When can we expect USS Kelvin novels?

[Christopher]

2. The early 23rd Century is just interesting to me in general. That entire period between the founding of the Coalition and the start of Kirk's original five-year-mission is fascinating to me in the Prime Universe, and now the period between the founding of the Coalition of Planets and the appearance of Nero is fascinating to me in the altered timeline.

Yeah, that's part of what interests me -- not only have we not seen much fiction set in that era, but I'm curious about how to reconcile what the film shows us about that era with what we saw of the 2250s in the TOS pilots and the '60s in TOS proper.

(Of course, pre-Nero stories are going to have happened both ways in both universes, but I digress.)

I think you mean they'd happen the same way, since technically there's only the one timeline which splits when Nero arrives.

Why were they using actual windows for viewscreens? Etc.

The way they did it in this film reminds me of something I came up with a long time ago when I was designing a starship for my original SF universe -- the idea of the viewscreen being an actual transparent port with HUD graphics projected onto it. It's nice to see that idea actually used.

3. I really like the idea of a Middle Eastern Starfleet captain. This may be just because of my PC-ness, but I like the idea of a Star Trek story that continues to challenge the popular audience's preconceptions about race and ethnicity and religion by presenting them with a hero and main character who is a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent. And I'd be pretty fascinated by the question of how those cultures may have changed and evolved in the 23rd Century (just like I am of how Christian cultures may have changed in the 23rd Century), while still maintaining their own identity.

Well, with a name like "Richard Robau," I'm not sure he'd be a Muslim. His bio on the Intel tie-in site says he was born in Cuba, though Bob Orci (who named the character for his Cuban-born uncle) imagined him being raised in the Middle East.

 

[Sci]

3. I really like the idea of a Middle Eastern Starfleet captain. This may be just because of my PC-ness, but I like the idea of a Star Trek story that continues to challenge the popular audience's preconceptions about race and ethnicity and religion by presenting them with a hero and main character who is a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent. And I'd be pretty fascinated by the question of how those cultures may have changed and evolved in the 23rd Century (just like I am of how Christian cultures may have changed in the 23rd Century), while still maintaining their own identity.

Well, with a name like "Richard Robau," I'm not sure he'd be a Muslim. His bio on the Intel tie-in site says he was born in Cuba, though Bob Orci (who named the character for his Cuban-born uncle) imagined him being raised in the Middle East.

Fair enough. It was Tahir's accent and his own place of origin that led me to infer that Robau might be Muslim. Still, I think I'd rather like the idea -- not only of showing us a hero who belongs to a religious group that is often marginalized in American society today, but of showing us that the Earth of the future is so mixed and mingled and integrated that you can be both Middle Eastern and Latino in your heritage, that you can be born in Cuba and raised in the Middle East, that you can be a practicing Muslim born to, say, a Catholic and a Jew. IDIC embodied in everyday life.

 

[Christopher]

Fair enough. It was Tahir's accent and his own place of origin that led me to infer that Robau might be Muslim. Still, I think I'd rather like the idea -- not only of showing us a hero who belongs to a religious group that is often marginalized in American society today, but of showing us that the Earth of the future is so mixed and mingled and integrated that you can be both Middle Eastern and Latino in your heritage, that you can be born in Cuba and raised in the Middle East, that you can be a practicing Muslim born to, say, a Catholic and a Jew. IDIC embodied in everyday life.

Tahir's place of origin is Los Angeles, although he grew up in Pakistan. So a similar biography to Robau.

And just having a Middle Eastern (or rather, South Asian) accent doesn't make one a Muslim. I agree it would be cool to see more Muslim characters in Trek (and I'm still upset that Bashir wasn't a Muslim), but there's no reason to assume that Robau is one.

 

[Sci]

Fair enough. It was Tahir's accent and his own place of origin that led me to infer that Robau might be Muslim. Still, I think I'd rather like the idea -- not only of showing us a hero who belongs to a religious group that is often marginalized in American society today, but of showing us that the Earth of the future is so mixed and mingled and integrated that you can be both Middle Eastern and Latino in your heritage, that you can be born in Cuba and raised in the Middle East, that you can be a practicing Muslim born to, say, a Catholic and a Jew. IDIC embodied in everyday life.

Tahir's place of origin is Los Angeles, although he grew up in Pakistan. So a similar biography to Robau.

And just having a Middle Eastern (or rather, South Asian) accent doesn't make one a Muslim. I agree it would be cool to see more Muslim characters in Trek (and I'm still upset that Bashir wasn't a Muslim), but there's no reason to assume that Robau is one.

I don't believe I claimed that having a Middle Eastern accent makes one a Muslim, just that Tahir's accent and his being from Pakistan -- I hadn't realized he was born in LA, thanks for that -- led me to infer that Robau might be Muslim. It was a statement of possibility, not determinism.

 

[Nerroth]

Given the name of a certain monarch that Salah ad-Din squared off against back in the Third Crusade, I'd imagine that Robau's first name might not be overly popular among certain people in the Middle East...

...but on the other hand, there are a number of peoples such as the Copts in Egypt, the Druze and Christians of Lebanon, the Zoroastrians of Iran and India, and others who could well provide a part of Robau's heritage - which, of course, need not be tied to any one Terran culture in the first place.

 

[Sci]

Given the name of a certain monarch that Salah ad-Din squared off against back in the Third Crusade, I'd imagine that Robau's first name might not be overly popular among certain people in the Middle East...

It's the 23rd Century. I'm sure that there are plenty of people of mixed heritages who bear names their ancestors would not have approved of. There are probably plenty of Husseins running around in the US and plenty of Georges running around in Iraq, for instance.

 

[Nerroth]

Given the name of a certain monarch that Salah ad-Din squared off against back in the Third Crusade, I'd imagine that Robau's first name might not be overly popular among certain people in the Middle East...

It's the 23rd Century. I'm sure that there are plenty of people of mixed heritages who bear names their ancestors would not have approved of. There are probably plenty of Husseins running around in the US and plenty of Georges running around in Iraq, for instance.

Well, if you continue down that route, you'll end up trying to convince me that one day there'll be a Starfleet officer from France who sounds like he's an Englishman, who has spent more than a little time performing the Bard's tales...

...nah, that'll never happen.

 

[Christopher]

It's the 23rd Century. I'm sure that there are plenty of people of mixed heritages who bear names their ancestors would not have approved of. There are probably plenty of Husseins running around in the US and plenty of Georges running around in Iraq, for instance.

I'm sure there are already plenty of Husseins (and Husains and Husayns and Hossains and the like) running around the US. It's one of the most common Arabic given names in the world.

 

[Sci]

It's the 23rd Century. I'm sure that there are plenty of people of mixed heritages who bear names their ancestors would not have approved of. There are probably plenty of Husseins running around in the US and plenty of Georges running around in Iraq, for instance.

I'm sure there are already plenty of Husseins (and Husains and Husayns and Hossains and the like) running around the US. It's one of the most common Arabic given names in the world.

Well, there you go then!

Actually, now that I think about it, "Hussein" is the middle name of President Obama.

 

[Christopher]

^Yeah, and there was a lot of nonsense from some quarters before the election about how Obama must be evil because he had a name in common with an Iraqi dictator (never mind that the late King Hussein of Jordan was one of America's staunchest allies in the Mideast -- the people raising these objections probably couldn't remember what streets they lived on, let alone the name of a deceased foreign leader). Funny how nobody had a problem with Joe Biden sharing the first name of a Soviet dictator.

 

[Sci]

^Yeah, and there was a lot of nonsense from some quarters before the election about how Obama must be evil because he had a name in common with an Iraqi dictator (never mind that the late King Hussein of Jordan was one of America's staunchest allies in the Mideast -- the people raising these objections probably couldn't remember what streets they lived on, let alone the name of a deceased foreign leader). Funny how nobody had a problem with Joe Biden sharing the first name of a Soviet dictator.

John McCain shares a first name with the evil English prince that Robin Hood fought against. Obviously he's pure evil!

 

[Christopher]

^And what about that "Cain" in his last name? Even more evil!

 

[Sci]

^And what about that "Cain" in his last name? Even more evil!

Gasp!

 

[Christopher]

And "Sarah Palin" can be anagrammed to spell "Ha, Iran Pals!" And is one S short of "Piranha Lass."

 

[Dancing Doctor]

And we had two Presidents (George Dubya and George H Dubya) with the same last name and first name named after a most despised British King that led to the creation of our glorious country, no?

 

[Nerroth]

And we had two Presidents (George Dubya and George H Dubya) with the same last name and first name named after a most despised British King that led to the creation of our glorious country, no?

Well, George V was on the throne during both the foundation of the Irish Free State (from which the modern-day Republic descends) and the Statute of Westminster (which was a significant step forth in the development of the then-dominions, such as Canada and Australia - and the Free State, also) so he wasn't all that bad, surely?

Well, it was unfortunate that he felt the need to trade in Saxe-Coburg and Gotha for Windsor, just to satisfy domestic sentiment - but I suppose that the part regarding dropping his German titles are less relevant now that Germany is a republic anyway.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I've always imagined that Kirk's parents died on Tarsus IV at the hands of Governor Kodos....

Nah. Diane Carey having him supposedly dying on an untold secret mission (for April?) was better, in a situation that reminded me of Wesley's Dad dying while on a mission for Picard.

Now that we have conflicting canonical info, I'd love it to be added to an upcoming novel, building upon Carey's mystery.

 

[BrotherBenny]

If Trek fiction were driven by need, there wouldn't be much of it. Was there any need for SCE to make central characters out of bit players like Gomez, Duffy, and Stevens? Or for Gorkon/Klingon Empire to do the same with various minor Klingon characters? Or for the DS9 post-finale novels to revisit forgotten first-season ideas like the Tosk and the Storyteller's Orb fragment? Trek fans and authors have always been intrigued by the incidental details and minor characters of the Trek universe. Heck, the guy who played the welder in the teaser trailer has become a minor celebrity and is guaranteed a lifetime of convention invitations as a result of that tiny role.

Emphasis mine.

Christpher, I know the DS9 post-finale fiction is using the orb fragment, but where do the Tosk come in? I don't remember that in the fiction. Or is it upcoming?

 

[Christopher]

The Tosk appeared in Rising Son, which also referenced several other species and elements from first-season DS9 episodes.

 

[BrotherBenny]

The Tosk appeared in Rising Son, which also referenced several other species and elements from first-season DS9 episodes.

I'll have to go and reread it, provided I can buy another copy.

Thanks