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Books FAQ

I'm curious, what Shatner book had the reference to Ship of the Line, and what was the reference? I remember the Dominion War Tetralogy reference (something about artificial wormholes to Cardassia) but don't recall a SotL ref.
Found it! A little late, but I found it.

Bottom of page 35 (paperback):
...Bateson continued. "Mostly because Mr. Scott here helped me to accept this new age."
Scotty working with the Bozeman crew was established in Ship of the Line.

Top of page 160:
Kirk took a moment to absorb that revelation. "Scotty...designed the new Enterprise?"
"Portions," Spock said.
Which is exactly what Scotty was doing aboard the E-E in SotL.
 
Thanks to Slave of Seven's Magic Mod Powers(TM), the first post has undergone a Special Christmas Update. Now with new info, new links, and some meager bits of organization. Twice the FAQ fun!
 
It's a shame to read about the decline in sales for non-fiction Trek books. The DS9 companion is a wonderful read, and I would have loved to have similar books for the more recent series.
 
Posted by donners22:
It's a shame to read about the decline in sales for non-fiction Trek books. The DS9 companion is a wonderful read, and I would have loved to have similar books for the more recent series.
Well, there is a Voyager Companion, written by Paul Ruditis, but as I understand it, it's more of a plain episode guide, of the type you could find for free on the internet, than an actual companion to the show.

davidh
 
Posted by David Henderson:
Well, there is a Voyager Companion, written by Paul Ruditis, but as I understand it, it's more of a plain episode guide, of the type you could find for free on the internet, than an actual companion to the show.

I don't think that's fair. Just because the DS9 Companion was full of extensive behind-the-scenes discussion and analysis doesn't mean that's implicit in the definition of a companion book. On the contrary, I'd say that the usual definition of a companion book is a reference guide to the episodes, plots, cast, credits, airdates and the like. Behind-the-scenes stuff is usually included to a greater or lesser degree, but there's no rule that you have to have a certain amount. The TNG Companion only had a few brief paragraphs about each episode.

And the VGR Companion isn't a "plain" episode guide, it's a lovingly detailed one and a trivia treasure trove. I'm sure I'll find it an invaluable resource for any VGR fiction I may write in the future. True, I'd like to have a book that went into as much behind-the-scenes detail about VGR as Terry Erdmann's book gave us about DS9, but I don't think it's valid to assume that that's the only kind of companion that has any value or right to exist.
 
Maybe so. But I think you'll find that most fans agree that the DS9 Companion set the standard for what we want in that kind of book, and that every "companion" to follow it will be held to that standard.

I know that's the way I feel. The Voyager Companion was a huge disappointment to me.
 
Er, how 'official' is this FAQ?

Like, surely Pocket hasn't made some kind of declaration regarding the Shatnerverse and it's relation to other novels. This is just some kind of fan-generated theory, isn't it? This FAQ is giving credence to a philosophy that is, in my mind, as rank as the one that declares that 'Enterprise' is not canon, simply because some folks don't like it.

d
 
^ Actually, the Shanterverse concept (Though not the term itself, which was fan created) was first articulated by former supervising editor John Ordover, which is about as official as it gets, barring contradiction my one of the other editors. :-)

I also would beg to differ with you assertation that this is the same as people who don't like Enterprise attempting to decanonize it. The Shatner books were created specifically with the idea that they would be outside continuity, whereas Enterprise was created to be within continuity. That's why Shatner and his co-authors have so much freedom to do things like bring Kirk back to life, have him get married, and have his wife give birth to his child. If the books had been intended to be inside modern continuity, Shatner would probably not have nearly as much freedom as he does. That's what makes the current situation so ideal -- people who like Shatner's writing can see him "unplugged", so to speak, without any restrictions; while keeping the Star Trek universe at large free of those extracanonical and in many people's view, undesirable, elements. It's a win-win for the both the people who like Shatner's writing and the people who hate it. :-)

John
 
Posted by Destructor:
Er, how 'official' is this FAQ?
About as official as me, which is to say, not at all. But I'm pretty sure that if I got anything wrong, one of the Pocket folks or an agent of K.R.A.D. would have jumped on me for it.

Like, surely Pocket hasn't made some kind of declaration regarding the Shatnerverse and it's relation to other novels. This is just some kind of fan-generated theory, isn't it? This FAQ is giving credence to a philosophy that is, in my mind, as rank as the one that declares that 'Enterprise' is not canon, simply because some folks don't like it.
Like John said, I'm certain that John Ordover himself has basically stated the Shatnerverse books are meant to be taken as being outside the continuity created by the others.
 
Posted by SCMoll:
Like John said, I'm certain that John Ordover himself has basically stated the Shatnerverse books are meant to be taken as being outside the continuity created by the others.

Well, I guess I can't argue with that. However I find that philosophy frustrating and unneccesary.

d
 
Anyone interested in getting a handle on all Trek books in print may want to check out:

www.cygnus-x1.net

This site currently lists over 1,000 Trek books, sorted by category, theme and series (TOS, TNG, DS9 etc...)

Each book is represented with a plethora of information including a cover image.

Hope to see you there...

Enjoy,

John (Jag2112)

Cygnus-X1
 
I also am sorry to hear of the decline in ST non-fiction books. I have learnt so much from all previous books (yes I have them all)The imaginative brilliance of the various authors in putting these works together(under instructions/direction of Paramount...of course)has been astounding. I have the Star Charts...but will certainly hope there will be future "looks into the future"...Trecker64.
 
Posted by SCMoll:
Q. When will the fifth Rihannsu novel come out? What about books 3-5 of The Yesterday Saga by A.C. Crispin? Split Infinities? Are there going to be any more Dark Passions books?
A. [...]
The rest of The Yesterday Saga is almost finished being written, as per A.C. Crispin herself in July 2003. As of December 2003, she was "up to my ears in the... project." The books will tentatively be titled Return to Yesterday, Yesterday's Vulcan, and Yesterday's Destiny.

Whenever it does appear, however, Split Infinities will likely have a different name to avoid conflict with Star Wars's Infinities mini-series. Accordging to Marco's Q&A: "Split Infinities (which was only a working title) got backburnered, but will see the light of day at some point. Dark Passion's 3-4 was only hypothetical, and is not actually in development."

Maybe you could update this section since the Yesterday Saga will not be published (Thread) and Split Infinies has a new name by now.
 
Argh! I totally forgot all about this. Sometime later this week I'll gather some input on what to change/add/drop and post a revised FAQ.
 
This needs to be updated.


Q. When will the fifth Rihannsu novel come out? What about books 3-5 of The Yesterday Saga by A.C. Crispin? Split Infinities? Are there going to be any more Dark Passions books?
The answer on "Yesterday" has changed.


And as noted on the timeline, yes the relaunch will continue post-Worlds of Deep Space Nine.
This is an answer to a FAQ that isn't actually listed as a question, which means that people wanting the answer won't see it as they browse for questions. It's also one of the most frequently asked questions, and therefore really should have its own question. :)


A. S.C.E. is a series of eBooks chronicling the adventures of the U.S.S. da Vinci and its Starfleet Corps of Engineers response team. Available in eBook format up to book #35 and in four paperback collections up to book #16. More information available here: http://www.psiphi.org/cgi/upc-db/sce/
This is way out of date. The eBooks are up to #44 (will be up to #47 at the end of 2004), and the print compilations are, as of now-ish, up to Book 6, reprinting through to #24.


Q. Why aren't there any more Star Trek comics?
The answer to this question needs to be updated to include TokyoPop.


During the last four years (Jan 2000 - Dec 2003), there have been 111 Star Trek books published and the series distributions broke down thusly (thanks to Keith DeCandido):
Well, heck, let's update that.

In the last five years (Jan 2000 - Dec 2004), we've had 134 books.

22 (16%) were cross-series
24 (18%) were TOS
27 (20%) were TNG
18 (13%) were DS9
11 (8%) were VOY
8 (6%) were ENT
9 (7%) were NF
1 (1%) was CHA
6 (4%) were S.C.E.
6 (4%) were SGZ
2 (1%) were GKN

The TNG-heavy 2004, combined with the lightest DS9 year since 1999 skewed both series' numbers a bit. TOS had a light year, too, dropping it a hair. Everything else was pretty much the same.


though John Ordover said he tentatively had an idea in the works.
John said that when he still worked for Pocket. Since he now works for a competitor of Pocket's it's unlikely that this will come to pass. :)


Q. If Terri Osborne cuts off Keith DeCandido's hair, will he lose his amazing power to write so many books?
The world will never learn the answer to this! NEVER!!!!!

;)
 
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