*~Star Trek Books FAQ 2009 Edition~*

[Marie1]

Trek Literature FAQ
Stolen from Steve Mollmann and updated in April 2009. (Now with a fresh lavender scent).


This is a list of questions that are frequently asked about Star Trek books. Reading this before you post will help you avoid unneeded brutality on the part of forum regulars, who think these questions are asked too much!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Upcoming/Missing Projects
-- When will [Rumored/Announced Book X] come out?
-- What happened to Challenger?
-- Who's going to be on the cover of new TOS books, the classic cast or that of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek?
-- If I've heard about a book and it isn't on the schedule, does that mean it was canceled?
-- Is there a good place to find out about books that actually were canceled?

Reading Orders for the Post-Finale Series:
-- Deep Space 9 titles
-- The Next Generation post-Nemesis novels
-- Voyager post-finale novels
-- Enterprise post-finale novels
-- Where does A Singular Destiny fit in?

Series Questions
-- What is the chronological order of the Deep Space Nine post-finale titles?
-- Will there be more post-finale titles after Warpath/Fearful Symmetry etc? What's taking so long?
-- What's Worf doing on the Enterprise these days? And what happened to Martin Madden?
-- Are the String Theory novels or the Distant Shores anthology parts of the Voyager post-finale series?
-- When is the next Voyager post-finale novel coming? Why the long delay after Enemy Of My Enemy?
-- Many people here seem to dislike the Voyager post-finale direction, so how on earth can the novels be selling well?
-- Why is Christie Golden the only author for the Voyager series? DS9/Vanguard/Titan et al. have other authors...
-- Can we see the Voyager characters in any other novels after they have returned home?
-- What is Star Trek: Titan?
-- What's the deal with Star Trek: Corps of Engineers?
-- What is Star Trek: Vanguard?
-- What on earth is The Lost Era?
-- What is the Shatnerverse?

Few and Far Between
-- Why is there only one book a month now?
-- Why aren't there any more Star Trek comics?
-- Why are the Corps of Engineers paperback reprints so rare? What about the other eBook miniseries?
-- Will there be any more Myriad Universes anthologies / stories?
-- Why are there so few [insert series name] books this year? Does Pocket hate me and want to destroy my favorite series?
-- Where are my nonfiction books?

People of Trek Lit
-- Who are the Pocket editors for Star Trek books now?
-- Who is Richard Arnold?
-- Who are the people on the covers of the books "playing" Calhoun, Vaughn, et al.?

Miscellany
-- Do I need to read book X before book Y?
-- What happened to the Strange New Worlds anthologies/short fiction contests?
-- What happened in Stargazer: Oblivion on pages 72, 74, 195, and 197?
-- What's a good source of information on Star Trek novels?
-- Where can I find author annotations for the various books? These continuity references are drowning me!

Questions to Never Ask
-- Which Star Trek books are canon? What's the difference between the terms canon/continuity/official?
-- Why is this month's book late?
-- I have this extraordinary idea I want one of the writers to use in their next novel! Can I talk about the plot of my fan fiction story here? Would one of the writers here take a look at my story and tell me how good it is?
-- Why are there gay people in the books?


I'd like to thank Una McCormack and Andy Mangels for tolerating the interrogations and KRAD (especially for the gargantuan comic searching and myriad of other things I buried him with!) I must thank Thrawn for all his help, as well as Xeris and Idolislide for their ideas. Also to CLB, LightingStorm and Rosalind for stepping up to the plate again.


From Steve Mollmann's FAQ:
Thanks to Geoff "Wersgor" Hamell for suggesting this; Michael Schuster, John "Pf2144", Will Devine, Andrew Timson, Ian "Therin of Andor" McLean, Bob "Bobatiel" Manojlovich, Christopher Bennett, Kevin Killiany, "Rosalind", Brendan "RulanAllwine" Moody, "Q420", "captcalhoun", "Sci", David Mack, William Leisner, Mark "mmtz" Martinez, "JWolf", and "JD" for their suggestions and assistance; Slave of Seven, Aatrek, Mel "Emh" Orr, and Rosalind for updating and pinning this; and Keith DeCandido, Marco Palmieri, Ann Crispin, and Margaret Clark for patiently answering some questions. Hopefully this will be the last time they're asked. (As if!)

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Upcoming/Missing Projects

Q. When will [Rumored/Announced Book X] come out?
A.

• The Yesterday Saga #3-5 by A.C. Crispin. This project has been canceled for reasons unknown.
• Split Infinities/Other Times. This project has been renamed Myriad Universes to tie into the highly successful Mirror Universe collections of 2007. Two three-novel collections came out in July and August 2008, Infinity's Prism by Christopher L. Bennett, William Leisner, and James Swallow and Echoes and Refractions by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Chris Roberson, and Geoff Trowbridge. Shattered Light is scheduled for 2010 with three novel length stories by David R. George III, Steve Mollmann and Michael Schuster, and Scott Pearson.
• Mirror Universe. The latest was Shards and Shadows, which came out in January 2009 with 12 stories.
• The Lost Era. The seventh Lost Era novel, The Next Generation: The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett, came out in 2007. Another one, about Sisko during the Tzenkethi War, was Marco Palmieri's project. Since he was laid off in December 2008, there has been no official word on the future of the novel or if there will be one.

Also, the Terok Nor trilogy from late 2008 is part of the Lost Era.

• Articles of the Federation II by Keith R.A. DeCandido. Despite popular acclaim on the Internet, this book did not sell well enough to warrant a sequel.
• DS9 Post Fiction Omnibus after These Haunted Seas. These books did not sell as well as expected, so continued anthologies are not expected at this time.
• The Crucible omnibus of the 3 Crucible novels by David R. George III was supposed to be released in May 2009 with some new material and fancy cover art. Unfortunately, it has been canceled...
• Star Trek: Core of Engineers. The remaining ebooks will eventually be printed as paperbacks. But as for new stories, the series is on hold indefinitely.

Q. What happened to Challenger?
A. Star Trek: Challenger is on hold while Diane Carey pursues development of original fiction. Its return is indefinite. Marco Palmieri explains: "Not to confuse the issue with the obvious, but there never was a Challenger series. Only the hope that it would continue in much the same manner as, say, New Frontier. The mistake on our end, clearly, was touting it as a new series prematurely."

Q. Who's going to be on the cover of new TOS books, the classic cast or that of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek?
A. What will happen to the future TOS book covers isn't exactly certain. It'll probably depend on who is in the stories themselves. The latest and the closest novels in the upcoming schedule have the classic cast- the recent Mere Anarchy anthology, the sadly canceled Crucible omnibus and Troublesome Minds (forthcoming May/June 2009).

Q. If I've heard about a book and it isn't on the schedule, does that mean it was canceled?
A. No. There are always plenty of books in development that haven't been scheduled yet. And remember, the schedule is always tentative and subject to change. In addition to the economy, there have been health/pregnancy delays, author changes, or even some extra time need for the sake of making sure the books don't contradict each other... So just keep checking back to see if things got shuffled around.

Q. Is there a good place to find out about books that actually were canceled?
A. Yes there is! Check out Steve Roby's page, Star Trek: The Lost Books. The page also has information on the oft-mentioned Probe/Music of the Spheres and A Flag Full of Stars debacles.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Reading Orders for the Post-Finale Series:

Deep Space 9 titles:
Editor Marco Palmieri's desired reading order for the books is their publishing order, which is as follows:
Avatar, Books One & Two by S.D. Perry
Section 31: Abyss by David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang
Gateways #4: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Gateways #7: What Lay Beyond: "Horn and Ivory" by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Mission: Gamma
-- #1: Twilight by David R. George III
-- #2: This Gray Spirit by Heather Jarman
-- #3: Cathedral by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
-- #4: Lesser Evil by Robert Simpson
Rising Son by S.D. Perry
The Lives of Dax, edited by Marco Palmieri (re-issue)
The Left Hand of Destiny, Books One & Two by J.G. Hertzler and Jeffrey Lang
Unity by S.D. Perry
Worlds of Deep Space Nine
-- #1: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower by Una McCormack & Andor: Paradigm by Heather Jarman
-- #2: Bajor: Fragments and Omens by J. Noah Kym & Trill: Unjoined by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
-- #3: Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed by Keith R.A. DeCandido & The Dominion: Olympus Descending by David R. George III
Warpath by David Mack
Terok Nor Trilogy (technically part of The Lost Era)
Fearful Symmetry by Olivia Woods
The Soul Key by Olivia Woods (forthcoming August 2009)
The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack (forthcoming September 2009)

The Next Generation Post-Nemesis novels:
The so-called TNG "relaunch",the post-Nemesis novels, chronicling the Enterprise-E following the events of Nemesis, is now underway. The books in the series thus far are:
-- Death in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman
-- Resistance by J.M. Dillard
-- Q & A by Keith R.A. DeCandido
-- Before Dishonor by Peter David
-- Greater than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett
-- Destiny Trilogy (cross-over series) by David Mack, October-December 2008.
-- Losing the Peace by William Leisner (forthcoming July 2009)

Voyager Post-Finale novels:
-- Homecoming by Christie Golden
-- Farther Shore by Christie Golden
-- Spirit Walk "Old Wounds" by Christie Golden
-- Spirit Walk "Enemy of My Enemy" by Christie Golden
-- Tales from the Captain's Table: Chakotay: "Seduced" (Short Story) by Christie Golden
-- Full Circle by Kirsten Beyer
-- Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer (forthcoming October 2009)

Enterprise post-finale novels:
The adventures from the television series Star Trek: Enterprise now continue with the release of post-finale novels, starting in 2007 with The Good That Men Do by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin, (which retconned almost every aspect of "These Are the Voyages...").
The story continues with:
Kobayashi Maru by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin
The Romulan War by Michael A. Martin (forthcoming October 2009)

Q. Where does A Singular Destiny fit in?
A. A Singular Destiny came out in January 2009 and was written by Keith R. A. DeCandido. The novel is set after the Destiny trilogy by David Mack, and deals with the political repercussions of those books (set in 2381, a couple years after Nemesis) while setting up the continuing stories of that time-line.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Series Questions

Q. What is the chronological order of the DS9 post-finale titles?
A. Largely the same, but with a few changes:
Terok Nor (Set before the TV series (part of the Lost Era, the novels were released April-June 2008))
--Day of Vipers
--Night of the Wolves
--Dawn of the Eagles
The Never-Ending Sacrifice (from season 2 to a few months beyond Soul Key (2009))
The Left Hand of Destiny
The Lives of Dax
Avatar
Abyss
Gateways #4 & #7
Mission: Gamma
Rising Son (starts just after Avatar and ends at the same time as Mission: Gamma #4)
Unity
Worlds of Deep Space Nine
-- Trill
-- Bajor
-- Andor
-- Ferenginar
-- Cardassia
-- The Dominion
Warpath
Fearful Symmetry
The Soul Key

A timeline of these plus related materials can be found here: http://thehamster.co.uk/startrek/timeline.htm

Q. Will there be more post-finale titles after Warpath / Fearful Symmetry etc? What's taking so long?
A. Yes! Fearful Symmetry came out July 2008, following many scheduling delays and a switch of authors. The Soul Key is due to come out August 2009, and The Never-Ending Sacrifice is due out in September 2009.

And yes, there was a big delay after Warpath that gave us withdrawal. Fearful Symmetry was supposed to be about a year behind Warpath and finish off that arc (from WoDS9 vol. 2's Bajor novella and vol. 3's Dominion one). But the author (Leana Morrow) was dropped from the project for unspecified reasons. So the new author, Olivia Woods, had to do a complete rewrite. Apparently the rewrite was a far longer book than the original, leading to either a longer delay (and unhappy publishers) or: split the story and publish one quickly, and the second part later. They opted for the latter alternative and after some delay gave us the Fearful Symmetry flip-book. The rest of that arc will be revealed in August 2009's the Soul Key.

Also, the Destiny Trilogy (cross-over series) by David Mack, Oct.-Dec. 2008 has some DS9 faces in it.

Q. What's Worf doing on the Enterprise these days? And what happened to Martin Madden?
A. Worf is on the Enterprise-E because it was clearly the implication of Nemesis that he was back in Starfleet-- he's still there on the ship in the film's epilogue, at what must be weeks after the main body of the film, which would make no sense if he was just hanging out to go to the wedding. The natural position for him, given the duties he carried out in DS9, is executive officer, so the fiction has elected not to use Martin Madden, who was after all only featured in a (hilarious) deleted scene, and is thus non-canonical.

Q. Are the String Theory novels or the Distant Shores anthology parts of the Voyager Post-Finale series?
A. No. They are set during the series between seasons 4 and 5.

Q. When is the next Voyager Post-Finale novel coming? Why the long delay after Enemy Of My Enemy?
A. The series is not dead, it was just on hold for a while. After Enemy Of My Enemy the sole author (Christie Golden) of the series at the time said on her website that the Voyager projects were “going to be pushed to the back burner” and that she was “(rather happily) tied up for the next while. I do hope to return to them at some point, but it won’t be for at least another year.” What was in 2006.

Now, in 2009 as you'll note, Voyager books have continued since then by Kirsten Beyer with Full Circle and the forthcoming Unworthy.

Another reason for the long delay is that editor (John Ordover) left Pocket. It took a while to decide who would handle the editing of the Voyager novels, a job that eventually went to Marco Palmieri. After that, the anniversary trilogy String Theory (set during the VOY series) was in development, and had to be completed before the post-finale novels could take a new direction.

Following String Theory Kirsten Beyer was chosen to write the new Voyager novels, with the added complication that the stories should be unified around the Destiny trilogy. Senior Editor Marco Palmieri thought that the return of post-finale Voyager novels after so long would have greater impact if what was originally planned to be two books was instead released in a single volume. After three years of work and waiting, that single volume, Full Circle, was released in the spring of 2009.

Q. Many people here seem to dislike the Voyager post-finale direction, so how on Earth can the novels be selling well?
A. A few rather vocal people on the Internet do not represent the entirety of the readership of the Trek literature. These books went into several reprints and are doing quite well regardless of what you may have read elsewhere.

Q. Why is Christie Golden the only author for the Voyager series? DS9/Vanguard/Titan et al. all have other authors...
A. Christie's past Voyager books (pre-“relaunch”) apparently did quite well as well, which is the reason she has written many books for VOY. And the creative decision to use her as the only author was of the editor of the series at the time (John Ordover). Now you will note that she has not written the last Voyager novels- Kirsten Beyer has, and there is another lined up for the future.

Q. Can we see the Voyager characters in any other novels after they have returned home?
A. Yes. Tuvok appears in the Titan series. Janeway appears in several (almost all) of the TNG novels from the A Time To Series to the post-Nemesis TNG novels. Several characters will appear in the aforementioned Destiny trilogy. And Mirror and Alternate universe versions of the characters can be seen in the various Myriad Universe and Mirror Universe novels/Anthologies.

Q. What is Star Trek: Titan?
A. The series entitled Star Trek: Titan started in April 2005, and is about Captain Riker's U.S.S. Titan. The series features many new and old characters. Those novels are as follows:
-- Taking Wing by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
-- The Red King by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
-- Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett
-- Sword of Damocles by Geoffrey Thorne
-- Destiny Trilogy (cross-over series) by David Mack, October-December 2008.
-- Over a Torrent Sea by Christopher L. Bennett
-- Synthesis by James Swallow (forthcoming November 2009)

Q. What's the deal with Star Trek: Corps of Engineers?
A. Corps of Engineers (originally S.C.E.) is a series of eBooks chronicling the adventures of a Starfleet Corps of Engineers team aboard the U.S.S. da Vinci. The title was changed to make the topic of the series more explicit to new readers, and the numbering was dropped at the same time to remove the intimidation factor that comes with a book being #62 in a series. In total, there are 74 SCE stories written, but the series is on hold indefinitely. The ebooks have been coming out as paperbacks in groups of about 3-6 stories. The Memory Alpha CoE page has a complete list of stories and authors, and which stories have been printed.

Q. What is Star Trek: Vanguard?
A. Vanguard is a fiction series that started in 2005 and was edited by Marco Palmieri who said, "Vanguard centers around a Federation starbase and the ships assigned to it during the time of The Original Series. It's about chasing an ancient mystery having to do with the remote region of space in which the station has been established." Anyone who suggests this series is "DS9 in the 23rd century" will be promptly reprimanded... fatally. The titles are:
-- Harbinger by David Mack
-- Summon the Thunder by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
-- Reap the Whirlwind by David Mack
-- Open Secrets by Dayton Ward (forthcoming May 2009)
-- Precipice by David Mack (forthcoming December 2009)

Q. What on earth is The Lost Era?
A. The various The Lost Era novels take place between the end of TOS movies, and first season of TNG, from the years 2289 to 2369. They flesh out events that have mostly been alluded to onscreen, and provide back stories for many recurring characters, including Leonard James Akaar. The Terok Nor trilogy from 2008 about the occupation of Bajor is included in the Lost Era series. The novels are:
-- The Sundered by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
--Serpents Among the Ruins by David R. George III
--The Art of the Impossible by Keith R.A. DeCandido
--Well of Souls by Ilsa J. Bick
--Deny Thy Father by Jeff Mariotte
--Catalyst of Sorrows by Margaret Wander Bonanno
--The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett
--Terok Nor Day of the Vipers by James Swallow
--Terok Nor Night of the Wolves by S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison
--Terok Nor Dawn of the Eagles by S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison

Q. What is the Shatnerverse?
A. In order to prevent confusion, those novels written in collaboration between the Reeves-Stevens and William Shatner (which depict Kirk alive following his death in Generations) have been set aside in their own continuity. This way, casual references to Kirk being alive will not slip into other books and confuse the poor readers. However, this has not stopped the Shatnerverse books from referencing other works, including Ship of the Line and The Dominion War Tetralogy. The novels in the Shatnerverse are:
Odyssey
-- The Ashes of Eden
-- The Return
-- Avenger
The Mirror Universe Trilogy
-- Spectre
-- Dark Victory
-- Preserver
Totality
-- Captain's Peril
-- Captain's Blood
-- Captain's Glory
Academy
-- Collision Course

With the "Academy" strand, the Shatner books have taken a jump back in time to the 23rd century. There is apparently one more book in this strand forthcoming. Denny Crane.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Few And Far Between

Q. Why is there only one book a month now?
A. Marco Palmieri says, "Our feeling is that we can do a better job, both editorially and sales-wise, by putting greater energy and effort into fewer and more carefully chosen projects, making the line leaner, meaner, and stronger. The respite being take from studio-produced Star Trek reinforces that strategy." While there may be fewer books, the quality will improve, and often the books are longer.

Q. Why aren't there any more Star Trek comics?
A. Oh, but there are! IDW is publishing a number of miniseries set throughout the Star Trek universe. So far, they include:
-- The Next Generation: The Space Between (January - July 2007, collected in September)
-- TOS: Klingons: Blood Will Tell (April-August 2007)
-- The Original Series: Year Four (July - December 2007)
-- Alien Spotlight (September 2007-February 2008, March-August 2009)
-- TOS: Year Four (July 2007-January 2008)
-- Alien Spotlight (September 2007 - February 2008)
-- The Next Generation: Intelligence Gathering (January - May 2008)
-- NF: Turnaround (March-July 2008)
-- TOS: Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment (April-August 2008)
-- TOS: Assignment: Earth (May-September 2008)
-- The Original Series: Mirror Images series (July-November 2008)
-- TOS: Romulans: The Hollow Crown (September-October 2008)
-- Star Trek: Countdown (2009) A prequel/reboot to the upcoming ST11 movie.
-- Star Trek: The Last Generation Under the Mirror Universe banner (2009)

Tokyopop has released four anthologies of TOS manga:
-- TOS: Shinsei Shinsei
-- TOS: Kakan ni Shinkou
-- TOS: Uchu
-- TNG: Boukenshin.

Also forthcoming are TOS: Spock: Reflections and the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan adaptation, with more beyond that not yet announced.

Q. Why are the Corps of Engineers paperback reprints so rare? What about the other eBook miniseries?
A. Only so many books fit on the schedule every year and the editors do their best to maintain a balanced approach, meaning there is not always room for eBook reprints. Besides, you can always just buy the eBooks. In November 2006, the reprints switched to trade paperback format, and each volume has contained between six and eight eBooks. The most recent COE title was Wounds in fall 2008, and the TOS anniversary miniseries Mere Anarchy was put in dead-tree form in spring 2009. Next up is another COE volume, Out of the Cocoon, due in December 2010.

There will possibly be a collection for Slings and Arrows, it was at one point on the tentative schedule. However, there were layoffs in 2008 which has messed with things, giving more work to fewer people so at the moment, it has no release date.

Q. Will there be any more Myriad Universes anthologies / stories?
A. Yes, Shattered Light is scheduled for 2010. It was originally slated for 2009, but because of layoffs at Pocket it was pushed back. Also, IDW Comics has published a 5-part miniseries, Star Trek: The Last Generation, under the MyrU banner. The last part came out in March 2009, and the five parts will shortly be collected in one volume.

Q. Why are there so few [insert series name] books this year? Does Pocket hate me and want to destroy my favorite series?
A. No. As said before, Pocket tries its best to create a balanced approach, however this balance is achieved over several years, not within each year, to give them more freedom. Hence, 2006 was TOS-heavy, thanks to the 40th anniversary, and 2007 was TNG-heavy, thanks to its 20th anniversary, and so on. The reduction to one mass-market-paperback book a month also means that there a limited number of slots in any given year, so your favorite series might show up less often from now on.

During the last five years (Jan 2004 - Dec 2008), the series distributions broke down thusly (thanks to Keith DeCandido):
-- Cross-series: 18%
-- classic Star Trek: 19%
-- The Next Generation: 18%
-- Deep Space Nine: 10%
-- Voyager: 7%
-- Corps of Engineers: 8%
-- Enterprise: 6%
-- New Frontier: 2%
-- Stargazer: 2%
-- Titan: 4%
-- I.K.S. Gorkon/Klingon Empire: 2%
-- Vanguard: 3%

Q. Where are my nonfiction books?
A. Nonfiction sales have been abysmally down for Pocket's Star Trek books recently; their last big effort, Star Charts, apparently sold very poorly despite being the coolest book ever. There have been a few books recently:
Fall/Winter 2006: Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion (a guide to the prose fiction) and Ships of the Line (a collection of pretty starship pictures).
2008: Captain Kirk's Guide to Women and Star Trek 101.

There has been no word on any new editions of the Encyclopedia or Chronology or an Enterprise Companion. They simply won't sell well enough and Pocket won't not publish them if they can't make money.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

People Of Trek Lit

Q. Who are the Pocket editors for Star Trek books now?
A. The primary editor for the fiction line is now senior editor Margaret Clark; senior editor Marco Palmieri was the other main editor for several years until a large group of layoffs at Pocket in December 2008. Elisa Kassin, Ed Schlesinger, and Jennifer Heddle have all done editorial work in the past few years as well. Keith DeCandido does freelance editorial work for Pocket (various anthologies, S.C.E.), but is not on staff.

Q. Who is Richard Arnold?
A. Richard Arnold ran the Star Trek Office of Paramount Licensing at the behest of Gene Roddenberry from around the premiere of TNG to the time of Roddenberry's death. It was his job to approve proposed novels, and he is held responsible for the "dark period" of ST literature from the mid-80's to the mid-90's. Richard Arnold did not believe in inter-novel continuity, claiming that every novel should be based upon the TV shows and movies, not other novels. Fortunately, he has since left, and his decrees are no longer in effect, as is evidenced by today's publishing program.

Q. Who are the people on the covers of the books "playing" Calhoun, Vaughn, et al.?
A. Those are models hired by artists to portray those characters for brief snapshots. The model for Calhoun has been said to be a neighbor of artist Keith Birdsong.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Miscellany

Q. Do I need to read book X before book Y?
A: No. Unless it's a trilogy or something where you will probably want to read the related novels, the books can be read on their own, and will have sufficient explanations for you to follow along with the story. For instance, you don't technically need to read up to follow the events of the Destiny Trilogy. I didn't, though I did find that those novels tweaked my curiosity, and after I went back and read some of the TNG books leading up to Destiny that I had passed over before. Similarly, you don't need to read anything else to understand all of A Singular Destiny, but when you skip novels, expect at least a few spoilers for the previous ones.

Try to avoid asking this question in the forum as there is a plot forming to suggest you read A Tale of Two Cities or Don Quixote or Journey to the West etc. as a ploy to force people into broadening their literary horizons. If that happens... I can lend you Don Quixote but be warned- it's huge! Also, Rosalind could send you Journey to the West in Chinese, so nothing gets lost in translation.

Q. What happened to the Strange New Worlds anthologies/short fiction contests?
A. Volume 10 was the last, thanks to a decreasing level of sales for these books. Apparently they were never a money-maker and have only gotten worse.

Q. What happened in Stargazer: Oblivion on pages 72, 74, 195, and 197?
A. The first printing has an error that means some text is omitted on these pages. The full text can be found on the SimonSays site. The novel can also be purchased as an eBook, but the errors were correct so the reprints are okay. Margaret Clark, editor of Stargazer, says: "Look at the copyright page, you know that page you blow by it's got the Paramount mountain and Gertude (the Pocket logo has a name, like who wouldn't?) the 1 should be missing and the first number should be a 2. This is the second printing the printing errors were corrected on this edition."

Q. What's a good source of information on Star Trek novels?
A. Well, TrekBBS's TrekLit forum of course, but if you didn't know that, you wouldn't be here, would you? Other key TrekLit links:

-- Steve Roby's The Complete Starfleet Library: http://www.well.com/user/sjroby/lcars/index.html
-- Memory Beta: The Non-Canon Star Trek Wiki: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
-- The Star Trek Comics Checklist: http://homepage.mac.com/mmtz/stcomix/
-- 8of5's Guide to the Trek Collective: http://8of5.blogspot.com/

Q. Where can I find author annotations for the various books? These continuity references are drowning me!
A. Memory Beta has your back: http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Author%27s_annotations.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Questions To Never Ask

Q. Which Star Trek books are canon? What's the difference between the terms: canon/continuity/official?
A. Short answer: none. Long answer: read Steve Roby's "Every Fan's Canon Primer," which will not only answer your question in detail, but humorously ridicule you for asking it.

As for the second part. Star Trek “canon” is what was aired- either during the Star Trek television series, or in the movies. In fact, even deleted scenes that show up in DVD extras are not canon. So no Trek books (since they were never on screen) are canon. However, over the last several years, the Trek editors and writers have tried to make sure the books (except for the Shatnerverse) have the same “continuity.” Or- they try to follow up on, and do not contradict each other.

Bear in mind, these “rules” are not a set in stone policy- sometimes conflicts due occur. For instance, readers may notice that aspects of the Crucible trilogy don't match the continuity of other Star Trek works.

I've pillaged the of the terms canon, continuity and official from Lighting Storm to make the distinctions clear:

Canon: The source material created by the creator/owner of the property. In this case that is all live action TV and movies because those are the only things created by CBS/Paramount. Those aren't even necessarily in continuity with each other.

Continuity: Any material that does not contradict the events of other material. So even Fan Fiction can be continuous with screen Trek and thus apart of continuity.

Official: Any material that is approved and sanctioned by and the owner of the property. So in this case that would include the published novels, magazines, comics, toys and even Christmas ornaments, but not fan-fiction. Published Star Trek novels are officially licensed fictions that have to be approved and vetted by CBS/Paramount.

In conclusion not all TV episodes are necessarily in the same continuity, but all are canon and official. Not all novels are in the same continuity, none are canon, but all are official. No fan fiction is canon nor official, but some can indeed be in the same continuity.

Q. Why is this month's book late?
A. The books come out during a rough four-week period and have no set street date, unlike the higher profile novels like Harry Potter and Star Wars. Hence, your only assurance is that mass market paperbacks will be out by the middle of the publication month, and other books (trade paperback/hardcover) by the end of it, since they are on a different production schedule thingy.

Q. I have this extraordinary idea I want one of the writers to use in their next novel! Can I talk about the plot of my fan fiction/ story idea here? Would one of the writers here take a look at my story?
A. The rule of the Trek Lit forum is that story ideas are not allowed- no ideas, plots, fan fiction, whole stories etc. The reason for this is that there are many authors who post here about published work. To prevent any possible legal difficulties from arising, editors and writers avoid reading fan-written stories. To assist them in avoiding content that could be related in any way to their official work, we ask that it isn't posted here. Please don't say “I won't sue, I'd just be happy if someone used my...” because it's entirely possible someone has already come up with the idea, so for it to appear in a published work would still be awkward at best.
There is a fan fiction part to TrekBBS where you can post fan fiction (the published writers and editors avoid it) and have some avid readers critique it for you.

Q. Why are there gay people in the books?
A. Because there are gay people in real life. Imagine that.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

I'm not an expert, but I think some of the comic titles are listed twice, once as TOS and TNG and once as The Original Series and The Next Generation.

And I don't get the Denny Crane mention in the Shatnerverse entry.

It's possible, though I got my list from KRAD IIRC, so I'll check the one he sent me and make sure I didn't paste twice.

The Denny mention is in reference to Shatner's role in Boston Legal, it's a joke, it was in the old FAQ too.

I'll be checking through this again... I should've made a bunch of blank posts to save the space now that I think of it...

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Correction, for consistency:

Tokyopop has released four anthologies of Star Trek manga:
-- TOS: Shinsei Shinsei
-- TOS: Kakan ni Shinkou
-- TOS: Uchu
-- TNG: Boukenshin.

 

[Defcon]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Q. What happened in Stargazer: Oblivion on pages 72, 74, 195, and 197?
A. The first printing has an error that means some text is omitted on these pages. The full text can be found on the SimonSays site. The novel can also be purchased as an eBook, but the errors were correct so the reprints are okay. Margaret Clark, editor of Stargazer, says: "Look at the copyright page, you know that page you blow by it's got the Paramount mountain and Gertude (the Pocket logo has a name, like who wouldn't?) the 1 should be missing and the first number should be a 2. This is the second printing the printing errors were corrected on this edition."

It seems like the omitted text is no longer on the (revamped) Simon & Schuster site. At least the link above isn't current anymore and I couldn't find a new one during an (admittingly) short search of the site.

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

^^ Good idea. What about the other comics? I noticed some of the dates overlap are the same series... but I didn't want to assume they were different on my own.

Not sure about the Oblivion thing... looking into it...

---------

Shouldn't it note where to read A singular destiny?

ASD added to Post-series section.

(moved so this wouldn't be in the FAQ)

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

It seems like the omitted text is no longer on the (revamped) Simon & Schuster site. At least the link above isn't current anymore and I couldn't find a new one during an (admittingly) short search of the site.

The full text of the affected pages was made available as PDFs on the SimonSays site. The errors were corrected for all hardcopy reprints. The error does not affect the eBook version.

 

[JD]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Marie1, would you want to change the CoE link to the Memory Beta page? The pages there are more detailed, and IMO tend to be a better resource when it comes to the books, comics, and whatnot.

 

[LightningStorm]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

So that we don't have random posts in the middle of the FAQ I have deleted those two posts and copied them here:

Shouldn't it note where to read A singular destiny?

I'm not an expert, but I think some of the comic titles are listed twice, once as TOS and TNG and once as The Original Series and The Next Generation.

And I don't get the Denny Crane mention in the Shatnerverse entry.

 

[Elemental]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Why is the Terok Nor trilogy listed as part of the DS9 post-finale series?

Also, I don't usually see that Captain's Table book listed under the VOY post-finale series. Should it be considered in there along with the others? Didn't Riker have a Captain's Table book that isn't considered a part of Titan?

 

[Marie1]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Marie1, would you want to change the CoE link to the Memory Beta page? The pages there are more detailed, and IMO tend to be a better resource when it comes to the books, comics, and whatnot.

I only used that link as a good list of what was made, by whom, and what was printed- it was too long IMO to list all 70 stories. There are a several other links listed for sources of other book information.

So that we don't have random posts in the middle of the FAQ I have deleted those two posts and copied them here

Thanks.

Why is the Terok Nor trilogy listed as part of the DS9 post-finale series?

Also, I don't usually see that Captain's Table book listed under the VOY post-finale series. Should it be considered in there along with the others? Didn't Riker have a Captain's Table book that isn't considered a part of Titan?

The Terok Nor series is listed with the Lost Era section, but since it's obviously part of DS9, I put it in that reading list too, as was discussed in the old FAQ thread.

Looking into the Capt. table book... what should be done with it? Every series has one of those stories...

 

[JD]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Doesn't Janeway's CT book take place during the series? As for Riker's it wasn't actually a book, it was a short story in Tales from the Captain's Table. And at that rate you might want to add the other entries to their respective series too, since they all fit pretty well into the gaps in stories, and even fill in some background for a few of them.
Here's the list
Riker: Improvisations on the Opal Sea: A Tale of Dubious Credibility by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. (Takes place before Taking Wing)
Picard: Darkness by Michael Jan Friedman (after Maker, during The Buried Age)
Kira: The Officer's Club by Heather Jarman (Between Unity and WoDS9 v2: Bajor: Fragments and Omens)
Klag: IoDni'pu' vavu' je by KRAD (Between Enemy Territory and A Burning House)
Gold: An Easy Fast by John J. Ordover (??)
Shelby: Pain Management by Peter David (Between Stone and Anvil and After the Fall) *Very important, if you're going to add any of them add this one*.
Chakotay: Seduced (between The Further Shore and Old Wounds)
Archer: Have Beagle, Will Travel by Louisa M. Swan (??)
Demora Sulu: Iron and Sacrifice by David R. George III (after Serpents Among the Ruins).
The stories are actually placed by when the Captain is telling the story/ies, the stories themselves usually take place earlier, sometimes at multiple points in the timeline.

 

[Christopher]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

The stories are actually placed by when the Captain is telling the story/ies, the stories themselves usually take place earlier, sometimes at multiple points in the timeline.

If you're dating them by when the captain is in the bar, you should list "Darkness" at the same time as "Improvisations on the Opal Sea," because Picard and Riker are in the bar together just before Taking Wing. As for Picard's story itself, it takes place a few months after the Stargazer is lost, but I wouldn't call that "after Maker," since there are nearly 22 years and several other extant works of SGZ fiction between those tales.

And I question whether it's accurate to list "Darkness," "The Officer's Club," and "Seduced" by the date they're told in the bar, because the part about the captain telling the tale in the bar is not an integral part of any of those stories. It's part of the interstitial material around them, but those three stories have no actual in-story connection to the Captain's Table at all (and "Darkness" isn't even a first-person narrative). I think it would make more sense to list them by when they individually take place and list the interstitial passages separately by when they occur relative to the captains' careers.

 

[KRAD]

Re: *~Star Trek Books FAQ Latest Edition~*

Here's the list

With respect to JD and with thanks for his effort, his list is incomplete and misleading (and filled with errors -- sorry!).

With the Captain's Table stories, there are often two timeline placements -- one for the captains at the time they're telling the story, one for the story the captains are telling.

For Tales from the Captain's Table, here's how it breaks down:

William T. Riker: "Improvisations on the Opal Sea: A Tale of Dubious Credibility" by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. (frame and story take place between Chapters 1-2 of Taking Wing and between the final scenes of Nemesis)

Jean-Luc Picard: "Darkness" by Michael Jan Friedman (frame is simultaneous with Riker's, story between Parts 1 and 2 of The Buried Age)

Elizabeth Shelby: "Pain Management" by Peter David (frame and story is between Stone and Anvil and After the Fall)

Klag, son of M'Raq: "loDnI'pu' vavpu' je" by Keith R.A. DeCandido (frame is between Chapters 10 & 17 of A Burning House, story over the course of several years in Klag's life)

Kira Nerys: "The Officer's Club" by Heather Jarman (frame is between Unity and Bajor: Fragments and Omens, story between Chapters 18 and 19 of Dawn of the Eagles)

Jonathan Archer: "Have Beagle, Will Travel" by Louisa M. Swan (frame takes place shortly after "Cease Fire," story is unplaceable)

Demora Sulu: Iron and Sacrifice by David R. George III (frame and story both take place at varying times after Serpents Among the Ruins, except for the part that takes place prior to it)

Chakotay: Seduced (frame takes place between The Farther Shore and Spirit Walk: Old Wounds, story takes place around the same time as the flashbacks in "Tattoo")

David Gold: "An Easy Fast" by John J. Ordover (frame is some time prior to the War Stories Book 2 flashbacks, story over the course of several years)