Star Trek XI Tie-In Novels Postponed

[Therin of Andor]

True. Remember Strangers from the Sky, or whatever it was called. Great novel, ripe with contradictions.

However, like each ST novel that gets published, it is correct for the canonical facts of the day.

"Strangers from the Sky" is also cleverly presented as "a book within a book", as was "The Final Reflection". Both novels strongly suggested that any inaccuracies contained within were due to being works of fiction, being read by the TOS characters.

They got everybodies hope's up for nothing!

Mmmm. Let's return to the bad ol' days of 1981, when we only knew the titles of ST novels one or two months in advance, via a "Locus" listing - and maybe an author name and usually nothing whatsoever about the plot. And when many novels were four to eight months apart! And half the page count as today.

what I don't understand is if the books are postpone/hold for now, then why is places like amazon.com still have them to pre-order/buy?

It only got announced - what? Yesterday?

 

[Therin of Andor]

what if the sequel starts one second after they went to warp in the first movie, and Spock tells Uhura that he made up his mind and they can't be together, while the tie-in literature turned them into a couple that lasts even several weeks or months after the first movie's events?

Exactly.

You might recall DC Comics' plight after ST III. They had Mirror Spock "cure" reanimated Spock's brain with a mindmeld and then sent him off to captain his own science vessel in the monthly comics. Then the plot of the upcoming ST IV became known - and they had to kill off his entire crew with a virus, and cause Spock's mind to go totally blank again, all so he could be testing his mind's accuracy at the beginning of ST IV.

Similarly, Kirk was given temporary command of the Excelsior between STs II and III, but we eventually learn that the Klingon bird of prey he stole from Kruge is hidden in the hanger bay (how did it fit?) and - when Captain Styles reclaims his starship - Kirk and company collect the mindless Spock and then race him back to planet Vulcan to start their three-month exile.

 

[JarodRussell]

what if the sequel starts one second after they went to warp in the first movie, and Spock tells Uhura that he made up his mind and they can't be together, while the tie-in literature turned them into a couple that lasts even several weeks or months after the first movie's events?

Exactly.

You might recall DC Comics' plight after ST III. They had Mirror Spock "cure" reanimated Spock's brain with a mindmeld and then sent him off to captain his own science vessel in the monthly comics. Then the plot of the upcoming ST IV became known - and they had to kill off his entire crew with a virus, and cause Spock's mind to go totally blank again, all so he could be testing his mind's accuracy at the beginning of ST IV.

Similarly, Kirk was given temporary command of the Excelsior between STs II and III, but we eventually learn that the Klingon bird of prey he stole from Kruge is hidden in the hanger bay (how did it fit?) and - when Captain Styles reclaims his starship - Kirk and company collect the mindless Spock and then race him back to planet Vulcan to start their three-month exile.

Yeah, that's why I think you should never publish tie-in literature set after the last canonical instance. That works for TNG, DS9 and VOY now, since they are not continued on screen.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yeah, that's why I think you should never publish tie-in literature set after the last canonical instance.

But... it wasn't DC Comics' fault. They bought a license to continue the ST saga after ST II - at a time when absolutely no one expected there to be a ST III. Contractually, they were expected to use the new uniforms; Marvel had done a post-TMP series.

Had they tried to do stories set before ST II, sure, Spock would have still been alive - but then there'd be no Kirk, because he was off being an admiral, and anything they revealed about Saavik's early days could just as easily have been overruled by a future project.

So how long do you wait to do a post-event tie-in?

 

[Sci]

Trust me, it's a good idea to impose those kind of limits on Pocket Books. If left to their own devices, they'll destroy the Federation...

Last I read in relaunch there are over a billion people dead from

Spoiler

THE BORG.

64 billion, actually.

IMHO they have as good as destroyed it.

Then your humble opinion hasn't been paying attention. The Federation still exists, Starfleet still exists, the majority of Federation worlds still exist, the surviving Federation worlds are doing everything they can to help their displaced fellow citizens recover, the survivors of destroyed worlds are starting to rebuild, and, as Losing the Peace demonstrates, while there have been problems, the Federation is coping with the subsequent humanitarian crises in a way that would inspire and give hope to anyone who's seen how bad similar crises can become in real life (such as the present disaster in Haiti).

 

[C.E. Evans]

what if the sequel starts one second after they went to warp in the first movie, and Spock tells Uhura that he made up his mind and they can't be together, while the tie-in literature turned them into a couple that lasts even several weeks or months after the first movie's events?

Exactly.

You might recall DC Comics' plight after ST III. They had Mirror Spock "cure" reanimated Spock's brain with a mindmeld and then sent him off to captain his own science vessel in the monthly comics. Then the plot of the upcoming ST IV became known - and they had to kill off his entire crew with a virus, and cause Spock's mind to go totally blank again, all so he could be testing his mind's accuracy at the beginning of ST IV.

Similarly, Kirk was given temporary command of the Excelsior between STs II and III, but we eventually learn that the Klingon bird of prey he stole from Kruge is hidden in the hanger bay (how did it fit?) and - when Captain Styles reclaims his starship - Kirk and company collect the mindless Spock and then race him back to planet Vulcan to start their three-month exile.

I actually thought that was clever. But then I liked those DC Comics issues set between TSFS and TVH.

 

[Wynterhawk]

Aw, really? I was looking forward to these. I feel really sorry for the authors. It must be disappointing!

 

[Therin of Andor]

I actually thought that was clever. But then I liked those DC Comics issues set between TSFS and TVH.

Agreed! The storyline where the virus attacks the USS Surak is shocking, abrupt and so... permanent! These were characters we'd only barely got to know and now it was all over. (Unlike all those TOS episodes where the guest crew is already dead before the episode starts, eg. "The Naked Time", "The Doomsday Machine", "The Omega Glory", etc.)

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Sci my point was that compared to Relaunch blowing up another planet in STXII is small time destruction.

 

[indranee]

I'm really, really sad to hear this.

 

[Sci]

Sci my point was that compared to Relaunch blowing up another planet in STXII is small time destruction.

Eh, depends. In terms of narrative impact, none of the worlds destroyed in Destiny trilogy were as important to the overall Star Trek mythos as Vulcan.

Spoiler: Destiny trilogy

Though Vulcan itself suffered horrible devastation in the trilogy, along with Andor, Tellar and Qo'noS). The most prominent world destroyed in Destiny would probably be Deneva.

Either way, though, the Federation -- and the Vulcan people -- will survive and recover in both Star Trek Timelines.

 

[JarodRussell]

I had to look up what Deneva is, so it can't be that important to the mythos.

 

[Sci]

Spoiler: Destiny

I had to look up what Deneva is, so it can't be that important to the mythos.

To be fair, the authors of the Trek novels have made a concerted effort in recent years to give us an idea what many of the different Federation worlds are like, and

Spoiler: Destiny

Deneva

is one of the worlds whose culture has been explored.

But, yeah, like I said, none of the worlds exterminated in Destiny were as important to the Trek mythos as Vulcan. So while ST09 has a smaller body count than Destiny, its body pile is more prominent in the Star Trek Universe.

 

[barnaclelapse]

The first day I read there would be 4 tie-in novels I knew it was a bad idea. This "fresh, new, exciting, layered, deep" universe is just 2 hours old, the characters underwent only a tiny amount of development. Anything else is just hype and wishful thinking, but nothing tangible. So there is nothing the novels can work with, as they are also not allowed to expand upon stuff, since they risk being contradicted by the next movie anyway.

And it seems Pocket and Paramount agree with me.

Then there's the other reason that they consider those four storylines for the next movie.

I gotta agree with others that this logic has never really stopped them before.

I wasn't planning to read them, to be honest, but it's still a shame for those who were.

 

[Sci]

The first day I read there would be 4 tie-in novels I knew it was a bad idea. This "fresh, new, exciting, layered, deep" universe is just 2 hours old, the characters underwent only a tiny amount of development. Anything else is just hype and wishful thinking, but nothing tangible. So there is nothing the novels can work with, as they are also not allowed to expand upon stuff, since they risk being contradicted by the next movie anyway.

And it seems Pocket and Paramount agree with me.

Actually, as authors William Leisner and Allyn Gibson put it:

In my opinion, PB's decision doesn't make sense from a business point of view.

No, it doesn't.

I wrote on TrekMovie.com's comment thread that this is clearly an instance of Pocket taking the fall for someone else's decision. It may be someone at CBS Licensing. It may be someone at Bad Robot. This isn't a decision Pocket would have made. They're already out six figures on this quartet of books in time expended and monies paid to writers and copy-editors, and canceling the books won't recoup their investment.

My guess is that the people at Bad Robot changed their minds. Six months ago, they were willing to have books based on the film. Today, not so much, and they had someone at CBS pull the plug. Maybe they saw the first manuscripts and didn't like them. Maybe they didn't like Pocket's marketing plan. I don't know.

But there's no doubt in my mind that Pocket wouldn't have made this decision. There's too much money already spent, and there's a loss to the line in terms of revenue and prestige that may never be able to be recouped entirely from this cancellation.

This. A hundred times, this.

(Though I rather doubt that all four manuscripts fell afoul of the approval process, let alone so far afoul that they were deemed unfixable. My bet is some Hollywood power broker whose only knowledge of books is his Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar ballot just learned about this last week, and sounded an alarm that Jaime C. couldn't silence any other way.)

Pocket Books would never have commissioned the novels, had the authors write them, and then paid the authors, if they hadn't intended to publish them. And they never would have put them on hold after having already spent so much money on them if someone else hadn't forced them to.

Then there's the other reason that they consider those four storylines for the next movie.

That's irrelevant. Authors writing Star Trek novels sign contracts stating that everything they write is the property of CBS and/or Paramount and that as such, CBS/Paramount has/have the right to use anything from the novels, including the overall stories, without having to pay those authors. It's theirs, lock, stock, and barrel.

 

[JarodRussell]

Then there's the other reason that they consider those four storylines for the next movie.

That's irrelevant. Authors writing Star Trek novels sign contracts stating that everything they write is the property of CBS and/or Paramount and that as such, CBS/Paramount has/have the right to use anything from the novels, including the overall stories, without having to pay those authors. It's theirs, lock, stock, and barrel.

And? Makes a huge difference for marketing between "story based on recently released Trek novel by XY" or "original story by Orci, Kurtzman, Abrams".



When they found their story and start writing the script in April as announced, probably all of these 4 novels will be put back on schedule.

 

[Sci]

Then there's the other reason that they consider those four storylines for the next movie.

That's irrelevant. Authors writing Star Trek novels sign contracts stating that everything they write is the property of CBS and/or Paramount and that as such, CBS/Paramount has/have the right to use anything from the novels, including the overall stories, without having to pay those authors. It's theirs, lock, stock, and barrel.

And? Makes a huge difference for marketing between "story based on recently released Trek novel by XY" or "original story by Orci, Kurtzman, Abrams".

I really don't think anyone cares if the story originated in a novel or not. The novels are read by maybe, on a good day, 1% of the total film audience.

When they found their story and start writing the script in April as announced, probably all of these 4 novels will be put back on schedule.

I hope so.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I really don't think anyone cares if the story originated in a novel or not. The novels are read by maybe, on a good day, 1% of the total film audience.

However, if these books were not well received by the reading public, 1% of the audience who saw JJ's movie in 2009, ranting and raving and complaining until the next film came out, might not be desirable. I recall people expressing dismay that the ST II and ST III novelizations contained a lot of material that was the original contribution of the author, esp. here in Australia with ST III because we had to wait over four months for the movie to open. While many of us crave that "new stuff", some people perceive that it weakens the parent product. It can set up unreal expectations. (Remember all the months of badmouthing "Nemesis" received because the script was uploaded to the Internet before filming had even commenced!)

There are logical reasons to believe that four speculative tie-in novels would help to build an even bigger audience for the next film, but just as many logical reasons to be concerned that it may be way too early to do those kinds of tie-ins.

Over at IDW, they did "Countdown", a prequel to the new movie, then "Spock Reflections" (another 24th century prequel), then "Nero", set within the movie and - upcoming - a multi-part adaptation of the screenplay. But nothing post-movie yet.

 

[pookha]

i dont think the novels would have build up that much of an audience.
but it would be income coming in between movies.


i also dont see pocketbook being the parent of this idea.
i am pretty sure they know how much income they are kissing goodbye.

 

[indranee]

yeah, pookha may be right. it's gotta be coming from higher sources. definitely Paramount etc and above.