Spoilers The Autobiography of James T. Kirk - announcement and reviews

[TheAlmanac]

I wonder if DavidAGoodman could elaborate on whether that was his own choice (and if so, why he made it) or if he had some guidance from CBS Studios on how to handle TAS for this book.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

Finished this earlier today, it was a very neat take on Kirk's history. Since it was asked earlier in the thread, I will say that it's basically completely incompatible with the Litverse in a number of ways large and small, but that shouldn't impede enjoyment of the book on its own. There were a couple things that hit me as off (the only significant one being that the Academy was presented as much more militaristic than I've normally seen it in Trek or felt it would be, which felt a little out of place for Trek), but I definitely enjoyed it on the whole.

Thanks glad you liked it on the whole! to answer your note on the Academy, I thought some fans might not like it, but I drew my inspiration from the references in the original series, where I think the Academy references (hazing by upperclassmen for instance, or Commodore Wesley's use of "dunsel" to insult Kirk) leans pretty close to a competitive, West Point/Naval Academy model, but that's obviously my interpretation.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

I got into a disagreement on a Facebook Star Trek group earlier tonight with a fan who kept insisting the book was "wrong" because of things like Spock captaining the Enterprise for five years and Kirk having a birthday in March. I kept explaining to him that the book wasn't wrong, it just happened to have a different interpretation of the Trek universe than he did. He didn't seem to get that ST novels only have to not contradict the live-action material and that stuff like The Star Trek Chronology doesn't have any real bearing on tie-in fiction.

It's amazing how close-minded some fans can be. It's too bad. If this guy opened his mind a bit, he might find something to enjoy.

It is too bad. Any time I went astray of the Chronology I called the Okudas to double check that I wasn't violating canon, just their interpretation of it.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

I've read through most of the book, and I've rather enjoyed it so far. My knowledge of Trek continuity isn't nearly as strong as some other posters I'm sure.

The descriptions of the events on Tarsus IV and events with Ben Finney were enough to make me want to re-watch The Consience of the King and Court Martial respectively. Having characters named Finney and Finnegan was a little confusing, but that's hardly the fault of the writer.

I'm just curious as to what the motivation was to make Nogura into a bit of an antagonist after the events of TMP? If it based on any existing canon I've ignored, then I apologize.

Thank you for your compliments! Glad you enjoyed it. the motivation to fill out Nogura came from those two lines of dialogue in ST-TMP where Scotty says "I doubt it was that easy with Nogura." and Kirk saying "you're right." It implied this was a formidable figure. Since there hadn't been any other canonical use of him, it gave me a character who could foreshadow the events of TUC, and imply that there were always leaders in Starfleet who didn't think peace was the way.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

Great piece on "Why Captain Kirk is the Greatest Space Hero of All Time" by Mr. David A. Goodman himself!

Thanks!

 

[DavidAGoodman]

Just the opposite, Almanac; not only are there no references to TAS, but the book seems to go under the assumption that TAS never happened, implying that "The Enterprise Incident" was near the end of the 5YM and having Kirk have only his second encounter with Kor in the 2280s.

I guess I could've left it open instead of saying "I hadn't seen him since Organia" but I had other priorities in that part of the book - I think there's room in the book for the animated series adventures to have happened. I referenced the aqua shuttle in my own way, and that was my nod to it.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

Just the opposite, Almanac; not only are there no references to TAS, but the book seems to go under the assumption that TAS never happened, implying that "The Enterprise Incident" was near the end of the 5YM and having Kirk have only his second encounter with Kor in the 2280s.

Oh, that's unfortunate. And surprising, given that DavidAGoodman has actually written animated Trek in a sense ("Where No Fan Has Gone Before" on Futurama).

yeah, in my mind there was room for the animated adventures to fit, but I wanted Kirk to have not seen Kor for a while because I wanted that sense that the galaxy was changing around Kirk, to sell the idea that he might decide to give up command. It was important to explain why he does that twice, once at the end of the five year mission, and then again.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

I wonder if DavidAGoodman could elaborate on whether that was his own choice (and if so, why he made it) or if he had some guidance from CBS Studios on how to handle TAS for this book.

CBS left it to me, I didn't mean to diss the TAS, i love it. The adventures in that show didn't seem to affect Kirk on a personal level, and the ones of galactic import I felt were too similar to other adventures in TOS. Now, if I were writing a Spock autobiography, "yesteryear" would definitely play a role.

 

[Mysterion]

You write it, I'll definitely buy a copy.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Any time I went astray of the Chronology I called the Okudas to double check that I wasn't violating canon, just their interpretation of it.

It's good that the Okudas are open-minded enough to make that distinction. From what I've read of the Richard Arnold era, that hasn't always been the case.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

I wonder if DavidAGoodman could elaborate on whether that was his own choice (and if so, why he made it) or if he had some guidance from CBS Studios on how to handle TAS for this book.

Also, there is a subtle TAS reference with one of kirk's roommates at the academy. It's a bit of a puzzle so I don't want to ruin it.

 

[Kertrats47]

I wonder if DavidAGoodman could elaborate on whether that was his own choice (and if so, why he made it) or if he had some guidance from CBS Studios on how to handle TAS for this book.

Also, there is a subtle TAS reference with one of kirk's roommates at the academy. It's a bit of a puzzle so I don't want to ruin it.

Just reading it now, and I caught that one! Came here to post about it, but I won't give it away.

 

[Tommunist]

After USPS lost my original order in wormhole, Amazon sent me another and USPS delivered on Sunday. Read it last night. Enjoyed it a lot.
I thought the way to address "Star Trek V" a bit cheesy, but there is a certain level of whimsy in the original series stories that I can accept it! A wink and nod to the fans is alright by me.

These types of books don't have to be in continuity with the "lit-verse", which while containing many good stories, in my opinion is starting to become a bit unwieldy.

With the return of the Chronology, and the "in-universe" books such as this and Goodman's "Federation" (please make a second volume covering the next 100 years!) and even the Stellar Cartography book, it reminds me of the 90's where we had an embarrassment of riches when it came to Trek books.

Thanks, Mr. Goodman! It was... fun!

 

[bbailey861]

Got my copy today and shall start reading it on Friday on the train to Toronto.

 

[DavidAGoodman]

After USPS lost my original order in wormhole, Amazon sent me another and USPS delivered on Sunday. Read it last night. Enjoyed it a lot.
I thought the way to address "Star Trek V" a bit cheesy, but there is a certain level of whimsy in the original series stories that I can accept it! A wink and nod to the fans is alright by me.

These types of books don't have to be in continuity with the "lit-verse", which while containing many good stories, in my opinion is starting to become a bit unwieldy.

With the return of the Chronology, and the "in-universe" books such as this and Goodman's "Federation" (please make a second volume covering the next 100 years!) and even the Stellar Cartography book, it reminds me of the 90's where we had an embarrassment of riches when it came to Trek books.

Thanks, Mr. Goodman! It was... fun!

Thanks so much!

 

[Ronald Held]

Finally got my copy, and expect to start tomorrow.

 

[CRM-114]

I got into a disagreement on a Facebook Star Trek group earlier tonight with a fan who kept insisting the book was "wrong" because of things like Spock captaining the Enterprise for five years and Kirk having a birthday in March. I kept explaining to him that the book wasn't wrong, it just happened to have a different interpretation of the Trek universe than he did. He didn't seem to get that ST novels only have to not contradict the live-action material and that stuff like The Star Trek Chronology doesn't have any real bearing on tie-in fiction.

It's amazing how close-minded some fans can be. It's too bad. If this guy opened his mind a bit, he might find something to enjoy.

This just affirms a long-held belief of mine, even if I'm saying something blatantly obvious in doing so:

The people who create the stories you love don't know or care about your "head canon", and thus, are not beholden to it in any way.

I think this should be printed on a business card and freely distributed at conventions.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Well, since (1) I only just found out that this was out, (2) I leave on my fall vacation this week, (3) B&N has a 40% discount that only applies online, and (4) in order to receive it before I leave (and thereby put it on the vacation budget), I'd either have to pay nearly full-price in person, or spend even more to get expedited delivery online,

I'll wait until next month.

 

[Ronald Held]

About 30% in and better than I expected. Too tired to use the spoiler box for 23d century individuals. Doesn't Axanar have an unbreathable atmosphere for humans and Vulcans?

 

[Idran]

About 30% in and better than I expected. Too tired to use the spoiler box for 23d century individuals. Doesn't Axanar have an unbreathable atmosphere for humans and Vulcans?

Oh I didn't catch that; that's right, Enterprise established Axanar as having a nitrogen-methane atmosphere rather than nitrogen-oxygen.