Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Novel?

[TiberiusK]

Synopsis: (warning: spoilers)

Pocket Books has provided William Shatner.com with an exclusive preview of the upcoming Star Trek prequel book, The Academy Collision Course, written by William Shatner with Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, coming out this October. Below is the cover copy - beware of Spoilers.

If you think you knoww how it all began...think again !

Young Jim Kirk wants nothing to do with Starfleet, and never wants to leave Earth. In the summer of 2249, he's a headstrong seventeen-year-old barely scraping by in San Francisco, haunted by horrific memories from his past.

In the same city, a nineteen-year-old alien named Spock is determined to rise above the emotional turmoil of his mixed-species heritage. He's equally determined to show his parents he has what it takes to be a Vulcan - even it means exposing a mysterious conspiracy at the heart of the Vulcan Embassy, stretching to the farthest reaches of the Federation's borders. There, a chilling new threat has arisen to test Federation's deepest held belief that war is a thing of the past and that a secure future can be forged through peaceful means alone. But it is in San Francisco, home to Starfleet Academy, where that threat will be met by two troubled teenage boys driven to solve the mistery that links them both.

In time, the universe will come to know these young rebels as Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock...two of the Federation's greatest heroes. Yet before they were heroes, they were simply conflicted teenagers, filled with raw ambition and talent, not yet seasoned by wisdom and experience, searching for their unique directions in life - a destiny they'll discover on one fateful night in San Francisco, when two lives collide, and two legends are born.

STAR TREK THE ACADEMY COLLISION COURSE sets the stage for an exciting new era of Star Trek adventure, and for the first time reveals Kirk and Spock as they were , and how they began their journey to become the Kirk and Spock we know today.

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If Trek XI is an "origin story," won't it clash with this new novel? Shatner hasn't read the script for Trek XI.

 

[Woulfe]

^ Gene Roddenberry said that all Trek books aren't part of Canon, so it won't matter what's in the book at all.

- W -
* I don't read a lot of the Trek books myself *

 

[RookieBatman]

Aren't these new novels (assuming this is first in a series) based on Shatner's pitch for a new Trek TV series? If so, he would have had the idea sometime before the movie, and probably just decided to go ahead with it.

 

[TiberiusK]

^I realize the novels aren't canon, but it just seems crazy that Paramount would allow Shat to write a alternative version of the origin story at the same time that the movie origin story is being developed. Even though these books are not canon, they still have to be approved by Paramount, right?

Perhaps, it is a great way to keep people distracted from the real details.

 

[RookieBatman]

Actually, Shatner's books are usually pretty cinematic. I remember reading Ashes of Eden and wishing it were a movie. Maybe they're hoping that this will get people fired up for "Young Kirk/Spock" even if it is an alternate take.
My question is, will Shatner use a framing story with Old Kirk (alive in the Shatnerverse after GEN) having a flashback, possibly on his deathbed, or maybe telling it to a young half-human, half-romulan/klingon in a Starfleet uniform?

 

[number6]

The writers of Trek XI are certainly more aware of the novels than the series writers ever claim to be. They may or may not choose to ignore this novel. They're not required in any way to pay any attention to any of the novels.

I'm not a fan of any of the novel series. I personally hope TPTB just make a good flick. I don't care if they reference any novels or not.

 

[RookieBatman]

Number6 said:
I don't care if they reference any novels or not.

I just want to know if you need to see this movie before reading AotF.

 

[PowderedToastMan]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

there is no relation to the film and the Shatner novel...period. Pocket will be releasing no TOS books, including the follow up Shatner book in the months before and after Star Trek (2008) is released...except for the novelization. The writers of the film have never read this book, the editors at Pocket have not even seen the script yet.

so yes the film will likely contradict this book and many other books....just like films have ignored the novels in the past...that is just the way it is.

there is some kind of disclaimer somewhere on the book that says 'from the imagination of William Shatner' which is their way of saying 'not from JJ Abrams'

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

I fully expect Shatner to adjust, however slightly, his story. He's done that with his books before (or perhaps, his ghost-writers did, I guess).

The story of the movie will not dwell on the Academy, though I do expect to see it play.

Just remember... a kid of 17 would be a freshman (or the equivalent) at the Academy. I sort of expect a 3-5-minute scene set with Kirk at that age, but I don't think that the movie really needs it (unlike the "your father, George Kirk is dead, in the line of duty, son..." at age 12, which IS crucial, I think). The bulk of this movie will show Kirk at ~27, and Spock at roughly that same age.

So, the "overlap" between these two stories is... debatable at best.

Still, if it's established on-screen that, prior to Lieutenants Kirk and Spock meeting in his movie, they'd never met before (which I expect to be the case, mind you), then Shatner's book is rendered ANTI-canonical and would be virtually unpublishable.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

I don't know if there's a "canon" regarding when Kirk and Spock met, but it would make a lot more sense if they'd met for the first time not to long before WNMHGB. They still seemed to be a bit unfamiliar with each other in that episode. Maybe they'd worked together for a few months; Spock can be a difficult guy to get to know, obviously.

Kirk didn't know Spock's dad was the Vulcan ambassador to Earth till Journey to Babel. How can you reconcile that with the notion they've known each other since they were teenagers? I know Spock can be reticent, but cmon!

 

[number6]

RookieBatman said:

Number6 said:
I don't care if they reference any novels or not.

I just want to know if you need to see this movie before reading AotF.

I would hope that you are in command of your own destiny.

 

[Sharr Khan]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

Temis the Vorta said:
I don't know if there's a "canon" regarding when Kirk and Spock met, but it would make a lot more sense if they'd met for the first time not to long before WNMHGB. They still seemed to be a bit unfamiliar with each other in that episode. Maybe they'd worked together for a few months; Spock can be a difficult guy to get to know, obviously.

Kirk didn't know Spock's dad was the Vulcan ambassador to Earth till Journey to Babel. How can you reconcile that with the notion they've known each other since they were teenagers? I know Spock can be reticent, but cmon!

I have issues that even then Kirk wouldn't have come across that information. It seems like the type of info you need to go out of your way keep to yourself for it not to be gossiped about or rumors to develop strikes me as odd.

Its hard to believe that when Kirk chatting to someone in the chain of command didn't ever inadvertently drop who Spock's father was.



Sharr

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

The other issue is how common inter-species fertility was at the time. Impossible in the 22nd C; reasonably common but still with "technical issues" in the 24th C; so in the 23rd, I'd think it would be possible but pretty uncommon (unlike TNG-DS9-VOY, where halfbreeds showed up fairly often, I can't recall any in TOS other than Spock). That would make Spock famous simply for being a product of two species. How could it be that everyone doesn't know who he is?

...an explanation might be that there was still controversy about the process, enough so that Spock wouldn't have told people at Starfleet Academy etc that he was anything other than full 100% Vulcan. That might have given him a real motive to keep quiet about his parentage even to friends (eventually letting people he worked with on the Enterprise know his mother was some human or other, but not who she was) and for official records about his parentage to be kept inaccessible to anyone who didn't need to know. Maybe when Spock came to Earth for the first time, he wondered if someone might try to kill him if they knew the truth?

That all would make for interesting story fodder but I doubt they can shoehorn it in for XI. Maybe in the future.

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

Of course they will contradict. They're even putting a disclaimer at the beginning. But, you just can't turn down the Shat's story!

 

[Ward Fowler]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

I imagine that it will contradict the next movie. However, that's nothing new with the Shatnerverse novels. I'm looking forward to it. As RookieBatman said, the novels are pretty cinematic. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[RookieBatman]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

I've gotta say, I've never been a fan of the Starfleet Academy setting. Even adult books (okay, I've only read one, the first in the "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy by MJF) written on the subject seem kinda like extended versions of those YA Academy books. And I really don't like the thing about the seventeen-year-old who saves the day just because he's the hero of the story. Honestly, I'm more interested in the book to see if Shatner and the R/S's can reverse that trend, but I won't hold my breath. As far as the movie, the R/S's seem to be very good so far in the Shatnerverse at slipping in little continuity nuggets and cameos. It'll be interesting to see if they can do the same thing here, even if the stories don't entirely mesh.

 

[Ward Fowler]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

RookieBatman said:
I've gotta say, I've never been a fan of the Starfleet Academy setting. Even adult books (okay, I've only read one, the first in the "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy by MJF) written on the subject seem kinda like extended versions of those YA Academy books. And I really don't like the thing about the seventeen-year-old who saves the day just because he's the hero of the story. Honestly, I'm more interested in the book to see if Shatner and the R/S's can reverse that trend, but I won't hold my breath. As far as the movie, the R/S's seem to be very good so far in the Shatnerverse at slipping in little continuity nuggets and cameos. It'll be interesting to see if they can do the same thing here, even if the stories don't entirely mesh.

Like you, I don't much care for the teen that saves the world stories. There is definitely a cheese-factor danger here. However, I think we are in good hands with the Reeves-Stevens duo. Plus, there is a precedent for this kind of story being done well. Read Diane Carey's Dreadnought! and Battlestations! novels. They are told from a cadet's point of view and in my opinion are highly entertaining.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

Yes, the movie will contradict the book.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

Shatner's books contradict Generations so adding another movie it contradicts isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Re: Will Trek XI contradict Shatner's Starfleet Academy Nove

How do they contradict "Generations?" "The Ashes of Eden" certainly doesn't... "The Return" is intended to be a SEQUEL to "Generations"... and everything after that follows on from there.

So, what's being "contradicted?" I'm not asking you to say that the books are classic works of literature, just to support that point.

Because, quality of writing aside, the books do NOT "contradict" that movie in any way I can see. They simply UNDO what was done in that movie. Not the same thing.

(Side note: anyone else notice that in Shatner's books, Picard is never portrayed particularly positively?)