Comments on: TNG Novels Chart New Course

By: Trekkie33years

Trekkie33years — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:41:24 +0000

I’m looking forward to the post Nemesis TNG novels. Of course, I was looking forward to the Titan novels by Mangles and Martin. Then, alas, I read them and discovered they are the literary equivalent of dysentary.
That said, Dillard, Friedman, and David are all accomplished Trek authors who have displayed a consistant understanding of Trek , its characters, and its underlying vision. I completely agree with the notion that they editors and authors need to not forget what makes Trek unique: Roddenberry’s vision. Trek is not about sex, violence, goofy aliens, and dark, grim futures (see Titan by Mangles and Martin for a great example of how Trek can be completely ruined by focusing on those things). It’s about humanity and how it will rise above its adolescence into a mature, intelligent species. So, while I am looking forward to these novels, I desperately hope that they don’t fall too in love with the whole “conflict on the bridge” crap.
I hope the don’t screw up TNG like they did Titan.

By: NZorak

NZorak — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:10:18 +0000

“Guess it’s a good thing books arent canon. ”

Unless Paramount decides to create a new series or movie using these characters and this timeline, which is something that looks like a longshot at best at this point, the books might as well be canon. Of course this is Trek, so I wouldn’t even rule out the whole notion of the Captain Sulu series that the fans were rallying for a while back.

By: MiguelSan

MiguelSan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:49:03 +0000

Why does J.M. Dillard seem to have the “I hate TNG” attitude that Baird had? If you’re going to write another persons story, at least LIKE the story and not come across as Baird did. It’s not yours, and they arent your rules. Asimov, Lucas, Rodenberry, Bradbury, Verne and others created their own rules, and anyone writing in their universe has to abide by them.

Guess it’s a good thing books arent canon.

By: The Next Chamber » Star Trek: Titan Guide

The Next Chamber » Star Trek: Titan Guide — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 01:33:03 +0000

[...] Based on comments from Pocket Books editor Margaret Clark in a recent interview, a three-book “crossover” event is planned for 2008. The only clue she gave was that “everyone wants to see Picard and Riker working together again!” It has yet to be determined whether all three books will be a Titan/Next Generation team-up, or different crews will feature in different books (as well as who else may be involved). [...]

By: NZorak

NZorak — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:34:36 +0000

Thanks to this news article, I picked up the second Titan book, and so far I’m really enjoying it. I have the first and third novels on order, and I have to say that with a minimal amount of research into the characters and background in the first novel, it’s easy to pick up The Red King and get going. The element of diversity gets a bit annoying since I’m constantly having to remember what each character and their race is, but the story being told is interesting and well written. Since I despised Voyager, it’s actually pretty cool having the one character I liked from the series on the Titan. Good call by the authors including Tuvok.

I’m definitely interested in the new Next Gen novels. I’m glad they’re finally getting Worf back on the Enterprise, where he belongs. I’m also going to make the assumption that Geordi will be among the returning characters. The problem here is that I despise Nemesis with such an unholy passion that I refuse to accept it as canon. While these new novels looks excellent, the absence of Data is going to force me to at least deal with the possibility that the absurdity of Shinzon actually happened. Mixed feelings indeed!

By: Spacehamster

Spacehamster — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:08:37 +0000

After a ten-year break, the first Trek novel I read was ‘Articles of the Federation’, which I really enjoyed. I thought the Titan novels were interesting post-Nemesis reading. Looking forward to the post-TNG novels – especially Ketih R.A. DeCandido and Peter David’s novels. These are two of my favourite Trek novelists, so as far as I’m concerned they’re a perfect choice to introduce the new continuity.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:06:24 +0000

Part of the charm of TNG was the absurd way in which every problem was solved through “magic” technobabble. It’s the same principle as Kirk seemingly getting in a fistfight every week and getting his shirt ripped for no reason (the less said about the infamous “flying kick,” the better). You know how contrived it is as a storytelling device, but it’s still amusing in a camp sort of way. Fans who don’t see the camp elements of Trek are taking it way too seriously.

No one ever says, “gee, I want to write a TOS story without poorly choreographed fight scenes and obvious stunt doubles or tawdry sexual innuendo.” Leave TNG alone. Yeah, it was corny, but guess what? Star Trek has been corny for 40 years now, 20 for TNG. The only Trek that was even vaguely mature in its storytelling (DS9) was the least popular. Everything else was pulp hokum that happened to have a lot of worthwhile allegory.

By: DEMODE

DEMODE — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:47:36 +0000

STAR TREK Resistance sounds like it would make a good movie. The BORG are an enemy I would love to see revisted, and it would be a good way to have Riker involved (and 7 of 9). Although its never been done in the past, I see no reason why they can’t take a good Trek book and make it into a movie.

…and yes, why on earth did they never make a Q movie? If the powers that be had wanted a Star Trek 4 movie for the TNG crew, having him in it would have been the way to go.

By: Canonista the Cultist

Canonista the Cultist — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:59:54 +0000

Quote…

“….this is no longer the cult of Picard”

Thankfully, I know and trust some of the authors listed above. Otherwise I might be completely suspicious of people toying with the characterization of TNG. Especially if it begins receiving praise from people that didn’t like the actual series.

I can’t say I’m happy with Paramounts sudden desire to alter and reverse-alter the entire Trek universe. After TOS went off the air, TOS fans had the luxury of 10 years of fiction published largely with the spirit of their cast left intact (reference Pocket Books novels..at least..#1 through #55).

I’ll read them, especially the novels written by Peter David, Greg Cox, and J.M. Dillard.

By: mrregular

mrregular — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:33:33 +0000

#1:
You’re absolutely right…and I daresay it would have been a lot better movie than the last two Trek films!!