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Rihannsu...yes or no?

The difference is she created the character. She's got dibs on setting up background info.

No, she doesn't. She created the character, but she doesn't own the character, and she no more gets "dibs" on setting up background information than any other writer.
 
I'll never get the attitude some Trek fans seem to have that they have to be told what to believe or accept by someone in authority. The reader of literature is not supposed to be a passive absorber, but an active participant, bringing one's own imagination to bear on the work. Every reader of Trek Lit is entitled to decide for himself or herself which tales are "real," what ambiguous events really mean, how to resolve discrepancies, etc.

And it shouldn't really matter anyway. Yes, there are various different postulates of the Romulan Commander's fate in Trek Lit, but that doesn't mean only one can be "right," since they're all fictional. Like I often say, there isn't going to be a test at the end, so there's no obligation to get the "right" answer. Just enjoy the stories. And if there are multiple different interpretations of a character's fate, that creates a greater range and variety of stories that can be told and enjoyed. That's a good thing. How sad it would be if only one "right" answer were allowed and all the possible worthwhile stories arising from different alternatives were forbidden.
 
The difference is she created the character. She's got dibs on setting up background info.
Why? I don't think many, if any, of the people who created a guest character have gotten to decide their fate. Hell, even most of the fates of the regular characters were decided by people other than the ones who created them.
 
The reader of literature is not supposed to be a passive absorber, but an active participant, bringing one's own imagination to bear on the work

Sssshhhhhhhh!!!!!! You'll scare them! :rommie:

Hell, even most of the fates of the regular characters were decided by people other than the ones who created them.

Yeah, just recall the flack Nimoy copped for ST II, and Spiner copped for (penning the story of) "Nemesis".
 
So, by showing some respect to the writer who created the character, I'M the bad guy now?

No one's calling you a bad guy. We just think that the idea that any one person's ideas of what happened to the Romulan Commander outside of the canon would have more validity than anyone else's is ridiculous and unfair to other writers.
 
Exactly. I can understand what you're saying Capt. Rob, but IMO when it comes to franchises like Trek came up with a one off guest character really isn't that important. More than likely the character won't be coming back, and even when they do it's probably going to be someone else writing them. TV production is a group activity anyways, so trying to attach a character to one writer is kinda pointless.
 
Rihannsu yes or no? No.

They're utterly fantastic, but I grew up on TNG's Romulans, and though they're not incompatible, they're not the same. The little boy in me still wants to see those Romulans get their Romulan Way.

Edit: TNG series Romulans, that is. I couldn't stand NEM.

YMMV
 
I'm very much a "creator's rights" kind of guy, so I always want to give deferrence to the creator of the character in question, first and foremost. Even if it's just pointing back in the direction of the original work, to give credit where credit's due.
 
Personally, I find some of the Rihannsu material to chime more naturally with the Romulans as they are portrayed in the Star Fleet Universe, then perhaps with those seen in the TNG-era Franchise.

With no Nemesis-esque Remans (or Remus, for that matter), no brow ridges in sight, and a strong focus on the concept of honour, the echoes ring more clearly - the SFU Romulans even call themselves Rihansu (one n), though the term has a somewhat different in-universe meaning (deriving from the old term Kiay Ri-ha-nai, or 'unifying duty', which had competed with Kya-yai, 'Logic', in the time of Surak).


Although, one thing which really stood out for me was how crappy the Romulan and Klingon ships were, compared to those of the Federation.

(I prefer to have a closer degree of balance between the upgraded Romulan hulls and the converted Klingon ones - what the SFU would call the Eagle- and Kestrel-series - and the ships of Star Fleet.)

But then, there are more than a few books which are less than fairly balanced in that regard, so I try not to take too much mind of it.


I don't see too much of a problem with considering this series of books as in a separate/splinter timeline to other Franchise novels or series - they are equally non-canonical compared to TV Trek, but can find equally valid (and non-conflicting) places when treated as part of a range of, to note a previously-coined term, myriad universes.

It's a big enough multiverse to go around...
 
I am reading the Rihannsu Omnibus at the moment and am trying to find The Empty Chair to finish the story. For some reason, it is obnoxiously expensive at Amazon (sold out?) Does anyone have a good hint on where to find the book?
 
Do you have any used book stores near you? They're usually a pretty good place to look for old Trek Lit.
 
I am reading the Rihannsu Omnibus at the moment and am trying to find The Empty Chair to finish the story. For some reason, it is obnoxiously expensive at Amazon (sold out?) Does anyone have a good hint on where to find the book?

I've seen it for the cover price at New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, MA. Maybe you could buy from them through the mail? If not, I pass through there about once a month...
 
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