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Why haven't the prime universe Kelven and Franklin shown up novels?

killerbee256

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Red Shirt
I know some star trek authors hang out in these forums so this seems like the best place to ask. I'm wondering why there hasn't been any books written about, or which include the history of the uss Franklin or uss Kelven in the "prime" timeline? Is there a licensing issue that means meteral from the reboot series can't be used?
 
The last contract prevented the books from using anything from the Kelvinverse in the books, even if it was set in the Prime Universe.
There is good news on this front however, it was recently announced that Pocket Books and CBS have a new contract that will allow the books to use stuff from the Kelvinverse movies.
 
Also the Franklin was only introduced in Beyond, which came out just a year ago. The books that have been published over much of the last year were already written or being written at that time. Even if the contract had allowed a reference, the books would have been unlikely to reference it because there was no way to include it except as an off-handed mention that probably would have been stuffed in last minute, without actually fitting the narrative.
 
As someone mentioned, there have been contractual restrictions, that have happily been re-visited and changed. We may not necessarily see The Franklin and the Kelvin manifest in expected ways, though. It depends on if the authors are interested in including them, and to what extent the world building intentions of the Kelvin-timeline's creators informs the possibilities. The unspoken rationale behind Star Trek 2009 and Into Darkness is that everything before Nero appeared matched exactly with TOS. The writers of Beyond suggest that Nero's arrival caused changes rippling forward and back through time, creating an entirely new sequence of events before and after Nero. Another ship might have been carrying out the mission we saw the Kelvin on in the opening sequence, or the Kelvin and Franklin might not exist or exist as very different ships, conceptually.

Having said that, I do hope to see those ships, as well as characters and situations from the Kelvin-timeline manifest in ST novels, going forward from here.
 
The writers of Beyond suggest that Nero's arrival caused changes rippling forward and back through time, creating an entirely new sequence of events before and after Nero.

Rather, the Okudas' revised Star Trek Encyclopedia suggested that Nero's arrival caused ripples back in time that might have created a slightly new sequence of events before Nero, thereby explaining away any minor inconsistencies between the Prime and Kelvin universes (e.g. perhaps the much more built-up San Francisco in Kelvin, or the disproportionately large Kelvin itself). Simon Pegg alluded to this a month or two before the STE passage was released to the public, presumably because he'd gotten an advance look at the text, and that created the misapprehension that it originated with him, due to people's unfamiliarity with how long the publishing process takes (especially for a book as complicated as the STE). But, ironically, Beyond itself meshed more smoothly with Prime continuity than the prior films did, and actually had less need of such a handwave.

Either way, the intention of the passage was never that the revised timeline would be "entirely new" -- I mean, obviously both versions still have Kirk, Spock, McCoy, the Enterprise, the Federation, etc. It was just a way to justify any continuity issues that might arise. It certainly was not meant to compel discontinuity.
 
Rather, the Okudas' revised Star Trek Encyclopedia suggested that Nero's arrival caused ripples back in time that might have created a slightly new sequence of events before Nero, thereby explaining away any minor inconsistencies between the Prime and Kelvin universes (e.g. perhaps the much more built-up San Francisco in Kelvin, or the disproportionately large Kelvin itself). Simon Pegg alluded to this a month or two before the STE passage was released to the public, presumably because he'd gotten an advance look at the text, and that created the misapprehension that it originated with him, due to people's unfamiliarity with how long the publishing process takes (especially for a book as complicated as the STE). But, ironically, Beyond itself meshed more smoothly with Prime continuity than the prior films did, and actually had less need of such a handwave.

Either way, the intention of the passage was never that the revised timeline would be "entirely new" -- I mean, obviously both versions still have Kirk, Spock, McCoy, the Enterprise, the Federation, etc. It was just a way to justify any continuity issues that might arise. It certainly was not meant to compel discontinuity.

I've actually felt this way since the new films were released that Nero caused ripples that date to years before his actual arrival, considering that the Kelvin is oversized for a ship at that time.
 
It's not an unreasonable idea, given how often Star Trek depicts people changing the past. The idea that Nero's arrival would cause other future actors to change their own past differently is entirely plausible.
 
I've actually felt this way since the new films were released that Nero caused ripples that date to years before his actual arrival, considering that the Kelvin is oversized for a ship at that time.

It seems that way, yes, but since when was it a requirement that all ships from a single era had to be in the same size range? Today we have both battleships and aircraft carriers, steamers and supertankers. Maybe there's a reason why the Einstein class was much bigger than typical.

A lot of fans seem to make the unexamined assumption that bigger equals more advanced, but that doesn't really follow. If anything, more advanced technology means more miniaturization, greater efficiency, etc., so a more advanced ship of a given crew size and functionality should be smaller than a less advanced one. Maybe the reason Einstein-class ships aren't seen in the TOS era is because they were too big and bloated and were phased out in favor of more advanced, compact ship classes able to achieve the same performance with less bulk and wasted space.
 
Rather, the Okudas' revised Star Trek Encyclopedia suggested that Nero's arrival caused ripples back in time that might have created a slightly new sequence of events before Nero, thereby explaining away any minor inconsistencies between the Prime and Kelvin universes (e.g. perhaps the much more built-up San Francisco in Kelvin, or the disproportionately large Kelvin itself).

Interesting that it suggests the possibility rather than certainty, and keeps the scope small. I debated getting the new edition but held off because of the cost; and occasionally forgot about it. I still can't make up my mind, and the earlier edition is still useful for all things TOS, which is were I keep my focus.

Either way, the intention of the passage was never that the revised timeline would be "entirely new" -- I mean, obviously both versions still have Kirk, Spock, McCoy, the Enterprise, the Federation, etc. It was just a way to justify any continuity issues that might arise. It certainly was not meant to compel discontinuity.

I was laughing at myself while reading this, I'm too much in love with the idea of being an agent of chaos, but I'm not hardcore devoted to the pursuit. I feel like I've become a caricature in regards to rebelling against canon and continuity strictness. I guess reading through TOS 80's novel continuity-that-isn't-really-continuity isn't enough, wanting the Kelvin timeline to be just as capable of being different or contradictory. Being impulsive in my reading choices, it will be interesting to see if ST novels with Kelvin-related elements can lure me away from 80's Trek.

A lot of fans seem to make the unexamined assumption that bigger equals more advanced, but that doesn't really follow. If anything, more advanced technology means more miniaturization, greater efficiency, etc., so a more advanced ship of a given crew size and functionality should be smaller than a less advanced one. Maybe the reason Einstein-class ships aren't seen in the TOS era is because they were too big and bloated and were phased out in favor of more advanced, compact ship classes able to achieve the same performance with less bulk and wasted space.

This made me laugh when considering the implications as applied to the Kelvin timeline's Enterprise. It seems like Nero's incursion sparked the develpment of more advanced technology, resulting in a more advanced Enterprise...and yet, it's sooo big, apparently, compared to previous Enterprises we've seen.
 
This made me laugh when considering the implications as applied to the Kelvin timeline's Enterprise. It seems like Nero's incursion sparked the develpment of more advanced technology, resulting in a more advanced Enterprise...and yet, it's sooo big, apparently, compared to previous Enterprises we've seen.
You could think of it like this: supposed I time traveled back to 1981 and forgot my smart phone and IBM got their hand on it and they reverse enginer it. The hardware they create would still be larger and less powerful then the original smart phone. While still being more advanced then what was created in the original time line.
 
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A lot of fans seem to make the unexamined assumption that bigger equals more advanced, but that doesn't really follow. If anything, more advanced technology means more miniaturization, greater efficiency, etc., so a more advanced ship of a given crew size and functionality should be smaller than a less advanced one. Maybe the reason Einstein-class ships aren't seen in the TOS era is because they were too big and bloated and were phased out in favor of more advanced, compact ship classes able to achieve the same performance with less bulk and wasted space.
This is true, and this fan, at least never considered that more advanced = bigger. I figured some classes, the heavy cruisers and whatever class the Flagship is, for example, might get larger mainly due to having more and more of a need to essentially act as a starbase wherever they are. They'd still have the more efficient tech but a lot more space in order to accommodate things like a full-sized hospital, starship repair bay, JAG office, administrative buildings and of course the extra crew quarters and storage needed for such facilities.
 
Yup and it was an unholy mess, what it is now I've no idea, but one of the others likely knows better.

The last contract prevented the books from using anything from the Kelvinverse in the books, even if it was set in the Prime Universe.
There is good news on this front however, it was recently announced that Pocket Books and CBS have a new contract that will allow the books to use stuff from the Kelvinverse movies.
 
So Nero goes back in time and somehow that creates a ripple effect that changes the past as well as the future?

That doesn't make any sense. Why would Nero's arrival change anything about the past? How would it affect the past? The past has already occurred, which is why Nero was able to go back in the first place. In Star Trek the past, present and future are all real, discrete places. The universe has run its course, all times have already happened/are happening/will happen. The arrow of time only goes in one direction, which means you can travel to the past and alter the future, but you cannot alter the past past unless you make the past your new present. So...yeah.
 
That doesn't make any sense. Why would Nero's arrival change anything about the past? How would it affect the past?
Because of people from the future who travel into the past. We either have different versions of those characters doing different things, or people just aren't going back, or different people are.
 
^ But those are still possible futures.

Yes, there is a divergence in 2233 due to Nero's arrival. But that's all it is: a divergence. It doesn't wipe out the original timeline, so therefore, travelers from the future of that timeline will continue to exist, and will still do all the time travelling that they were always supposed to do.

Indeed, it is entirely possible that characters from both the prime and Kelvin timelines could meet each other, if they traveled back to a point before the divergence occurred.
 
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