TOS characters status in TNG era?

[Jim Johnson]

Just curious, how do you guys (readers and writers) feel about mixing up TOS characters with TNG era? Should TOS stay in their respective time period?

Personally, if well written, I love cross overs, seeing the old meet the new.

Any favorite must-read cross overs or TOS cameos to suggest? Or better yet, to avoid?

I have no problem with it. I like the TOS characters and I like the TNG characters, so cross 'em over!

A number of Strange New Worlds short stories combined members of the crews for one story or another, though the SNW books aren't really part of any of the literary continuities.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Just curious, how do you guys (readers and writers) feel about mixing up TOS characters with TNG era? Should TOS stay in their respective time period?

Personally, if well written, I love cross overs, seeing the old meet the new.

Any favorite must-read cross overs or TOS cameos to suggest? Or better yet, to avoid?

I have no problem with it. I like the TOS characters and I like the TNG characters, so cross 'em over!

A number of Strange New Worlds short stories combined members of the crews for one story or another, though the SNW books aren't really part of any of the literary continuities.

I've always found the idea that characters/races/planets from each era should limited to those eras to be absurd. Sure if the character was killed, the species died out or the planet was destroyed it makes sense, but otherwise no. And it's always possible they "got better"

 

[Marco Palmieri]

Is there any editorial mandates or rules for writers on using TOS characters in the TNG era novels?

I tend to discourage it in the books I edit, as it's an easy thing to overuse. But I've allowed exceptions from time to time, when I felt it served a story, or served the mythos as a whole. (Example: establishing Leondard James Akaar as high-ranking Starfleet admiral in the TNG era.)

 

[EmperorKalan]

Just curious, how do you guys (readers and writers) feel about mixing up TOS characters with TNG era? Should TOS stay in their respective time period?

Personally, if well written, I love cross overs, seeing the old meet the new.

Any favorite must-read cross overs or TOS cameos to suggest? Or better yet, to avoid?

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Scotty's semi-regular status in the Corps of Engineers books, and the Lost Era books very subject lends them towards crossovers under reasonable* conditions.




*Naturally, definitions of "reasonable" tend to vary.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Any favorite must-read cross overs or TOS cameos to suggest? Or better yet, to avoid?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is there any editorial mandates or rules for writers on using TOS characters in the TNG era novels?

I tend to discourage it in the books I edit, as it's an easy thing to overuse. But I've allowed exceptions from time to time, when I felt it served a story, or served the mythos as a whole. (Example: establishing Leondard James Akaar as high-ranking Starfleet admiral in the TNG era.)

Would you allow them to actually have one of these people actually DIE?

 

[Marco Palmieri]

^Have you read Crucible: McCoy?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^Have you read Crucible: McCoy?

Really? Hmm, well there's at least one of them who isn't immortal then.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Crucible trilogy out of phase with mainstream Trek Lit continuity? So even if McCoy died in it, in the rest of the novels he could still be alive.

 

[Trent Roman]

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Scotty's semi-regular status in the Corps of Engineers books, and the Lost Era books very subject lends them towards crossovers under reasonable* conditions.

Probably because Scott was brought into the 24th century by the show, and as a relatively middle-aged man with plenty of years of service left to him. Scott's involvement in the S.C.E. series is a logical development, organic for both the setting and the character.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

 

[Stevil2001]

Indeed, Engines of Destiny indicates that Scotty will still be alive as of 2422, in time for his 100th birthday.

 

[SLWalker]

Probably because Scott was brought into the 24th century by the show, and as a relatively middle-aged man with plenty of years of service left to him. Scott's involvement in the S.C.E. series is a logical development, organic for both the setting and the character.

He was seventy-one when he vanished. And retired. I'm kinda disappointed no one actually dove into what it would really be like to be thrown seventy-five years out of context, psychologically speaking.

Indeed, Engines of Destiny indicates that Scotty will still be alive as of 2422, in time for his 100th birthday.

is all I have to say about that book.

 

[Trent Roman]

He was seventy-one when he vanished.

Middle-aged by Trek standards, when the human lifespan can be expected to last well past a century. DS9R character Elias Vaughn is still active at 100, so even if you count the medical advancements of the 24th century that Scott missed out on, he should still be hale and hearty (and indeed appear so, despite his weight problem) at--if he was 71 when he vanished, must be in his early eighties now.

Meanwhile, 100 is the new 70.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

 

[Stevil2001]

He was seventy-one when he vanished. And retired. I'm kinda disappointed no one actually dove into what it would really be like to be thrown seventy-five years out of context, psychologically speaking.

Actually, I felt this point had pretty much been hammered to death in Scotty-in-the-24th-century stories.

 

[Rush Limborg]

And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Crucible trilogy out of phase with mainstream Trek Lit continuity? So even if McCoy died in it, in the rest of the novels he could still be alive.

It is.

McCoy actually shows up in Crossover and Red Sector, both of which take place AFTER his supposed "death" in Crucible.

Interesting note...in the second Shatnerverse book, The Return, there's an amusing exchange between Bashir and Bones:

Bashir: LEONARD H. McCOY???

McCoy: Who were you expecting? Dancing girls?

B: (Blushes) Uh...well...to be honest, sir...I actually thought you were dead.

M: Well, I'm not! 143, to be exact. On my third heart, if you can believe it. Grow a new set of lungs each year. And I've got twenty new meters of cloned intestine writhing in my gut. And you know why?

B:

M: Neither do I, son.


So...some people thought he was dead--in the Shatnerverse, at least. And...there ya go.

 

[SLWalker]

Actually, I felt this point had pretty much been hammered to death in Scotty-in-the-24th-century stories.

Never particularly well, though. When it does happen, it always delves into pathos, angst or cliche. If it were handled well, it'd be a fairly transcendent book... except, it never is. No one ever thinks of this in actual human terms. Then again, considering the massive mischaracterization that takes place in most of the pro-novels starring Scotty (unless they're just reducing him to a couple sorry stereotypes), I can't really expect them to handle him with any grace and subtlety later on.

Blagh. The didn't like him until he became a token TOS character in the TNG universe anyway. But hey, my two cents, I'll let you folks get back to your thread here.

 

[KRAD]

Actually, I felt this point had pretty much been hammered to death in Scotty-in-the-24th-century stories.

Especially in that eBook The Future Begins. Who wrote that piece of crap, anyhow?

 

[Trent Roman]

I'm actually inclined to agree with SLWatson, here. Most of the Scott stories--and keeping in mind that I haven't yet read Future Begins on account of no trees being felled for that purpose--seem to reduce Scott's reaction to being thrown out of time to him sitting somewhere dark, wallowing in self-pity and alcohol. Needless to say, repeated episodes of drunken self-medication don't make for an engrossing psychological study.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

 

[Stevil2001]

Actually, I felt this point had pretty much been hammered to death in Scotty-in-the-24th-century stories.

Especially in that eBook The Future Begins. Who wrote that piece of crap, anyhow?

Some foreigner, or so I hear. :P

But seriously, we made a conscious effort to avoid any Scotty-being-upset-because-he-was-75-years-out-of-time scenes. Scotty might be a depressed alcoholic, but he's got good reasons this time. Or at least new ones.

I think the problem examining Scotty's time journey in a realistic fashion comes down to the fact that we actually know very little about 23rd and 24th century Federation culture on a practical level. The 24th century is just like the 23rd, but with fewer primary colors and more pajamas. Culture shock between, say, the 19th and 20th centuries has a lot of big differences and very practical, obvious changes going for it. The fictional 23rd and 24th, not so much.

 

[Trent Roman]

^ That's a good point. I was trying to think how I would react if it would happen to me, and of course the answer would be entirely dependant on what kind of society I would encounter--if the world had changed for better or for worse. Socially, little has changed between Scott's two timeframes; still the Federation, still Starfleet, still humanistic values, etc. From that perspective, I suppose it makes sense to focus on what has changed: the people he has left behind, and the technology which has surpassed him. Which, yeah, is depressing.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

 

[William Leisner]

The 24th century is just like the 23rd, but with fewer primary colors and more pajamas.

I may have to swipe that for a signature quote...