Spoilers TOS: Miasma by Greg Cox Review Thread

[Greg Cox]

^ Absolutely. Novels need way more plot than a 50-minute TV episode, which is why is when I repurpose a rejected TV pitch (which I've been known to do), it's always as a short story or novelette.

 

[Christopher]

^ Absolutely. Novels need way more plot than a 50-minute TV episode, which is why is when I repurpose a rejected TV pitch (which I've been known to do), it's always as a short story or novelette.

I've found it's possible to expand an idea greatly. The first half of Orion's Hounds was based on a Voyager episode pitch and Strange New Worlds short-story submission. I just explored the concept in a lot more depth and then explored where the story went next. (Similarly to how the first half of my original novel Arachne's Crime is expanded from my first published story.)

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I've found it's possible to expand an idea greatly.

And of course, ADF could (and presumably still can, if so inclined) do so brilliantly, as evidenced by Log Seven through Log Ten each being based on a single 20-odd-minute TAS script.

(Anybody here up for a jawanda hunt? Or to track down the thief of the true Tam Paupa?)

 

[JD]

Yeah, reading it I can't really pick out anything that makes me think it could have been developed further without just being 'fluff' or some secondary story going on at the same time. It was good just the way it is. Probably part of it was that it was a post-TFF story, and I can't get enough of those Christopher seemed to have taken up the post-TMP mantle with his Ex Machine series. Maybe he'll continue that to the post-TFF time period at some point in the future

But your comment made me think of novels in general. I know sometimes I've thought of them as just episodes of the series, but in reality, they are probably more like mini-series. When I think of A Contest of Principles, for instance, there's no way I can see that fitting into a 45-50 minute episode. At minimum it'd probably take up to 3-2 hour segments to cover the plot. Ditto for many other novels. Whereas Miasma could likely adapted to a 1 hour show.

That's one of the things I love about the novellas, they capture the feel of an episode better than the novels do. I love the novels, but to in order to reach novel length they have to go a lot bigger than a typical episode would,. Their shorter length means the novellas have a scale that's more in line with a typical episode.

 

[Christopher]

That's one of the things I love about the novellas, they capture the feel of an episode better than the novels do. I love the novels, but to in order to reach novel length they have to go a lot bigger than a typical episode would,. Their shorter length means the novellas have a scale that's more in line with a typical episode.

See, I always kinda thought that was the appeal of novels -- that they were bigger and deeper than you could get in an episode, that they let you experience the universe in a new and different way.

 

[JD]

Yeah, that's my favorite thing about the novels, but sometimes it's nice to get a smaller scale story.

 

[Damian]

See, I always kinda thought that was the appeal of novels -- that they were bigger and deeper than you could get in an episode, that they let you experience the universe in a new and different way.

Yeah, I love that about novels. But as JD noted, it's nice to get a quick read now and again too. Variety is the spice of life .

Miasma was one of those. While a small part of me would love to have seen more...in all honestly I can't see anything that could use more development. At the end of the day it was a good length for the story.

I guess that's probably what it really comes down to. What kind of story the author wants to tell and how they want to accomplish it. In this case the length worked for the story and nothing more was really needed.

And sometimes it's nice to have a Star Trek story you could knock out in a short period of time. Something good to read while you're travelling somewhere say.