TV/film characters vs. Treklit characters

[F. King Daniel]

The Trek novelverse has grown to encompass countless new characters. Some I like, others.... not so much.

Since reading Rough Beasts of Empire I've been thinking about Spock, and what a legend he is, both in-universe and out. Now, obviously, no Treklit character will ever become a household name. But do you think there ever will be an original Treklit character who can, in the eyes of the novel-reading fans at least, measure up to on-screen Trek's greatest characters? Or do you think that's already the case?

 

[ryan123450]

Mac Calhoun, Elias Vaughn, Christine Vale, and Nan Bacco are at least as interesting and important as some of the main characters from the shows. I'm betting on Afsarah Eden to reach that point very soon as well.

 

[JD]

I'd say that pretty much all of the characters from the DS9R, Vanguard, TNGR, Titan, and the TNGR are just as big a part of the Trek universe for me as any of the screen characters.

 

[Mr Silver]

I don't really know, the thing is that Treklit isn't exposed to as many people as the live action productions are. That being said, when novels such as Peter David's "Vendetta" make the NYT bestseller list, that's when Treklit has the best chance of reaching out to a bigger audience.

There is also the idea that very few of Treklit original characters have made any kind of impact. Sure, anyone who reads the novels from time to time will recognise names such as Mackenzie Calhoun, Christine Vale, Jasminder Choudhary and Nan Bacco, but that doesn't mean to say they are extremely popular characters. That's really the point of discussion here - characters in Treklit becoming as popular as those in live action Trek.

Some characters have become so popular that they've been featured as the focal point for novels, despite having a brief appearance in one episode. Examples include, Dulmer and Lucsly - who were the main characters of the recent (and excellent) DTI: Watching the Clock.

I would say that some characters leave a more lasting impression than others and I guess the popularity has to begin with the authors of TrekLit, recognising a particular popularity of a character and liking that character enough themselves to be willing to write about them and serve the demand. In live action Trek, the characters of O'Brien and Bashir were so popular, that everyone wanted to write scenes for them together because they shared great chemistry and were two of the most popular characters in the show, individually as well.

 

[RaymondJames]

Not enough people read as it is and even less for Trek Lit but there are some great characters out there. Sadly characters that I like such as T'Lana or Jaxa get killed off or in the case of Ranul Keru, they get fully screwed over and end up in the shadows.

 

[DarKush]

It's an interesting question. It made me think immediately of the Star Wars EU, with characters like Thrawn, Mara Jade, or the Solo kids. I don't think there are any Trek Lit. characters thus far that have become as popular or influential as some of the SW lit. characters have to SW readers.

Calhoun and Vaughn (esp. with how he has been threaded throughout the Lost Era) probably are the closest.

 

[zarkon]

Calhoun is the only one who has really reached that point for me.

Helps that he's been written almost exclusively by his creator for fourteen years, into a series that has generally been of very high quality and that he was created for that series - not parachuted in to fit a gap in an existing one.

 

[Christopher]

There is also the idea that very few of Treklit original characters have made any kind of impact. Sure, anyone who reads the novels from time to time will recognise names such as Mackenzie Calhoun, Christine Vale, Jasminder Choudhary and Nan Bacco, but that doesn't mean to say they are extremely popular characters. That's really the point of discussion here - characters in Treklit becoming as popular as those in live action Trek.

No, that's not the point of dicussion. KingDaniel's original post acknowledged that the novel characters would never be "household names," and thus asked only if there were novel characters who were as well-loved among novel readers as the canonical characters.

 

[Timewalker]

Diane Duane created some memorable and beloved characters. Ael and Naraht (the Horta crewmember who Ael refers to as "Ensign Rock") are my favorites.

 

[DarKush]

I think the possibilities of the recent connected universe among Trek literature might make the creation of beloved characters to rival the TV shows and movies more possible. In the past, when you had a lot of disconnected, one shot novels, there wasn't a lot of opportunity to revisit characters and build them up so that they could become beloved.

Now I think there is an opportunity to do that due to characters we can revisit, perhaps even see show up in the other series's books, etc.

 

[Therin of Andor]

For me, Naraht the horta, perhaps Harb Tanzer, definitely Mac Calhoun, Ensign Janos, Nan Bacco, the Andorians Shar and Cray, and Dr Evan Wilson, have been indelible, significant characters I've enjoyed as much as any canonical ST characters.

I really hope Peter David revisits Cray. That guy was eeeeeeeeeeeevil.

 

[Mr Silver]

That's really the point of discussion here - characters in Treklit becoming as popular as those in live action Trek.

No, that's not the point of dicussion. KingDaniel's original post acknowledged that the novel characters would never be "household names," and thus asked only if there were novel characters who were as well-loved among novel readers as the canonical characters.

Well, it kind of is, and I raised that point since live action Star Trek characters are being used as the benchmark on which to judge popularity - which was stated by the OP.

do you think there ever will be an original Treklit character who can, in the eyes of the novel-reading fans at least, measure up to on-screen Trek's greatest characters? Or do you think that's already the case?

Live action Star Trek is the most popular form of media from that Star Trek franchise. It will always be that way, because Star Trek originated as a TV show.

 

[Christopher]

^But look at the part of KD's sentence just before the one you highlighted. "In the eyes of the novel-reading fans at least." He made it explicit that he was asking whether novel-readers found any of the novel characters to be just as important to them as the screen characters. He was not asking if the novel characters could ever be as popular among the general public as the screen characters, because that's obviously not possible so the question doesn't even need to be asked.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It will always be that way, because Star Trek originated as a TV show.

The media tie-ins are purchased by approx. 1% of the viewing audience.

 

[Paris]

The Trek novelverse has grown to encompass countless new characters. Some I like, others.... not so much.

Since reading Rough Beasts of Empire I've been thinking about Spock, and what a legend he is, both in-universe and out. Now, obviously, no Treklit character will ever become a household name. But do you think there ever will be an original Treklit character who can, in the eyes of the novel-reading fans at least, measure up to on-screen Trek's greatest characters? Or do you think that's already the case?

I think it's already the case. Mac Calhoun, Elias Vaughn, and Nan Bacco definitely "measure up" IMHO

 

[F. King Daniel]

One thing I forgot to say in the OP: Although I don't believe that Treklit had yet come up with equals to my most favourite ongoing TV/film Trek characters, it very much has featured supporting characters, one-offs and recurring characters at least the equal of those in TV/film Trek. From the TOS crewmembers added by Diane Duane and J.M. Dillard to the New Frontier cast to Mike Ford's Krenn to Captain April's crew and friends from Diane Carey or Christopher's DTI group or villains like Adrik Thorsen, there are a lot of very memorable characters out there.