How do you read a Star Trek novel?

[trynda1701]

Plus Robert Brown (Lazarus, "The Alternative Factor") as Jason Bolt and David Soul (Makora, "The Apple") as Joshua Bolt.

I did not know that! Thank you for that info, Sir!

 

[Christopher]

^Yeah, the fact that Here Come the Brides had several Trek guests in its regular cast is why it was popular with Trek fandom, apparently, and I've always assumed it was why Hambly chose to write a crossover between it and Trek. (There's a whole chapter about it in Bjo Trimble's memoir On the Good Ship Enterprise: My 15 Years with Star Trek, discussing the crossover popularity of the two shows. In fact, it was Trimble's book that first made me aware that the characters from Ishmael were from another TV series. I was reading that chapter about HCtB, and I realized that the character names and the premise she was describing sounded awfully familiar...)

 

[KimMH]

I subconciously picture the original casts, but I'm not a fan of Kate Mulgrew and have been superimposing author Kirsten Beyer who seems an excellent fit :

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61PzIBVfelL._UX250_.jpg

Can't do much about Mulgrews voice though...I think I'm stuck with it.

I love what Beyer has done with the relaunch but cannot imagine anyone besides Mulgrew's voice for Janeway; it's as firmly fixed in my mind as the bun o' steel.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Writing with actors (or personal friends, family, or whoever) in mind is a good way to differentiate characters' voices so that they don't all sound like the author.

THANK YOU! I may have already been doing that unconsciously with my own fiction, but when I get back to my novel, I will endeavor to keep that in mind.

And as to Here Come the Brides, well, we do need to keep in mind that the characters are in many cases conflations of two or more historic figures (for the real story, I recommend Bill Speidel's Sons of the Profits [and no, that is NOT a typo; if you read the book, you'll understand why it's spelled that way]). Oh, and my understanding is that the official HCTB spelling was "Stempel," as opposed to Ms. Hambly's "Stemple."

 

[Greg Cox]

THANK YOU! I may have already been doing that unconsciously with my own fiction, but when I get back to my novel, I will endeavor to keep that in mind.

And as to Here Come the Brides, well, we do need to keep in mind that the characters are in many cases conflations of two or more historic figures (for the real story, I recommend Bill Speidel's Sons of the Profits [and no, that is NOT a typo; if you read the book, you'll understand why it's spelled that way]). Oh, and my understanding is that the official HCTB spelling was "Stempel," as opposed to Ms. Hambly's "Stemple."

Well, I'm not sure Brides ever claimed to be all that historically accurate, but Sons of the Profits (which is a non-fiction book on Seattle's early days) does indeed rest upon my bookshelf even as I type this.

(Did I ever mention that my great-grandfather was gunned down in frontier Seattle while trying to rob a bank? True story.)

 

[CaptainDonovin]

I usually imagine the established actors, but lately I tend to imagine Bruce Greenwood as Pike even when reading a Prime Universe novel. He was just so much better in the role.

Also, a while back I was re-reading The Three-Minute Universe from 1988, and I realized that, while its dialogue style didn't feel quite right for the TOS cast, it was a nearly perfect fit for the current movie cast, although it didn't quite fit the movie continuity (no Spock/Uhura relationship, of course).

Before Greenwood had the role I actually used to imagine Ray Liotta as Pike.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

I can usually hear the characters as I read the story. For the author created characters I eventually get some idea of how the character may sound & go from there.

 

[Christopher]

(for the real story, I recommend Bill Speidel's Sons of the Profits [and no, that is NOT a typo; if you read the book, you'll understand why it's spelled that way]).

Keep in mind that Star Trek has already given us Ferengi episodes entitled "Prophet Motive" and "False Profits," so that pun is hardly unfamiliar to this fandom.

 

[Leto_II]

True story:

Was visiting the UK and Ireland in the late summer of 1992, and we were walking near the Dublin waterfront when we headed past a movieplex. On the marquee, in gigantic letters?

"ALIEN 3: THE PROFITS SPEAK"

Still have the photo in an album around here somewhere. Lucky thing I had my camera with me in that moment; no one would have ever believed me otherwise afterwards.