What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write it?

[Sho]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Finally, if you can say why you would like someone to write, that would be great!

I mentioned Donaldson because I consider him exceptionally talented at creating original characters with complex, multi-facetted psyches and putting them in interesting and dynamic relationships and situations with each other. Moreoever, his characters are not static, they always grow and change, sometimes violently so, sometimes very gradually. I have only rarely encountered people who do not exist yet seems so real, and few works have made me feel so intensely as his magnificent space opera, the Gap Cycle.

Accordingly, I see Donaldson not writing one of the show's cast of characters, but rather new ones. He would be ideally suited to penning a mini-series the likes of Vanguard, for example.

Generally speaking, I enjoy two types of stories: Those which are dominantly character-driven and those which are dominantly idea-driven (i.e. science, technology, sociology, linguistics, etc.). Donaldson's works are chiefly in the former category. While the Gap Cycle is wonderful in every other way, its world building aspects are merely servicable. The Gap Cycle universe is sophisticated enough to serve its cast of characters, but it's not remarkable by itself. It was clearly not a great focus of the author. That's why I think a shared universe like the Trek one would serve Donaldson well: It would allow him to latch onto work done by others and rely on the readers' familiarity with the universe (in the Gap Cycle, he occassionally breaks up the narrative with faux encyclopedia entries on in-universe technology to get the exposition on mechanisms of the universe out of the way ...), allowing him to focus on what he does best, and better than perhaps any other.

Furthermore, Donaldson is not a cynical writer. His characters sometimes are cynics, but the tale never leaves their cynicism unchallenged. His characters will at times be cruel, or have cruel things done to them, but it doesn't happen without reason or consequence. He will write maturely and realistically about evils and tragedy in the world, but clearly does not believe evil to be an inherent or unfixable aspect of it. I believe he could write beautiful Star Trek.

 

[Relayer1]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

> So why so few other-genre writers?

For good reason - other genre writers probably struggle to convince with Sci-Fi, misunderstand it, or think they are doing something fabulously original when they are just rehashing old concepts.

Case in point - RTD did a fabulous job as showrunner bringing back Dr Who, and for the most part wrote the characters very well but dropped the ball badly when it came to a lot of the sci-fi. And he was a big fan !

 

[Sci]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Case in point - RTD did a fabulous job as showrunner bringing back Dr Who, and for the most part wrote the characters very well but dropped the ball badly when it came to a lot of the sci-fi.

In what sense?

That reminds me, though -- it would be lovely to see Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat write for Star Trek. Though I suspect they might prefer to write for TV Trek rather than Trek Lit.

 

[JD]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I know he's no longer with us, but I would have loved to see what Douglas Adams could have done in the Trek Universe.

 

[WarsTrek1993]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Michael Stackpole-For a space battle-heavy book. (Because he's awesome at writing space scenes).

Tom Clancy would be interesting (But it won't ever happen).

 

[Sho]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Hm, a second mention of Clancy. I've never read a book by him, but doesn't Clancy have a reputation for writing fairly low-brow, militaristic in tone, primarily action-oriented and formulaic books? Doesn't seem like a good fit for a more cerebral franchise like Trek. Since he's an outspoken political conservative I also can't imagine him being drawn to it.

 

[David Mack]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

While I'm not at all a fan of Mister Clancy's politics, his fiction was one of my inspirations when I wrote my first two novels, A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal.

Also, Diane Carey was an outspoken political conservative (and now a politician with a libertarian bent), and she authored more than a few fairly influential and well-regarded Star Trek novels in her day.

 

[Sho]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

While I'm not at all a fan of Mister Clancy's politics, his fiction was one of my inspirations when I wrote my first two novels, A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal.

Hm, I haven't read A Time To ... yet (scheduled for soon after Vanguard though, so at some point later this year). Could you elaborate on which aspects of Clancy's writing inspired you?

Also, Diane Carey was an outspoken political conservative (and now a politician with a libertarian bent), and she authored more than a few fairly influential and well-regarded Star Trek novels in her day.

Truth be told, I'll admit to frequently being proven wrong about just what views people can reconcile with a love for Star Trek. Just recently there was an interesting thread over in the TNG forum were some people were quite outspoken in favor of capital punishment, which I would have at least thought very unlikely in a Trek fan given how strongly and frequently it objects to the idea. I'd imagine if I had such views I'd be constantly annoyed and going "bah, humbug" watching it or something .

 

[Sci]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Hm, a second mention of Clancy. I've never read a book by him, but doesn't Clancy have a reputation for writing fairly low-brow, militaristic in tone, primarily action-oriented and formulaic books? Doesn't seem like a good fit for a more cerebral franchise like Trek. Since he's an outspoken political conservative I also can't imagine him being drawn to it.

Well, yes and no. Clancy's books are action-oriented, yes, but that's not a sign of poor writing. He is a conservative, but he's not a Rick Santorum-style conservative, or even a Bush-style conservative, per se -- he was opposed to the Iraq War, IIRC.

I don't think anyone would claim that he's one of the greatest writers in history, but he's not awful, either. He has some vivid characters, even if he does fall into the sin of wishful thinking in his depiction of how politics would work if we could just get some "good" people in it. But his depictions of the military and intelligence subcultures tend to be very vivid (if also flattering), and his characters aren't utterly two-dimensional. Some of his politics can be a bit troubling lately -- his notion of a self-funded government agency that specializes in counter-terrorism and is accountable to no one bothers me a lot. But his early stuff could be quite good, and focused on things that most people could agree on -- like, the Soviet Union was bad, etc. And his insights into international relations can be good; sometimes he falls into the Aaron Sorkin-esque "we can fix this" thinking that's a little too idealistic to be realistic, but his depictions of international relations aren't pure jingoism, either.

All in all, he's a fun writer, and some of his early stuff is quite good. The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger come to mind. I could see him writing a good Star Trek book -- probably TOS, Federation-vs-Klingons type stuff.

 

[Sho]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I could see him writing a good Star Trek book -- probably TOS, Federation-vs-Klingons type stuff.

Yeah, I suppose I can see how that could work if it's mostly plot-focussed. Something about technology that either can't fall into enemy hands or already has and must be recovered, covert ops, cat and mouse games between the Enterprise and Klingon ships, etc. Probably not something I'd go seek out, but falls into the scope of the franchise pretty well after all I guess.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I could see him writing a good Star Trek book -- probably TOS, Federation-vs-Klingons type stuff.

Yeah, I suppose I can see how that could work if it's mostly plot-focussed. Something about technology that either can't fall into enemy hands or already has and must be recovered, covert ops, cat and mouse games between the Enterprise and Klingon ships, etc. Probably not something I'd go seek out, but falls into the scope of the franchise pretty well after all I guess.

Exactly. "Balance of Terror" (and several other Trek eps) were basically submarine thrillers, not unlike The Hunt for Red October.

(I admit I studied Clancy's books when I wrote my Terminator novel.)

 

[David Mack]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

While I'm not at all a fan of Mister Clancy's politics, his fiction was one of my inspirations when I wrote my first two novels, A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal.

Hm, I haven't read A Time To ... yet (scheduled for soon after Vanguard though, so at some point later this year). Could you elaborate on which aspects of Clancy's writing inspired you?

Principally, the way in which military technology and tactics were incorporated into his narratives with great verisimilitude. Although my approach to their integration into prose differs from his, I was intrigued by how vivid his depictions of the technology and its effects were, and how that gave his action sequences a heightened sense of reality.

 

[Sho]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Thanks David. FWIW, if that's what you're going for in your action sequences, I think you're certainly hitting those marks today (having just recently read Harbinger and its terrific centerpiece space battle). Looking forward to a good romp in A Time to Kill/Heal .

 

[Destructor]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Tom Clancy

Funny- I was going to say the same thing. I'd find this quite fascinating. I know Clancy writes 'airplane books' (books you read on the plane), but within that arena they are actually quite intelligent and thoughtful- and they don't focus solely on the military, they have a strong political and espionage side, as well.

+1 to the Alistair Reynolds votes, as well, although I'm not sure hard sci-fi and Trek mix very well, I do love it when Trek gets basic science facts right!

 

[David Mack]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Thanks David. FWIW, if that's what you're going for in your action sequences, I think you're certainly hitting those marks today (having just recently read Harbinger and its terrific centerpiece space battle). Looking forward to a good romp in A Time to Kill/Heal .

I think you'll really enjoy those two books. Despite being my first novels, they still rank among my favorite of all my published work, right after Destiny and Wildfire.

 

[Mysterion]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I think if Tom Clancy wrote a Trek book it would turn out a lot like Peter Morwood's Rules of Engagement, which I think may have been influenced by Clancy just a bit.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I know he's no longer with us, but I would have loved to see what Douglas Adams could have done in the Trek Universe.

Second this. Although, I've always thought that PAD's hillarious Strike Zone was pretty close to what a Douglas Adams Trek book would be like.

 

[Sci]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

I could see him writing a good Star Trek book -- probably TOS, Federation-vs-Klingons type stuff.

Yeah, I suppose I can see how that could work if it's mostly plot-focussed. Something about technology that either can't fall into enemy hands or already has and must be recovered, covert ops, cat and mouse games between the Enterprise and Klingon ships, etc. Probably not something I'd go seek out, but falls into the scope of the franchise pretty well after all I guess.

You might wanna give the film version of The Hunt for Red October a shot. It's a good movie. Not Earth-shatteringly brilliant or anything, but a good naval thriller.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Clancy... I don't think anyone would claim that he's one of the greatest writers in history, but he's not awful, either.

Different strokes and all that, but I have to disagree. I was given a copy of Hunt for Red October by a secret admirer (who never revealed him/herself to me. Kinda weird) back when it was newly out in paperback. I read it, and thought that, on a sentence-by-sentence basis, it was one of the worst-written books I'd ever come across. I loathed every paragraph -- not only for its glorification of war and death, but for the abysmal writing. I've never read anything else by Clancy. Hope his prose has improved, if only for the sake of his many readers.

Anyway, I passed that copy onto my dad (not a big reader) and he loved it. It was subsequently passed along to both my brothers (who don't read at all) and they also thought it was the best thing since, well, ever.

Shows what I know

 

[nickyboy]

Re: What authors (who do not write Trek lit) would you like to write i

Chris Wooding