Any Trek authors pitched a post Romulus story to Pocketbooks yet?

[kkozoriz1]

It's true that stories need some sort of conflict but having a threat of annihilating entire planets gets old after a very short time. All versions of Trek have done stories with a large threat but did not make it the main way to tell a story.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It's true that stories need some sort of conflict but having a threat of annihilating entire planets gets old after a very short time. All versions of Trek have done stories with a large threat but did not make it the main way to tell a story.

I dont think they'll be repeating that particular plot element next time. And if its not the "main way of telling a story" in Trek then ST09 has changed things up a bit. A good thing, yes?

 

[F. King Daniel]

So, who should write this big epic Supernova Trilogy (yes, I've decided it's gonna be a trilogy ), and what form should it take?

I say defrost Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens to write it. At their best (Federation, Prime Directive, Millenium) they could do an excellent job (just don't mention Captain's Glory!). Their style would be a great fit for a massively expanded story loosely based on the Countdown comic, which is the direction I would personally like it to take.

2012 would be a fitting time to release it, what with the impeding apocalypse and all .

 

[DonIago]

Could they release it a year early then? I'd like to have plenty of time to work my way through it.

 

[Christopher]

It's true that stories need some sort of conflict but having a threat of annihilating entire planets gets old after a very short time. All versions of Trek have done stories with a large threat but did not make it the main way to tell a story.

Who's talking about that? I don't see much point in telling a story about the supernova itself, since the movie and Countdown have already covered it. (It's true that the books and comics aren't obligated to be consistent with each other as a rule, but my impression is that the filmmakers would like to keep all the tie-ins that connect to the movie consistent with one another, so I'm not sure the idea of retelling the supernova story in a separate way would go over with them.) Plus it's not much of a "threat" story when we already know the outcome. I'm talking about dealing with the long-term astropolitical and social consequences to the Romulan people and the nations around them, which are a far more interesting story than the big boom itself.

 

[JarodRussell]

So why get rid of Romulus?

Because stories are about crises and challenges, not the eternal preservation of the things we're nostalgic for.

Personally, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of bringing back Trip just out of a desire not to lose the character. But "These Are the Voyages" had enough glaring logic holes that you could validly find a story to tell that arose from them, so it wasn't purely an exercise in nostalgia. That's always the priority, or should be: not sentiment, but whether there's a story to be told. And I'd say the destruction of Romulus opens up all sorts of story possibilities.

Now if you didn't know Romulus was going to be destroyed, would you ever feel the urge to write a story about it? What if a story requires Romulus to exist?

 

[kkozoriz1]

Which is sort of what Typhon pact is doing post Destiny. Of course it won't be the same but dealing with the aftermath of billions more dead just a few years after Destiny (and billions more dead in the Dominion war) is a rather depressing prospect. However, it can't be stopped. It's going to happen in the prime universe. Romulus will be destroyed and there will be very few Romulans left (per Nemo's "Last of the Romulan Empire line).

 

[Nerys Myk]

So why get rid of Romulus?

Because stories are about crises and challenges, not the eternal preservation of the things we're nostalgic for.

Personally, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of bringing back Trip just out of a desire not to lose the character. But "These Are the Voyages" had enough glaring logic holes that you could validly find a story to tell that arose from them, so it wasn't purely an exercise in nostalgia. That's always the priority, or should be: not sentiment, but whether there's a story to be told. And I'd say the destruction of Romulus opens up all sorts of story possibilities.

Now if you didn't know Romulus was going to be destroyed, would you ever feel the urge to write a story about it? What if a story requires Romulus to exist?

Given the "rules", any story about Romulus would be off the the table from the get go.

 

[Domo_Arigato]

Which is sort of what Typhon pact is doing post Destiny. Of course it won't be the same but dealing with the aftermath of billions more dead just a few years after Destiny (and billions more dead in the Dominion war) is a rather depressing prospect. However, it can't be stopped. It's going to happen in the prime universe. Romulus will be destroyed and there will be very few Romulans left (per Nemo's "Last of the Romulan Empire line).

And whos not to say after all of the death within less than twenty years that the galaxy doesn't enter a long era of relative peace where everyone takes a chance to heal themselves? Well...the Klingons excluded because we know they'd be itching to take over the remnants of the Romulans in a heartbeat...

The storylines post-destruction really are endless and jsut as interesting as the post-Destiny lines.

 

[JarodRussell]

Which is sort of what Typhon pact is doing post Destiny. Of course it won't be the same but dealing with the aftermath of billions more dead just a few years after Destiny (and billions more dead in the Dominion war) is a rather depressing prospect. However, it can't be stopped. It's going to happen in the prime universe. Romulus will be destroyed and there will be very few Romulans left (per Nemo's "Last of the Romulan Empire line).

This. It's the same story as the Destiny aftermath, and also the same story as the nuVulcan aftermath. Every time billions died, there's political instability and a couple of refugees seek a new home.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The differences will be in the telling.

 

[ConRefit79]

It seems to me to be rather disingenuous that the galaxy continues to suffer from one politically altering event every few years, at least in the latter half of the twenty-fourth century.

The Romulans coming back from their self imposed exile.
The Cardassian/Bajoran affairs...
...The Klingon-Federation and Klingon-Cardassian war...
The Dominion War
The Borg Invasion
The Hobus supernova

The Borg invasion killed 60 billion people and left parts of the Federation and allied space in ruins. And yet, approximately six years later, one of the members of the Typhon Pact has their homeworld obliterated by a supernova.

I think it would be interesting to see if Pocket Books go the same route at STO in what caused the supernova. After all, nothing much is known about the Iconians.

Perhaps Star Trek 2009 should have tried something less grand. I could see Nero and his men obsessed with killing Spock, because Spock's reunification efforts lead to the death of their families. Instead of a Red Matter generated Black Hole he pursues Spock and some natural phenomena causes them to travel back in time. They arrive at different times, like shown. In his obsession for vengeance, he attacks and defeats the Kelvin with late 24th Century weapons. The Kelvin disables him just like shown. The time line changes as shown on screen. He escapes Rura Penthe and captures Spock. Instead of destroying Vulcan he could have attacked it, in an attempt to kill Spock's Family. He forces Spock to watch. He wants humiliate him, by causing Prime Spock to lose control of his emotions. Ultimately, he plans to kill Prime Spock then alt Spock. The over matched Enterprise would force Kirk & Co. to come up with an imaginative plan to defeat him. They could try to lure Nero away from Vulcan, by implying they will try to locate and kill one his ancestors.

I think this would have been more of a personal and dramatic story instead of the eye candy we were treated to. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film, but it felt like your typical block buster film, not a character driven Trek film. They may have the same names as the Prime Universe characters, but they still don't feel right to me. Maybe with more films. To be fare, I really enjoyed the 1st 10 minutes. That felt like Trek to me.

 

[ConRefit79]

So why get rid of Romulus?

Because stories are about crises and challenges, not the eternal preservation of the things we're nostalgic for.

Personally, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of bringing back Trip just out of a desire not to lose the character. But "These Are the Voyages" had enough glaring logic holes that you could validly find a story to tell that arose from them, so it wasn't purely an exercise in nostalgia. That's always the priority, or should be: not sentiment, but whether there's a story to be told. And I'd say the destruction of Romulus opens up all sorts of story possibilities.

Didn't Pocket Books have to get Paramount's permission before explaining Trips death as a staged event for a covert op?

 

[ConRefit79]

It's true that stories need some sort of conflict but having a threat of annihilating entire planets gets old after a very short time. All versions of Trek have done stories with a large threat but did not make it the main way to tell a story.

Who's talking about that? I don't see much point in telling a story about the supernova itself, since the movie and Countdown have already covered it. (It's true that the books and comics aren't obligated to be consistent with each other as a rule, but my impression is that the filmmakers would like to keep all the tie-ins that connect to the movie consistent with one another, so I'm not sure the idea of retelling the supernova story in a separate way would go over with them.) Plus it's not much of a "threat" story when we already know the outcome. I'm talking about dealing with the long-term astropolitical and social consequences to the Romulan people and the nations around them, which are a far more interesting story than the big boom itself.

Yeah, you know the Klingons will want to try and conquer them while they are in disarray.

 

[Greg Cox]

What if a story requires Romulus to exist?

But that's not what happened. It would be like writing a story where Tasha Yar didn't die, or Dr. Pulaski stayed with the Enterprise. Or me submitting a new CSI proposal in which Warrick is still alive . . .

The new movie happened. Romulus is gone. That's our new playing field.

There's no point in thinking about stories that don't fit the current status quo.

 

[Christopher]

Didn't Pocket Books have to get Paramount's permission before explaining Trips death as a staged event for a covert op?

Pocket Books has to get the studio's permission for everything. That's how licensed publishing works. Anything you want to do, whether a sweeping change or a routine, noncontroversial plot point, has to be approved by the studio licensing department before it can be published.

What if a story requires Romulus to exist?

Then we can't tell it if it's set after 2387 -- any more than we could tell a story requiring Jadzia Dax to exist after the end of DS9's sixth season. If there's a story to be told requiring Romulus to exist, then you tell it before 2387, or you don't tell it at all. It's as simple as that. That's the way it's always worked. We conform to the screen continuity. This is no different.

There's no point in thinking about stories that don't fit the current status quo.

Except in Myriad Universes.

 

[kkozoriz1]

That also means no more Spock stories after 2387.

 

[Greg Cox]

That also means no more Spock stories after 2387.

Yep. Unless they're set in the new universe.

Like mine was. (Sob.)

 

[F. King Daniel]

That also means no more Spock stories after 2387.

Not it the prime universe, where most of his closest friends are dead and his mission of reunification has failed. He's on the Vulcan colony world in the alternate universe now. A book has already been written continuing his adventures (Greg's "The Hazards of Concealing") but is unfortunately gathering dust on a hard drive somewhere

Edit: Damn. Greg beat me to it

 

[JarodRussell]

Until Q comes along and snaps with his fingers.