Disney/Lucasfilm de-canonized all their Star Wars novels

[blockaderunner]

For the sake of clarity, Lucasfilm and their corporate overlords of the Mouse House have offically said that all filmed Star Wars entities, past, present, and future, is canon and any and all Star Wars in print is under the new Legends banner.

And the world didn't end.

Perhaps Trek should do the same and clear up this "what is canon, what isn't" nonsense and bring in new fans.

 

[Christopher]

^Oh, Trek went through this long before Star Wars did. The novel continuity of the '80s got overwritten as soon as TNG came along and started disregarding it, and it wasn't really possible to maintain an ongoing novel or comics continuity while the shows were in production and laying down new canon all the time. A lot of us Trek authors found Lucasfilm's pretense that the books were "canon" to be rather quaint, because we knew they'd be subject to contradiction by future screen productions eventually.

And there's nothing remotely unclear about Trek's canon policy. What's onscreen is canon, the rest isn't. It couldn't be simpler.

The problem is just that most fans have no idea what "canon" actually means and so they confuse themselves with overcomplicated assumptions and definitions. Most of the time, canon is not some formal seal of approval handed down by an authority; it's simply a descriptive term meaning the original body of work by its original creator or production company as distinct from derivative works in other media by other creators or companies. The term originated in Sherlock Holmes fandom to refer to the Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle himself as distinct from pastiches by other authors. The idea that canon is some kind of official doctrine rather than simply a term of critical analysis didn't come along until Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas (or their representatives) started trying to hand out instructions to the fans about what "counted" and what didn't.

 

[Stevil2001]

Well, I'm pretty sure the idea of canon as doctrine is older than the 1970s.

 

[Christopher]

^I meant the idea of canon in the fictional sense, of course.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Perhaps Trek should do the same and clear up this "what is canon, what isn't" nonsense and bring in new fans.

I didn't realize there was any question or confusion about it.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"The chains of continuity will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Mouse has dissolved the unified canon permanently. The last remnants of the Expanded Universe have been swept away."

"That's impossible! How will Lucasfilm maintain control without the tier system?"

"The fans now have direct control over their personal continuity. Fear will keep the populace in line. Fear of nerd rage and flame wars".

 

[Relayer1]

Treklit is lucky JJ and co. went to some lengths to skirt around overwriting the 'prime' Trek continuity. Being as that was no longer active, Treklits expanded and dynamic developments were protected too.

Make no mistake, should Trek return to the original continuity, Treklit will be jettisoned very quickly. As some Star Wars E.U. fans seem to have difficulty accepting, a multi multi million dollar screen franchise will go where it will and cannot be restrained by the desires of a mere few thousand readers.

Personally, as I'd grown to dislike the Star Wars E.U. and quit reading during the Vong war, this is great news - I'm looking forward to a fresh start !

 

[Mage]

As has been stated, there really shouldn't be any confusion as to what is and isn't canon in Star Trek. Everything onscreen is, every else is not. End of story.

Ezri Dax is captain and broke up with Julian in the novels. If they ever wanna do something with DS9 in a comic from IDW and decide to have them married with Ezri being lt.commander and counselor on DS9 (the old station, not the new one) so be it. If they wanna do a movie about DS9 at some point and establish Worf as the ambassador to Qo'nos instead of XO on the E-E, then fine by them.

And that's cool. People should just enjoy the stories for what they are if you ask me, instead of fussing over canon and non-canon.

 

[Disco]

As has been stated, there really shouldn't be any confusion as to what is and isn't canon in Star Trek. Everything onscreen is, every else is not. End of story.

Ezri Dax is captain and broke up with Julian in the novels. If they ever wanna do something with DS9 in a comic from IDW and decide to have them married with Ezri being lt.commander and counselor on DS9 (the old station, not the new one) so be it. If they wanna do a movie about DS9 at some point and establish Worf as the ambassador to Qo'nos instead of XO on the E-E, then fine by them.

And that's cool. People should just enjoy the stories for what they are if you ask me, instead of fussing over canon and non-canon.

Seconded. Motion carried.

 

[Melakon]

I've never thought that books, comics, "illustrated novels", fanfic, etc., or even fan films were Trek canon and don't understand how people would ever think they were.

 

[rfmcdpei]

Indeed. Just say it's a multiverse, if you want.

 

[-Brett-]

Perhaps Trek should do the same and clear up this "what is canon, what isn't" nonsense and bring in new fans.

I'm not sure how this is the slightest bit unclear. Live action tv and movies are canon, everything else is not. That's been the rule for as long as I can remember. I'm also not sure how you get from there to "bring in new fans". Seems to me that anyone who isn't interested now will only get even more disinterested upon hearing the word "canon" in any context.

As for the Star Wars EU, the fan rage is amusing, but really they should have seen this coming literally 30 years ago. EU fans get no sympathy from me.

 

[Enterprise1701]

Indeed. Just say it's a multiverse, if you want.

Not exactly. Different works in the grand Star Trek franchise often have differing species, laws of physics, etc. Just look at the 1970s novelverse compared to now. I, for one, don't see how the two could be in the same multiverse.

 

[The Wormhole]

Make no mistake, should Trek return to the original continuity, Treklit will be jettisoned very quickly. As some Star Wars E.U. fans seem to have difficulty accepting, a multi multi million dollar screen franchise will go where it will and cannot be restrained by the desires of a mere few thousand readers.

Of course, at the moment it seems 90% likely that were another Trek series to be done on TV it would be set in the Abramsverse. Even if it weren't, I'd say there are still pretty good chances that it be set in another continuity altogether, therefore not endangering the novel continuity set in the Prime Universe.

I'm not saying the Prime Universe will never be re-visited onscreen, and certainly when a decision is made either way, the existence of a developed novel continuity is not going to be a contributing factor to be considered in that decision. But there are other options than just wiping the slate clean, not that it should surprise us if that does indeed go down.

 

[Christopher]

I often point out that obsolescence is an occupational hazard for most science-fiction writers, not just tie-in writers. If you write stories about the future or outer space at all, sooner or later your work will be contradicted by new discoveries or simply by the calendar catching up with you. All those classic SF novels about Mars colonies in the 1980s or whatever are no longer viable today. So it should just be taken for granted that any fictional future has a finite shelf life. Even canonical Trek has been contradicted by reality already -- I don't remember the Eugenics Wars happening in the 1990s, we only had two Voyager probes, and that first manned mission to Saturn never happened -- and it's bound to be contradicted further. Within a decade, we'll probably know for sure whether there are habitable planets around Alpha Centauri, 40 Eridani, and a lot of other stars. And what happens when 2063 rolls around and there's no warp drive? That's less than 49 years away now.

 

[Mage]

And what happens when 2063 rolls around and there's no warp drive? That's less than 49 years away now.

I'm cool with a lot of stuff ok, but this is happening. Nobody is telling me otherwise! Got that?? NOBODY!!!!

 

[The Wormhole]

The real kicker would be if we somehow discovered a form of FTL travel before 2063...

 

[Christopher]

Here's the thing... from September 8, 1966 to April 5, 2063 is 96 years, 29 weeks, and 5 days. Half of that is 48 years, 14 weeks, and 6 days. Add that to 9/8/66 and you get December 21, 2014. By this Christmas, we will be closer to First Contact Day than we are to the premiere of Star Trek.

 

[Paris]

Here's the thing... from September 8, 1966 to April 5, 2063 is 96 years, 29 weeks, and 5 days. Half of that is 48 years, 14 weeks, and 6 days. Add that to 9/8/66 and you get December 21, 2014. By this Christmas, we will be closer to First Contact Day than we are to the premiere of Star Trek.

My god! He's right

 

[roseake]

April 5th 2063. In a backyard somewhere, a 66 year-old lady sits in a wooden rocking chair, staring up at the sky with a pleasant smile on her face. Her grandson runs out to find her.

"Grandma?"
"Yes?"
"Why're you sat outside in your Star Trek clothes?"
"It's called a Starfleet Uniform, sweetheart."
"Why're you sat outside in your Starfleet Uniform?"
"I'm waiting for the Vulcans, dear."
"Uuuh, okay."

How's that for predicting the future?