Legendary sci-fi Author Alan Dean Foster is going to follow up his best selling Star Trek movie adaptation with a sequel novel set in the new movie universe. Foster made the revelation for the book, tentatively titled "Star Trek: Refugees", on his website, and also spoke about it in a new interview — details below.
Foster back in the new movie universe
The author broke the news yesterday on his website, with just a brief mention at the end of his latest update:
Oh, right. I hope to finish the rough draft of the second book in THE TIPPING POINT trilogy, SICK, INC., sometime next month. Then I’ll do the sequel book to the STAR TREK movie…still waiting for final okay on the outline from Pocket Books.
And today in an interview with WIRED, Foster was asked about the book and gave a little more detail:
I signed the contract, so that’s a go. At least the first step is a go. The second step is for Pocket Books and Paramount to approve the outline. They wanted an outline. Sometimes when I’m asked to do a book, I just get a book contract for two books or three books or whatever. Sometimes they’ll ask for a very brief synopsis of what the general idea is. Not even so much for the editor. The editors are generally satisfied at this point that I’m going to do what I say I’m going to do. But they have to present something to marketing so that marketing has something to promote from the get go. So marketing will want a description. It’s obviously different with a novelization where you have a film studio involved, sometimes somebody else, like in this case, Hasbro. They want to know what you’re going to do with their franchise. There is a lot more riding on it than just a book by me that’s going to be published. So I did a fairly extensive outline for the book which has the tentative title of “Star Trek: Refugees” which I can’t explain without giving anything away. I mean, I just signed the contract. But hopefully the outline will be approved since the book is due in October
TrekMovie has confirmed that Foster’s Star Trek sequel novel will be one of the books announced next week at Pocket Books Shore Leave 2010 Star Trek preview. Such a book would be the first novel set in the new alternative universe created by the events of the Star Trek film, and the first story in the new universe set after the feature film (in August IDW is releasing a Nero comic book set during the film, filling in Nero’s 25 year gap see TrekMovie story). Foster’s tentative title of "Refugees" suggests the novel will deal with the Vulcans who survived the destruction of their planet.
Being that Foster has to hand the book in by October, it doesn’t seem likely it will be tied into the Star Trek film sequel. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have not started yet on that script, and it isn’t due to be handed in to Paramount until Christmas.
In addition to writing many movie adaptations, like for Alien, Star Wars, Transformers and the latest Star Trek movie, Foster has also written in-universe movie tie-ins. The most famous would be the 1978 novel "Splinter in of a Minds Eye", a sequel to the original Star Wars. And in 2002, Foster also wrote a direct prequel to Star Wars Episode II titled "The Approaching Storm."
Look for our report on Pocket Books 2010 plans next weekend for more about this and other future Star Trek novels.
For more from Foster about his recent Star Trek adaptation, read the rest of the WIRED interview.
Star Trek movie Adaptation available now
You can get Fosters Star Trek movie adaptation in multiple formats:
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Hardcover (Amazon) & Signed Hardcover (Premiere Collectibles)
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Audio book: Download: iTunes ($17.95) or Audible ($20.99)
I’m in line for it already!
very cool…first?
cool… can’t wait to read it!
What would be nice is Foster helping to recreate what Star Trek and Pocket Books had in the 80’s & 90’s … hundreds of novels. It makes me sad when I go to the bookstore these days and barely two shelves devoted to Star Trek when I used to see a whole case.
And let’s not forget that Foster has written original Trek fiction before. Not only did he add a great deal of new content to his adaptations of the animated series, but the last four Star Trek Logs each consisted of one episode adaptation plus a longer original followup story by Foster (or in the case of Log Ten, three new stories, respectively before, during, and after the events of the episode).
And of course Foster has an extensive career writing original SF.
Out there lookin’ for ideas, huh Orci!?
;-) (j/k)
CLB
of course all of that was covered when we first announced the Star Trek novelization in Feb
https://trekmovie.com/2009/02/12/alan-dean-foster-writing-star-trek-movie-adaptation/
we can only do so much context in every story
Due in October, you say?
The cynical side of me smells cash in, and the ST XI adaptation was exactaly a stellar read now was it?
“Foster also wrote a direct prequel to Star Wars Episode II titled “The Approaching Storm.”
isnt a prequel to Episode II actually a sequel to Episode I???
The Trek Logs are really fantastic. I look forward to Foster re-visiting the alternate timeline.
I’m so excited! It’s a good time to be a Trekker.
Fascinating.
“The Approaching Storm” was a great Star Wars read, so I’m gonna be waiting for this book anxiously. (Haven’t read the movie novelization yet, unfortunately.)
jesus the nitpicking never stops
“The Approaching Storm” was set shortly before the events of Episode II and tied into that movie, it was released just a few months before Episode II. It also had characters in it from Episode II. It was promoted as being a lead into Episode II, so it is more of a prequel to Episode II, than a sequel to Episode I (which was set 10 years prior).
I’m not a big fan of ADF. His logbooks were good, but, like his novelization of the new movie, they lack something. I’d like to say, sophistication. Having said that (and making the point that I couldn’t do any better), his Trek books are serviceable, and I’ll probably get suckered into buying a paperback of “Refugees”.
Now, tell me that the Reeves-Stevenses are going to take a shot at the new Trek universe, and I’ll pre-order a gold-leaf hardcover.
Since the tentative title is “Star Trek: Refugees,” that kind of gives away the subject of the novel.
And that makes sense, since it was doubtful that the second Trek movie would be about Spock (prime) and the relocation of the remaining Vulcans.
I am glad ADF is getting a shot at this. The novelization, while serviceable at best, didn’t give us the author at his best. I inhaled those log books as a kid many times…
The author now has a chance to weave a bit of a tapestry as to what will happen to the Vulcans physically, morally and spiritually as a resettled people. I also expect a certain dynamic to develop between Sarek and Spock Prime.
I would think that interaction with the Enterprise may be minimal, or at least, will not involve anything which would alter the status quo. I look forward to this. Hope it’s good.
Great so now the discussion will be either:
“They should have made the book into the second movie! Its way better than the actual sequel!”
or
“Thank goodness that they chose to steer away from Foster’s sequel for the movie, it was terrible!”
There is no middleground.
Given that the screenwriters were keen on Foster, and he seemed to have access to them before, it’s quite possible that this novel will reflect their take on what happens to the Vulcans after the movie, since (as noted above) that’s unlikely to be a focus of the next film…
Either way, it’s nice to see some further development of the new timeline. :)
Anthony…i didnt mean to nitpick you or your story. I promise.
It was just meant to be a little comentary on the state of entertainment….cuz just ten years ago we’d never even heard of a “prequel”
a “chicken or the egg” kind of question. ya know? as if to ask “when does a sequel to one story become a prequel to a different story?” very shades of gray.
sorry for the misunderstanding.
#17 – And not surprisingly these things will be said before there is even a book or a movie sequel. Perhaps as early as Tuesday?
Finally,
Ive been waiting to hear about new universe stories.
Im giving it a shot myself over on TrekLair.com.
Attempting a Star Trek serial story. Trying to keep serialized stories alive.
http://www.treklair.com/my_profile/blog-view/blog_star-trek-a-small-dose-of-catastrophy.-_252.htm
Vulcan refugees? Sounds like we’ll get to see more of Spock prime.
Did A. D. Foster’s adaptation of the Star Trek movie include lens flares? I mean, they were like a character in the film.
#18—“…it’s quite possible that this novel will reflect their take on what happens to the Vulcans after the movie, since (as noted above) that’s unlikely to be a focus of the next film…”
But it doesn’t have to be a “focus” of the next film in order for the next film to render the material in Foster’s story (whatever it may be) unserviceable.
All it takes is a throwaway line (perhaps not even part of the original script) being contradictory to Foster’s story to render it irrelevant. The next film’s director (whether it’s Abrams or someone else) will look to service the story for which he is responsible to tell—not to protect the continuity of Foster’s material (with which he may even be totally unfamiliar).
My favorite author for Trek movie novelizations is Vonda McIntyre. She also wrote an original Star Trek novel, “The Entropy Effect” (written soon after “Star Trek TMP”) where she gave Sulu his “Hikaru” first name (which became his canon first name in a later movie).
#22—“Vulcan refugees? Sounds like we’ll get to see more of Spock prime.”
Well…at least read about him.
One of my biggest questions is how far ahead of the ending to ST09 will the story in the sequel advance? How seasoned will the new Jim Kirk be when the new story begins?
6. Jay – July 2, 2009
“Out there lookin’ for ideas, huh Orci!?”
You bet!
23 – Steve, LOL! See, f you read the novel you would have known that the lens flares were the MAIN character in the novel and greatly fleshed out. never before have lens flares been so fully explained, and we now see why there are lens flares in the alternate reality but not so much in the prime universe. We also learned that lens flares were once considered an illness by vulcans but later accepted (which is why there were not too many lens flares on vulcan). Also, William Shatner IS in the new movie, but every time he was on screen, a lens flare blocked out view of him. In fact, the lens flares have casting approval for any light source used in the next movie.
Just completed the novelization; easy read but added little to the story, will be nice to see Foster’s new novel. Movie novelizations are generally sub par; the only exceptions were Vonda McEntire’s Trek II and III — they were incredible. i also agree with the posters who think the refugees refers to the Vulcans. Can’t wait!
#25—“My favorite author for Trek movie novelizations is Vonda McIntyre. ”
I would have to second that. Her work in the TWOK-TSFS-TVH series was great….unmatched (IMO) in the long list of Star Trek books I have read in the last 30 years.
I have to admit not having read the ST09 novelization yet, but I have read some of Foster’s previous Star Trek work. I enjoyed the episode adaptations. From what I hear, the fact that Foster was rushed in producing the ST09 adaptation is noticeable in the finished product. I still plan to pick it up eventually though.
I hope this will be one of ADF’s better efforts. Though I loved the movie one of my nitpicks is that we don’t feel the weight of Vulcan’s destruction.
Nor, on a smaller scale, nearly all the crew’s graduating class being wiped out. It’s morbid when Gaila gives Uhura that excited smile before shipping out to her doom.
#19 – Only 10 years ago?
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was a prequel, and that was 25 years ago (1984).
On the subject of Vonda’s adaptions, they were good, but I could do without the Sulu fanfic she inserted into them.
Number 4….are you really complaining we don’t have enough Star Trek books? There PLENTY of Trek books. Unfortunately they pretty much ALL SUCK. There’s your problem.
Hopefully Fosters new book will be a step towards improving this sorry situation.
I think we should all be creating in the world of trek.
Especially in the new universe.
I want to see stories, art work, videos…anything!!
If we presume that this sequel will indeed be about the surviving Vulcans, I certainly hope those survivors include Soval, T’Pau, Skon, T’Pring, Skonn, T’Lar, and T’Pol — and OF COURSE the forebears’ of Tuvok and Dr. Selar…..!
more trek bands!!
No kill I: reboot!!!
#28: “In fact, the lens flares have casting approval for any light source used in the next movie.”
One of the funniest lines I’ve seen in a long time!!
I agree Anthony, jeez, can’t we just “ENJOY” a movie or STAR TREK for the sake of entertainment? It seems as if we have a bunch of film school people who have just learned how to critique and are going overboard. I had to learn not to critique and just enjoy what I was watching.
#4 Jay: “It makes me sad when I go to the bookstore these days and barely two shelves devoted to Star Trek when I used to see a whole case.”
I hear ya. Still, and at the risk of showing my age … I remember a time when I would wait impatiently for months for the next James Blish Trek book to hit the shelves. That’s all we had back then. I’d carefully save my meager allowance, sometimes entrusting it to a school buddy who lived near a favored bookstore and then enduring a sleepless night until I could get to school and receive that new book. A Trek paperback was a rare thing then, precious and greatly anticipated.
Oh yeah, and I had to walk 600 miles to school every single day, even in July, in snow up to my eyeballs. Uphill. Both ways. Really.
Would add a great deal of depth to the new universe if they finally tied novels and motion pictures together. So, Orci and Kurtzman, will your next script be tied together with Foster’s novel? Or will you get this canon / non canon thing going again, right away from the start, when now would be your chance to finally make a series of movies and novels that have a rock hard, fully thought through continuity.
Mike:
Trek books had a ‘golden age’ in the ’80s with authors like John Ford, Vonda McIntyre, the Garfield-Reeves Stevenses, Diane Duane, Peter David, J.M. Dillard, etc. etc.
Give those a look.
40. ger – July 2, 2009
No idea what the novel will be.
– I really like his writing style.. this is a great news..
#35—“If we presume that this sequel will indeed be about the surviving Vulcans, I certainly hope those survivors include Soval, T’Pau, Skon, T’Pring, Skonn, T’Lar, and T’Pol — and OF COURSE the forebears’ of Tuvok and Dr. Selar…..!”
I don’t know who Skon or Skonn is (but I assume you’re referring to Stonn).
I think we can assume the elder Vulcan woman rescued along with Sarek was either T’Pau or T’Lar, since it is difficult to imagine that either wouldn’t have been with the Katric arc. Both of their presences there at the time would seem logical, but it seems that one of the females there was killed during the attempted rescue before exiting the cave.
T’Pol seems like the type that would have been off-world.
Soval is unlikely to be alive, IMO, since he was already an elder statesman during the 2250’s.
I couldn’t care less about T’Pring or her lover, Stonn.
Since Tuvok wasn’t born on Vulcan in the Prime Timeline anyway, it is quite possible that his parents were already living off-world. In any case, Vulcan is destroyed 6 years prior to his birth. Given the regularity of the Vulcan mating cycle, he will probably be born as before, though perhaps not on Earth’s moon.
Foster…Australian for awesome writer!!!
42. BobOrci “No idea what the novel will be.”
Too bad. I was also hoping for better continuity. It’s a fresh start, all that stuff that didn’t make sense/contradicted itself is gone now, so it would be a waste to do stuff that doesn’t make sense again.
I think that Sonak could be an interesting character in this alternate timeline. It seems that (in the Prime Timeline) he also chose service in Starfleet over more traditional Vulcan occupations.
It’s a shame he went the way he did—–ouch! That’s no way to go.
Spock has always spent the vast majority of his time surrounded by his mother’s people. It could be interesting if he were to interact somewhat regularly with a full-blooded Vulcan—-perhaps even as a junior science officer aboard the Enterprise. Their private conversations about human behavior could prove rather humorous and perhaps even as insightful commentary on ourselves.
Would be fun to see Spock embracing his emotional side in this timeline..
I’m not sorry to see fewer Trek books on bookshop shelves. At one point, proper sci-fi and fantasy was practically being driven off the shelves by tie-in books! Fewer and of higher quality suits me better.
A novel would be a wonderful way to explore Spock Prime’s later life. For a summer blockbuster movie Star Trek, I want to see something new and ‘out there’ that stands alone. The books allow us to get to grips more with the some of the background of the new Trek universe. I’ll look forward to refugees. It reminds me of Star Wars when ADF did a sequel before the movie sequel: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.
And I also agree with the positive remarks about Vonda McIntyre. Her novels and novelisations gave me a sense of the ‘length and breadth’ of the Star Trek universe, its personalities and politics. I think one of the reasons TNG disappointed me was that I had a lot of built-in preconceptions of the Trek universe from her books (and Diane Carey’s Final Frontier and Margaret Wander Bonnano’s Strangers From the Sky) and I saw TNG as a shallow misstep in comparison.
I wonder if Vonda can be persuaded to come back, just as Margaret Wander Bonnano was with the thoroughly enjoyable Burning Dreams.
#47—“I was also hoping for better continuity. It’s a fresh start, all that stuff that didn’t make sense/contradicted itself is gone now, so it would be a waste to do stuff that doesn’t make sense again.”
It’s only contradictory if you confuse the criteria for canon in the Star Trek universe. Books have never been canon, and a film director (it would be far easier to maintain if it were only writers) should not and cannot be expected to maintain continuity with novels as well as filmed material.
All it takes is a throwaway line (that might not even have been in the original script) to contradict something in a novel which precedes that particular filmed product. A director is not going to choose the maintenance of continuity with a novelist’s material (that he/she may very well be unfamiliar with) over what he/she may feel serves the story that he/she wishes to tell. It just isn’t going to happen.
It’s hard enough to get them to maintain continuity with just filmed material.