S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt universe

[veritech]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

For all you continuity sticklers out there, I have heard that Babylon 5 has almost perfect synergy between the tv shows and the novels. I guess that the series creator has sometype of bible/outline from which each novel is written . . . or at least he retains some aspect of creative control over any tie-in. It's an interesting approach, especially if a franchise is intended to have a definite, set-in-stone beginning, middle, and end.

 

[KRAD]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

^ To be precise, the B5 novels published by Del Rey were done off outlines by J. Michael Straczynski. The first nine books that were published by Dell were not, and JMS only considers two of those books to be canon (one of which was written by his wife).

 

[veritech]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

KRAD said:
^ To be precise, the B5 novels published by Del Rey were done off outlines by J. Michael Straczynski. The first nine books that were published by Dell were not, and JMS only considers two of those books to be canon (one of which was written by his wife).

Interesting! I didn't know about the B5 Dell novels.

I think that the study of media tie-in franchises is somewhat interesting but mostly frustrating. I think that there was a time when folks didn't really care too much about continuity. I recently discovered a tie-in novel of The Green Hornet written in the 1960's. Think about how many incarnations of some of the old pulp/serial characters exist! Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Lone Ranger . . . the list goes on and on.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

KRAD said:
^ To be precise, the B5 novels published by Del Rey were done off outlines by J. Michael Straczynski. The first nine books that were published by Dell were not, and JMS only considers two of those books to be canon (one of which was written by his wife).

KRAD, do you know EVERYTHING about the tie-in universes or are you just showing off?

 

[KRAD]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

KRAD, do you know EVERYTHING about the tie-in universes or are you just showing off?

Little of both.

 

[Richard White]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Do not question the KRAD for he is strong in the ways of the Schwartz.

 

[Lindley]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Dayton Ward said:
Wow. I knew it was more involved than what's "done" for Trek, but I have to admit that I've not followed a lot of the SW "expanded universe" stuff so I'm not clued in to how crazy their canon debates can be.

It's actually pretty simple.

1) Movies supersede everything.
2) Insofar as direct contradictions with the movies are avoided, all tie-in material falls in the same continuity, and may (and usually do) reference and borrow characters from each other.
3) Where the movies introduce contradictions, it's up to future tie-in material to explain the discrepancies, if they want to.
4) Insofar as a given bit of tie-in material doesn't fit all that well with the rest, it's ignored. *Mostly* this means game mechanics, stuff published before the Thrawn trilogy, and details contradicted by the prequels but not vital enough to be worth explaining.

There are exceptions and special cases and whatnot, but that's the gist of it. The end result is a universe rich in characters never seen in the movies but handled (mostly) consistently by numerous authors through many stages of their lives. I rather like it.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

^I'll bet it's the "special cases and whatnot" that fuels some of the livelier debates

 

[DaveR]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Richard White said:
Do not question the KRAD for he is strong in the ways of the Schwartz.

I didn't think KRAD had anything to do with the Vulcan novels...

Dave

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

 

[Smiley]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Emh said:
Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

It's not as bad in practice as Lindley makes it out to be. Like Trek, what's on the screen (movie in this case) is the ultimate authority. Unlike Trek, everything other piece of material is assumed to have "happened." If you do find a contradiction, then it will either be decided on a case-by-case basis by Leland Chee or another Lucas continuity wizard, or you can assume that the newer source is correct.

There's nothing worse in SW canon/continuity issues than trying to reconcile Federation, Strangers from the Sky, First Contact, and "Carbon Creek."

 

[Sci]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Emh said:
Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

My favorite canon debate ever still lies with the Doctor Who fan who declared that the fact that they adapted the DW novel Human Nature meant that new Doctor Who had violated canon.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Smiley said:

Emh said:
Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

It's not as bad in practice as Lindley makes it out to be. Like Trek, what's on the screen (movie in this case) is the ultimate authority.

You know that. I know that. But that doesn't stop fans in general to be completely inane on these matters.

Sci said:

Emh said:
Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

My favorite canon debate ever still lies with the Doctor Who fan who declared that the fact that they adapted the DW novel Human Nature meant that new Doctor Who had violated canon.

That's great.

 

[Lindley]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Smiley said:

It's not as bad in practice as Lindley makes it out to be.

Did I make it out to be bad?

Perhaps I should have just said, "All Star Wars material is expected to fall in the same continuity, but George Lucas doesn't hold himself to this, so sometimes things need to be fixed."

 

[JD]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Sci said:

Emh said:
Wow...and I thought Trekkies had it bad for canon...

My favorite canon debate ever still lies with the Doctor Who fan who declared that the fact that they adapted the DW novel Human Nature meant that new Doctor Who had violated canon.

Ummm, yeah. I think perhaps the are a little confused.

 

[MichaelS]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Smiley said:
There's nothing worse in SW canon/continuity issues than trying to reconcile Federation, Strangers from the Sky, First Contact, and "Carbon Creek."

Hm. That makes me want to write an outline ...

 

[Smiley]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

MichaelS said:

Smiley said:
There's nothing worse in SW canon/continuity issues than trying to reconcile Federation, Strangers from the Sky, First Contact, and "Carbon Creek."

Hm. That makes me want to write an outline ...

Can you also make one for the early years of the April/Pike/Kirk Enterprise and the final year of the Enterprise-A?

 

[seigezunt]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

If Gene's not making cash on it, then it's not canon.

Since he's dead, none of it is.

 

[MichaelS]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

Smiley said:

MichaelS said:
Hm. That makes me want to write an outline ...

Can you also make one for the early years of the April/Pike/Kirk Enterprise and the final year of the Enterprise-A?

Piece of cake, that. What's the problem with the early years?

And the final year ... well, nobody said it was a standard year, right? It could be one of those Betelgeusian years, after all.

 

[Smiley]

Re: S.T. novels should be considered canon in an alt univer

I thought there was much confusion over who joined the ship with Kirk as opposed to being there with Pike. Maybe that's just a books/comics issue.