Will new "Trek Look" effect Book Marketing?

[Dayton Ward]

A new standardized packaging for Trek products is discussed.

Will this be of any consequence to the books?

I'm hoping the TOS covers will feature the Pez versions of the characters, myself.

 

[Trent Roman]

I'm suddenly struck by the thought that an actor best know for cutting people's heads open will be dispensing candy from his head. A good thing Sylar doesn't actually eat the brains he exposes...

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[The Nth Doctor]

A good thing Sylar doesn't actually eat the brains he exposes...

And yet some people are still convinced he does...

 

[Therin of Andor]

Uhh, we're talking about The Entropy Effect, a book that was written six years before TNG came along. I assumed it would be self-evident that "the actual show" in question was TOS.

Well, "The Entropy Effect" was the one that sparked a huge furore in ST fandom. When "Starlog" broke the news that Vonda McIntyre was "killing off Kirk", fans were up in arms. Eventually someone pointed out that the event took place before TMP, and the panic dissipated. A little. Then the novel itself got delayed by many months because Bantam had to finish releasing its already-approved completed manuscripts.

When the cover art was revealed, it again caused panic; the cover characters were wearing TMP uniforms - "Wasn't this meant to be set before TMP?"

Hard on the heels of Kirk's novel death came Spock's canonical movie death. And again more furore. I'm sure all that free publicity helped to sell those early Pocket novels.

I'm just telling you my experience when I was first into ST collecting. That many ST fans I knew in the early 80s refused to read ST tie-in novels. What their real reasons were, who can tell, but often-stated reasons were "If it takes place before TMP then we know that everyone survives" and "But the novels and comics aren't canon".

And that, for quite a while, I much preferred reading novels and comics that were set post-TMP or between ST II and III.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That reminds me of Doctor Who. While I often enjoy the "missing adventures" set between the TV serials, the Eighth Doctor adventures (and before him, the Seventh) could really take chances and generate cliffhangers and questions because we had no idea what would happen to him or his universe after the last TV show.

Exactly. It was an illusion, of course, but we fans can be very quick to delude ourselves sometimes.

I think my perspective is skewed in hindsight because I know the books didn't leave a main character dead at the end and book continuity was relatively scarce. As far as I know, the editors wouldn't have allowed anything more.

Without a doubt, a newshound-fan reading a novel like "The Entropy Effect" on the day it came out would get a very different experience to someone reading it now. I recall when it was re-released for the 40th anniversary, newer fans said, "What's all the fuss?"

Are there books besides Probe/Music of the Spheres that significantly take advantage of being set soon after ST IV? (As opposed to being nearer ST VI.)

"To Reign in Hell" is set just after ST IV, but it's setting in the timeline isn't crucial. Then comes ST V and then "In the Name of Honor", which takes advantage of having Garrovick, from TOS, being apart from Kirk's crew for a lengthy stay in a prison camp. It's set before "Probe" and "The Rift".

Re: We are spoiled now.
<grins> Closest I can come is not knowing how Best of Both Worlds would end, or being largely unspoiled on the DS9 premiere.

I actually meant spoiled as in pampered/over-blessed with access to news about upcoming releases, not actual spoilers.