So what's happening with the DS9 line of novels?

[Christopher]

Disco already does two novels a year, so that's a pace they should be able to keep up.

That only means it's possible, not that it's the only possibility. We've seen the book line go through enough unexpected shifts over the past decade to know that the future isn't easy to predict.

I wouldn't be surprised if all TNG related stories set post-Nemesis would start going under the Picard Show's banner so they can have tie-ins for that which don't interfere with the show itself.

I think it's misunderstanding the nature of the Picard series to expect it to be in any way interchangeable with TNG.

It only makes sense tie-ins for current in production shows are going to take priority over the older shows.

All else being equal, it would. But my point is that all else is not equal. The new shows are not the same as the old shows you're basing your assumptions on. Serial shows are a lot harder to fit novels into, so that changes the equation. In fact, we have evidence of this from the older books. Note that there were no original DS9 novels (as opposed to novelizations) set in seasons 6 or 7 until after the series ended. The serialization was too great an obstacle for inserting standalone tales.

 

[The Wormhole]

I think it's misunderstanding the nature of the Picard series to expect it to be in any way interchangeable with TNG.

Not necessarily interchangeable, but I could see them telling stories with the other TNG characters in the time period between Nemesis and Picard show. Especially if anyone else from TNG shows up in the Picard show at any point.

Note that there were no original DS9 novels (as opposed to novelizations) set in seasons 6 or 7 until after the series ended.

But there were still DS9 novels released during those years, they just took place during the first five seasons. Disco could be in its fourth season in 2021, meaning there are three complete seasons to work novels round or between.

 

[Christopher]

But there were still DS9 novels released during those years, they just took place during the first five seasons. Disco could be in its fourth season in 2021, meaning there are three complete seasons to work novels round or between.

Potentially, yes. I'm just saying it's unwise to assume there's only one potential path forward. Just because you've thought of one possibility doesn't mean you should stop considering others.

 

[flandry84]

TBH I really hope that few if any of the old crew show up on the Picard show and any subsequent novels.I would hate for the TNG books to go down the sad road that some of the TOS books did with the retired crew still performing increasing improbable heroics.
Just my personal opinion.

 

[Scout101]

After the EU turned to Legends, SW lost me as a reader for good.

That's where I got off as well. Didn't feel like it got a good wrapup after all that time and energy, they just sorta stopped publishing one day. Disappointing. Used it as my clean break and didn't go back.

 

[Reanok]

I wish we could get a few new ds9 novels. But since there hasn't been any news about future books it's really disappointing there hasn't been any mention for new books coming out next year.

 

[JoeZhang]

That's where I got off as well. Didn't feel like it got a good wrapup after all that time and energy, they just sorta stopped publishing one day. Disappointing. Used it as my clean break and didn't go back.

I'm the other way- only started reading them after they started again- I couldn't be bothered to read decades of books.

 

[XCV330]

That's where I got off as well. Didn't feel like it got a good wrapup after all that time and energy, they just sorta stopped publishing one day. Disappointing. Used it as my clean break and didn't go back.

I got the last "Big Three" one, Crucible, on hardback. What a mistake. An absolutely dreary slough from beginning to end interspersed with stream of consciousness filler crap. It felt like it had been supposed to fit into the Fate of the Jedi line but was a throwaway novel that somehow got in before the cut. It was an utterly dismal way to end the EU, regardless of what one thought of it.

I've heard the very last book, X-Wing: Mercy Kill is pretty good, and I don't think Aaron Allston ever wrote a book I didn't like. I may eventually get a copy.

I don't understand why Disney doesn't continue on with licencing Legends stuff in time. It wouldn't hurt their brand. But I'm willing to realize it's not going to happen.

I'm the other way- only started reading them after they started again- I couldn't be bothered to read decades of books.

I had stopped paying attention after the first Zahn books, just was into other things but my now-wife was heavily into EU and got me into listening to them on audio book when we first met, as I was doing a great deal of long distance driving. If not for that, getting though all of the Yuzhong Vong stuff would have been formidable.

 

[Danlav05]

Interestingly the novels have moved the stories of DSN, VGR, TNG and ENT forward a fair bit, especially DSN. The thing with that series is a lot of the characters have been scattered a bit and moved on, but the idea of Sisko as Captain of a Galaxy class vessel is strangely appealing.

There is no overarching media continuity like Star Wars, so the comics have taken the future of the TNG in slightly different directions, different IDW titles even contradicting each other! TNG: HIVE, a comic set shortly after Nemesis, showed the final battle with the Borg, a different one to the famous game-changer DESTINY; while there's also COUNTDOWN that is part of the Online canon - another medium, another timeline.

I have no doubt that at the end of this year or going into 2020 they will release tie-in books and comics to show more of the backstory to that show, possibly featuring familiar characters that won't appear on screen. Yes Kirsten Beyer is a writer for CBS now but I doubt they will want to stick to the Novelverse, but we could be surprised!

 

[veritech]

TBH I really hope that few if any of the old crew show up on the Picard show and any subsequent novels.I would hate for the TNG books to go down the sad road that some of the TOS books did with the retired crew still performing increasing improbable heroics.
Just my personal opinion.

What about Kirk and his impressive back-flip kick in Star Trek III???

 

[JD]

I don't understand why Disney doesn't continue on with licencing Legends stuff in time. It wouldn't hurt their brand. But I'm willing to realize it's not going to happen.

Have you seen the new Skywalker Saga movies? There's really no way they could reconcile the new movies, and the now Legends books, they take things in a totally different direction in the years following Return of the Jedi. Especially once they decided to keep everything "canon" they had pretty much no choice but to just stop the EU and start over from scratch.
I've actually been pretty happy with the Disney books and comics so far, I'm loving the subtitleless Star Wars comic and the first Darth Vader series, and so far the newer novels I've read have all been good to great.

 

[XCV330]

Have you seen the new Skywalker Saga movies? There's really no way they could reconcile the new movies, and the now Legends books, they take things in a totally different direction in the years following Return of the Jedi. Especially once they decided to keep everything "canon" they had pretty much no choice but to just stop the EU and start over from scratch.
I've actually been pretty happy with the Disney books and comics so far, I'm loving the subtitleless Star Wars comic and the first Darth Vader series, and so far the newer novels I've read have all been good to great.

Yes.
Legends material is branded as such and so it would not interfere with whatever it is they're up to now or in the future. They can just treat legends as its own entity. (the same way the EU had to treat Spinter In the Mind's Eye)

 

[JD]

I have to confess, I had that thought back when all of this started, but I can see wanting to just focus all of their attention on canon universe.
At least when it comes to Trek they do have the advantage of previously introducing the idea of alternate universes, so if by the 1 in a million chance they do decide to continue the novelverse, they have that as an easy way to do it and still keep it consistent with the canon.

 

[Smiley]

After The Rise of Skywalker, the publishing groups at Marvel and Del Rey will have a bit more freedom to tell bigger stories, as the movies are done for a few years, and the upcoming movie projects may not even be set in the I-IX era.

I love both Legends and canon material, and I am happy that they made a clean break between the two. Vision of the Future, The Unifying Force, and Apocalypse all make decent enough ending points for the novels (and Legacy: War for the Legends comics) chronologically. Canon is free to cherry pick the parts they like the best from the Legends material in new stories, and they can tell fascinating stories with new and old characters that are not encumbered by the previous material.

 

[Cloud]

I got the last "Big Three" one, Crucible, on hardback. What a mistake. An absolutely dreary slough from beginning to end interspersed with stream of consciousness filler crap. It felt like it had been supposed to fit into the Fate of the Jedi line but was a throwaway novel that somehow got in before the cut. It was an utterly dismal way to end the EU, regardless of what one thought of it.

I've heard the very last book, X-Wing: Mercy Kill is pretty good, and I don't think Aaron Allston ever wrote a book I didn't like. I may eventually get a copy.

I don't understand why Disney doesn't continue on with licencing Legends stuff in time. It wouldn't hurt their brand. But I'm willing to realize it's not going to happen.



I had stopped paying attention after the first Zahn books, just was into other things but my now-wife was heavily into EU and got me into listening to them on audio book when we first met, as I was doing a great deal of long distance driving. If not for that, getting though all of the Yuzhong Vong stuff would have been formidable.

I felt Crucible was written as a way to retcon a whole ton of "canon" stuff without having to nuke the book line. I haven't read it in forever, but I believe there was even talk in the book about how "dead" people could be revived through the power of the object in the book. I could be wrong though.

Mercy Kill was a decent read but I didn't think it was up to the standards of the early X-Wing novels. I thought it was weird when it was released in hardcover.

FWIW, I am just now finishing up the old Legends line of SW books. I have read everything, including the young adult novels and the Legacy comics. There were a lot of good moments, some not so good ones (Crystal Star, anyone?) but it kept me reading for over 25 years so I can't really complain about that!

 

[DS9forever]

Did any of the Star Trek authors see the DS9 documentary?

 

[KRAD]

I couldn't make it to the Fathom Events screening, as I had another commitment, to my irritation. I'll see it when the home video version is released.

 

[Greg Cox]

Did any of the Star Trek authors see the DS9 documentary?

Definitely. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

[Relayer1]

my now-wife was heavily into EU and got me into listening to them on audio book when we first met, as I was doing a great deal of long distance driving. If not for that, getting though all of the Yuzhong Vong stuff would have been formidable.

I quit during the Vong books. I just realised that I couldn't keep slogging through all that crap for the sake of completeness and the occasional half decent novel.

I intended to go back when the new tie-ins started, but never did. I suspect my Treklit will go the same way.

 

[F. King Daniel]

So what's happening with the DS9 line of novels?