Just thought some here might be interested in this:
Author Diane Duane Talks Trek, Wizards & Soda Bread
Author Diane Duane Talks Trek, Wizards & Soda Bread
StarTrek.com interview with Diane Duane
- Thread starter Defcon
- Start date
Awww. I was hoping for "I'm writing a new Star Trek book!"
It's still neat. I notice that although she was pleased that Bad Robot used Spock's World as a reference, she doesn't actually give her opinion of STXI
.
It's still neat. I notice that although she was pleased that Bad Robot used Spock's World as a reference, she doesn't actually give her opinion of STXI
.
I notice that although she was pleased that Bad Robot used Spock's World as a reference, she doesn't actually give her opinion of STXI
They didn't ask.
I notice that although she was pleased that Bad Robot used Spock's World as a reference, she doesn't actually give her opinion of STXI
They didn't ask.
True, but it's the only version of Trek she didn't offer her opinion on.
Nice interview. Duane is probably my favorite Trek author of all. Certainly the one I've been most inspired to read the non-Trek stuff of.
But what the heck happened to startrek.com? How did it end up an ugly blog?
But what the heck happened to startrek.com? How did it end up an ugly blog?
VERY nice...thanks!
She's absolutely right about the "golden era of the Trek novel." TOO much continuity can be a bad thing sometimes, if you ask me, and that's what was great about the old TOS novels.
I bet I have some idea about what novel she thought constituted barfing on a ream of paper, though, that inspired her to do better...
She's absolutely right about the "golden era of the Trek novel." TOO much continuity can be a bad thing sometimes, if you ask me, and that's what was great about the old TOS novels.
I bet I have some idea about what novel she thought constituted barfing on a ream of paper, though, that inspired her to do better...
I met here a while ago on a convention here in Sweden. Lovely woman (and I have the first Omnitopia-book on the "will read soon"-pile).
And, the two first Star Trek books I bought after being a fan (I've seen about 13 episodes of TNG and a few TOS episodes) was Spock's World och Carey's Final Frontier. Neither book really fitting for a newbie, I realized later..
And, the two first Star Trek books I bought after being a fan (I've seen about 13 episodes of TNG and a few TOS episodes) was Spock's World och Carey's Final Frontier. Neither book really fitting for a newbie, I realized later..
She's planning to "revise" the first four Young Wizards books to match the tone of the later ones?!?!Horror! I like all the books, but the first four are the best ones. I really wish she wouldn't mess with them!
Oh, I didn't notice that bit! Indeed, that's a bit disappointing.
You know, that'll make the Young Wizards books I currently have into collectors' items. I might get the new ones just for the heck of seeing the differences. That could actually be interesting to me from a writer's standpoint. (True, I mostly do fanfic, but I would still be interested.)
I do wish she'd do DS9 too, but if she's not "feeling" the characters, that could be a bad thing. I can never quite tell whether that, or restrictions from the publisher, is what affected Intellivore. (Which was still way better than most of the numbered novels, but didn't compare to Dark Mirror or any of her TOS offerings.)
As for that first draft of "Where No One Has Gone Before," I wish I could've seen it--because honestly, I can see almost nothing of the episode as it was filmed that resembles The Wounded Sky, or gets anywhere near that book's power.
I do wish she'd do DS9 too, but if she's not "feeling" the characters, that could be a bad thing. I can never quite tell whether that, or restrictions from the publisher, is what affected Intellivore. (Which was still way better than most of the numbered novels, but didn't compare to Dark Mirror or any of her TOS offerings.)
As for that first draft of "Where No One Has Gone Before," I wish I could've seen it--because honestly, I can see almost nothing of the episode as it was filmed that resembles The Wounded Sky, or gets anywhere near that book's power.
As far as I'm concerned, The Young Wizards series, while still very good, has gotten way too complex and, to use a cliche, self-aware. I liked it better when it was just Nita & Kit & Ponch, Tom & Carl, Dairine & Spot. I think Duane is trying too hard to define her universe and is getting tangled in all the minutae. Deep Wizardry is my overwhelming favorite. I love the broad themes of sacrifice and redemption it deals with.
If you've never heard the audio books, they are wonderful. Christina Moore, the narrator, has really brought the characters' voices to life in my mind. I love her interpretations of almost every character she does, and they're all distinct and easily distinguished. There are very few series that I love that I would trust my first experience to the audio book, but these are so good that I don't mind listening to A Wizard of Mars before the paperback is available for me to read. Worth every penny.
If you've never heard the audio books, they are wonderful. Christina Moore, the narrator, has really brought the characters' voices to life in my mind. I love her interpretations of almost every character she does, and they're all distinct and easily distinguished. There are very few series that I love that I would trust my first experience to the audio book, but these are so good that I don't mind listening to A Wizard of Mars before the paperback is available for me to read. Worth every penny.
I don't see anything wrong with it getting more and more complex as it grows; heck, even Harry Potter did exactly the same thing--increasing in difficulty and even age/maturity level as it went on, and getting more and more complex. I don't think that is a problem at all.
The thing with Young Wizards is that they've spanned over 20 years, have always been set in the year they were written, and have reflected the evolution of computer technology over that time, and yet the characters have only aged 3-4 years in-story. They're in comic-book time. So maybe the intent is to revise the early books to make their technological and cultural references more up-to-date so the series holds together better.
Funny -- as soon as I saw the episode back in '87, I found the parallels self-evident, allowing for the expected changes and trims in an adaptation of a novel to an hourlong episode. I mean, certainly it's nowhere near as good or as epic, but it's the same overall premise -- an experimental warp enhancement sends the ship flying across the universe to a region where reality breaks down.
Funny -- as soon as I saw the episode back in '87, I found the parallels self-evident, allowing for the expected changes and trims in an adaptation of a novel to an hourlong episode. I mean, certainly it's nowhere near as good or as epic, but it's the same overall premise -- an experimental warp enhancement sends the ship flying across the universe to a region where reality breaks down.
The early draft for "Where No One Has Gone Before" used to be available online, and I thought that the parallels were closer to The Wounded Sky. Unfortunately I don't remember very many of the details - only that the scientist was the one who actually created the drive (I don't remember the Traveller being in it at all). The main thing that I remember is that the drive worked by creating a singularity that tied in to the warp drive - which was an idea that she later used for her Romulan novels.
Cool interview.
Uhh, I think you're confusing Duane's novels with TNG's assertion that Romulans use singularities to power their warp drives. Duane's original two Rihannsu novels were written prior to "Where No One Has Gone Before," and her final two were written well after TNG had introduced the concept of Romulan singularity drives, so if Duane referenced it in those novels, she was adopting the idea from TNG.
I remember the Irish scenes in Spock's World but I didn't know she lived in Ireland. You learn something every day.
