I was hoping there would be news about another Enterprise novel to follow up the Romulan war beneath The Raptors wing and the direction the book series will take in the future.I'm definitely interested in The Saavik novel by Maragret Wander Bonnano and a new Christopher Pike novel and The new Ds9 novel by David R. George. I'll pass on the Typhon expanse books.
Pocket's 2010 Schedule Announced on TrekMovie.com
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David Mack is writing a nuTrek novel?
CLB is writing a nuTrek novel?
David Mack is writing an AVENTINE NOVEL?
I mean, sure, I have my complaints, and I'm not excited about everything...but fuck, I'm in. Good enough for me.
(And in a lot of ways, DS9-R was so much Marco's project that it feels oddly right to jump a bunch of years. Make the story transition at the same time as the editorial transition, so it can take a new direction and find a new role in the TrekLit tapestry. I'm pretty much ok with this, of course pending reading the novel itself.)
CLB is writing a nuTrek novel?
David Mack is writing an AVENTINE NOVEL?
I mean, sure, I have my complaints, and I'm not excited about everything...but fuck, I'm in. Good enough for me.
(And in a lot of ways, DS9-R was so much Marco's project that it feels oddly right to jump a bunch of years. Make the story transition at the same time as the editorial transition, so it can take a new direction and find a new role in the TrekLit tapestry. I'm pretty much ok with this, of course pending reading the novel itself.)
Considering that "The Romulan War: Beneath The Raptor's Wing" hasn't even come out yet, maybe they're waiting for a little fan feedback first?
I think the fact that the Ascendent storyline hasn't started is a plus in this case. We don't know when they're coming, so as long as they don't do anything significant in The Soul Key, they can show up post-Destiny without being too forced. There are other plotlines I'd hate to see skipped (like the situation with the Dominion), and I do hope we see some gap-filling stories in the future.
It's nice to see some nuTrek novels showing up, although four in a row seems a bit much. Of course, that could be my own preference for the 24th century at work. I'm sure there's someone out there thinking "Why are they doing all these silly Typhon Pact books? I want to read about Kirk!". These things move in cycles.
I'm not sure about letting David Mack play around in the new universe, though; I saw what he did to the last one.
Yeah I hope someone told Mack he isn't allowed to cause wide spread death and destruction in this one.
I guess Mack will have to settle for writing about the destruction of Vulcan. Can you say "typecast?" I wonder how that meeting went:
"So...they decided to blow up Vulcan. Who should we get to write about the destruction?"
*everybody looks at David Mack*
*Mack cackles maniacally*
"Can I blow up any other planets?"
"Only if there's a reset button..."
"Can I at least make the Vulcans suffer a bit more...?"
"Sure...Knock yourself out..."
"Excellent..." *touches together digits like Montgomery Burns*
Wasn't there a Capt. April novel coming out? Or is that later this year?
Fixed and fixed.
Fixed and fixed.
I really could not possibly be more excited about this Aventine novel. The title, and the little summary, and the fact that Mack is so absolutely the perfect person to cover that kind of moral grey area, and the fact that if it's this action-y then Kedair, who I surprisingly loved in Destiny, is pretty much going to have to be all over that... god, I'm going to love this book. Love it.
I mean, sure, it's like a year and change away, but still.
I mean, sure, it's like a year and change away, but still.
While I expected it would happen eventually, I hadn't thought Margaret Clark's run as single editor would run the line into the ground that fast.
Well, I suppose the thread had gone a remarkably long time without the obligatory hysterical "they're destroying the franchise" fanboy over-reaction.
If you say so. 
ETA:
I have actually already said in the past that the line was in a decline for quite some years, so I don't see what's hysterical about my comment.
And you really have to learn the difference between the franchise and the book line. To say the franchise as a whole is doomed would be quite foolish when there just was a blockbuster movie hitting 250+ million dollars in the US alone.
ETA:
I have actually already said in the past that the line was in a decline for quite some years, so I don't see what's hysterical about my comment.
And you really have to learn the difference between the franchise and the book line. To say the franchise as a whole is doomed would be quite foolish when there just was a blockbuster movie hitting 250+ million dollars in the US alone.
Actually, I'm quite thrilled with the schedule as I've come to love TOS (books about Saavik, Pike... finally!) most of all the ongoing series. And I'm also looking forward to the nuTrek novels, especially the book dealing with the Vulcans. I don't share the distaste for possible "reset-button" endings, because even if there's not outward change, the characters themselves can grow and the readers' perception of them as well.
I definitely won't buy any NF-book since I've lost interest in that series after Restoration (with the exception of Stone and Anvil), and I'm not yet sure about the Typhon Pact, I likely won't buy the Aventine book and rather focus on Titan and TNG... but the TP definitely comes third in priority after TOS and nuTrek. I share the confusion about some official comments here just half a year ago about not moving DS9 forward anytime soon etc - OTOH, it's a point for me to possibly get into the DS9-relaunch again... and that DRG is writing it is even more of an incentive for me. And I'm really looking forward to the MyrU-anthology!
So, all in all, for me it's one of the best schedules of recent years.
I definitely won't buy any NF-book since I've lost interest in that series after Restoration (with the exception of Stone and Anvil), and I'm not yet sure about the Typhon Pact, I likely won't buy the Aventine book and rather focus on Titan and TNG... but the TP definitely comes third in priority after TOS and nuTrek. I share the confusion about some official comments here just half a year ago about not moving DS9 forward anytime soon etc - OTOH, it's a point for me to possibly get into the DS9-relaunch again... and that DRG is writing it is even more of an incentive for me. And I'm really looking forward to the MyrU-anthology!
So, all in all, for me it's one of the best schedules of recent years.
You don't see anything hysterical about "run the line into the ground"? Or is there something in particular about TOS and nuTrek that you feel will be unpopular or lacking in storytelling potential after said blockbuster film?
good news: Treason is coming in MMPB, Typhon Pact.
bad news: Typhon Pact's not til the end of next year and an overabundance of stuff i don't care about.
cheap year, next year.
bad news: Typhon Pact's not til the end of next year and an overabundance of stuff i don't care about.
cheap year, next year.
In contrast, I actually don't much like TOS in general, but I'm still excited about these. Recently reading Burning Dreams and Where Sea Meets Sky I found myself really interested in Pike. The whole TOS era is shaped by the general feeling of Kirk as a cowboy out on his own, for me, and seeing the same era from the perspective of a completely different captain I found fascinating. (Much the same reason I love Vanguard so much). So more Pike is great.
Also, Inception sounds like a new take, and Perry's been wanting to write that book for years. So I'm expecting it to be pretty great, too. And MWB is fantastic; I've never liked Saavik much, but I'm intrigued. If that book had been announced in a year without much TOS, I think people would be really excited about it. That doesn't change for me because of its surroundings.
And then I really agree with what you say about nuTrek. The movie was so rapidfire that it didn't give much chance for us to get to know the characters, but still presented them with such strong voices that I can't wait to see it all fleshed out more. Even if the next movie straight up nullifies these completely, I'm just really looking forward to the different interpretations of these characters. nuTrek is like a shiny new toy; I really want to play with it
It's admittedly unfortunate that a huge run of nuTrek immediately follows a huge run of TOS, and I'll be missing all the wonderful development of this year as much as everyone else. I already can't wait for the Typhon Pact.
But the particular stories of the TOS books, and the particular authors of the nuTrek books, are making me look forward to those a lot more than I was expecting to.
Of course it was hyperbole. The line isn't going to vanish or anything, but it has become a shadow of it's former self, and based on this schedule (the first one Margaret is largely responsible for alone) that process will be accelerated. That's most likely a mixture of her editorial limitations (no dig at Margaret, every editor has his/her weaknesses) and the sheer workload of doing the line alone.
My main problem isn't really with most of the individual titles, but with the schedule that makes little sense IMO.
Only counting the new releases, 2010 starts of with 4 TOS novels, which would have fitted much better this year to directly tie in with the movie. It almost looks like Margaret (and Marco) thought the movie would tank and now after that wasn't the case she is realizing they missed the boat and is now overcompensating, especially if you keep in mind that their will be 4 JJ-Verse novels later the same year. Problem is, even if there are new people coming in wanting to read about JJ-Verse, they most likely would skip over the TOS ones since they know "real" JJ-Verse novels will come a few months later.
With the exception of the NF novel and the Seven Deadly Sins book (both Trades) readers who don't give a damn about TOS/nuTrek will have to wait until October (!) to get something to read, and it wouldn't surprise me if at least some of them would have decided to abandon the line by then.
The schedule looks like Monk put it together, everything related tidely put next to one another, instead of just mixing it up a bit. A more balanced schedule of the same books already would be a step forward from what we've got.
^ That's certainly all true, or close to it, but it's also true that we've had very little TOS for a really long time. And of course a bunch of nuTrek books is a great idea to capitalize on the success of the film. I think the only problem is that the two are put right next to each other, and I'll admit I'm a little annoyed about that too. I wonder if it would've really made much difference to swap the Typhon Pact and nuTrek placement, or maybe reduce the TOS or nuTrek schedules by one or two and fit a couple more books in between.
But like I said, for me at least, that's largely mollified by the fact that the books themselves sound fantastic, and I'd wager that the number of fans giving up on the post-Nemesis timeline due to the 9-month gap is going to be more or less equivalent to the people that may decide to try them if the nuTrek books are really good. I don't think it's all that much of an economical risk, assuming the books don't suck.
I think we tend to overreact, in general, to gaps in publishing schedules. Most book series have gaps of at least a year between books, usually longer, and certainly huge gaps in NF, Voyager and DS9 don't seem to have done much to stunt the popularity of those books. It's also often been shown that multi-novel Events sell much better than individual novels, and the Typhon Pact being so damn cool sounding as an Event will probably compensate for that gap a lot.
But like I said, for me at least, that's largely mollified by the fact that the books themselves sound fantastic, and I'd wager that the number of fans giving up on the post-Nemesis timeline due to the 9-month gap is going to be more or less equivalent to the people that may decide to try them if the nuTrek books are really good. I don't think it's all that much of an economical risk, assuming the books don't suck.
I think we tend to overreact, in general, to gaps in publishing schedules. Most book series have gaps of at least a year between books, usually longer, and certainly huge gaps in NF, Voyager and DS9 don't seem to have done much to stunt the popularity of those books. It's also often been shown that multi-novel Events sell much better than individual novels, and the Typhon Pact being so damn cool sounding as an Event will probably compensate for that gap a lot.
As much as I have problems with some of the decisions revealed in this schedule, I have to say, fandom never ceases to amaze me with its hyperbole and disproportionate reactions.
Take these common but schitzophrenic reactions:
"OMG, why weren't there any TOS books ready to capitalize on the new film?" Well, because it's a recession and no one knew if the movie would be a success, and they wanted to avoid stepping on ST09's toes.
"OMG, why so much TOS?" Well, we've barely been getting ANY TOS for the last two to three years now, because they didn't want to step on ST09's toes, and now they'd like to put books out there because of ST09's popularity.
I swear to God, you can never win with fandom.
Take these common but schitzophrenic reactions:
"OMG, why weren't there any TOS books ready to capitalize on the new film?" Well, because it's a recession and no one knew if the movie would be a success, and they wanted to avoid stepping on ST09's toes.
"OMG, why so much TOS?" Well, we've barely been getting ANY TOS for the last two to three years now, because they didn't want to step on ST09's toes, and now they'd like to put books out there because of ST09's popularity.
I swear to God, you can never win with fandom.
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