Favorite version of contradictory stories/ideas.

[JD]

For pretty much the entire history of the franchise there have been stories that have come out only to be contradicted later on. I was just curious to see which versions of these stories people liked better. Some of the best and most popular examples I know of would be all of the different versions of the Mirror Universe, the three (or is it more) versions of the TOS Enterprise crew's first mission, the Klingons or Romulans. The only ones I really have experience with are the different versions of the Mirror Universe, and of five I have only read the TOS Mirror Universe Saga comics and the MU series. My favorite of those was TSoE, although I did really enjoy the comics too. I've also seen/ read two versions of the first TOS Enterprise mission, ST09 and All Those Years Ago. I think these two were pretty close, but since I don't remember ATYA very well at all I have to go with ST09.

Oh, and feel free to include stories that are purposefully marked as alternate universe stories like the MyrU stories, or even Mirror versions of Prime universe events.

 

[Thrawn]

Strangers From The Sky and Federation both have alternative interpretations of things that were rendered false due to First Contact; it's hard to say which I prefer, but certainly Strangers and Federation stay outstanding stories.

 

[Christopher]

My favorite "first mission" story is Mike Barr's "All Those Years Ago..." from DC's first run.

My two favorite Borg origin stories are Destiny and "The Beginning" in Strange New Worlds VI.

 

[seigezunt]

Strangers From The Sky and Federation both have alternative interpretations of things that were rendered false due to First Contact; it's hard to say which I prefer, but certainly Strangers and Federation stay outstanding stories.

I prefer these books over First Contact.

I also prefer the Rihansu Romulans over the ridged/Reman ones.

And the Final Reflection rocks.

 

[Mysterion]

Prefer the Diane Duane Rihannsu to the Romulans we saw in the later series/movies.

 

[CaptMurdock]

Strangers From The Sky and Federation both have alternative interpretations of things that were rendered false due to First Contact; it's hard to say which I prefer, but certainly Strangers and Federation stay outstanding stories.

I prefer these books over First Contact.

I also prefer the Rihansu Romulans over the ridged/Reman ones.

And the Final Reflection rocks.

Word.

I know this is my deranged imagination, but it seemed like the writers and producers of TNG went out of their way to go in completely opposite directions to the novels of the early 80s (e.g. Final Reflection) when it came to portraying the Romulans and the Klingons. Mind you, it would have caused a lot of problems (not to mention royalty payments) had they used material from Diane Duane's and J.M. Ford's works, but still...

 

[Dayton Ward]

Mind you, it would have caused a lot of problems (not to mention royalty payments) had they used material from Diane Duane's and J.M. Ford's works, but still...

No, it really wouldn't, as Paramount (then; CBS now) already holds ownership over everything in the novels, comics, games, and so on. Not that it matters, as it's doubtful anyone attached to the actual production of the show even read the novels. They were pretty busy doing their own thing.

 

[Snaploud]

Strangers from the Sky, Federation, Dark Mirror

I probably wouldn't include the Final Reflection, and the Rhihansu books are still on my "to be read" list.

 

[Kopernikus]

Another example: The fate of Leonard McCoy
I definitely prefer the version in Crucible, where he dies peacefully in his sleep shortly after "Encounter at Farpoint", one of the most moving scenes I've ever read in a Trek-novel.
I think it's a bit too much, to still have him running around in the Post-Destiny era, still saving the Galaxy at the age 154, as shown in "A Singular Destiny".

 

[captcalhoun]

i love the MU seen in the old comics 'Mirror Universe Saga' as well as TSoE.

 

[Desert Kris]

Fascinating! This has to be one of the most worthwhile topics I've come across (IMO). Embrace the contradiction.

The contradiction I'm most familiar with is the ST: First Contact movie, versus Federation and Strangers From the Sky. I like both equally, but find Zefram Cochrane from Federation more believable (I'm unable to comment on Strangers, I haven't read it yet).

I like having a version of the ongoing ST story which has Kirk and company take command of the Excelsior shortly after The Search For Spock, since the writers ultimately shied away from that outcome, at least we have a version which plays out Harve Bennett's original intention for a while. But I don't have a preference, beyond viewing the comics as having their own continuity that is inspired by the events of the movies.

I like the idea of mixing visuals, as inspired by the oddness of the 80's ST novel covers. My favorite examples are Dreams of the Ravens and Chain of Attack: why shouldn't I imagine the crew in their classic uniforms, walking around on the bridge of the movie Enterprise? I know; bonkers.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Mind you, it would have caused a lot of problems (not to mention royalty payments) had they used material from Diane Duane's and J.M. Ford's works, but still...

No, it really wouldn't, as Paramount (then; CBS now) already holds ownership over everything in the novels, comics, games, and so on. Not that it matters, as it's doubtful anyone attached to the actual production of the show even read the novels. They were pretty busy doing their own thing.

Oh they were WELL aware of the novels...that's what kicked off the whole Reign of Richard [Arnold], after all, controversy over the canonicity of the novel and game material.

 

[Sci]

Mind you, it would have caused a lot of problems (not to mention royalty payments) had they used material from Diane Duane's and J.M. Ford's works, but still...

No, it really wouldn't, as Paramount (then; CBS now) already holds ownership over everything in the novels, comics, games, and so on. Not that it matters, as it's doubtful anyone attached to the actual production of the show even read the novels. They were pretty busy doing their own thing.

Ronald D. Moore indicated that he had read The Final Reflection and some other Trek novels back when he had his AOL board during his DS9 days. He just chose to go in another direction when he did Klingon worldbuilding on TNG.

 

[Christopher]

Oh they were WELL aware of the novels...that's what kicked off the whole Reign of Richard [Arnold], after all, controversy over the canonicity of the novel and game material.

Roddenberry and Arnold were aware of the novels. That doesn't mean the actual writing staff of TNG was familiar with them. Roddenberry's involvement in that staff was, I believe, fairly minimal past the first season -- certainly by the third season, once Michael Piller was in charge of the writing staff. And most of the development of Klingons and Romulans in TNG happened in the third season and beyond.

The only sense in which Roddenberry himself tried to steer clear of precedent involving Klingons and Romulans was by trying to avoid TOS races as much as possible. That's why "Heart of Glory" was the only Klingon story we got in season 1 and why the Romulans were no-shows until "The Neutral Zone." Roddenberry didn't want to develop the Klingons and Romulans in ways that contradicted the novels; he just wanted to minimize the use of TOS species altogether and develop new races and concepts for TNG. He wanted the Ferengi to be the big bads. He wanted the Enterprise to be charting the great unknown expanse of the galaxy beyond where anyone had ever been, not just wandering around the Federation's borders having ongoing clashes with enemies from a century before.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Oh they were WELL aware of the novels...that's what kicked off the whole Reign of Richard [Arnold], after all, controversy over the canonicity of the novel and game material.

Well, as I said, Arnold wasn't involved in the actual production of the show, and and I was actually thinking of the early days of TNG, before Moore came along but after the Klingons and Romulans had already been "redefined" to a certain extent. Moore did have an appreciation for at least some aspects of a few of the novels, which snuck its way into an episode here and there. I should've clarified that.

 

[Csalem]

I still enjoy Starfleet: Year One even though all of Enterprise contradicts it. I like how it is completely different from the Starfleet of TNG but yet laid the seeds for what Starfleet became.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Another example: The fate of Leonard McCoy
I definitely prefer the version in Crucible, where he dies peacefully in his sleep shortly after "Encounter at Farpoint", one of the most moving scenes I've ever read in a Trek-novel.

A similar fate is seen in one of Wildstorm's Trek anthology issues. In the story, the name of which escapes me, Scotty (now transplanted into the 24th century) visits the elderly McCoy. Scotty gives Bones a gift--a holocube photo of the entire bridge crew in their prime. During the visit, McCoy drifts asleep and it is left up to the reader to determine whether or not he died in that moment, the final panel focusing on the holocube photo.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

That was 'The Wake.'

 

[snakespeare]

As mentioned in another thread, I prefer the novel Enterprise: The First Adventure by Vonda McIntyre to the "alternate timeline" prequel that everyone loves so much.

 

[seigezunt]

As mentioned in another thread, I prefer the novel Enterprise: The First Adventure by Vonda McIntyre to the "alternate timeline" prequel that everyone loves so much.

I liked elements of that novel. Not the plot so much, but the back story.

And it can exist side by side with NuTrek, as it's the Prime Universe.