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 Acky12 |
The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature |
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Posts: 14239 12/20/06 11:35 AM
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Continued from this thread:
p105.ezboard.com/funjoefr...D=17.topic Kirr left off, didn't he? I'll try to add something later - but I wanted to split the threads quickly while I had time.
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Kirr Mistwelder |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #1 | ||||
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Posts: 3385 12/20/06 4:37 PM
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I'll pose a few questions to spark some discussion - what would you like to see done with each line? Are there any they should eliminate? How often and how many books per line? What are they doing right - and what are they doing wrong?
I'll come back with some of my own ideas tomorrow - but I thought this would get us going. ****************************************************************
GreenLightsaber24 on Acky: I'm like the Onimi to his Shimrra...only less intelligent and not the real power behind the throne! |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #2 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 12/20/06 5:01 PM
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I think they need to set a number for each line to be released each year rather than the ridiculous one book a month. Maybe guaruntee each line at least one book each year, if not two books - with three going to the bigger lines (perhaps 3 books for the TV show direct relaunches, 2 for the Pocket original stuff).
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #3 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 12/21/06 1:16 AM
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I agree. I don't know what the reasoning behind their decision was, but with such a huge cash cow as Star Trek, you'd think that they could definitely afford to produce more than one piddly book a month and reap large profits.
Even without the TV series (and maybe because of this absence), I would imagine that there is still enough interest in the franchise, no matter how crap Enterprise's ratings were (and I doubt they were less than some of the other garbage on TV). I would love for them to do say, four books a month (with each one being from a different line) so that way, you don't have to wait, say three years for the next book in your particular fave era. Despite the popularity of TOS and TNG, I do think they are pimping them a little too much at the exclusion of everything else, even their own original lines (SCE, Titan, etc). I may just be bitter at the lack of ENT and VOY, but I just don't see how they came to the conclusion that 1 book every month is beneficial. Maybe if I knew the reasoning behind it, I may have a different opinion, but it all seems rather silly. |
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Kirr Mistwelder |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #4 | ||||
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Posts: 3385 12/21/06 12:01 PM
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Isn't that about where we're at with Star Wars novels - one every (heck I think it's more like every OTHER) month?
Wouldn't 4 books per month be overkill? How would they ever maintain the level of quality they (mostly) seem to be at these days. I don't think they could - it would drift into poorer book territory and that ultimately would drive away the readers even more. They way they're doing it now, they at least keep you salivating for the next book - arguably too long - but it keeps your interest (much the same way the Star Wars line does). My problem actually has to do with some of their own book lines - and their accessability for new readers. I read the frist 5 or 6 books of New Frontier - and lost interest. Now, even if I wanted to pick up the latest book because the plot sounds interesting - I don't really think I can because that series is too dependant on all the books that came before. Now, while I think there's a market for those types of series (I think DS9 was that kind of show) - does every book line need to be that way? Do we need to have New Frontier, DS9, Vanguard, SCE, Voyager, Gorkon, Titan... now even Enterprise seems headed in that direction. TOS and TNG are the only two lines that don't do much forcing you to read the entire series in order to read the latest book - and I think that's why they're using them as much as they are. I think they need to set up some of the other book series so that they can be more capsule episodes - not reliant on previous books - and that might actually help some of those series start to see more books being produced. Personally, I think DS9 should have ended with Unity - at least in the sense of the relaunch continuing series. Sure do a new DS9 book every once in a while - but I think the books in the relaunch up to that book made for a nice "season 8" and true finale to the series. Voyager is tough - the main plot of the show has been resolved (getting home). I think the best they could do is try to set up as much of the same crew people knew from the series (some promoted, some new faces) - and launch them into another unexplored part of space. Me personally, I'd have sent them through the Bajorian wormhole to the Gamma quadrant - on a 3-5 year mission. No coming home, pick up some DS9 characters, a Voyage where we see their struggles and challenges. Did we need Vanguard? It seems to me this could have just been a TOS couple of book series (like Challenger). I'm gonna stay away from Gorkon and SCE as they both fit more niche reading. I think Enterprise is needed - a series that only started to live up to it's potential at the end - the book series can do for this show what TV never got to do. I think Enterprise COULD be one of Pocket's premier Star Trek lines. Anyway - I'm just not sure Pocket needs as many independant lines (outside the already established shows) as they currently have. New Frontier was a novelty because it was the only one when it was introduced, but now there's so many. I can't help but wonder if they've started to cannibalize themselves. I find my interest waning in most of these Star Trek book lines... and I suspect I'm only a symptom of a larger problem. ****************************************************************
GreenLightsaber24 on Acky: I'm like the Onimi to his Shimrra...only less intelligent and not the real power behind the throne! |
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #5 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 12/23/06 12:52 AM
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I don't know, I think four a month wouldn't be a problem given that each would be in an entirely different era and in ST, they all seem to be pretty much insular. Sure, there are connections in DS9 to VOY and so forth, but it isn't as... self-referential... as SW.
I dunno, I just see a lot of differences in the two series (SW and ST) and feel that ST could be doing a lot better in terms of number of releases and such. |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #6 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 12/29/06 10:42 AM
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Quote: Four seems a little high, but I really don't see how having 2 books a month, 2 novels - not the non-fiction or the collections, is really that hard when you have such a multitude of authors working.
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #7 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 12/30/06 1:08 AM
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For sure.
Just out of curiousity: before this policy change went through, how many books did they publish a month? Not including collections/anthologies or non-fiction books, but just plain old novels? |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #8 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 12/30/06 12:53 PM
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I'm not sure - I'm not sure if it was a consistant number, but it had to be probably at least 2 each month or else this publishing change wouldn't be causing such a stink - we're hardly the only people upset with this.
Let's take a look at the 2007 Publishing Schedule, shall we? January TOS: Crucible: Kirk COE: The Light (eBook) February Mirror Universe: Glass Empires (ENT, TOS, TNG) TOS: Errand of Fury: Demands of Honor TOS: Mere Anarchy 4: The Darkness Drops Again (eBook) March Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances (DS9, VOY, NF) ENT: The Good that Men Do TOS: Mere Anarchy 5: The Blood-Dimmed Tide (eBook) April DS9: Fearful Symmetry TOS: Mere Anarchy 6: Its Hour Come Round (eBook) May TOS: Vulcans Soul: Epiphany DS9: Twist of Faith (omnibus) COE: The Art of Comeback (eBook) June VGD: Read the Whirlwind COE: Signs from Heaven (eBook) July COE: Ghost (eBook) COE: Grand Designs (omnibus) TTN: Sword of Damocles August SNW 10 (anthology) TLE/TNG: The Buried Age COE: Remembrance of Things Past, Book 1 (eBook) September TNG: Resistance COE: Remembrance of Things Past, Book 2 (eBook) October TNG: The Skys the Limit (anthology) TNG: Q&A TNG: Slings and Arrows #1: A Sea of Troubles (eBook) November TNG: Slings and Arrows #2: The Oppressors Wrong (eBook) December COE: Creative Couplings (omnibus) TNG: Slings and Arrows #3: The Insolence of Office (eBook) Strange enough is the fact that there are no novels scheduled thus far for November and December (remember the omnibus is trade paperback and not mass market [or is that the other way around? I dont remember]). But lets look at some totals, shall we? Books: TOS: 3 TNG: 3 DS9: 1 VOY: 0 ENT: 1 NF: 0 VGD: 1 TTN: 1 TLE: (1) [The Lost Era] [any other ongoing series that Im forgetting; IKS Gorkon (although it may not be ongoing?)] Anthology/Omnibus: TOS: .3 TNG: 1.3 DS9: 1.3 VOY: .3 ENT: .3 NF: .3 COE: 2 SNW: 1 *Im giving each series .3 credit for the Mirror Universe Anthology theyre appearing in story, but not as a stand alone novel it might as well be a short story instead. eBooks: TOS: 3 TNG: 3 DS9: VOY: ENT: NF: COE: 6 I dont think in any way does this schedule seem fair and balanced regardless of anniversaries. And really? To be fair, with 2006 being so freaking TOS heavy, then they should have BACKED OFF the TOS and pulled those books to make up for the series that lost slots for the TOS anniversary. And hey 2008 is Voyagers 15th wanna bet that well see . Nothing at all?
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #9 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 12/31/06 7:37 PM
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The schedule is so laughable in the fact that it doesn't contain much substance of anything!!
What lept out at me were the number of anthologies and e-books. I can't really muster any reply except to groan in disappointment at the lack of anything interesting at all in that schedule (except for TGTMD, of course). Even the fairly successful DS9 relaunch seems to get the short end of the stick. And I don't even like DS9 and I noticed this! The less said about the complete lack of VOY (oh excuse me, apart from a crappy Mirror Universe piece which by its very nature is not "proper" VOY anyway) and the barely noticeable ENT, the better. And I so know what's going to happen in 2008. With the new film coming out, and apparently focusing on young Kirk and Spock, the entire publishing line in '08 will see a plethora of tie-ins to the film at the exclusion of everything else! I guess I can kiss this goodbye (except for TGTMD of course  ).Looking at that schedule, that really is shite. Even if they add a few more titles (which I would expect for Nov and Dec at least), it still isn't going to amount to much. What a joke. |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #10 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 12/31/06 11:57 PM
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Quote: Important to note though, that the anthologies, omnibusses, and the eBooks don't count toward the one novel a month limitation though. Quote: Same how the String Theory trilogy, while three books released in 05 and early 06, I think, don't to me count as part of the series. Yea, they're books, but what I - and I'm sure many of the fans - am waiting for is the relaunch - pushing Voyager forward rather than drudging through territory already covered by the show and prior novels. They need to be taking ADVANTAGE of the fact that they can now go beyond the finale and start changing things - especially with the movies now clearly not focusing on the post-TNG era. It's just frustrating that they think limiting the books to one author is going to make a difference. The first two books were mediocrely received and the second pair I haven't heard much positive. Maybe Christine Golden is taking time to go back and fix what was wrong with the first four books. One author for a relaunch! Ridiculous! DS9's relaunch was so succesful - why change something that has proven effective in the past? For that matter, why the need to so quickly break-up the crew? Sure, Janeway needed to be an Admiral, but you had over 3 years, IIRC, to accomplish that - you can't take the most popular (or second most depending how Seven fit on that) character from the show and throw them quickly behind a desk. I don't even know what happened to the rest of them because I haven't read the last two books; Chakotay becomes eventual Cpatain and then there was something about the Borg being back but that got wrapped up by the end of The Farther Shore, didn't it? Well, at least until Resistance is released.
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Kirr Mistwelder |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #11 | ||||
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Posts: 3385 01/02/07 9:29 AM
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I think that's the problem with Voyager - unlike DS9 which had a bit more of a revovling cast (or at least, such an ensemble cast that the focus could be shifted in the post-finale books) - Voyager's cast would need to be forced to stay together in a post-finale relaunch. Nemesis had already cast Janeway as an Admiral. We know half the crew were Maquis (even if they had by now been excused - how many would really stay with Starfleet). Then there's the promotions they're all due - the fact that this crew would likely be moving in different directions.
I do think there were ways in which to make the crew stay togther and seem more plausible (than the way in which it's been handled) but I also think Voyager is a harder property to "relaunch". It's story was really finished with the finale - in that unlike DS9 (which had unfinished business still) and TNG (which was very episodically contained to begin with, making for an easy translation to more stand alone stories - just like TOS) VOY ended where it needed to - with the crew getting home. That's also why I think books set during the series are "easier" for Pocket to produce. They know the limitations of the series and there's no reason to explain why the crew is together. Now ENT - as a show that didn't really get the chance to find itself (or barely did) seems a perfect relaunch property to me. Seems like they're squandering it - as I've said, at the expense of their multitude of "original book series" - which is sad. Though I will add that Pocket "says" that there are still more books to be announced and that the schedule listed above is not final (of course, that's both good and bad, because they can add surprises but they can also delay books too). ****************************************************************
GreenLightsaber24 on Acky: I'm like the Onimi to his Shimrra...only less intelligent and not the real power behind the throne! |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #12 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 01/02/07 11:07 AM
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Yea, but based on what I've found regarding the schedule as announced, there are only two possible locations for books to be scheduled - November and December.
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #13 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 01/08/07 9:04 PM
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And by all rights they should be either DS9, VOY or ENT, but I bet they won't be.
Especially that movie looming ever closer with a 2008 release. |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #14 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 01/09/07 10:18 AM
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And now Shatner has announced that his finished the first draft of his Shatner-verse Kirk/Spock Academy novel with the Reeves/Stevens.
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MrNomAnor |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #15 | ||||
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Posts: 11327 01/28/07 12:11 AM
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Meh. Despite the overwhelming negativity at the "Shatnerverse" novels, I quite enjoy them all.
Having said that, I won't be buying the Kirk/Spock Academy Years ones because I have no interest in that TIME!!!!!! Which is why (although I'll still go to see it) I am trepidatious about the movie. Why can't it be set in the 24th Century??? Bleh, it's just not going to be the same without Shatner playing Kirk and Nimoy playing Spock. But anyway, back to the books... |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #16 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 01/28/07 11:19 AM
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And things are starting to change already... I haven't followed this completely, but apparently DS9: Fearful Symmetry is being pushed back to July or AUgust.
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Kirr Mistwelder |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #17 | ||||
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Posts: 3385 01/29/07 10:36 AM
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I read the first 4 Shatnerverse novels - of which "The Return" was my favorite. Looking back on it, I think in many ways those books do a better job of capturing the feel of Star Trek than the last two movies in the series. I still think a merging of "The Return" with "Unity" would make for the best direction for the next movie in the series... but that's all water under the bridge.
I'm not sure how I feel yet about the plans for this next Star Trek movie. It seems to me that they're trying not for the "academy" story per say - but to recapture the Original Series. Like James Bond - instead of aging the crew to keep up with the ages of the actor's playing them - recast the characters with new actors and keep going the series going based on the strengths of those characters (Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest). It's an interesting idea - and one that in many ways frees them up from the Star Trek universe of previous material - most of the James Bond movies have little continuity. Is that the direction JJ Abrams is hoping to take Star Trek in? Will it even work? I'd argue that the best movies in the franchise have the MOST interconnectivity (2, 3, 4, 6). I'd say just like the Transformers movie, at this point I am hopefully optimistic. ****************************************************************
GreenLightsaber24 on Acky: I'm like the Onimi to his Shimrra...only less intelligent and not the real power behind the throne! |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #18 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 01/29/07 1:25 PM
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Well, the guys that wrote the Transformers movie are also writing Trek XI.
And everything that's starting to leak out is that the movie is going to be set in multiple time periods - academy, Kirk's serving on whatever other ship that was that he was on, TOS Enterprise. And then there's Shatner who let slip a little something about how they're trying to have the old Captain talk to the new Captain but he could be trying to manipulate the publicity so they have to do what he wants. And Nimoy says he'll come out of retirement if it's a worthy role (more than just a cameo). Hopefully that adds another time period with pre-Generations (or post, let's really throw the Bring Back Kirk fans for a loop... actually, the Nexus might be a great way to tie all this together since stuck-in-Nexus Kirk can leave the Nexus and be in whatever time he wants) Kirk and Spock reminiscing about the past.
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Das Flute |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #19 | ||||
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 Posts: 303 04/14/07 1:54 PM |
Are there any Trek books that, as someone who used to be a Trekkie a decade ago and now is largely ambivalent about the franchise, might enjoy?
The last Trek book I read was around 8 years ago, I think the first New Frontiers book. All I remember was Mackenzie Calhoun on some medieval planet faking his death so he could go off with some woman, and a Vulcan and a hermaphrodite trying to have sex, and I kind of vectored off. |
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Acky12 |
Re: The Changing Face of Star Trek Literature | #20 | ||||
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Posts: 14239 04/14/07 4:34 PM
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I would suggest, as a good way to go in, you've got 2 options:
the 2 new release Mirror Universe books. Book 1: Glass Empires has mirror universe stories from ENT, TOS, and TNG. Book 2 (I don't remember the title) has DS9, VOY, and New Frontier. They don't rely too much on continuity since they're mirror universe and you can pick the stories or volume that's most appropriate for your favorite series. The other option would be to look for the short story anthologies - all the series (except Enterprise) have these now - so you can, again, select your favorite series and go with it. TOS: Constellations, TNG: (don't remember), DS9: (don't remember), VOY: Distant Shores. There's also 'Tales of the Dominion War' which features a variety of stories about the war - the back cover boosts that it includes stuff from all the Trek series, but I'm not very far into that (when I decided to pick up Mirror Universe instead), and I don't think that claim is true (but if it is, I want to see how Voyager is included). Other than that, it's hard to give suggestions without knowing your prefered characters/series.
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