The State of Star Trek Literature 2013
- Thread starter Sxottlan
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Quite well. I think it's been a good balance of the different series.
Moving the stories forward. What I most appreciate of the post-series stories is that characters are allowed to develop naturally.
My favorite during this time would be Plagues of Night, Raise the Dawn, and The Persistence of Memory
Despite what my favorites might indicated, the saturation of Typhon Pact and cold war storylines. I appreciate the new status quo of the Federation and think that the Typhon Pact is brilliant new story idea, but it should be pulled back some. So much war (whether hot or cold) and grimmness in the last couple of years really is getting tiresome. I'm okay with it in moderation, but sometimes it's shoe-horned in places where it doesn't make sense.
Case in point, Fallen Gods - a weak outing, but also hurt by the Andorian storyline being tacked on it. The Titan should be far away and be on it's own mission, it makes very little sense to be affected by this. (Same thing with the previous Gorn-centric Titan storyline).
Silent Weapons and The Body Electric and Brinksmanship were also weak for me. On their own, fine. Together with everything else, it's just too much politics, cold war plotting, and death.
The Resurrection of Janeway. I don't have anything against her as a character, but she was killed, and in her absence the series has flourished. Having Chakotay as Captain, and having Eden as the Fleet Commander was a breath of fresh air. Undoing that development, has for me made the Voyager series less appealing.
I've spoken elsewhere on my thoughts of the over-abundance of politics, war, and Typhon Pact storylines.
Cover Art needs to be improved. Stories are progressing, show that with characters. Having floating heads of the Captains over generic backgrounds isn't very interesting.
Each series needs to go back to having it's own voice. Titan really needs to go back to its core of exploration and multi-species integration. Voyager had a good thing going with a new commander, and having a fleet of support ships. Much of that seems to be undone, so far, maybe reinforcements could be brought in. DS9 needs to fill in the blanks, what happened during the Ascendants storyline? TNG can stick with the Typhon Pact and more political stories, it makes sense, though I think Geordi is in some desperate need of development.
And...more experimentation. Articles of the Federation and the DTI stories are some of the best stuff that has come out lately.
That being said. I'm HUGELY excited about the upcoming Choice of Futures.
This is true. The books are all set around the fourth season or so, when the crew is still in Boston--and presumably before the big season cliffhanger.
My book isn't officially out yet, but I believe it's starting to turn up already. I got my author copies weeks ago, and I'm already hearing from readers who seem to have gotten their hands on a copy.
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I'd like tp point out that, for some of the writers on this forum who wrote the TOS novels this year, my comment is in no way a slight towards you. Your work itself is not the problem, and I know you are talented writers. But having the complete first half of 2013 devoted almost completely to TOS novels is just a bit to much for me personally. I would say the same if the complete first half of the year was TNG novels.
Although I'm not quite so even-handed as Mage (Its not just that the TOS novels have all come at once, and I wouldn't object to less being published in favour of more 24th C. stuff), I do read them. I just finished Allegiance in Exile and Devils Bargain is going down nicely at the moment. Weight of Worlds by Greg someone or other is next.
Its just that TOS doesn't keep me gripped and reading like the other novels where I really want to know where whey are going. With TOS you already know - back in the box with little or no development. Its unavoidable and way less interesting...
Its just that TOS doesn't keep me gripped and reading like the other novels where I really want to know where whey are going. With TOS you already know - back in the box with little or no development. Its unavoidable and way less interesting...
I feel it's worth pointing out once more that it's been the standard pattern for several years now to split the publishing year into blocks of 23rd-century stuff and 24th-century stuff. In 2010, the first half of the year was heavy on TOS, the middle part was going to feature the Abramsverse novels until those were cancelled, and the last third was Typhon Pact. In 2011, the first half was all 24th-century and ENT, and the latter half was mostly TOS and Vanguard. And in 2012, the first third or so of the year continued to feature TOS/VAN, while the rest was 24th-century. In fact, there was a span of 9 months, from July 2011 to March 2012, without any 24th-century Prime-universe fiction at all -- followed in April '12 by DTI: Forgotten History, which was mostly 23rd-century, so it's more like 10 months.
So the pattern of alternating between big chunks of 23rd-century (and miscellaneous) books and big chunks of 24th-century books (usually organized under umbrella "event" titles) is well into its fourth year now. It's apparently just the way things are done these days.
So the pattern of alternating between big chunks of 23rd-century (and miscellaneous) books and big chunks of 24th-century books (usually organized under umbrella "event" titles) is well into its fourth year now. It's apparently just the way things are done these days.
That's fair comment. The release schedule just isn't done to my preferences and it shouldnt be. I realise that I'm not actually the centre of the universe ! There are obviously a lot of readers who have different tastes and they have should get their novels too.
The current setup is designed to maximise income and what sells fortunately supports publication of a variety of (probably slightly) less popular titles. These happen to include the ones I most like.
I'd still like more 24th C. stuff...
The current setup is designed to maximise income and what sells fortunately supports publication of a variety of (probably slightly) less popular titles. These happen to include the ones I most like.
I'd still like more 24th C. stuff...
Well, sure, people are entitled to their preferences. It's just that I keep hearing people reacting to the 2012 schedule as though it's something new, or assuming that it was done as a tie-in to the upcoming movie, even though the pattern is in its fourth year. I'm just trying to make the facts clear.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the current state of things. I enjoyed the plot developments in 2012 in the 24th century books and the TOS novels have been enjoyable for the most part. I've been somewhat underwhelmed with the artwork for most of the 24th century stuff, with Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn being the major exception (I also liked the artwork for The Stuff of Dreams). I wouldn't mind seeing some changes there. Also, I'm assuming the upcoming books for The Fall will be all marketed under a single banner similar to what was done for the Typhon Pact stories, but I wouldn't mind seeing more of a return to the individual series' logos, particularly DS9.
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