NuTrek references in the novels

[TJ Sinclair]

Despite what Dave Stern had written, I just viewed The Children of Kings as straight Prime Universe anyway.

It was. Stern's rendition of Pike was more informed by Bruce Greenwood's performance than Jeffrey Hunter's.

You might want to re-read that, Therin. How does the author using the Abramsverse version of Pike place the book in the Prime Universe?

ETA: After rereading your statement myself, I suppose you're not using your second sentence as proof of your first, as it may appear. Okay. Moving on, then.

 

[Greg Cox]

I think that our view on how things are and what they look like in Kirks era and before has to default to what we've seen in the JJverse UNLESS it has been established in TV or in novels to be otherwise. For instance London in the 23rd century...

I would say that as we have already established an actor for Pike on TV, the one in the novels is Hunter.

I suspect that's up to the reader to some degree, like whether you visualize Saavik as Kirstie Alley or Robin Curtis.

And if somebody wants to visualize Chris Pine or Zachary Quinto when reading a TOS novel, who are we to object?

 

[Christopher]

^Right. These are variations in artistic interpretation, like the difference between the way John Byrne draws Superman and the way Bruce Timm draws him. What we're seeing is not a documentary from the future, it's a work of art representing -- and interpreting -- a hypothetical future. No interpretation can be held up as the definitive "true" version because they're all equally imaginary.

As a rule, I imagine the original cast when reading a TOS novel, but lately I tend to prefer imagining Greenwood as Pike because he was simply so much more appealing in the role than Hunter.

And when I re-read Vanguard a while back, I tried imagining Alice Eve as the young Carol Marcus, but it didn't work very well because I don't know what she sounds like with an American accent.

 

[Greg Cox]

On the other hand, I recently gave Uhura a line of dialogue that, in retrospect, sounded more like Zoe Saldana than Nichelle Nichols. I went back and tweaked it while doing some final revisions.

 

[Christopher]

On the other hand, I recently gave Uhura a line of dialogue that, in retrospect, sounded more like Zoe Saldana than Nichelle Nichols. I went back and tweaked it while doing some final revisions.

Well, that's different, I think. How they look is open to interpretation, but how they behave strikes me as a more genuine variation between timelines, because the characters have had different life experiences.

 

[Greg Cox]

On the other hand, I recently gave Uhura a line of dialogue that, in retrospect, sounded more like Zoe Saldana than Nichelle Nichols. I went back and tweaked it while doing some final revisions.

Well, that's different, I think. How they look is open to interpretation, but how they behave strikes me as a more genuine variation between timelines, because the characters have had different life experiences.

Exactly. Their speech patterns are somewhat different and the actors put slightly different spins on the characters. Pegg's Scotty is arguably more comic than Doohan's, for example. NuChekov is more of a whiz-kid prodigy than the earlier version.The new Spock and Uhura have a whole different dynamic that informs their interactions, and so on.

 

[Sci]

And when I re-read Vanguard a while back, I tried imagining Alice Eve as the young Carol Marcus, but it didn't work very well because I don't know what she sounds like with an American accent.

She uses an American Midwestern accent in the movie She's Out of My League.

 

[Therin of Andor]

How does the author using the Abramsverse version of Pike place the book in the Prime Universe?

"Performance". Not the setting, nor the storyline, just Greenwood's interpretation of the character is from the new timeline.

 

[The Wormhole]

How does the author using the Abramsverse version of Pike place the book in the Prime Universe?

"Performance". Not the setting, nor the storyline, just Greenwood's interpretation of the character is from the new timeline.

The irony was while reading The Children of Kings I thought it was a spot-on characterization of Pike as played by Hunter. I didn't even think of Greenwood at all.

 

[Christopher]

"Performance". Not the setting, nor the storyline, just Greenwood's interpretation of the character is from the new timeline.

You're misremembering. From the Author's Note to The Children of Kings (p. 403):

...J. J. Abrams's 2009 reimagining of Trek not only recharged my twenty-third-century batteries, but freed me of the need to write specifically to one vision of humanity's future.

The Children of Kings is a prequel to that 2009 film; the Enterprise as it might have been under Captain Christopher Pike (though I have to admit when I was writing Pike's scenes, I still pictured Jeffrey Hunter, rather than Bruce Greenwood. Old habits, dying hard, I suppose).

So it sounds to me like just the reverse of what you said -- it was intended to evoke the new timeline, but the portrayal of Pike (and some other details) drew more on the original version.

 

[E-DUB]

Maybe a reference to "Admiral Robau" in a TOS-era novel.

 

[Therin of Andor]

So it sounds to me like just the reverse of what you said -- it was intended to evoke the new timeline, but the portrayal of Pike (and some other details) drew more on the original version.

Yep. Definitely remembered the reference in reverse.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Not a novel, but Federation: The First 150 Years said the USS Kelvin was an Einstein-class starship.

Maybe a reference to "Admiral Robau" in a TOS-era novel.

Fleet Admiral Robau

 

[Timewalker]

And if somebody wants to visualize Chris Pine or Zachary Quinto when reading a TOS novel, who are we to object?

Are you trying to make me lose my dinner?

Honestly, guys (and ladies, for the female pro authors)... if I buy one of your TOS novels that doesn't state upfront (in some kind of author's note or back cover blurb) that it draws material from the nuTrek crap, said book is going back for a refund. If I buy a TOS book, I expect a TOS story - one that has nothing whatsoever to do with the Abramsverse garbage.

Note that this is not me telling authors what to write. I'm just saying that if they sneak stuff into a novel that doesn't belong there (without saying they've done it), I won't be adding that novel to my collection.

Good thing there's a few tons of fanfic available. It looks like that may soon be all there will be to read that's not contaminated.

 

[DimesDan]

And if somebody wants to visualize Chris Pine or Zachary Quinto when reading a TOS novel, who are we to object?

Are you trying to make me lose my dinner?

Honestly, guys (and ladies, for the female pro authors)... if I buy one of your TOS novels that doesn't state upfront (in some kind of author's note or back cover blurb) that it draws material from the nuTrek crap, said book is going back for a refund. If I buy a TOS book, I expect a TOS story - one that has nothing whatsoever to do with the Abramsverse garbage.

Note that this is not me telling authors what to write. I'm just saying that if they sneak stuff into a novel that doesn't belong there (without saying they've done it), I won't be adding that novel to my collection.

Good thing there's a few tons of fanfic available. It looks like that may soon be all there will be to read that's not contaminated.

Trek fans, always open to new and exciting things.

 

[F. King Daniel]

You know, Contaminated would be a pretty cool name for a Trek novel.

 

[Harvey]

Well, there's already a book called "Contamination," but yes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm just saying that if they sneak stuff into a novel that doesn't belong there (without saying they've done it), I won't be adding that novel to my collection.

That would apply to every novel containing an in-joke that's every been written. And most every fanfic, I suspect.

So if they do it and they tell you in the foreword, you won't buy it, and it they do it and they don't tell you, you also won't buy it?

 

[Timewalker]

I'm just saying that if they sneak stuff into a novel that doesn't belong there (without saying they've done it), I won't be adding that novel to my collection.

That would apply to every novel containing an in-joke that's every been written. And most every fanfic, I suspect.

So if they do it and they tell you in the foreword, you won't buy it, and it they do it and they don't tell you, you also won't buy it?

I don't mind in-jokes if it references something I like. But I hate the Abramsverse stuff and don't want it in something that claims to be a TOS book.

So yeah, if I know beforehand that the book is really a crossover between real ST and nuTrek, I won't buy it. If I buy it and find out it's a crossover while reading it, I will return it for a refund. Either way, it doesn't get to stay in my collection. And based on what I've read upthread, I've got some weeding out to do.

 

[Greg Cox]

Perhaps we should put stickers on the books:

"Warning: Part of the same franchise that also produced the most recent movies. May contain trace amounts of NuTrek. People severely allergic to reboots should be aware of the possibility of cross-universe contamination. Proceed at your own risk."

Seriously, NuTrek isn't plutonium. Trace amounts never killed anybody.