaining.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The fact that it said upcoming novels (two? three?) were based on the new timeline. I hadn't heard of anything else, so I figured the original TOS era was now lost to us.

If not, I'm not complaining.

Four. We're getting four in a row, like a mini-series, based on the JJ film. Like many other Pocket ST mini-series. ST novels are easier to market in clumps when they share a theme - even when standalones.

There are non-JJ novels in all the other slots for 2010, including several TOS-related.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Upcoming_productions

 

[David Brennon]

February's Inception by S.D. Perry, focusing on the young Kirk and Spock and their relationships with Carol Marcus and Leila Kalomi; April's Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno, featuring Saavik after ST IV; and May's The Children of Kings by Dave Stern, featuring Pike and Spock. True, none of them are in the timeframe of TOS per se, but they show that Pocket is not abandoning the Primeverse TOS continuity.

I had not heard about these books at all!

I should have listed S.D. Perry in my favorite author post because I adore her and I've always wanted more about Kirk and Marcus.

I think I may have to be on the lookout for all of these. Thanks for the heads up Christopher!

 

[seigezunt]

I think it all depends on what sells best.

So get out your credit cards!

 

[Captaindemotion]

Are we pretty well settled that all novels published from this point on, if they involve Kirk and Spock, will be in the new timeline? (The new article here seems to suggest that.)

No, there's no reason to assume that, particularly given that there are several Primeverse TOS books coming out over the next few months: February's Inception by S.D. Perry, focusing on the young Kirk and Spock and their relationships with Carol Marcus and Leila Kalomi; April's Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno, featuring Saavik after ST IV; and May's The Children of Kings by Dave Stern, featuring Pike and Spock. True, none of them are in the timeframe of TOS per se, but they show that Pocket is not abandoning the Primeverse TOS continuity.

Cool as the F word, but a lot more clever!

 

[Paris]

I'm somewhat interested in the new JJverse books on the way. I'll probably pick them up as I'm a fan of all the authors involved. But if Pocket dropped the primeverse TOS books in favor of only jjverse books, I'd be inconsolable. I'm really looking forward to all three TOS books coming to us in the next few months. Especially since all three books are exploring a part of the TOS that is still a mystery to us. Post STIV Saavik and pre-TOS Kirk/Spock should be really fun. Not to mention the Captain Pike tale! I loved MWB's Burning Dreams, so hopefully this one is just as good .

 

[snakespeare]

... April's Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno, featuring Saavik after ST IV...

Oh good. Hopefully this will put to rest the concept of a half-Romulan/human and a half-Vulcan/human being able to reproduce. Utter tosh. The definition of species, as opposed to race is, among other things, that the child of a union between two species is infertile, while the child of a union between two races is fertile. So, if Vulcans, Romulans, and humans can mix their green and red blood to come up with more people who can mix their christmas blood, then they are not species, they are races. And we know that this is not true. Which leaves only two possibilites: intervention such as we see our favorite pahkwa-thanh attempting on a half-(spoiler), or the Genesis Effect somehow overcoming the genetic incompatability.

After all, this is science fiction, not fantasy. A half-Romulan who helps a half-Vulcan through his 14 year old pon farr can't get pregnant, no matter what some script writers wanted to put into a movie but later left on the cutting room floor.

 

[Paris]

^Just remember that you're making an assumption based on fictional races in a fictional universe. All bets are off. oh...and Romulans and Vulcan's are basically the same race on a genetic level. They are the same people. They've just been living seperately for about 2000 years.

In a sixth season TNG episode called The Chase, it is discovered by Picard (with the help of his archaeology mentor, Richard Galen) and members of the Romulan Empire, Cardassian Union, and Klingon Empire, that many species (including the ones I just mentioned) were of the same basic genetic stock. A species from several billion years ago discovered that they were the only space faring people and decided to seed several worlds (including ours) with genetic material. This is the explanation given (at least a possible one) for all the humanoid-looking species in the milky way. Reproduction among the various races may be difficult, but since there are several commonalities between the various genetic codes, procreation without siring "mules" is definitely possible...

The episode actually left me thinking that many species in the milky way are technically just variants on the same race. We have some different attributes (some with cranial ridges/some are blue/some have different color blood), but basically we're the same.

 

[DimesDan]

Also, wasn't Saviik intended to be half Vulcan and half Romulan, not half Vulcan/Human or even a "full" blood Vulcan?

 

[Paris]

^From what I remember, MWB postulated that Saavik was 1/2 Vulcan-1/2 Romulan. This would mean that any kids between her and Spock would be 1/2 Vulcan, 1/4 human, and 1/4 Romulan. Since Romulans and Vulcan's are almost indistinguishable genetically, procreation shouldn't be a problem, even among half-breeds. At 3/4 Vulcan(oid), you probably wouldn't even really be able to tell the difference. Just think of Worf's son, Alexander. He's 3/4 Klingon and 1/4 human, but looks pretty much like a 100% Klingon, unlike his mother who definitely looked part human.

 

[snakespeare]

A horse and an ass can make a mule, but two mules can't make another mule. But theoretically, Doctor Bashir can solve this with genetic intervention. Therefore, unless two mules want to procreate and specifically request Dr. Bashir to help, they can't succeed. (((Except, possibly, if there is proto-matter in the mix...)))

 

[snakespeare]

How can K'Ehleyr get pregnant unintentionally, according to real world science? I don't know.