Star Trek: Year One:

[GalaxyClass1701]

I picked this book up a few years ago but for one reason or another I have never read it.

1. Is it any good and worth my time.
2. The main reason I haven't read is because I believe it was written before ENT. Does this book still work with ENT or will there just be way to many problems with continuity?

 

[Dayton Ward]

Ignore the "Contuity" thread elsewhere in the forum, and read the book. It's a different take on the same basic era, but compatible with what was known about that time period before ENT came along.

 

[MJF]

Dayton pretty much summed it up, Galaxy Class. When I wrote the darned thing (originally as a 12-part serial that appeared in the back of 12 months' worth of Trek novels), Enterprise was still a big secret. I was working off everything I knew about the Trek universe and the Daedalus voyages in particular.

It's a different vision from Enterprise, to be sure. And because it came out first, it was never meant to be compatible with Enterprise.

(And for the record, it's StarFLEET: Year One.)

YMMV, of course, but I love the book. Someday I hope to write the rest of the series -- Year Two and so on. That was the original intent until Enterprise came along.

If you do read it, let me know what you think. I can be reached at my website below.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Is that a hint, Mike? I was reading on another thread that the recent Romulan War book featured a cameo by the Year One earth president, as a politician with a "bright future" (or somesuch). Personally i can't see YO and ENT working together, but I guess weirder things have happened.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

Dayton pretty much summed it up, Galaxy Class. When I wrote the darned thing (originally as a 12-part serial that appeared in the back of 12 months' worth of Trek novels), Enterprise was still a big secret. I was working off everything I knew about the Trek universe and the Daedalus voyages in particular.

It's a different vision from Enterprise, to be sure. And because it came out first, it was never meant to be compatible with Enterprise.

(And for the record, it's StarFLEET: Year One.)

YMMV, of course, but I love the book. Someday I hope to write the rest of the series -- Year Two and so on. That was the original intent until Enterprise came along.

If you do read it, let me know what you think. I can be reached at my website below.

Good to hear I am currently reading a Titan Novel so after that I will give it a read.

 

[Sci]

Is that a hint, Mike? I was reading on another thread that the recent Romulan War book featured a cameo by the Year One earth president, as a politician with a "bright future" (or somesuch). Personally i can't see YO and ENT working together, but I guess weirder things have happened.

I think that Starfleet: Year One and ENT are incompatible, but that doesn't mean that as many details as possible from S:YO can't be included in ENT.

(Myself, I'm wondering how future ENT novels will portray the United Earth Presidency. S:YO seemed to imply that the United Earth President was the head of government, whereas "Eleven Hours Out" from Tales of the Dominion War and previous post-series ENT novels have depicted the United Earth Prime Minister as the head of government, implying a ceremonial presidency. On the other hand, maybe United Earth uses a French-style semi-presidential system where the President or Prime Minister can alternate between being where the real centers of power are? Hard to say.)

 

[Csalem]

I enjoyed this book when it came out, showing great tension between the two sides that made up the first Starfleet. Would love to see the series continue some day.

 

[Christopher]

I think that Starfleet: Year One and ENT are incompatible, but that doesn't mean that as many details as possible from S:YO can't be included in ENT.

If one buys the idea that incompatible books are in alternate timelines, then a lot of the same people and events could still be part of both timelines even if other aspects are different.

Or you could just see it as one work of fiction borrowing ideas from another, like the way characters from Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: TAS (Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya, Lock-Up, Mercy Graves, Livewire) were folded into the DC Comics canon (or for that matter how The Daily Planet, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Kryptonite originated in the Superman radio series before being added to the comics). Either way, just because they aren't compatible as a whole doesn't mean they can't have shared elements.

 

[RookieBatman]

If you're desperate to have some link to ENT in the book, you can pretend that Capt. Dan Hagedorn is Capt. Archer. It's absolutely not necessary for the proper enjoyment of the book, but it does work pretty well, as far as that goes.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

If you're desperate to have some link to ENT in the book, you can pretend that Capt. Dan Hagedorn is Capt. Archer. It's absolutely not necessary for the proper enjoyment of the book, but it does work pretty well, as far as that goes.

Actually the Starfleet Director guy would be a better fit for Archer. Oh also another thing the would help would be doubling the warp factors mentioned in the book.

 

[seigezunt]

It occurs in the alternate timeline that existed before the events of the film First Contact changed the timeline, allowing for Enterprise.

 

[JD]

YMMV, of course, but I love the book. Someday I hope to write the rest of the series -- Year Two and so on. That was the original intent until Enterprise came along.

If you do read it, let me know what you think. I can be reached at my website below.

Well, we do have the Myriad Universes series now. Maybe the series could continue that way.

By the way, Mike, I've started your DC TNG series on the Comics Collection DVD, and so far I've really enjoyed the stories.

 

[MJF]

Thanks for the kind words, CSalem and JD.

In some respects, the comics were a lot more challenging than the books I've written. I was trying to run neck and neck with the events on TV while not duplicating anything in development. I can't tell you how many times I'd get a response from Paramount along the lines of "Sorry, you can't turn Picard into a Borg. We can't say why -- you just can't."

On at least one occasion, I had actually written three-quarters of a four-issue mini-series (Shadowheart) before I learned that an episode in development ("Homeward") was going to require me to make massive changes. And here I thought that if the producers hadn't showed us Worf's brother in more than six seasons, I was safe in doing so myself. Wrong...

 

[JD]

I do have one question actually. In the issue I've read so far (I read #4 today) pretty much all of the sets except the bridge don't look like they did on TV, and the props too (in issue 4 Worf has a read phaser with yellow buttons). Was there a reason for this?

 

[MJF]

Wish I had an answer. I'll see who I can rouse from the sleep of the just and get back to you.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I enjoyed this book when it came out, showing great tension between the two sides that made up the first Starfleet. Would love to see the series continue some day.

Pretty much word for word for what I was going to say.

 

[JD]

I do have one question actually. In the issue I've read so far (I read #4 today) pretty much all of the sets except the bridge don't look like they did on TV, and the props too (in issue 4 Worf has a read phaser with yellow buttons). Was there a reason for this?

Wish I had an answer. I'll see who I can rouse from the sleep of the just and get back to you.

I hope that didn't come across as rude, because I didn't mean it as a rip on the books, I was just curious.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

I loved Starfleet Year One when it came out. I even went as far as buying the books it was serialised in just for the serial, rather than the novel itself.

I hope that should Years Two onward ever appear, that they go their own way, and not try to significantly tie in to Enterprise or JJ Trek.

 

[RookieBatman]

If you're desperate to have some link to ENT in the book, you can pretend that Capt. Dan Hagedorn is Capt. Archer. It's absolutely not necessary for the proper enjoyment of the book, but it does work pretty well, as far as that goes.

Actually the Starfleet Director guy would be a better fit for Archer.

Your mileage may vary, of course, since it's all just an exercise in imagination. But I thought Hagedorn worked well, being an active Captain at the head of the charge in the Romulan War.

Like I said, though, it doesn't ultimately matter.

 

[Bob Greenberger]

Hi JD,

If you mean issue #4 of the original miniseries, we were at work before a single episode aired and they were still refining the sets. If you mean #4 of the ongoing series, then we probably didn't have enough stills to work from at that point.

Bob