Countdown/Novels

[Christopher]

^Huh? Is that some analogy with that Transformers jargon you posted in that other thread? No, nothing's being "kept away." We're all friendly here, and as I said, there's no reason there can't be crossovers and there's already been at least one. It's simply that it's neither practical nor fair to demand that different publishers be forced to conform to one another. As always, it's a matter of what's best for each individual work. If a writer wants a comic to reference the novels, they're free to do so, but if they want to tell a story that goes in a different direction from the novels, they're free to do that too.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

For what it's worth, I liked what Countdown did with the TNG characters except for Worf (first he was an ambassador, then he was back in Starfleet for Nemesis and now he's a General in teh Klingon forces - make up your mind, Worf!!!!)

Countdown appears to take place in the universe of Star Trek Online, which is incompatible with current novel continuity anyway, so I'm prepared to accept further inconsistencies from it. And I don't expect the novels as they are now, to ever 'lead up to' Countdown or acknowledge it in any way. I'm sure they'll go in a different direction entirely if they feel like it. Thus, they can even ignore ST XI if they wish.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

I don't really think the novels can ignore the new movie and claim to represent the current Trek universe where Nemesis is destroyed and Spock is gone from it. That's Trek as of the new movie. The writers will just have to be more flexible if they don't like where the new movie's left them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't really think the novels can ignore the new movie and claim to represent the current Trek universe where Nemesis is destroyed and Spock is gone from it. That's Trek as of the new movie. The writers will just have to be more flexible if they don't like where the new movie's left them.

Anything is possible. Even that. ST XI is an alternate timeline anyway, so what's the problem?

That being said, I would love for some writer to try and reconcile ST XI with the current continuity, while making it IN THE SAME timeline. I dare them. I dare any of you. And no, that's not a story idea, so shut up.

 

[Mike Farley]

I think for the moment at least the novels can absolutely ignore the new movie. The TNG/VGR books are the closest in the timeline and they are still, what? Six years behind the COUNTDOWN/NuTREK 24th century portion? At the rate of a couple books a year it'll be quite some time before they have to worry about those events.

 

[phrog]

Thus, they can even ignore ST XI if they wish.

Er, no. The only thing the novels are beholden to IS the filmed content. Now, that having been said, what exactly is there in the current post-Nemesis "prime" timeline that they need to deal with?

Spoiler: TREK XI spoilers

Eventually, the destruction of Romulus and the disappearance of Spock and Nero.

That's it, really. Established by dialogue in the new movie, interviews with the writers of the film, etc... the prime timeline doesn't go anywhere and the new movie is an alternate timeline. Anything after the point that

Spoiler: TREK XI spoilers

Nero and his buddies pop out at the beginning of the film doesn't happen in the prime timeline that we're familiar with. Anything before that, with the details about Kirk's dad, the Kelvin, etc

... is new information that does.

How they choose to deal with that is up to them.

So, Trek Lit eventually will have to bump into

Spoiler: TREK XI spoilers

Romulus getting destroyed and Spock following Nero back in time.

They certainly aren't obligated to follow Countdown's version of those events, although it might be interesting to see if they tried. I still contend, though, that it's incredibly (I hate this term) fanwank though... Worf a Klingon general, Picard (why?) a vulcan ambassador, Data resurrected and captain of an Enterprise full of people we've never seen or heard of. Geordi quits and goes off to run a spaceship factory. Meh.

 

[Christopher]

^Actually I could see Picard becoming an ambassador; it's been suggested before in "Future Imperfect," and he is as much a diplomat as an explorer. And Geordi retiring to become a starship designer would actually be character development for him, and something different from the cliche of making him a starship captain. (Although I'm skeptical of Countdown's assertion that Geordi designed the Jellyfish. It doesn't look like a human design. With its ringlike propulsion components, it looks like a Vulcan design, a more advanced successor to the Vulcan ringships of ENT.)

But Worf joining the Klingon military seems arbitrary to me, and I've often expressed my skepticism, in both technical and dramatic terms, about the idea of turning B-4 into Data. If called upon to write a book meshing the novelverse with Countdown, I'm sure I could come up with rationalizations for those things (though I'd rather let KRAD handle the Worf part while I tackled the Data part), but it's nice to have the option of going in a different direction.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Established by dialogue in the new movie, interviews with the writers of the film, etc... the prime timeline doesn't go anywhere

Established by dialogue? How so? What do they say? The only person who would ever know anything about Harold is old Spock, and I don't see him spilling the beans like that. Or are you assuming that Harold still exists because if it didn't, old Spock wouldn't?

 

[JD]

The writer said in one of their interviews on Trekmovie.com that the new movie starts up an alternate timeline, and so the Prime universe continues to exist beyond the movie. In fact I'm very curious to see what the books do when they catch up in regards to the Romulans, and some of the other stuff that the post-Destiny books have set up. If things don't change in the next six years (seven years) in universe, I could see this leading to some very interesting developments.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The writer said in one of their interviews on Trekmovie.com that the new movie starts up an alternate timeline, and so the Prime universe continues to exist beyond the movie.

Huh. Well, I suppose we'll have to take them at their word. (Although I can just smell the arguments now...about whether or not the writers' intent on this will even matter if it's not stated onscreen, in the movie.)

Oh well. Thank God for small favors, eh?

 

[The_Bandsaw_Vigilante]

Considering that we'll probably never see the Harold-verse depicted onscreen again (or at least in the immediate, foreseeable future), it really probably wouldn't have mattered much either way if they had actually stated it in the film. At least the novels will keep things chugging along on that front.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

At least the novels will keep things chugging along on that front.

Whoop-de-do. At least we get a small morsel to chew on....

 

[Therin of Andor]

Huh. Well, I suppose we'll have to take them at their word. (Although I can just smell the arguments now...about whether or not the writers' intent on this will even matter if it's not stated onscreen, in the movie.)

The writers also contributed the story of
[SPOILER="Countdown", IDW's tie-in comic]which shows that the 24th century we know - with Picard, B-4, Geordi and Worf - continues to exist after Nero and Spock vanish into the black hole.[/SPOILER]

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That's as may be, but - Countdown being only a comic, and all that - we all know how authoritative it ultimately is.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

...reality is a different thing from Star Trek.

DUDE! What are you smoking????

 

[Stevil2001]

The problem was that I stopped smoking.

 

[Jbarney]

I finally was able to read Countdown this afternoon. I enjoyed it and believe there is enough time between the current novels and the pre-movie time period for events to unfold as IDW has presented them. Have to say, I didn't think bringing Data back was a good idea. I am not saying it couldn't happen, but I think its better just accepting the death of a character every once in a while.

Also have to admit it looked like they were going to kill off Worf. Sat there thinking, my god, they won't do this in a comic. So despite the fact he was impaled by metal that seemed to rip his stomach and spine apart, Worf will live. I could see him being a general. Might take some explaining....but its okay.

Picard becoming an Ambassador works, and I could see them doing a lot with it. I know people like to see the crew together, but I like the way Countdown had the characters moving on with their lives.

Goerdi's position seemed great. Just sitting back and designing ships.

The one overall plot story that I had a major problem with was the threat the nova had to the rest of the universe. This was stated a couple of times during the comic, and no real specifics were given as to what was going on. Why was this one supernova such a threat to the rest of the stars in the region? What was so different about this one event? I also think it would have been better to give more details about the evacuation of Romulus. There seemed to be enough knowledge of the threat where the Romulan fleet would have been involved in evacuation efforts. Obviously they would not have been able to get everyone off the surface, but the comic almost made it seem as though the effort was meager/limited at best. The Romulan leadership escaping in a shuttle? With no other escort?

Anyway, thought provoking....and worthy of leading into the movie.

 

[JTK2099]

I really enjoyed Countdown and could care less what anyone at Pocket thinks of it. IDW, the the exception of the New Frontier books, seems to produce Trek stories more to my liking. What I hope is that the IDW writers don't feel they have to make their material jive with what Pocket does.

 

[JD]

Well, they kind of have alittle bit already. They used of the name for the smooth headed Klingons in Blood Will Tell, the Myriad Universe title for The Last Generation, and the New Frontier comic.

 

[Steve Roby]

I really enjoyed Countdown and could care less what anyone at Pocket thinks of it. IDW, the the exception of the New Frontier books, seems to produce Trek stories more to my liking.

Three posts in three topics (at least) about how much you don't like what Pocket's doing. What have you read, and what don't you like?