What is happening with Star Trek literature?

[Lynx]

I'm getting worried when I read reviews of recent Trek literature.

I was very angry when I discovered that

Spoiler: Second Self

Una McCormack destroyed Garak and made him look like an idiot in the book Second Self before killing him off.

Now I have found out that in the Kathryn Janeway Biography

Spoiler: The Kathryn Janeway Biography

Chakotay, Paris, Tuvok and The Doctor leaves Starfleet, Janeway moves to Ireland where she gets pregnant with herself!

What I find in those books are downright crap and nothing else!

So what in the world is going on? Why is Una mcCormack doing that? Or is it some directed actions from above that the popular and beloved characters from TNG, DS9 and VOY are going to be wiped out to make room för the newer characters from the series made after 2001 or what?

Is the 24th century about to be dumped from TrekLit by making the events in the books so horrible that no one will read about the 24th century anymore?

So wnat will happen next?

Spoiler: Potential story ideas

Will Picard be killed off and Riker end up in prison? Will Kira commit suicide after discovering that she actually is a Cardassian?

What will happen to Bashir? What splendid surprises in character destruction will TrekLit and ongoing TV series give us in the near future.

I'm worried for Star Trek. If the current trend with character destruction, doom-and-gloom and erasing of what was built up in the 80's and 90's continues, then Star trek will lose all the popularity it once had.

I would like to know if there are any decent Star trek books out there and any decent Star trek author who writes books about the 24th century where favorite characters from TNG, DS9 and VOY aren't killed off or ruined in some way and where the scenarios aren't so dark as they seem to be in every TV series, movie or book than they are today?

 

[Mage]

Now I have found out that in the Kathryn Janeway Biography

Spoiler: The Kathryn Janeway Biography

Chakotay, Paris, Tuvok and The Doctor leaves Starfleet, Janeway moves to Ireland where she gets pregnant with herself!

Wait what? Is there some nuance missing here?

 

[Markonian]

I can recommend the Star Trek: Voyager relaunch novels by Kirsten Beyer, though you could start with Homecoming, In Beyer’s novels, our beloved characters do go through crises but they emerge with personal growth and in a better place.

Wait what? Is there some nuance missing here?

I just re-read the section. When Janeway’s sister and mother believed her dead, they used her frozen eggs to create an extra daughter for Phoebe.

 

[Charles Phipps]

SECOND SELF was awesome and I don't know what you're talking about.

The PICARD novels are some of the best that Trek has ever done, IMHO.

However, I admit we're all waiting for the thing that will change TrekLIt forever.

...

Lower Decks novels.

 

[Smiley]

The 80's and 90's Trek series are getting less attention now while the newer series are coming out with more episodes.

One book I would recommend from recent years is DS9: Revenant. It fits very well with where the characters are at in the series and tells a cool story.

In the world of Discovery, Fear Itself and The Way to the Stars are both excellent. I don't really watch the show, but the books gave me everything I needed to understand them.

 

[Boo-khat!]

I used to be a voracious ST novel reader. Then at some point about 10 or so years ago I just lost interest in them and stopped reading completely. Nothing to do with the books or authors; it was just a life change I suppose (although since I'm an audiobook narrator, it probably got to the point where reading for pleasure just went away.)

But as far as the content of the books? That never bothered me, because I knew they were non-canon. I think Janeway even died or something at one point, and it didn't make a lick of difference to me.

The novels were a fun aside (and a few of them were quite good), but that's really all they are: an aside. That's not in any way a disrespect to the authors, but getting riled up about something in a novel is not on my energy-draining radar.

 

[David cgc]

Now I have found out that in the Kathryn Janeway Biography

Spoiler: The Kathryn Janeway Biography

Chakotay, Paris, Tuvok and The Doctor leaves Starfleet, Janeway moves to Ireland where she gets pregnant with herself!

You really need to choose between avoiding the books and complaining about them, because the current approach isn’t doing you any favors.

So wnat will happen next?

Spoiler: Potential story idea

Will Picard be killed off and Riker end up in prison?

Well…

Spoiler: Potential story idea

Will Kira commit suicide after discovering that she actually is a Cardassian?

Not exactly…

What will happen to Bashir?

Oh, boy.

 

[bok2384]

I have to agree with David cgc on this one. I notice that your opinion was formed by reading reviews of the novels rather than actually reading them yourself. Perhaps reading them could give you a greater context for why these things happened. I made a similar mistake years ago when I'd read that Sisko had abandoned Kassidy Yates and Sarah in Rough Beasts of Empire, I was appalled, but reading that novel and subsequent novels made me appreciate that decision.

As for the destruction of Garak's character in Second Self, I was completely unaware of this development as I haven't read it though. I'm intrigued to read it though, considering the massive love and respect that Una McCormack has for Garak as a character. After all, she carries a figure of Garak everywhere she goes and posts on her social media, so I don't think she'd do anything to destroy the character so thoroughly. Perhaps, I'm wrong, I'll have to read that novel next.

 

[The Ghoul Next Door]

So, so much to unpack here.

First of all, you basically cross-posted this exact thread here and Future of Trek. Sure, you customized it a bit here and there, but a lot of it was copy-paste. That's spamming, and you should know better. You could have actually avoided that by having a strict separation between the literature thread and the show/movie thread, but you couldn't resist complaining about the books in the other thread too, so here we are.

(Not to mention all your posts in this forum are basically the same complaint. But if we gave out warnings for "beating a dead horse" around here... well, there would be a lot more warnings. But you certainly have a lot of complaints about a series of books that you claim not to have read in the last 15 years.)

A couple of your "what will happen next" questions could be considered story ideas, so I have spoiler-coded them. (I have also spoiler-coded them in @David cgc 's post replying to them.)

And finally...

Has Una McCormack gone totally insane or into some destructive mode

Since Dr. McCormack is a member here, you are firmly planting yourself in flaming territory. You are allowed to criticize the work, not attack the author. Rhetorically insinuating that an author and fellow poster has severe mental health issues is in no way a valid literary criticism, and I am issuing you an infraction for flaming. Comments to PM.

And before you try to claim that it was only a "minor" flame, or since you phrased it as a question, you weren't "really" saying that about her: note that I have reviewed your report history. It has revealed a pattern of you bending the rules or breaking them outright, but only getting a friendly. But you have racked up a number of friendlies at this point. I've already had to give you a friendly for trolling and spamming on this same day. In addition, since you double-posted this thread, you basically posted the claim against Dr. McCormack twice. Based on all this, I feel a formal warning is justified.

And now back to the thread.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Doctor McCormack's THE LAST BEST HOPE is something I consider to be one of my all time favorite novels. I mean, period. It's the exact mix of politics, adventure, world-building, and characterization I wanted from the Picard show but I really enjoyed in general.

The thing is that "New Trek" novels are also hard for me to differentiate because the ones in the classic era aren't looking any different from the ones made in the "New" Eras so it's hard really to judge a distinction. However, I can say that some of my favorite Star Trek reads have been done in the past five years or so.

New Trek Novels I enjoyed:

* Star Trek: Picard: Firewall by David Mack
* Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack
* Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward
* Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson
* Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements by John Jackson Miller
* Star Trek: Living Memory by Christopher Bennett (elephants have rights!)

 

[The Ghoul Next Door]

Doctor McCormack's THE NEEDS OF THE MANY is something I consider to be one of my all time favorite novels. I mean, period. It's the exact mix of politics, adventure, world-building, and characterization I wanted from the Picard show but I really enjoyed in general.

Since you mentioned Picard, are you referring to Last Best Hope? I think Needs of the Many was that Star Trek Online tie-in by Michael A. Martin? At least, I don't recall an Una McCormack novel called The Needs of the Many... but my memory's not always the greatest, so apologies if I'm missing something obvious.

If you do mean Last Best Hope, I agree, it was great.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Since you mentioned Picard, are you referring to Last Best Hope? I think Needs of the Many was that Star Trek Online tie-in by Michael A. Martin? At least, I don't recall an Una McCormack novel called The Needs of the Many... but my memory's not always the greatest, so apologies if I'm missing something obvious.

If you do mean Last Best Hope, I agree, it was great.

Damn, I am an idiot. I even have the Babylon Five jingle in my head to remember the title. Let me fix that.

Never post while finishing the last chapter on a manuscript (Space Academy 4#!)

Anyway, it's my favorite Star Trek novel and my previous favorite was PRIME DIRECTIVE which my dad bought me in hardback when I was ten.

 

[Greg Cox]

Here's the thing: No writer, publisher, studio, whatever deliberately sabotages a popular character.

Popular characters are popular. Popular characters sell books. Popular characters make money and excite audiences. There is absolutely NO incentive for to ruin a popular character for . . . reasons? There are only artistic choices that somebody thought was a good idea at the time.

I harp on this not to pile on but because I keep seeing this fallacy all over fandom in general, and not just with regards to Trek. It's particularly pervasive in comics fandom where indignant fans too often think that Marvel or DC are deliberately trying to make a favorite character less popular and less profitable because . . .?

This makes no sense whatsoever.

Bottom line: Just because you don't like how a favorite character is being handled doesn't mean that Powers That Be are deliberately trying to wreck the character out of spite. That doesn't happen.

 

[20fridge]

It seems to me that current TrekLit is pretty representative of the current shows. The Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Prodigy novels so far have perfectly captured the tones and themes of each of their respective shows. If you like the specific show, the novels give you even more to love. If you don't like the tone or themes of a given show, it would be an uphill battle to enjoy the novels. I imagine if/when we get Lower Decks books, they'll also mirror the style of the show.

Personally, I've found the Discovery and Picard novels to be on par with the absolute best episodes of the series. While the Strange New Worlds and Prodigy novels have been on par with solid episodes.

 

[Greg Cox]

Just to belabor the point, and specifically address something in the original post, the notion that the Powers That Be are deliberately trying to drive readers away from the 24th century series by making them more unpleasant is absurd.

For what it's worth, I've been in this business for forty years now and I have never, ever known a writer, editor, or publisher to deliberately try to hurt sales on a successful book series.

Certainly, no editor has ever instructed me: "Make sure readers won't like this book, Greg. We don't want it to sell very well."

 

[Lynx]

So, so much to unpack here.

First of all, you basically cross-posted this exact thread here and Future of Trek. Sure, you customized it a bit here and there, but a lot of it was copy-paste. That's spamming, and you should know better. You could have actually avoided that by having a strict separation between the literature thread and the show/movie thread, but you couldn't resist complaining about the books in the other thread too, so here we are.

(Not to mention all your posts in this forum are basically the same complaint. But if we gave out warnings for "beating a dead horse" around here... well, there would be a lot more warnings. But you certainly have a lot of complaints about a series of books that you claim not to have read in the last 15 years.)

A couple of your "what will happen next" questions could be considered story ideas, so I have spoiler-coded them. (I have also spoiler-coded them in @David cgc 's post replying to them.)

And finally...



Since Dr. McCormack is a member here, you are firmly planting yourself in flaming territory. You are allowed to criticize the work, not attack the author. Rhetorically insinuating that an author and fellow poster has severe mental health issues is in no way a valid literary criticism, and I am issuing you an infraction for flaming. Comments to PM.

And before you try to claim that it was only a "minor" flame, or since you phrased it as a question, you weren't "really" saying that about her: note that I have reviewed your report history. It has revealed a pattern of you bending the rules or breaking them outright, but only getting a friendly. But you have racked up a number of friendlies at this point. I've already had to give you a friendly for trolling and spamming on this same day. In addition, since you double-posted this thread, you basically posted the claim against Dr. McCormack twice. Based on all this, I feel a formal warning is justified.

And now back to the thread.

I'm very sorry for all this. Sometimes I have a lousy temper and unfortunately I don't have any Klingon half to blame it on.

I won't come up with any pathetic excuses for my behavior. However, I admit that I acted stupid and sincerey apologize for it.

Just tired of what happens in Star Trek now In series, movies and books. Too much destruction, doom-and-gloom and downright dystopia.

I apologize for my comment about Una McCormack. But the truth is that I'm not happy with what she's doing in her books. However, if I had known that she's a member of this forum, I may have contacted her instead of writing this post and then I would have written a more polite and constructive comment.

I must admit that I really loved Una McCormack's books The Never Ending Sacrifice and The Crimson Shadow. They are two of my absolute favorite Star Trek books.

It's ironic that I actually wrote a post about how those books have given me back the interest for Star Trek books the day before I found out about the events in Second Self.

However, I won't apologize for my general criticizm about the constant character destruction and the overall destruction of great characters which has been too common in too many Star Trek Books, movies and TV series. My fault was my rude comments which I sincerely apologize for.

 

[Lynx]

I can recommend the Star Trek: Voyager relaunch novels by Kirsten Beyer, though you could start with Homecoming, In Beyer’s novels, our beloved characters do go through crises but they emerge with personal growth and in a better place.

I just re-read the section. When Janeway’s sister and mother believed her dead, they used her frozen eggs to create an extra daughter for Phoebe.

I prefer the season 1-3 Voyager books. Too many good characters missing in the relaunch books.

The 80's and 90's Trek series are getting less attention now while the newer series are coming out with more episodes.

One book I would recommend from recent years is DS9: Revenant. It fits very well with where the characters are at in the series and tells a cool story.

In the world of Discovery, Fear Itself and The Way to the Stars are both excellent. I don't really watch the show, but the books gave me everything I needed to understand them.

I might check out Revenant. As for the newer series, I'm not interested in them, although I might give Strange New Worlds a chance

I have to agree with David cgc on this one. I notice that your opinion was formed by reading reviews of the novels rather than actually reading them yourself. Perhaps reading them could give you a greater context for why these things happened. I made a similar mistake years ago when I'd read that Sisko had abandoned Kassidy Yates and Sarah in Rough Beasts of Empire, I was appalled, but reading that novel and subsequent novels made me appreciate that decision.

As for the destruction of Garak's character in Second Self, I was completely unaware of this development as I haven't read it though. I'm intrigued to read it though, considering the massive love and respect that Una McCormack has for Garak as a character. After all, she carries a figure of Garak everywhere she goes and posts on her social media, so I don't think she'd do anything to destroy the character so thoroughly. Perhaps, I'm wrong, I'll have to read that novel next.

Well, it has gone so far that I don't dare to buy the Star Trek books wiithout checking them out first. By doing so, I actually saved the money for those two books which I had actually planned to buy and didn't have to sneak down to the shop selling used books inn the center of my town to place them in some shelf there. I don't throw away or burn books I don't like, that's something I just can't do.

As for "massive love" Kes is my favorite character but I would never dream of treating her the way Garak was treated, killing her off and so. Instead I have restored the character in my writings, like I have did with Lt. Carey and Gowron and will do with Garak too.

 

[Lynx]

Here's the thing: No writer, publisher, studio, whatever deliberately sabotages a popular character.

Popular characters are popular. Popular characters sell books. Popular characters make money and excite audiences. There is absolutely NO incentive for to ruin a popular character for . . . reasons? There are only artistic choices that somebody thought was a good idea at the time.

I harp on this not to pile on but because I keep seeing this fallacy all over fandom in general, and not just with regards to Trek. It's particularly pervasive in comics fandom where indignant fans too often think that Marvel or DC are deliberately trying to make a favorite character less popular and less profitable because . . .?

This makes no sense whatsoever.

Bottom line: Just because you don't like how a favorite character is being handled doesn't mean that Powers That Be are deliberately trying to wreck the character out of spite. That doesn't happen.

That would be logical for me.

But in that case, why are so many great characters in Star Trek, especially from TNG, DS9 and TOS killed off and destroyed in the books?

Since when did destruction become an artistic choice? Especially when it comes to beloved and popular characters?

Why would fans of certain characters from TNG, DS9 and VOY continue to buy books if their favorite characters are:
1. Killed off
2. Ruined and destroyed in many ways
3. Taken out of action by becoming ostrich farmers, merchants, hotel clerks or whatsoever

Why would they pay to read about that?

As I wrote in a previous post, t's ironic that I actually did write a post about how the books The Crimson Shadow and The Never-Ending Sacrifice have given me back the interest for Star Trek books the day before I found out about the events in Second Self.

And after some months of hesitation, I was actually going to buy the Janeway biography too before I found out about the content. So much for getting the interest for Star Trek books back.

My speculation about people in charge encourage destruction of characters from TNG, DS9 and VOY was based on the theory that the 24th century is going to be phased out from the books. Instead we will have characters from Discovery, the NuTrek movies and other series from this and the latest dreadful decade.

Personally, I'm not gonna buy any Star Trek book written after 2010. If I buy and Star Trek books in the future, there will be older books written when TNG, DS9 and VOY were still going. They are expensive as hell on Ebay and Amazon but I rather pay for that than for what is produced today.

Or I simply might stick to my Rule 1: If you want to read a great Star Trek story, write it yourself!

PS
I do have the excellent Star Trek Voyager book The Black Shore which I will probably re-read for the umpteenth time during this year. My definite Star Trek favorite together with Andrew J Robinson's A Stitch In Time.
DS

It seems to me that current TrekLit is pretty representative of the current shows. The Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Prodigy novels so far have perfectly captured the tones and themes of each of their respective shows. If you like the specific show, the novels give you even more to love. If you don't like the tone or themes of a given show, it would be an uphill battle to enjoy the novels. I imagine if/when we get Lower Decks books, they'll also mirror the style of the show.

Personally, I've found the Discovery and Picard novels to be on par with the absolute best episodes of the series. While the Strange New Worlds and Prodigy novels have been on par with solid episodes.

Well, to be honest DSC and PIC are not my favorites and will never be.

PRO is a cartoon and doesn't look that interesting. Maybe I would give SNW a chance if I found some streaming service which is cheap and have some good content overall and is not trying to cheat and insult me like a previous streaming service did a couple of years ago.

As for me reading books about those series............hmmmmmmm, no!

 

[F. King Daniel]

PRO is a cartoon and doesn't look that interesting.

Watch it, it's on Netflix and it's fantastic. And I'm a 40 year old man.

 

[Tosk]

PRO is a cartoon and doesn't look that interesting.

That's how I felt about it too. And the early batch of episodes didn't movie the needle much for me either, but it grows into quite an entertaining Trek show.