Modern Trek novels quickly bury the reader in a mass of references to dozens of past Trek episodes and recent novels (for example, Destiny brings up Titan, the pre- and post- Nemesis TNG novels, the post DS9 series and even throws in a tiny bit of Voyager and the disappointing Enterprise relaunch. Articles of the Federation and even the Shaterverse get a nod, too. And that’s just book 1!)
But where are the references to the classic Trek novels? We all know they weren’t allowed to reference each other ‘back in the day’, but what’s stopping them now?
We all know that the real reason for all the references to other modern books is to entice readers to buy them all (which we kind of already have to – anyone else miss standalone books?), and referencing out-of-print novels is probably seen as “a waste of ink that could be used to sell other current books” by editors, but come on: a 30-something year legacy of novels to build on, and they end up being ignored when just half a sentence would do the trick.
In Destiny 1, Geordi reels off a list of Borg that they (or other Trek ships) have freed from the collective. He fails to mention Reannon from ‘Vendetta’, whose road to recovery became Geordi’s pet project. Although a dismal failure, why didn’t she get a mention? As I recall, he was profoundly affected by her death and he certainly wouldn’t have forgotten she existed. Is it because the novel clashes with a later Trek movie or episode? Not that I recall, but even if it does in some slight way, fans know most TV Trek fails to stay consistent, let alone the novels. So what harm would dropping her name in have done?
Anyone else want modern novels to slip in references to “The time there was a Vampire on board” (Bloodthirst and Death’s Angel)? What about “That ship full of 300-year old Russian ghosts” (Ghost Ship)? Ay-Nab’s Dyson Sphere ‘Lyra’ every time Scotty’s one is brought up (The Starless World)? How about a TNG-era reference to Christine Chapel’s Starfield Corporation that may or may not lead to the virtual enslavement of humanity (Crossroad)? As the ads at the back of the novels say “It’s a big universe…”
But where are the references to the classic Trek novels? We all know they weren’t allowed to reference each other ‘back in the day’, but what’s stopping them now?
We all know that the real reason for all the references to other modern books is to entice readers to buy them all (which we kind of already have to – anyone else miss standalone books?), and referencing out-of-print novels is probably seen as “a waste of ink that could be used to sell other current books” by editors, but come on: a 30-something year legacy of novels to build on, and they end up being ignored when just half a sentence would do the trick.
In Destiny 1, Geordi reels off a list of Borg that they (or other Trek ships) have freed from the collective. He fails to mention Reannon from ‘Vendetta’, whose road to recovery became Geordi’s pet project. Although a dismal failure, why didn’t she get a mention? As I recall, he was profoundly affected by her death and he certainly wouldn’t have forgotten she existed. Is it because the novel clashes with a later Trek movie or episode? Not that I recall, but even if it does in some slight way, fans know most TV Trek fails to stay consistent, let alone the novels. So what harm would dropping her name in have done?
Anyone else want modern novels to slip in references to “The time there was a Vampire on board” (Bloodthirst and Death’s Angel)? What about “That ship full of 300-year old Russian ghosts” (Ghost Ship)? Ay-Nab’s Dyson Sphere ‘Lyra’ every time Scotty’s one is brought up (The Starless World)? How about a TNG-era reference to Christine Chapel’s Starfield Corporation that may or may not lead to the virtual enslavement of humanity (Crossroad)? As the ads at the back of the novels say “It’s a big universe…”
