Trek Literature Adaptation

[Vger23]

All of the mixed feelings around Trek’s “inability” to hit a home run with the serialized format begs a different type of question:

Would it be interesting to see an outright adaptation of some Trek literature…like a novel or series of novels? Many have observed that shows like GOT or Expanse are great serialized efforts, but primarily because they are based on books.

Thoughts?

Are there Treklit efforts that could feasibly be adapted that you’d like to see?

 

[DonIago]

I think "feasibly" is the part where things get complicated. How can a DS9 novel feasibly be adapted at this point without recasting?

Sure, I'd love to see the Destiny trilogy on film, but it would never happen, and if it did, it might be a bad effort, and I'd rather they not try than do a bad job of it.

 

[Vger23]

I’ve wondered if, with use of some existing casting and new casting, that you couldn’t adapt David Goodman’s “Autobiography James T. Kirk”

You also have the New Frontier book series (which I haven’t read)

 

[FederationHistorian]

What can be adapted for live action besides the Vanguard series, the Stargazer series, and a handful of The Lost Era novels?

The Romulan War/Rise of the Federation series, Titan series, Department of Temporal Investigations series and IKS Gorkon series could be adapted too, if there was any interest in animation.

 

[somebuddyX]

They could go the Doctor Who route and adapt some stories to other crews ie ""Jubilee" to "Dalek", "Human Nature" "Human Nature/Family of Blood." TNG tried it with "The Wounded Sky" for "Where No One Has Gone Before" which was a TOS story to TNG. SNW, Lower Decks, Picard, and Discovery could all have a go at "Invasion!" SNW could do "Q-Squared" and bring in Kelvin timeline. Two Spocks instead of three Datas? Or have Peck also play Mirror Spock or Simon Grayson. Discovery could do Voyager "Echoes." Marvel has mined it's stories for a while and shown it can be done, no matter what the finished product is like, well I guess any film adaptation of a book has shown it can be done really. There's novel writers involved with live action production but is there still like a disconnect, like for a long while the divide between TV and film? And is it rights/fees issues? The villain of Discovery Season 2 started as a novel villain though, right? Hmmm.

 

[Christopher]

TNG tried it with "The Wounded Sky" for "Where No One Has Gone Before" which was a TOS story to TNG.

Well, it's not that TNG's makers sought out the novel for adaptation, just that Diane Duane and Michael Reaves chose to pitch them a story based on Duane's novel. Indeed, TNG's staff rewrote it so heavily that it bore almost no resemblance to the novel.

Similarly, Dennis Bailey & David Bischoff adapted their non-Trek science fiction novel Tin Woodman into the episode "Tin Man." And of course, in the animated series, Larry Niven adapted his Known Space novella "The Soft Weapon" as "The Slaver Weapon."

There's novel writers involved with live action production but is there still like a disconnect, like for a long while the divide between TV and film? And is it rights/fees issues?

No, Trek novels are work-for-hire. Everything we write is completely owned by the studio, since we're contractors working on their behalf when we write it. So they can use whatever concepts or characters they want. It's just that they have plenty of ideas of their own already and don't need to turn to the novels or comics for material.

The villain of Discovery Season 2 started as a novel villain though, right? Hmmm.

It's more like the villain of DSC season 2 was loosely inspired by the idea of the novel villain. According to David Mack, creator of the novel version:

Kirsten had mentioned Control as an AI running Section 31, in the room while they were planning Season 2, and the idea, once in the mix, took on a life of its own.

 

[DonIago]

I hope the idea of Control taking on a life of its own was intentional phrasing on Mr. Mack's part, but it's nice phrasing either way.

 

[Orphalesion]

No thanks.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Here's another idea.

Take the mirror universe trilogy - Glass Empires ,Obsidian Alliances, & Shards and Shadows – and pair them with the Dark Passions duology series. And include the novel Rise Like Lions, DIS comic series Succession, the New Frontier comic series Turnaround, TNG comic series Mirror Broken, and the VOY comic Mirrors & Smoke, and there’s a new animated series right there involving characters from the first six live action series. It could be called Tales of the Terran Empire.

 

[Vger23]

I’d love to see @Greg Cox Eugenics Wars Trilogy adapted into a mini-series.

 

[FederationHistorian]

What if there was a Nan Bacco miniseries, for those that want a West Wing style series?

A Time for War, A Time for Peace, Articles of the Federation, & Coda all exist as source material. Although Coda is more for a splinter timeline.

I know that Lower Decks is dealing with the 2380s decade, but for those that prefer live action, maybe a Nan Bacco 10-part miniseres could fill the void. and offer a different take on the events between VOY/NEM and PIC.

 

[Sci]

What if there was a Nan Bacco miniseries, for those that want a West Wing style series?

A Time for War, A Time for Peace, Articles of the Federation, & Coda all exist as source material. Although Coda is more for a splinter timeline.

I know that Lower Decks is dealing with the 2380s decade, but for those that prefer live action, maybe a Nan Bacco 10-part miniseres could fill the void. and offer a different take on the events between VOY/NEM and PIC.

I would love to see an adaptation of Nan Bacco and Articles of the Federation on Paramount+. I'm not sure there's enough material for ten episodes... Articles is episodic enough that I could see a two-hour made-for-streaming movie rather than a full miniseries per se, with each act corresponding to the different sections of the book.

I wouldn't draw upon Coda; honestly there's on much there to draw upon politics-wise. I would draw upon A Singular Destiny and the high politics elements from Destiny, Typhon Pact, Cold Equations, and The Fall instead.

I think one way to adapt Bacco for the new canon would be to depict her as being elected in the wake of Jean-Luc Picard exposing the Zhat Vash's responsibility for the Mars Attack and the progressive reforms abolishing the laws against sentient synths. Maybe she gets elected as a rejection of anti-Romulan/anti-Synth bigotry in the wake of the Battle of Coppelius.

 

[F. King Daniel]

A live action New Frontier would be interesting.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder if Gell Kamemor survived the destruction of Romulus...if so, I'd love to see her turn up onscreen (played by Jenn Colella from COME FROM AWAY).

Or, if she didn't survive, actually SHOW the disaster and have Kamemor sacrifice herself.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Vanguard is practically made for prestige television. (Almost literally, even... didn't the authors say that it was envisioned as what a Star Trek series would be like as an HBO show?)

And because it's an all new group of characters, you wouldn't have to worry about recasting. OK, there are a couple USS Enterprise guest appearances, but you could either exclude them from the adaptation entirely, or use the performers for the TOS characters who have appeared in SNW.