Dream Books by Dream Authors

[marlboro]

Dante Alighieri's "Book of the Kosst Amojan" with illustrations by Gustave Doré.

Christopher Hitchen's "Why Does God Need a Starship?" featuring the various God-like beings in the Trek universe and an analysis of the various societies who worship them.

Franz Kafka and Wilson Rawls co writing "Porthos: The Voyage of a Beagle." Part story of a captain and his beloved dog, and part bizarre reinterpretation of the events of various ENT episodes from a dogs eye view.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The state is still dictating terms of citizenship.

They already do that. All nations dictate terms of citizenship.

 

[Arpy]

I’d love Wayne Barlowe or Dougal Dixon to do a wildlife of Star Trek book. Or @Atolm lol

Jonathan Swift or Lewis Carol to do Scotty’s adventures in the 24th Century immediately after leaving in the shuttle.

John le Carré to do a sequel to Andrew J. Robinson’s A Stitch in Time.

Christopher L. Bennett to do a novel showcasing the non-humanoids of the Federation, like he did for cosmozoans in Orion’s Hounds.

 

[STR]

They already do that. All nations dictate terms of citizenship.

Countries, and international treaties, can decide which state a person is native to, but getting caught up in the word "citizen" completely misses the fundemental philosophical distinctions at play here.

So let's just limit "citzen" to those who are franchised.

In a liberal democracy, there is nothing a citizen has to earn. They are presumed an agency and a right to pursue it, up to and including a voice in his own government. It is that government which must earn legitimacy through its constituency. If constituencies change, then the government itself can be altered nearly overnight.

In Heinlein's fascist state, the government's agency is paramount. Even conscientious objectors must serve the state, in a manner the state deems appropriate, in support of the state's fascist/imperialist goals. True change is impossible because the state controls all access to power and such control is an invitation for abuse. Even if a dissident joined the service, why wouldn't the state ship them off to Planet X to become bug food? Totalitarianism is the inevitable end result of this system.

The books themselves whitewash over what a society looks like when it reduces large segments of society to non-entities. Hint: they don't prosper like the Ricos. Think ghettos or apartheid.

Oh, and the book's weird obsession with corporal punishment is giveaway too. CP isn't discipline. It's abuse, and a demonstration of power to abuse. It's the tool of the authoritarian, used to scar, humiliate and traumatize the victim. It's how you create sociopaths, not the kind of people who make good leaders. Unless you're building a government based on fear...

 

[F. King Daniel]

Franz Kafka and Wilson Rawls co writing "Porthos: The Voyage of a Beagle." Part story of a captain and his beloved dog, and part bizarre reinterpretation of the events of various ENT episodes from a dogs eye view.

This needs to happen.

 

[marlboro]

C.S. Lewis writing a fictional book with Sybok as the protagonist. Maybe a life story that deals with his personal history that also delves into the role of religion on pre Surak Vulcan. Think more "Till We Have Faces" and less Narnia.


Though The Final Frontier is an admittedly flawed film, I still find Sybok a fascinating character.

Dalton Trumbo: "Captain Pike Got His Phaser"

The good captain has some serious second thoughts about his Starfleet career.


Richard Matheson: "The Incredible Thinking Man"

"I went to the rock to hide my face, and the rock cried out 'Ain't no hidin' place'"

The story of the only non telepath on Betezed.

There is a lot of fear in the novel "The Shrinking Man." Fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of helplessness, fear of emasculation. I think being a human in a telepathic society would create similar fears and doubts. Your soul would be walking around with its fly open 24/7.

Ray Bradbury: "I Heal the Body Eclectic"

An incredibly aged McCoy looks back on his life.

A story steeped in nostalgia for simpler times with thoughts on aging, humanity, and with a touch of darkness just below the surface. He could squeeze a bit of sci-fi in there, too, I bet. Who better to write this type of story than Ray Bradbury?

Dashiell Hammett: "Green Harvest"

Elements of the "investigator playing one side against the other" plot of Red Harvest combined with the lighter characterization of Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man movies. T'Pol and Trip as Nick and Nora Charles solving a murder involving the Orion Syndicate on the Orion home world. Gangsters, slave girl molls, a murder or three, and lots and lots of booze. T'Pol would play the Nick role; she has a drier wit and the brains to solve the most convoluted of cases. Trip would be Nora; equal parts comic relief and (occassionally) useful sidekick. Porthos would be Asta, of course.


Hermann Hesse: "SteppenWorf"

A young Worf struggles with his conflicting natures. Or not. I really just wanted to use the title. Hey, it was either that or "The Ugly Worfling: A Young Boy in Minsk Finally Discovers Why He Likes Honor So Darn Much."

Paula Deens' Southern Qo'noS Cookbook.

"Today is a Good Day to Fry, Ya'll"

Unfortunately, Paula's publisher nixed her book after she hit the cooking warnog a bit too heavy and started referring to her spoons as "baby Cardassians" live on air.

 

[David cgc]

Well, I definitely wanted Peter David's take on Jim Kirk's autobiography, as described in several of his novels and quoted in "Once Burned." In light of the "Any three people, living or dead" premise, though, let's try... Douglas Adams' "Last Chance to See: Revised 2386 Edition." I can't decide if it's a travelogue of his adventures seeing various exotic, endangered animals on various planets (or not! You'll definitely shed a tear at the end of the chapter describing a rare chance meeting of a Gormagander and a Star-Jelly), or his adventures restoring endangered and extinct animals back to life with genetic engineering, cloning, and time-travel.

 

[marlboro]

^ That is a cool idea.


Clive Barker's "The Pleasure and Pain of Being One of One"

The thoughts and sensations of the Borg Queen simultaneously being the master and the slaves in a high tech Hell.

 

[marlboro]

Let's try this with some Trek authors, past and present.

Diane Carey: The novelization of Enterprise's "These Are the Voyages"

Barbara Hambly: A 22nd Century Redjac novel

David Mack: The last DS9 story

Christopher L. Bennett: A series of expanded adaptations of TOS episodes with an emphasis on worldbuilding and plot hole repair.

Una McCormack: A further exploration of John M. Ford's version of Klingon culture

David R. George III: An Excelsior/Enterprise B duology

Jeffrey Lang: A Bashir-O'Brien tale. Heart, humor, and maybe a little high adventure holodeck fun.

James Swallow: An Elias Vaughn vs Typhon Pact trilogy

William R. Forstchen: TNG season 8. Picard vs Sheliak

Greg Cox: A Myriad Universes type TNG series similar to his Worst of Both Worlds novella. Indiana Jones meets Trek.

John Jackson Miller: An untold tale of the Dominion war.

Kevin Ryan, Dayton Ward, and Kevin Dilmore: Lost era war stories from the redshirts POV

Keith DeCandido: An Aventine book or an IKS Gorkon book from the POV of Dorrek.

Dave Galanter & Howie Weinstein: A post Generations Spock-McCoy "Road" comedy.

Heather Jarman & Jerry Oltion: A full length S.C.E. book. Oltion provides the science. Jarman provides the characterization.

Diane Duane: A pre-season 4 Voyager novel.

S.D. Perry: A season 7 Voyager novel.

Kirsten Beyer, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens: An Enterprise season 5 series that picks up immediately after Demons/Terra Prime


A.C. Crispin: Pike Enterprise meets post Terra Prime Archer Enterprise.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Bernard Cornwell writes about the MACOs

Terry Pratchett does something.

Alexandre Dumas does the big three vs Khan

Stephen King, because he wrote for the X Files, so why not?

Alistair MacLean does a DS/Bashir/Garak thing or a Section 31 Discovery thing

EL James writes Vuclan Love Slave because it'd be utter shit, but would make up the cash inflow for any failings in other experimental author choices for the year...

 

[F. King Daniel]

Diane Carey: The novelization of Enterprise's "These Are the Voyages"
[/QUOTE]

That would be the ultimate, burying two generations of Trek at once

 

[Reanok]

S.D. Perry writing a DS9 miniseries would be something I would want to read.

 

[aventinelover]

Dayton Ward writing a novel in The Orville universe. Given his Facebook posts and some of his past Trek work, I think he's one of the few Trek novelists to capture the rather "unique" feel of this universe. I think David Mack could do it too.

 

[JD]

^ This, very much this.

 

[marlboro]

Alexandre Dumas does the big three vs Khan

..

Maybe with Sulu as d'Artagnan?

Or maybe a Count of Monte Cristo style story featuring Chief O'Brien wrecking bloody revenge on the aliens who imprisoned him in Hard Time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Diane Carey: The novelization of Enterprise's "These Are the Voyages"

After the "Broken Bow" kerfuffle, the terms "Diane Carey" and "novelization" should be kept as far apart as is humanly possible.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Kevin Ryan, Dayton Ward, and Kevin Dilmore: Lost era war stories from the redshirts POV

I keep having this crazy idea of Kevin and me as the Trek equivalent of Tag and Bink, running around behind the scenes of the original series and causing chaos. Does that count?

Dayton Ward writing a novel in The Orville universe. Given his Facebook posts and some of his past Trek work, I think he's one of the few Trek novelists to capture the rather "unique" feel of this universe. I think David Mack could do it too.

But I’m too shy to wear a crop top!

Actually, I’d totally be down for this, but only if they let me draw penises on all the covers.

 

[Doom Shepherd]

That's still fascist. I mean, that's literally the "mobilization of society" that the 20th century fascists proclaimed as ideal.

Those poor Norse, Swiss, and Danes. Do you want to tell them, or should I?

 

[marlboro]

After the "Broken Bow" kerfuffle, the terms "Diane Carey" and "novelization" should be kept as far apart as is humanly possible.

"These Are the Voyages" needs to be kerfuffled good and hard. I can just see the foreword now: "I f***ing told you so!"

I keep having this crazy idea of Kevin and I as the Trek equivalent of Tag and Bink, running around behind the scenes of the original series and causing chaos.

That actually sounds pretty cool.


Another idea:

Unfinished Business: A series of second chances for writers whose works were undermined by editorial decisions, short deadlines, cold hard economic reasons, or whatever Richard Arnold was up to.

This is the series where you get to see how Early Voyages would have ended, how Music of the Spheres stacks up to Probe, how a three part Romulan War panned out, what a sequel to Uhura's Song would have looked like and so forth.

 

[STR]

Those poor Norse, Swiss, and Danes. Do you want to tell them, or should I?

You should. They'd be surprised by your findings, as democratic socialism is about as far from what was discussed here as you can get. I'd rather you embarrass yourself (further) than I.