Could a Lost Era set between 2161 and 2265 work?

[Christopher]

^In an alternate universe.

Yes, but one that diverged only in the late 2230s. Assuming Thelin was somewhere around Spock's age, we know the Aenar must've survived at least that long. Indeed, there's no reason to believe that Thelin doesn't exist in the Prime timeline. His Starfleet career would've turned out differently if Spock had died at age 7, but there's no reason why that would've prevented Thelin's birth.

 

[Mysterion]

^In an alternate universe.

Indeed, there's no reason to believe that Thelin doesn't exist in the Prime timeline.

There are a couple fanzine-published stories by Leslie Fish written in the 70s that deal with Thelin in the prime Trek timeline.

 

[JD]

^In an alternate universe.

Yes, but one that diverged only in the late 2230s. Assuming Thelin was somewhere around Spock's age, we know the Aenar must've survived at least that long. Indeed, there's no reason to believe that Thelin doesn't exist in the Prime timeline. His Starfleet career would've turned out differently if Spock had died at age 7, but there's no reason why that would've prevented Thelin's birth.

Ah, you're right. I always forget that that universe had the specific divergence point of Spock dying.

 

[Therin of Andor]

There are a couple fanzine-published stories by Leslie Fish written in the 70s that deal with Thelin in the prime Trek timeline.

And his Aunt Shras!

 

[bok2384]

^In an alternate universe.

Yes, but one that diverged only in the late 2230s. Assuming Thelin was somewhere around Spock's age, we know the Aenar must've survived at least that long. Indeed, there's no reason to believe that Thelin doesn't exist in the Prime timeline. His Starfleet career would've turned out differently if Spock had died at age 7, but there's no reason why that would've prevented Thelin's birth.

For the record, The Fire and the Rose stated that Commander Thelin th'Valrass had died by the late 2260s, killed in an avalanche during a survery of an unexplored planet while assigned as first officer aboard the USS Ticonderoga.

Of course, the Crucible trilogy is set in its own continuity, but I personally believe that the point of divergence isn't until 2267 during "The City on the Edge of Forever" and, there is no other evidence elsewhere in licensed material to discount this.

 

[Christopher]

There are differences of interpretation between Crucible and the rest of the Trek Lit continuity that preclude it being explained as simply an alternate timeline. For instance, its explanation of what chronitons are is inconsistent with DTI: Watching the Clock and Forgotten History. Also, several minor characters from TOS are given different first names in Crucible than they were in other Trek lit -- for instance, Crucible has Ed Leslie and John Kyle while other Trek lit calls them Ryan Leslie and Winston Kyle.

(Sorry it took so long to reply... I forgot to clear my browser cache and just kept getting the "BBS is closed" message for days. Oops.)

 

[bok2384]

There are differences of interpretation between Crucible and the rest of the Trek Lit continuity that preclude it being explained as simply an alternate timeline. For instance, its explanation of what chronitons are is inconsistent with DTI: Watching the Clock and Forgotten History. Also, several minor characters from TOS are given different first names in Crucible than they were in other Trek lit -- for instance, Crucible has Ed Leslie and John Kyle while other Trek lit calls them Ryan Leslie and Winston Kyle.

(Sorry it took so long to reply... I forgot to clear my browser cache and just kept getting the "BBS is closed" message for days. Oops.)

Good points, Christopher, and I thank you for your reply. With regards to different explanations for chronitons, I didn't remember that, but it would be the sort of detail that I would overlook to be completely honest.

As for the different names given for the various TOS recurring characters, your point is taken, however various different novels and comics have given varying names to the TOS characters over the years, so that's not really a deal breaker for me. If this was a barometer of a different timeline/continuity, then The Buried Age would be placed in a different one from Q & A, because Lieutenant Torres (from "Encounter at Farpoint") was given a different first name in each.

 

[Christopher]

Well, the point is, the authors seem content to treat Crucible as an alternate fictional interpretation rather than a parallel timeline within the same metacontinuity (because it was consciously conceived as being a standalone work with no continuity ties to the other literature, just to TOS & TAS themselves), so whatever Crucible established about the fate of Thelin would not in any way preclude a live, adult Thelin from turning up in a main-continuity novel.

 

[Leto_II]

The first contact with the Cardassians wasn't until the 2320s, unless you count the exiled Cardassian poet who spent some time on Vulcan during Tobin Dax's lifetime.

I know there is a comic that focuses on that, but where in "canon" does that little gem crop up?

First Contact between Cardassia and the Federation in the JJverse was a lot earlier than the 2320s as Uhura asked for a Cardassian something-or-other while at the bar in Star Trek 09 so who's to say it didn't occur earlier than the 2320s in the Prime-verse.

In one of the Vanguard novels, set in the mid-2260s, it's mentioned that Starfleet Intelligence has recently become aware of a "new" alien government nearby, the Cardassian Union.

Also, in Margaret Wander Bonnano's movie-era novel Unspoken Truth, set in 2286 (the same year as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), it's mentioned that the Starfleet captain of the science vessel that Lt. Saavik signs onto hails from a Federation colony world on the Cardassian border, whose settlers were forced to toughen themselves up, due to facing the Cardassian threat on a daily basis, etc.

So there definitely was some knowledge of them as far back as Kirk's 5YM (and well into the TOS movie era), although of course in the Prime Universe, the Federation didn't make "official" first contact with them until the early 24th century or thereabouts...more likely "proper" open diplomatic relations in this case, supplanting the "unofficial" border brushfire-skirmishes that had been the norm for several decades by that point.

 

[DimesDan]

Brains?

Cheers for clarifying that given I actually wrote what you quoted nearly three years ago.

 

[Christopher]

I'm glad this is a 3-year-old bumped thread, because the title's kind of weird in the context of what I've been writing for the past couple of years...

 

[Enterprise1701]

The first contact with the Cardassians wasn't until the 2320s, unless you count the exiled Cardassian poet who spent some time on Vulcan during Tobin Dax's lifetime.

I know there is a comic that focuses on that, but where in "canon" does that little gem crop up?

First Contact between Cardassia and the Federation in the JJverse was a lot earlier than the 2320s as Uhura asked for a Cardassian something-or-other while at the bar in Star Trek 09 so who's to say it didn't occur earlier than the 2320s in the Prime-verse.

In one of the Vanguard novels, set in the mid-2260s, it's mentioned that Starfleet Intelligence has recently become aware of a "new" alien government nearby, the Cardassian Union.

Also, Margaret Wander Bonnano's movie-era novel Unspoken Truth, set in 2286 (the same year as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), it's mentioned that the Starfleet captain of the science vessel that Lt. Saavik signs onto hails from a Federation colony world on the Cardassian border, and whose settlers were forced to toughen themselves up, due to facing the Cardassian threat on a daily basis, etc.

So there definitely was some knowledge of them as far back as Kirk's 5YM (and well into the TOS movie era), although of course in the Prime Universe, the Federation didn't make "official" first contact with them until the early 24th century or thereabouts...more likely "proper" open diplomatic relations in this case, supplanting the "unofficial" border brushfire-skirmishes that had been the norm for several decades by that point.

Personally I think it's silly that TOS era novels are making the Cardassians that well-known already in that era, but given that the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance conquered the Terran Empire in 2295, I guess I no longer have a valid objection.

What do y'all think about how Kobayashi Maru has the Vulcans already knowing about the Breen in 2155?

 

[Christopher]

I don't see how it's a problem. Korea, for instance, first became aware of the West around the 1600s, but it wasn't until the 19th century that they had ongoing interactions with the West and not until the 20th that the Korean War happened.

And it's a big galaxy. Being aware that another power exists doesn't automatically equate to having found the time to explore and study their society in depth -- not when there are so many other civilizations to explore and study and only a finite amount of time and resources to do it with.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I'm glad this is a 3-year-old bumped thread, because the title's kind of weird in the context of what I've been writing for the past couple of years...

I guess that definitively answers the thread, though... it works just fine!