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TREK BOOK reboot?

Should TREK BOOKS/MOVIES be unified (ditch old TREK universe)

  • Yes..I love what has come before, but this must be done..it is time

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Have you lost your mind? Why ruin a good thing?

    Votes: 25 89.3%

  • Let me think about this...it has its ups and downs for now...

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
RobertScorpio

RobertScorpio

Pariah
In the SHOULD PARAMOUNT TAKE OVER we are discussing whether or not there should be some kind of real effort to make the TREK books 'canon' in the same way the STAR WARS books are...

We all know that the TREK authors, some of whom frequest this board, have done some great work, and I mean great work. But I still think the series would benefit from a reboot and this is how I would do it..

Reboot the series back to where the new movie ends next year...and any book that comes after that point would be 'canon'. Star Wars books do good job with this since there is an effort to only do books that actually 'count'.

This would mean that any TNG-DS9, or even any TOS books, that take place after the events of the new movie are actually, now, in what would be the 'old' TREK universe. And that would mean, essentially, no new books from that old universe would be published ever again...

Yes, I know. This means only TOS centric books but, so what? According to my well place source TOS books still outsell the TNG-DS9 books to this very day.

So now the poll...

Are you in favor of a STAR TREK BOOK UNIVERSE reboot and that any book that comes out must be approved by some centralized authority and would, then, be considered canon by any future books, and more importantly, the current movie series, which at best, will spawn off three sequels...so FOUR movies and any books would now all take place in the same unified universe...

Rob
Scorpio
 
Every book does have to be approved by a centralized authority -- CBS Licensing. But it's been explained to you already why it isn't remotely a good or practical idea to expect the producers of onscreen Trek to be beholden to the tie-in novels.
 
No no no no no no. I don't understand why this is such a big deal, as long as the books are good it really doesn't matter whether they are "canon" or not. And I don't think you're going to be able to change anyone elses minds, so you might as well give it a rest with these threads.
 
You think the SW books are canon? I've got two words for you: Clone Wars.

Do a Google search and find out how much SW fans are having collective aneurisms as I type this. :)
 
Good point, you can tell just by watching the trailers that it is not taking the books or comics into account.
 
Star Wars books are not actually canon. It's a myth, pure and simple...

Yes, there are a series of books that remain consistent with each other (what happens to one of the characters in one book affects that same character in its chronological sequel.) However, they are not canon in the way that you want them to be, whatever Lucasfilm might claim. They have been given the title 'canon', but for them truly to be a part of canon (and I'm getting sick typing the word so many times) they must be treated with the same respect as the filmed material.

But, I'll hear you say, look at how some concepts from the books made it in to the films! What about 'Heir to the Empire' you will say, which established the capital planet of the Star Wars Universe as Coruscant? And which was revealed on screen years later by George Lucas. Doesn't that prove that the Star Wars books are canon?

No. It's just easier for the illusion of canon to be maintained in the Star Wars Universe, because there are only six movies. Star Wars books are not treated with the same respect as on-screen material, therefore they are not truly canon. From the very same trilogy of books I draw my examples... Look at the description of the Clone Wars provided in the Thrawn trilogy, and see how different everything turned out in the actual movie depictions. If the Star Wars novels had truly been canon, then their depiction of the Clone Wars (Spaarti Cylinders and all) should have been respected. It wasn't. Therefore you work from a false premise.

Star Wars books are not canon, because George Lucas does not treat them as such. What they are is mutually consistent with each other, with one book having an effect on the next. They just don't get as obviously violated as often, because Star Wars is 6 movies, whereas Star Trek is a 40 year legacy of TV shows and movies.

Therefore, Star Trek and Star Wars books are almost exactly alike, particularly in the current era. Star Trek books have an internal consistency, with all of the Relaunches, the Lost Era, the book-only series, displaying the same high level of internal consistency which the Star Wars books display.

This shows that the current line of Star Trek and Star Wars books have just as much internal consistency, and worth. If Star Wars books are considered canon by you, and I have shown that Star Trek books are identical to Star Wars books (minus the marketing label), I have shown that if Star Wars books are canon, you may think about Star Trek books in exactly the same way.

I think I just solved it... If Star Wars books are canon, then so are Star Trek books. It's just that the creators will continue to ignore those works (see all the Star Wars examples of books being ignored on-screen) of canon (which becomes a meaningless word as a result, by the by) whenever they see fit.

So should there be a book reboot to promote canon? Hell. No. It wouldn't change anything - I have already displayed Star Trek books have just as much internal consistency as Star Wars books do. They are functionally (though not in label) identical.

We may now rest easy. The canon debate is solved.

Right....?


Right............?
 
Personally, I think that even if the new movie were rebooting the universe into a whole new continuity, there would be no reason to stop doing novels in the old continuity. If Marvel can do its original universe and its Ultimate universe and its kid-oriented universe all running side by side, why shouldn't Pocket be able to run more than one Trek book continuity, if that were needed?

And since the new movie probably isn't going to be in a new continuity, just a slightly detail-tweaked and updated version of what's meant to be the same continuity (which is no different from what previous series and films have done -- The Wrath of Khan has so many continuity hiccups it could be called The Wrath of Retcon), there's even less reason for abandoning the current book continuity. We'll just take whatever new info the movie provides and begin folding it into the existing book continuity.
 
No to any reboot in book or live action. Books are good if they have consequences that won't be wiped clean by the next one. If you want to reboot it you might aswell make the characters superhuman beings that never die.
 
Dayton Ward said:
You think the SW books are canon? I've got two words for you: Clone Wars.

Do a Google search and find out how much SW fans are having collective aneurisms as I type this. :)
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't say I was in favor of this. I think it would be an interesting idea, but I think it would box in the movies, or future shows, that Paramount would never allow....

But as for the star wars fans? I have a friend who is with out a doubt the biggest star wars fan I know. He has over 60000 $ in stars wars 'stuff'. And he laughs at your response. Yes, some fans have issue with the books. But for the most part, the Star Wars books do have a continuity...

I don't know, I don't read them...but if he says its so..then I believe him because he lives and breathes star wars..

Rob
Scorpio
 
JoeZhang said:
Didn't we just do this thread?
Click to expand...

Yes..but someone suggested a poll on the issue..so I did one...And its clear that the star trek fans on this board would not be in favor of any reboot of the books...which is cool with me either way. I like the books as well..

But..then again..I don't know. There is definately no 'mobilized' thought to them in that in some books you have some characters dead, and in other books they are stil alive. You have Shatner's books that totally crisscross every where..and then you have books like Crucible that would imply Shatner's books didn't happen...

I guess we just have to assume that some of the trek books take place in the myriad of multiple universes there are....which is fine with me. But I could see the confusion some have with them..

Rob
Scorpio
 
The new The Clone Wars TV show is almost entirely ignoring all of the comics, novels, and cartoon that already took place between Episodes II and III. Which pretty much puts paid to the notion that any of them were canonical. (Well: the TV show is "T-canon" and the other merchansdising is "C-canon" or somesuch.) TheForce.Net has a 63-page thread about the impending "continuity implosion"; look it up.
 
RobertScorpio said:
But as for the star wars fans? I have a friend who is with out a doubt the biggest star wars fan I know. He has over 60000 $ in stars wars 'stuff'. And he laughs at your response. Yes, some fans have issue with the books. But for the most part, the Star Wars books do have a continuity...
Click to expand...

Nobody's denying that the SW books have a continuity. The point is that Lucas's filmed material does not conform to that continuity, therefore that continuity is not canonical.

The problem many fans have is that they just don't understand what the word "canon" means. They think it's synonymous with "continuity." It is not. A canon is simply an original body of work as distinct from derivative works by other creators or in other media. So the question of whether a tie-in line has a continuity within itself is separate from the question of whether it's part of the canon.
 
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