StarTrek.com interview with Diane Duane

[DigificWriter]

I've never read any of Duane's Trek work, but Young Wizards is one of my favorite fiction series EVER (and, just so you know, I've read a lot of stuff, so that is high praise indeed). I really need to get caught up on the series (I've only read up through Book 7, 'A Wizard's Holiday'); I didn't see anything in that article mentioning that she was revising the first four books in the series, and can't find anything about it on the official series website, so I'm interested/curious to know where this particular rumor/assertion originated.

 

[Christopher]

I didn't see anything in that article mentioning that she was revising the first four books in the series, and can't find anything about it on the official series website, so I'm interested/curious to know where this particular rumor/assertion originated.

It is in the article, in Duane's answer to the second-last question ("If someone reads this and decides to check out your non-Trek works, what novels, shows and/or movies would you recommend they look at to get a real feel for you and your writer's voice?"):

At the fantasy end – or science fantasy, maybe – the Young Wizards books are a great favorite of mine. The world and its characters have been getting increasingly complex over recent years. They’ve always been as much intended for an adult audience as a young-adult one, and I’m preparing to revise the four oldest books so that their tone will better match the later ones.

 

[Stevil2001]

It is kinda jammed in the middle of a paragraph. I missed it the first time through, too.

And if you like Young Wizards, you ought to read The Wounded Sky at least; it's the Trek book that comes closest to the sensibilities of that series.

 

[Christopher]

^Also Dark Mirror features a race of sentient alien dolphins who employ the same Song of the Twelve ritual as the dolphins/whales in Deep Wizardry. Indeed, I've always suspected that Duane originally wrote Hwiii as an Earth dolphin as a sort of stealth Young Wizards crossover but was required to rewrite him as alien.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

^Also Dark Mirror features a race of sentient alien dolphins who employ the same Song of the Twelve ritual as the dolphins/whales in Deep Wizardry. Indeed, I've always suspected that Duane originally wrote Hwiii as an Earth dolphin as a sort of stealth Young Wizards crossover but was required to rewrite him as alien.

Along those lines--I forget which Young Wizards book it is, but Sulamids show up in one of them or at least get a mention. They're a species seen in The Wounded Sky and possibly other works of hers.

 

[Peak]

Well, wasn't it Diane Duane who wrote in the Doctor (from Doctor Who) in one of her Star Trek Books? Or is I misremembering?

 

[Christopher]

Well, wasn't it Diane Duane who wrote in the Doctor (from Doctor Who) in one of her Star Trek Books? Or is I misremembering?

My Enemy, My Ally contains a scene in which Lt. Freeman is converting old television programs for holographic projection, and she describes a playback of a scene in which a large blue box materializes with a peculiar wheezing, groaning sound, and a man with curly hair and a really long scarf steps out and asks, "Pardon me, but is this Heathrow?" This is implicitly meant to be a Tom Baker episode of Doctor Who, although there is no real Doctor Who episode in which that scene occurs.

Now, in Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, which is mainly an unauthorized crossover between Star Trek and Here Come the Brides, there are references to characters and elements from multiple other Westerns and SF universes as well, and there are two allusions to concepts from Doctor Who as allegedly existing within the Trek universe: a reference to Metebelis crystals and a mention of a time-travelling race in the constellation of Kasterborous (the reputed location of Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords).

 

[Peak]

Yep, It's was "My Enemy, My Ally" i remember. I have read Ishmael, but all the references went right over my head (never seen "Here Come the Brides"). It was a long time ago, though.

 

[Stoek]

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.

They didn't ask.

True, but it's the only version of Trek she didn't offer her opinion on.

Well personally while I would not be disinterested to know her opinion at the same time it also doesn't really matter to me. Frankly I don't know that I have ever truly changed my opinion about something based on someone elses, not unless I was undecided to begin with.

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...

Personally I'm a continuity nut. I love it. The more the better. But to be sure if continuity minutiea gets in the way of a good story then out it goes.

I have to admit to being curious about the inciting novel myself. There is a lot of the really early stuff that well the kindest way I can put it is that it just doesn't work for me. On the other hand if there had not been that stuff to show that there was indeed an interest then probably there would not be the novels we have enjoyed over the years. I would submit that if there had been no Trek novels then media tie in novels as we know them today would probably not exist.

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..

hmm. I'm not entirely sure I agree. The thing is that unless you have been living in a cave, you probably have at least a rough idea of what Trek is and is about. And both SW and FF do a pretty good job as I recall (Spock's World is my bible but it's been a long time since I've read Final Frontier) of keeping the reader in the loop even if they've never really seen much Trek.

I remember the Irish scenes in Spock's World but I didn't know she lived in Ireland. You learn something every day.

Well scene really. And I would be curious to learn how that came about. I know she originally lived in the US as did her husband. I don't know for certain but at the time of her writing Spock's World I think she still did. So I'd love to know when she moved and why. (I have a fascination with people's reasons for making big moves like that)

Now, in Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, which is mainly an unauthorized crossover between Star Trek and Here Come the Brides,...

Um damn! Warn a guy next time huh? Isn't there a little "Do not be drinking anything while you read the following post" warning feature?

I have to admit that Spock's World and Dark Mirror are my two favorite DD novels. Personally it was because of DM that I had a hard time getting into DS9's revisiting of the MU. Although that's the great thing about paralell universes. There's no reason why they can't both be true.

I tried reading Intellivore and it just didn't work for me. And well honestly Spock's World is just so well perfect that nothing else of hers except for DM really matches up for me.

And this brings me to another point. Could TPTB pretty pretty please with honey and sugar on top stop comparing other novels to Spock's World? I know they mean it as a compliment and an inducement but honestly I usually despite trying not to wind up with expectations that are way to high and as a result always come away slightly disappointed in whatever the book is.

 

[Peak]

hmm. I'm not entirely sure I agree. The thing is that unless you have been living in a cave, you probably have at least a rough idea of what Trek is and is about. And both SW and FF do a pretty good job as I recall (Spock's World is my bible but it's been a long time since I've read Final Frontier) of keeping the reader in the loop even if they've never really seen much Trek.

The problem for me was that I was living in a cave. Or rather, Sweden. Pre Internet. Must have been about 1991-1992 I first saw Star Trek (our TV 4 showed the first 13 episodes of TNG). And then our Nordic Channel (later Kanal 5) began showing TOS. I was interested, so I decided to buy two books to see what the fuss was about. So I ordered two without numbers on them because I didn't know if the numbered one was in a series or not.

So, I had no idea who Surak was when reading Spocks World, and it took a reread to realize that the hero in Final Frontier was Captain Kirks father..

 

[Sakrysta]

^Also Dark Mirror features a race of sentient alien dolphins who employ the same Song of the Twelve ritual as the dolphins/whales in Deep Wizardry. Indeed, I've always suspected that Duane originally wrote Hwiii as an Earth dolphin as a sort of stealth Young Wizards crossover but was required to rewrite him as alien.

Along those lines--I forget which Young Wizards book it is, but Sulamids show up in one of them or at least get a mention. They're a species seen in The Wounded Sky and possibly other works of hers.

I'm not familiar with the Sulamids, but if you describe them, I could probably tell you which Young Wizards book they appear in.

A Wizard of Mars was really good. Just finished the audio book a couple days ago. Deep Wizardry is still my favorite, though. And I think the "outdated" tech in the older books is a part of their charm. I'd hate to see it changed.

 

[Christopher]

A Sulamid is basically an upright mass of purple tentacles.

And sure, the period tech of the early YW books is fine, but the problem is that the characters have barely aged in 20 years, so it's inconsistent.

 

[Sakrysta]

Only if you can't read publication dates. It's like saying all the older comics of a strip should be revised because the characters didn't age but their references did. It's a part of how literature works, and as far as I'm concerned, revision is unnecessary and undesired.

As for the "Sulamid," that sounds like Sker'ret, who's a Rirhait. He's described as something like a purple centipede. He first shows up in Wizard's Holiday.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'm not familiar with the Sulamids, but if you describe them, I could probably tell you which Young Wizards book they appear in.

The Sulamids were actually mentioned by name, so they were different from the Rirhait...I just wish I knew what book they were mentioned in.

 

[Stoek]

The problem for me was that I was living in a cave. Or rather, Sweden. Pre Internet. Must have been about 1991-1992 I first saw Star Trek (our TV 4 showed the first 13 episodes of TNG). And then our Nordic Channel (later Kanal 5) began showing TOS. I was interested, so I decided to buy two books to see what the fuss was about. So I ordered two without numbers on them because I didn't know if the numbered one was in a series or not.

So, I had no idea who Surak was when reading Spocks World, and it took a reread to realize that the hero in Final Frontier was Captain Kirks father..

... Pre? Internet?... Okay now there's no reason to make stuff up. Next you'll try to tell me there was a time when we didn't all have telephones the size of portable calculators in our pockets. I mean I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night.

 

[Sakrysta]

I'm not familiar with the Sulamids, but if you describe them, I could probably tell you which Young Wizards book they appear in.

The Sulamids were actually mentioned by name, so they were different from the Rirhait...I just wish I knew what book they were mentioned in.

Ah! Amazon book search to the rescue. It was The Wizard's Dilemma. There was a Sulamid who was going through kernel training at the same time as Nita was.

 

[Christopher]

Only if you can't read publication dates.

I can read publication dates just fine, thanks. But that doesn't mean I can't be bothered by an internal inconsistency in the chronology of a story. If that doesn't matter to you, that's your outlook, but some of us give a damn about consistency and that's just as valid an outlook.

Besides, it's not like anyone's forcing Duane to do this. She's revised her work for internal consistency before, with the Rihannsu novels. A lot of authors revise earlier tales to make them consistent with their later canon; for instance, Poul Anderson revised a lot of his Dominic Flandry stories from the '50s when they were republished in collections in the '70s. It's an author's prerogative to bring their earlier works up to their current standards. "It's a part of how literature works."

Anyway, it should be clarified that Duane didn't actually say she'd be updating the computer technology when she revised the books; that was my own conjecture about a possible reason for the revision.

 

[Defcon]

For those wondering what the revising of the Wizard books actually incorporates, Diane Duane has commented about that on her LiveJournal.

 

[Christopher]

^

Fixing old outdated tech material, and adding features that the present readership expects as part of normal teen and preteen life (where appropriate): cellphones, computers, etc. Also, tweaking action and some plot elements to reflect the effect that today's tech would realistically have on them.
...There is also the question of attempting to lay down a more sensible timeline.

Ahh, pretty much as I figured.

I look forward to this. Since I already own the original versions, I won't be losing anything due to the change. (That reminds me, I think I still haven't read the latest volume.)

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Well, that definitely sounds interesting. I intend to get them so that I have both versions and I can compare them.