List of Trek Lit Alternate Universes

[JD]

I actually originally posted this in the STO thread, but I think it would be more appropriate to it's own thread.
As we were discussing the different alternate universes in that thread I decided to list all of the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Although TBH I did have to check a couple of the numbers and names on Memory Beta as I was going along.
So let's see then
1. Prime
2. Memory Omega Mirror
3. Dark Passions Mirror
4. Dark Mirror Mirror
5-15. Q&A Realities
16.ST0
17-24. Fearful Symmetry Alternates
25. Abramsverse
26. Rihansuu
27. Final Reflection
28. Crucible
29. A Less Perfect Union
30. Places of Exile
31. Seeds of Dissent
32. The Chimes At Midnight
33. A Gutted World
34. Brave New World
35. The Last Generation
36. Shattered Light's TNG Story
37. Honor In the Night
38. The Tears of Eridanus
If you can think of any others feel free to add them.

 

[David cgc]

Q-Squared had the "Yesterday's Enterprise" variant where history isn't altered by sending back the Enterprise-C, and the alternate where Wesley died, Jack Crusher was the captain of the Enterprise, and Jim Kirk's middle initial was "R."

 

[Christopher]

There were a number of '80s books that incorporated both Ford's Klingons and Duane's Rihannsu, so those probably count as the same reality. Indeed, there was an overall book continuity that existed for a few years in the '80s before the TNG-era crackdown, as different authors incorporated elements and characters from each other's books. The chain of references tied together most of the '80s books by the following authors, and possibly others I'm forgetting:

Margaret Wander Bonanno
Diane Carey
A. C. Crispin
J. M. Dillard
Diane Duane
Brad Ferguson
John M. Ford
Jean Lorrah
Vonda N. McIntyre
Howard Weinstein

(Time for Yesterday by Crispin incorporated references to the works of the last six authors on that list, making it the linchpin of the shared continuity. Bonanno's Dwellers in the Crucible referenced the Ford Klingons and Duane Rihannsu. Dillard's Enterprise security chief Ingrit Tomson is mentioned in a Duane novel, and Dillard's The Lost Years references Carey's Piper novels.)

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Dillard's The Lost Years references Carey's Piper novels.)

In fact the events in the first book are one of the reasons Nogura gives Kirk for wanted to promote him to admiral.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The Romulan-created 'Second History' project from Killing Time.
A pocket time-travel universe (where Sulu left the crew) in The Entropy Effect.

Spock Must Die! probably has to count as a universe unto itself (and Spock, Messiah!, which references it)

 

[langdonboom]

I haven't read them, but are the "Shatnerverse" novels all internally consistent? And are they basically the TNG universe up until Generations, or are they in any way consistent with anything else afterwards in novel form?

I always figured I'd go back and read those (Borg Kirk!) once I had read everything else.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Pawns and Symbols has another take on Klingons, that amongst other things can't see the colour red.

Crossover's dark future may yet come to pass, so it may not be an alternate future at all.

Final Frontier's pre-TOS tech is "all wrong" in the light of Enterprise (yet Carey's George Kirk has shown up time and again).

Where do we draw the line between "alternate reality" and "creative license"? What about dumb mistakes (like when Worf first met Janeway in the TNG-R)?

I wish to add that I personally like to stick as much of Trek as possible into one continuity, and damn the consequences. Thus, for example, IMO Ingrit Tomson served under the same Kirk that Naraht did.

 

[Christopher]

Well, that's not the best example, since as I said, Diane Duane mentioned Tomson in one of her books. So those are already at least loosely linked continuity-wise.

As for inconsistencies within the Prime TrekLit continuity, like when Worf met Janeway, what ship Rager served on, what the climate of Boreth is like, etc., those are just plain goofs, imperfections in the attempt to construct a cohesive whole. The screen canon has similar inconsistencies, like whether Deanna kissed a bearded Riker before Insurrection, whether Data used contractions, whether Trill could go through transporters, etc.

 

[William Leisner]

Let me add the alternate universe created by Wesley Crusher in "Gods, Fate, and Fractals" to the list.

You might also toss in the Benny Russell Universe, unless you prefer to classify that strictly as a Prophet vision.

 

[JD]

I haven't read them, but are the "Shatnerverse" novels all internally consistent? And are they basically the TNG universe up until Generations, or are they in any way consistent with anything else afterwards in novel form?

I always figured I'd go back and read those (Borg Kirk!) once I had read everything else.

OMG I can't believe I forgot the Shatnerverse.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Comics do count, right?

DC Comics first run, post-STII, unless you're willing to say STIII didn't happen immediately after Spock died and bump it back a year or so.

Gold Key and the old UK comics might as well be the same timeline.

"The Worst of Both Worlds" TNG DC comic where the Borg won.

A few other TNG DC comics with Captain Wesley and one with Alternate Geordi.

Lots of comics I don't have.

 

[Steve Roby]

And if comics count (and why wouldn't they?), then how about the newspaper comic strip, in which Ilia served as Kirk's navigator for at least one mission instead of being V'Gerized her first time out?

 

[Christopher]

Let me add the alternate universe created by Wesley Crusher in "Gods, Fate, and Fractals" to the list.

Wasn't there also an alternate Wesley timeline story in The Sky's the Limit?

And if comics count (and why wouldn't they?), then how about the newspaper comic strip, in which Ilia served as Kirk's navigator for at least one mission instead of being V'Gerized her first time out?

Although that was only for the first couple of strips before she was retconned out. Though there are plenty of other reasons why the newspaper strip doesn't quite fit continuity-wise.

 

[Quimby]

The Millennium Trilogy had an alternate future as well didn't it?

 

[William Leisner]

Let me add the alternate universe created by Wesley Crusher in "Gods, Fate, and Fractals" to the list.

Wasn't there also an alternate Wesley timeline story in The Sky's the Limit?

Yes, I do believe so.

I'm pretty sure there were a handful other SNW stories that were expressly in AUs, as well.

 

[David cgc]

You might also toss in the Benny Russell Universe, unless you prefer to classify that strictly as a Prophet vision.

Since we're doing Treklit, the "Far Beyond the Stars" novelization and SNW's "Isolation Ward 4" seemed to indicate that the universe existed outside of the parts Sisko directly experiences, making a case for it being more than just a vision.

Not to mention that Russell has appeared in the Prime Timeline (or close enough). It's entirely possible that the Russellverse is the Trek universe, and between incomplete archiving, the third World War, and the fact that most of the stories weren't published at all, no one ever knew about the eerily prescient works of Benny Russell, or if they did, they was written off as an odd little coincidence, like Morgan Robertson's "Wreck of the Titan."

Which reminds me, in addition to the separate Crucible continuity, there's also the alternate timeline in it where Edith Keeler lives and McCoy lives out his life trapped in the past.

 

[JD]

Feel free to add universes from any (official) part of the franchise you want. TBH when this was going to be just a single post I was going to limit it to books so I didn't derail the thread to badly, but since it's it's own thread feel free to go crazy.

 

[Stevil2001]

Crossover's dark future may yet come to pass, so it may not be an alternate future at all.

I think you mean Crossroad. I always interpreted Chapel's actions at its end-- where she elects to stay in Starfleet and attend the Federation Science Institute, as killing off the Consilium future. In the timeline the future-people report on, she went to the Institute of Xenobiology.

Another timeline is the one that Enterprise crosses into in the Daedalus duology.

Oh, and the crapload of timelines in Echoes.

 

[captcalhoun]

the one from Starfleet Year One

 

[EmperorKalan]

There were a number of '80s books that incorporated both Ford's Klingons and Duane's Rihannsu, so those probably count as the same reality. Indeed, there was an overall book continuity that existed for a few years in the '80s before the TNG-era crackdown, as different authors incorporated elements and characters from each other's books. The chain of references tied together most of the '80s books by the following authors, and possibly others I'm forgetting:

Margaret Wander Bonanno
Diane Carey
A. C. Crispin
J. M. Dillard
Diane Duane
Brad Ferguson
John M. Ford
Jean Lorrah
Vonda N. McIntyre
Howard Weinstein

(Time for Yesterday by Crispin incorporated references to the works of the last six authors on that list, making it the linchpin of the shared continuity. Bonanno's Dwellers in the Crucible referenced the Ford Klingons and Duane Rihannsu. Dillard's Enterprise security chief Ingrit Tomson is mentioned in a Duane novel, and Dillard's The Lost Years references Carey's Piper novels.)

A number of those use the timeline established in the 1980 Star Trek Speceflight Chronology (The Final Reflection draws a number of persons, ships, and events directly from the book, Final Frontier at very least uses the dating system, etc.)