Spoilers "To lose the Earth" cover reveal

[Csalem]

What always impresses me about her Voyager novels is that there are lots and lots of characters and they all seem to get their bit to do, and you always know who is who. The cast never seems too big or wasted. By contrast, the latter DS9 novels seem to focus on a very small cast with little sense of who else is on the station (for example I have no idea who the doctor is on the station at the moment but can recall three different ship doctors in Voyager series).

The other funny thing is that my ranking for the relaunch's is nearly the opposite of how I rank the shows. For me my favourite shows are TNG, DS9, VGR, ENT but for the relaunches my favourites are VGR, ENT, DS9, TNG.

 

[Jarvisimo]

I think DRGIII always has focused on a small cast that interests him - be it his earlier DS9 books or other works. This is good with rotating writers or standalone novels, but really has not helped when he's effectively the only person writing DS9 - with little seeming connection to other authors' novels or novellas in the setting

I hoped after The Fall we'd have more books like The Missing by other authors exploring the new station setting, but either the editors haven't had that ability or imagination, or authors haven't been that interested in new DS9 itself. Why was there an author contraction since 2009 too, with only Miller and the companion authors really being new additions - why no KRAD, Perry, Jarman, etc., who successfully invigorated the original season 8 so well?

Kirsten's work on Voyager was excellent, and almost is an argument for the opposite - a single author's own, excellent tale will succeed. But she plays to her strengths, rather than DS9 not playing to some of George's strengths.

 

[historypeats]

^ I've long bemoaned the "author contraction" you mention above. But I doubt we hear from many new voices soon; there doesn't seem to be much of a desire to reach out beyond the core Bennett/McCormack/Ward/Mack/Cox/Miller sextet, outside of the odd one-off by a familiar author like Galanter or long-delayed Foster/Beyer titles. 2015's the last time it felt like the load was spread more widely, and outside of Miller, I can't remember the last "new" author welcomed into the fold. The brief foray into e-book novellas, which seemed like a promising way to bring new voices in, ended years ago; if you'd told me in the midst of the S.C.E. era that TrekLit would abandon the space entirely, I'd have thought you were nuts.

I don't begrudge any of the sextet their opportunities to write; I believe all but Una have been valuable BBS community members for years, and each comes across as equal parts kind and creative. But the DS9R was a model, for a time, of how to incorporate a ton of different voices into a continuity-heavy series. Given that trends in pop culture/entertainment have shifted heavily in that direction over the past two decades, it seems like a mistake to move away from it.

 

[JD]

I've got to agree. I really enjoy the stuff from our regulars, but it would be nice to see a few more voices added to the mix.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Yeah, it doesn’t quite feel right that Star Trek novels are only really represented by a group of white men (with a couple of “token” women). Not that I dislike their work, of course, I gladly pick up the novels that bear their names with no regret. But that the only voices that are being represented among the authorship of Trek novels, and not particularly offering much space to bring in new voices... No slight on the regulars, but it does feel like it’s not living up to the franchise’s ideals.

Like, I would REALLY alike to see the novels extend into having in-series novels beyond the TOS era, even if it’s just TNG, let that be a place new voices could at least get a foothold in being able to tell new stories.

Of course, part of the problem is certainly the echoes and repercussions of the 08 recession, when a lot of authors seemed to drop off (presumably needing to have a steadier income and not having the time to write novels) and the loss of half the slots per year. So with another looming recession, I’m worried we’re gonna see another hit to the novels...

 

[KRAD]

Of course, part of the problem is certainly the echoes and repercussions of the 08 recession, when a lot of authors seemed to drop off (presumably needing to have a steadier income and not having the time to write novels)

That is not remotely the case.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Oh really? Huh. I guess I just assumed a correlation and causation there. It just seemed like it was right at that point that things shifted, which felt like they were connected.

 

[Stevil2001]

I think it correlates, but not for that reason. Marco and Margaret were both laid off because of the recession; Margaret was hired as a contractor a few months later because it was too much for the remaining staff. Marco was the one who, in my experience, was interested in cultivating new talent. Margaret and Ed clearly prefer to work with a small stable of writers.

 

[Thrawn]

That happened because Marco Palmieri was laid off, and as editor he prioritized new voices. Margaret Clark doesn't.

Edit: whoops, didn't see Stevil2001's post. Indeed, we agree!

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I think I also connected the refrain I’ve heard a lot that it’s not easy to make a living solely as a writer with the general job/wage issues that have been highlighted over the years into thinking that there was, for some of the writers involved, a choice being made to step back from writing novels, or just tie-ins, because of the pressures on the time that anyone would have and needing to be able to focus on something that offers a steady and/or greater paycheck.

So, I made assumptions. Mea culpa, I know what that does, and yet...

 

[Tuskin38]

with a couple of “token” women)

I'm not sure they'd appreciate being called 'token'.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Hence the quotes around the word - yes, they’re more than the tokens, they’re regular writers for a damn good reason, but there’s still a clear skew in the current crop of regulars in the direction of male writers, and I find that fact a little uncomfortable.

 

[KRAD]

You can find the bibliographies of folks online. You can certainly find mine. As you see, my writing output hasn't diminished since 2009 -- the only thing that's diminished in that time is the number of works of Star Trek fiction I've written. That is not by my choice.

 

[Corran Horn]

I do hope the Galen is not another lost ship in this series, Janeway seems to be cursed with her missions.

How many Vesta-class ships gone in this mission? 2? 3? Rough given the constraints Starfleet was said to be under in other books.

 

[Markonian]

How many Vesta-class ships gone in this mission? 2? 3? Rough given the constraints Starfleet was said to be under in other books.

IIRC, two Vesta-class ships joined the fleet at the start. Once they were removed, Janeway had the original USS Vesta pulled from mothballs.

 

[Jarvisimo]

You can find the bibliographies of folks online. You can certainly find mine. As you see, my writing output hasn't diminished since 2009 -- the only thing that's diminished in that time is the number of works of Star Trek fiction I've written. That is not by my choice.

One day will you explain what happened? Or rather what has happened from your understanding?

 

[USS Firefly]

IIRC, two Vesta-class ships joined the fleet at the start. Once they were removed, Janeway had the original USS Vesta pulled from mothballs.

From mothballs?
I thought that the Vesta class were a new class

 

[Brendan Moody]

It was a new class, but the Vesta itself was a prototype and suffered structural damage during its testing phase that caused it to be mothballed. Then it was repaired and put back into service after the two other ships of that class in the Full Circle fleet were lost.

 

[Mage]

It was a new class, but the Vesta itself was a prototype and suffered structural damage during its testing phase that caused it to be mothballed. Then it was repaired and put back into service after the two other ships of that class in the Full Circle fleet were lost.

Which I find so weird to begin with. I mean, sure, that she had a rough run, fine. Buf if she suffered a lot of structural damage during her testing, you'd think there might be some issues with the design. Now sure, that's what testing is for. But with 24th century tech being what it is (we do a lot of that already) computer testing with parameters of the materials used, design and stress put on it, should already give the design an pretty good idea of what would happen. And even if Vesta had that much damage..... if a group of engineers could fix her in weeks, and Starfleet needing every ship it can, any shipyard should be able to fix her as fast with a decicated group of engineers around.

 

[tomswift2002]

Which I find so weird to begin with. I mean, sure, that she had a rough run, fine. Buf if she suffered a lot of structural damage during her testing, you'd think there might be some issues with the design. Now sure, that's what testing is for. But with 24th century tech being what it is (we do a lot of that already) computer testing with parameters of the materials used, design and stress put on it, should already give the design an pretty good idea of what would happen. And even if Vesta had that much damage..... if a group of engineers could fix her in weeks, and Starfleet needing every ship it can, any shipyard should be able to fix her as fast with a decicated group of engineers around.

Could be that with it being structural integrity the order was given to tear the ship apart so that every nut and bolt could be physically viewed to see where the weaknesses were, especially when you think that Vesta’s were to be the testbed for Starfleet’s Quantum Slipstream drive. Remember that in “A Singular Destiny” it was mentioned that not all Federation starships (i.e Galaxy Class) could with stand the stresses of slipstream due to their design and Starfleet already had Voyager’s data from when it attempted slipstream in “Hope and Fear” and “Timeless” and it’s trans warp flight in “Dark Frontier” and “Endgame” and even the Enterprise-D’s data from “Descent”. So Starfleet would’ve known from Voyager‘s experience, plus as we saw in “Raise The Dawn”, the Typhon Pact tried to steal Dominion technology (after their stolen info and prototype were destroyed) in order to strengthen their ships structural integrity for their version of the slipstream drive. So there was probably a very good reason that Starfleet tore it apart.