Nemesis Novelization

[chrinFinity]

Hello,

Does the Nemesis novelization give anything worthwhile that ties into the novel continuity that isn't present in the movie itself?

 

[Christopher]

As a rule, movie novelizations have no connection to the novel continuity. They're aimed at a broader audience who'd most likely be confused by references to things from the novelverse. And original novels typically draw only on canonical material and aren't beholden to ideas added in novelizations -- the main exceptions being Vonda McIntyre's Saavik backstory from her TWOK & TSFS novelizations, and some ideas from Gene Roddenberry's TMP novelization such as the Lori Ciana character.

Then again, more recent novelizations don't add as much to the story anyway as older ones did, since studios have gotten more restrictive about these things.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

It does offer its own insights into such Romulan supporting characters as Donatra, Suran, and Praetor Hiren, but its interpretation of them is different from the novelverse's.

 

[The Wormhole]

If anything, novel continuity contradicts the Nemesis novelization, since the novelization includes the character Commander Martin Madden, intorduced at the end as the new first officer of the Enterprise (his scene was deleted in the movie). Commander Madden is not part of the novel continuity since Worf was promoted to first officer instead.

 

[chrinFinity]

Okay, thank you.

So as I finish with the "A Time To" series and move into the post Nemesis TNG books, and all that Destiny / Typhon Pact mess, I'll just skip over the Nemesis novelization.

Thank you all.

 

[chrinFinity]

I'm sort of frustrated with them for squashing the DS9 re-launch. So much so that I was even going to go read that "DS9 season 10" fanfic that's been spammed all over the board, until I found out it was in screenplay format

 

[Therin of Andor]

Does the Nemesis novelization give anything worthwhile that ties into the novel continuity that isn't present in the movie itself?

More like the "Nemesis" novelization ties in with the museum labels for the USS Titan model that was displayed in a large "Star Trek" exhibition not long after Sean T. won the Pocket Books competition to design the ship. Wesley was named as a part of the new crew in both.

I usually make a point of reading each novelization just after seeing each movie for the first time. Except TMP and ST III, where I got sick of waiting for the movies to open Down Under and read the books first. With "Nemesis", I was waaaaaay behind in my reading, so I read it straight after all of the "A Time..." maxi-series had come out and I really enjoyed it!

 

[Christopher]

More like the "Nemesis" novelization ties in with the museum labels for the USS Titan model that was displayed in a large "Star Trek" exhibition not long after Sean T. won the Pocket Books competition to design the ship. Wesley was named as a part of the new crew in both.

That's because a deleted scene from the movie had Wesley saying that he would be aboard Titan. The novelization included it because the author didn't know the scene would be cut (or at least wasn't instructed to cut it from the book, the way a novelizer today would probably be), and the exhibition probably included it because they were able to get Wil Wheaton's participation in their little movie thingy. (Which was something of a hybrid, since they were also able to get Tim Russ and thus included Tuvok in the crew as per the novel continuity.)

 

[Stevil2001]

It is worth noting that the Nemesis novelization is the source of Shinzon's viceroy's name (Vkruk), which has been used in the novelverse.

 

[Christopher]

^Also, Vonda McIntyre's ST IV novelization (I think) provided the name Kamarag for John Shuck's Klingon ambassador character, and J. M. Dillard's ST VI novelization established Ra-Ghoratreii as the Efrosian UFP president's name.

 

[FreddyE]

Then again, more recent novelizations don't add as much to the story anyway as older ones did, since studios have gotten more restrictive about these things.

That is very sad IMHO. I loved how the older novelizations added to and fleshed out the plot. Sometimes making the novel better then the movie.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^Also, Vonda McIntyre's ST IV novelization (I think) provided the name Kamarag for John Shuck's Klingon ambassador character, and J. M. Dillard's ST VI novelization established Ra-Ghoratreii as the Efrosian UFP president's name.

Not to forget Vice Admiral Lori Ciana in the novelization of ST:TMP, who went on to feature in several other novels.

The novelverse didn't keep the ST V novelization's naming of Admiral Robert "Bob" Caflisch, though, renaming him Bennett after the exec producer who played him.

 

[Christopher]

^I mentioned Ciana in an earlier post.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

And didn't the TUC novelization provide the name of the CinC Fleet Adm William Smillie, who was just referred to as "Bill" in the movie? I know he appeared under that name in at least one novel, Forgotten History.

 

[Christopher]

^Probably.

Still, it's not an all-or-nothing question. One work can borrow an idea or a name from another work while still contradicting its overall interpretation of the universe. The novelverse draws on names from novelizations because those are usually the only names available for otherwise unnamed characters, but that doesn't change the fact that novelizations aren't intended to tie into the novel continuity and are often incompatible with it.

 

[tomswift2002]

I remember reading Nemesis just after it came out and then having no problem with the continuity when "Death In Winter" came out, followed by all the other books. (I think Michael Jan Friedman might've even written an exit for the Madden character, such as talking to people in a corridor at a turbo lift, and then having the door open because it the system was being programmed and Madden turned and-well there was the end of Madden.)

 

[The Wormhole]

I remember reading Nemesis just after it came out and then having no problem with the continuity when "Death In Winter" came out, followed by all the other books. (I think Michael Jan Friedman might've even written an exit for the Madden character, such as talking to people in a corridor at a turbo lift, and then having the door open because it the system was being programmed and Madden turned and-well there was the end of Madden.)

According to Memory Beta the only mention in the novels of Madden was Q & A which features an alternate universe where Madden is indeed the Enterprise's first officer.

 

[JD]

And didn't the TUC novelization provide the name of the CinC Fleet Adm William Smillie, who was just referred to as "Bill" in the movie? I know he appeared under that name in at least one novel, Forgotten History.

He's appeared with that name somewhere else too. I know I've read a novel with the character with that name, but I haven't read FH yet. Maybe one of the The Lost Era novels?

 

[Christopher]

Memory Beta cites references to Smillie in the Crucible trilogy and Myriad Universes: The Chimes at Midnight.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Memory Beta cites references to Smillie in the Crucible trilogy

Ah, you just reminded me: Captain Alexander of the USS Saratoga was also first named in the same novelization - and DRG3 later added "Sinclair-" to her surname in his books.