220 replies to this topic

[hcmv007]

I don't know how many Star Trek fans are here, but I have rediscovered it thanks in part to the 2009 reboot, something badly needed. Yet I am distressed. No books taking place after the movies have come out, some were supposed to last summer. Playmates toys flopped, leaving collectors like me with an incomplete bridge and transporter room. In 2012 Star Trek: The Next Generation turns 25. I don't know of any celbration plans for that, but it too looks like this milestone will be a wimper. What is the future of Trek? Does the reboot diminish the Original Series? Do you collect Trek toys?

The good-the sequal should be shooting now or soon. I believe the Gorn will be the adversary for this film, and IMO that is good. But I want Klingons also!


So, to all Trekkies here on CBN-stand up, let your voice be heard!

[hcmv007]

Here's how I envision the Tralier for the Sequel:


We see a battered version of a Original Series Enterprise-but its the USS Yorktown

Spock: Captain, it is a Federation Starship. USS Yorktown.

We hear another voice over from Pike

Pike: Bob April commanded that ship, Jim. He brought me into Starfleet as I had brought you.

(We now see Kirk and Pike)

Kirk: What was his last mission?
Pike: To make a contact with a race called the Gorn.

(We see the Gorn, think of how they looked in the Enterprise epiosoe A Mirror Darkly, they are CGI)

Kirk: They could be planning an invaision.


(We see ships battle, including the Enterprise and a Kilingon ship)

Klingon (portrayed by Rosario Dawson): Fire on that ship! (Gorn ship hit by torpedoes)


Kirk: All hands brace for impact!

(Quick shots of Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, Uhura, Spoock, McCoy. Kirk is kissing a woman-is it Uhura or the Dawsaon Klingon? Kirk fights a Gorn, Sulu stabs a Gorn with his sword, Spock and McCoy fight Gorn on board the Enterprise)




Star Trek: Invasion

May 2012

[terminus]

I read the novels on a regular basis - in the middle of one of the Typhon Pact novels.

[hcmv007]

As for the toys, my next beef, Playmates did a poor job overall. The line in the 90's had bad sculpting and could not even have the toys hold their accessories. Galoob in the 80's did a 3.75 inch line of toys from ST:TNG, which had good head sculpts, but the phaser was molded in the had, and the tricorder was useless b/c they couldn't hold that either. The aliens were lame-The Antican and Selay only appeared in 1 episode, but the Q and Ferengi figures were keen-if you could find them. In 2009 Playmates released figures in the 3.75 inch scale, 6 in and 12 in scale. The line flopped. The 3.75 in line had promise, as you bought playsets of the bridge and tranporter room. Depending on figures you bought, you could 'build' both sets with pieces from the figures. But the sculpts were poor, and plauged by having 2 left hands or 2 right feet, lack of posability and poor paint apps. I doubt Playmates even has the license anymore, but IMO the problem was who they released. They should have released all characters in duty uniforms 1st, plus add characters like Ayel and one of Nero's warriors. Academy uniform figures should have been done last, and only include Kirk, McCoy and Uhura. We never saw Chekov in an academy uniform yet that got a toy. My hope is Hasbro gets the license and gives it Star Wars style sculpting and articulation. Stick to the 3.75 in format and 6 in format, like the Marvel Legends.

As far as the books, I am diggin the old ones. Original Series books I like are the adaptations of ST 2 and ST 3, which give insights to Khan's vengence and brutality, and in ST 3 get into the romance b/t David Marcus and Saavik. Also I am reading the Joy Machine, a great book as well. Used bookstores in your area or on Amazon have them, but I would go with the local used bookstores first. IDW is releasing various STar Trek Titles including Khan: Reign in Hell that buils up from Space Seed to the Events of ST 2.

I read the novels on a regular basis - in the middle of one of the Typhon Pact novels.

Right there with you terminus! They are well written and the story is gripping.

[elizabeth]

Used to be a gigantic fan of the original series and William Shatner.

[terminus]

I don't know that I'd say the Typhon Pact novels have been all that well written - though reportedly the final book is better than the first three. I have been rather disappointed with the quality of Trek fiction as of late, especially with the Post-Nemesis TNG Relaunch which has had a cast that shifts nearly every novel and radically different styles - though, as I understand it, the person in charge has been changed twice in the last year, so hopefully things will now settle down.

I do think that two series that have been on the money for their recent publishings have been Titan and Vanguard - both excellently written series'.

[Johnboy007]

I suppose I'm a fairly big fan and have been for a while now. Although I never really watched any of the series as they ran, I've seen just about everything on DVD except the last few seasons of Voyager and The Animated Series. DS9 is probably my favorite of the bunch: good writing, story arcs, and interesting villains. I've read a fair number of books from all over the timeline, but I don't have any particular favorites.

Loved the toys when I was little. I probably still have some of the 90's Playmates action figures lying around somewhere in the basement. The MicroMachines ships were my favorite growing up, though, but I lost or broke all of them long ago.

[Professor Dent]

I'm a fan of all the series but TNG is my favorite. The script for the next movie is due in early 2011 with Abrams trying to figure out how to catch lightning in a bottle a second time & Paramount just saying they want it in 3D. I'm hoping he forgets how to do that annoying lens flare effect.

Outside of that, it just feels like there is no real direction with anything else. It does look like the 25th anniversary of TNG will just pass by. It is early in 2011 so there is still time for something to materialize for next year. On the collector's end, not much out there. I do agree that the Playmates toys were a flop. The website still lists additional waves of figures & product being released in the fall of 2009 & nothing after that. It is a real shame to see a flagship franchise languish around like this.

One of the few bright spots, if you are a fan of music, is The Ron Jones Project box set. It is very well put together & worth every penny. The complete liner notes & audio samples can be found here:

http://www.screenarc...JECT-1987-1999/

[JimmyBond]

I recently rewatched the three TOS films I have on DVD (Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and The Final Frontier). All films I greatly enjoy, though TFF is my favorite, sure it's considered by many to be a subpar film. But I find it's themes to be very powerful and exactly what Trek should be about...exploring the unknowns of the universe.

As for novels, well I haven't really read lately except for the first in the line of novels that were supposed to take place after Star Trek: Insurrection and before Nemesis. I believe they were the "A time to..." series. The first one really hooked me, and I enjoyed it greatly. But the second book killed my interest in that line.

[hcmv007]

Nice to hear from the fans!

I did a count & I guess I own about 50 star trek books-sadly most of them are lost & even worse most were Next Gen. Damn. I have the OS on dvd as well as the Animated Series. The only movies I dont have are the first one & generations.

On the comic front-Gold Key made the first comic books. In a word they were not good. Poor art doomed it. Marvel took over after the first film and had decent stories but average art. IDW released it in an omnibus collection last year. DC took over after ST2 and it ran 56 issues. This series incorporated characters from the animated series and even had a Klingon officer on board the Enterprise 5 years before Worf appeared on tv. The series ended on a creative high with Peter David writing. DC would return with a new series taking place after ST5 with David back writing. But creative differences with gene roddenberry forced him out. The series jumped to the OS but served as agood fill b/t the 5th & 6th films and ran for 81 issues.

[hcmv007]

Ran out of room. IDW has the comic license now & releases mini series like Dark Horse does with Star Wars. If they were to do a series Peter David should write it IMO.

[terminus]

My review of Rough Beasts of Empire - some spoilers for treklit may be contained within.


I have always enjoyed watching Star Trek (both the movies and the various television shows) and when my uncles started handing me second-hand copies of the Star Trek novels, I started devouring them at a rapid pace. However, that was when I was much younger - almost twenty years ago. For many years, I avoided reading Star Trek novels until Star Trek New Frontier opened my eyes to them once again in 1997 when I was in my mid-teens. I followed that series and when it debuted, I picked up the Deep Space Nine Relaunch in 2001, Star Trek: Titan (following Riker after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis) in early 2005 and Star Trek: Vanguard (a series set on a space station contemporary to The Original Series) later that year. One thing that occured to me about my preferences regarding Star Trek novels is that I enjoy those that focus exclusively, or largely, on original crews. Events in the recent Trek novels have conspired to bring all of the ongoing series' set in the twenty fourth century together - first in Star Trek: Destiny and now in the ongoing Star Trek: Typhon Pact storyline.

What is the Typhon Pact - and why should we care about it? In short, after the events depicted in Star Trek: Destiny, several hostile alien races came together in a loose alliance to oppose Starfleet and the Federation. This is the Typhon Pact. Over the past several months, there have been a series of four novels, each of which have shone the spotlight on one of the Typhon Pact nations - 'Zero Sum Game' focusing on the Breen, 'Seize the Fire' focusing on the Gorn, 'Rough Beasts of Empire' focusing on the Romulans (and, to a lesser extent, the Tzenkethi) and 'Paths of Disharmony' which turns our attention onto how the Typhon Pact is affecting the member races of the Federation. 'Rough Beasts of Empire' is the third published (but would probably work better as the first read) and has been written by David R. George III.

I've been familiar with David R. George III for several years, since he wrote 'Twilight' one of the novels in the Mission: Gamma section of the ongoing Deep Space Nine Relaunch. He's got a very unique writing style - it's certainly a marmite one, you either love his overly descriptive prose or you hate it. For me, I'm veering distinctly towards the second option. I managed to read both of the Deep Space Nine Relaunch novels he wrote (he wrote 'Olympus Descending' in Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Volume 3, in addition to 'Twilight') but disliked the first of his Star Trek: Crucible novels - and, in reading 'Rough Beasts of Empire', my latest encounter with his prose, I admit that I struggled in parts to make my way through several of the sequences.

The story told in the novel itself is worthwhile and has some compelling moments, characters and ideas. The powerplay between the various factions within the Romulan governments (yes, both of them) and their powerplays against each other are interesting - but where the novel really lets itself down are the chapters in which we encounter Benjamin Sisko and explore what he has been doing in the four years (in universe) since the last time we saw him in 'Warpath' in 2006. Perhaps the radical change in Sisko's situation is part of what jars with the chapters that feature him - the changes, whilst concievable, sit uncomfortably. And the fact that the chapters that feature Sisko seem, for the most part, to be extraneous to the rest of the events in the novel (they only really crossover twice) and could be fulfilled by any of the other ships in Star Trek literature (whether it be the Aventine, Excalibur, Trident, Enterprise or Titan). The updates to Sisko's situation (and, indeed, the glimpses we see of other characters from the Deep Space Nine Relaunch) would have been better told, even by the same author, in its own novel - a true restart for the Deep Space Nine Relaunch.

All things considered, this isn't the worst of the two Typhon Pact novels that I have read (I read 'Zero Sum Game' before Christmas) and the sequences detailing the political machinations in Romulan space are sufficiently interesting that they, more or less, compensate for the lacklustre sequences featuring Benjamin Sisko. It would, as I have said, worked better as the first novel in the Typhon Pact arc - but it works well enough as the third published (and my second read). I wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless someone is a particular fan of Spock (who features in the Romulan segments) or Benjamin Sisko, or is a completist (or follower of a particular series, such as the Deep Space Nine Relaunch). It took me eleven days to read the book (I started it on 21/01/11 and finished it on 01/01/11) and I feel that, at times, it was a struggle to get through.

[Safari Suit]

These days I'm all about the original crew. The original series has some impressively cerebral sci-fi plots from writers like Harlan Ellison, but what I like about it most is how much of a fun adventure show it is, and how likeable and charasmatic the main characters are; the original cast has never come close to being matched. You can hire all the classically trained actors in the world, it still can't supercede the magic of "Shacting". I think the appeal of the original series and films is not a million miles away from the appeal of classic Bond; formulaic, yet distinctive, exciting and inviting. Plus Kirk sleeps around (way around) and is good with his fists. In fights I mean

I liked the 90s shows at the time, but they're not really anything I'd go out of my way to watch now. It all became a bit too much about the cult of Star Trek, and in some cases Roddenberry; too much "Prime Directive" and following Starship mannuals, not enough fist fights, bickering, exploration, killing baddies and seducing green women.

Deep Space Nine (9?) was the best of the spin-offs, but for all its ambition towards darkness, ambiguity and on-going storytelling, at its best it was still generally like having a nice warm bath. Comforting, easy-going but not especially memorable. TNG was sometimes excellent, generally whenever Stewart or Spiner were running the show or the two parters, but often very much not, and really only had two good characters. The rest were all too bloody nice! Certainly when they made the leap to the big screen their charms generally seemed to be stretched extremely thing. Voyager doesn't deserve the contempt it receives from hardcores, and did have some really good episodes. Robert Picardo's Doctor was for my money the best Trek character since the original. But after a couple of series it ran out of ideas and had to rely on poor Jeri Ryan's excellent figure to sustain interest. Plus they made the Borg kind of suck through overuse. Unforgivable that. I like Scott Bakula but Enterprise just seemed like a huge misstep. To be fair I haven't seen much of it. Then again, who has?

I think you can see the downfall of ST in The Search for Spock. All those "by the book" Federation pencil-pushers who try to stop them from stealing the ship to save Spock? Those guys became the heroes of the later series!

I like all of the first 8 movies to some degree. I lean towards the so called "Trilogy" (II-IV) which I look at in much the same way people look at the original Star Wars trilogy, but I have a real soft spot for First Contact, which against all the odds was a really exciting action movie. The first movie is huge, cerebral and can be quite a trip in the right mood, although I should perhaps note I'm talking about the director's cut; I haven't seen the original version in over a decade. The fifth is weak, but I have a soft spot for it as it was kind of my favourite as a kid. I even had the audiobook! It's got some good ideas, and some nice character moments, it just doesn't come together as a whole. VI is maybe a little overrated by Trekkers (that's the correct term, right?) and by then the franchise had already become a bit self-important, but it's still a nice send-off for the original cast. I've never really gotten the problem with Generations. OK, it makes no godddamn sense, but other than that _minor_ detail I see no real problems. McDowell was/is probably the best villain since Montalban (plus how cool is the idea of Alex the droog vs Kirk?) and Shatner's scenes were genuinely touching.

I didn't love the reboot, but they generally had the right idea and it was certainly better than the last couple of TNG movies. And the sequels could well be a bit more up my alley, so to speak.

[JimmyBond]

I would disagree with you that Trek V doesn't come together as a whole. But you are right, it has some great ideas, the problem was Shatner was a novice director and he wanted to make an epic right out of the gate. There are some impressive (and yes, epic) shots in his film. The problem is the film is just too damn short and the studio's penny pinching really hurt the film (would it have been better with Shatner's intended finale? Who knows, but we'll never know).

[DR76]

I don't know how many Star Trek fans are here, but I have rediscovered it thanks in part to the 2009 reboot, something badly needed. Yet I am distressed. No books taking place after the movies have come out, some were supposed to last summer. Playmates toys flopped, leaving collectors like me with an incomplete bridge and transporter room. In 2012 Star Trek: The Next Generation turns 25. I don't know of any celbration plans for that, but it too looks like this milestone will be a wimper. What is the future of Trek? Does the reboot diminish the Original Series? Do you collect Trek toys?

STAR TREK 2009 was so badly written that I went back to watching my copies of NEXT GENERATION, DEEP SPACE NINE and VOYAGER out of sheer desperation. I can only hope and pray that the sequel to J.J. Abrams' mess is written with a lot more skill.

Deep Space Nine (9?) was the best of the spin-offs, but for all its ambition towards darkness, ambiguity and on-going storytelling, at its best it was still generally like having a nice warm bath.

I disagree. DEEP SPACE NINE had the potential to be the best of the Trek shows. But thanks to some inconsistent writing - especially between Seasons 4 and 7, they screwed up. In the end, it became a decent Trek show with its share of writing inconsistencies . . . like NEXT GENERATION and VOYAGER.

As for THE ORIGINAL SERIES and ENTERPRISE . . . they had their moments, but my final opinion is that I didn't find them that impressive.

[Red Barchetta]

I've been a fan since I first saw Star Trek on a color TV- yes that's right- back in the 60's when black and white was the norm- my friend had a color TV (we didn't), and I saw ST for the first time- the color of the tunics is what got me hooked- I've seen every ep of every series, and of course, all the movies as well.

Love the reboot. The Gorn will make a great villian. No Klingons yet- it's too early.

Live long and prosper.

[jaguar007]

I grew up remembering ST:TOS. I became a big Trek fan in the 70s (but never to the extent of Bond, I have never been on a ST members forum). I did not watch the first few episodes ST:TNG in 87 but soon jumped on the band wagon. I followed TNG throughout the entire series and watched several seasons of DS9 and Voyager until I just got bored with them and never finished them during their run. I think I saw the first 2 episodes of Enterprise and I dropped that. TO me ST is all about TOS and TNG. Overall my favorite is TOS, but I have a soft spot for TNG mainly because Patrick Stewart is by far the best actor to ever be on a ST series.

[hcmv007]

Been watching ST:TNG on SyFy and Enterprise runs today.


Also-has anyone encountered a paperback novel that is missing pages? Was reading Faces of Fire, which has a young David Marcus and takes place in the middle of the first 5 year mission and I ran into a problem. Once I got to page 187 it jumped back to page 149 and then back to a normal flow. Has this happened to anyone?

I will post some reviews on books I have read, but I would like to suggest some novels in the OS and TNG:

OS

Prime Directive
Spock's World
The Joy Machine
Cry of the Onlies
The Starship Trap

TNG

Reunion
Metamorphosis
Ghost Ship
Imzadi



IMO-these are great starter books. Cry of the Onlies is a sequal to a couple of OS episodes, the Joy Machine is a great story as well. The Starship Trap deals with an extreme pacifist. Reunion gives insight into Picard and the crew of the Stargazer, Metamorphosis is an excellent Data story. Imzadi is a great Riker=Troi story, the sequal deals with Worf and Troi. Ghost Ship is the 1st Next Gen novel.

[JimmyBond]

I scored a major coup the other day and was able to check out Treks IV and VI from the Library (I own 2,3, and 5). It was great being able to see them again, especially VI which was the theatrical release. See I've only seen part VI on VHS in the extended cut, and then when Meyer added new stuff to the DVD I refused to get it, because the changes he made to the film ruined certain scenes that I felt worked real well...well one in particular, Spock's mind-meld with Valeris near the end of the film.

In other Trek news, I'm going through DS9 for the first time. It was the only Trek show I never really got into during it's initial run on television. I was a big TNG watcher, and Voyager was UPN's flagship show, so that one was an easy one to catch. But DS9 was always on at weird times where I lived so I was never really able to watch it with any consistency. I certainly liked what I saw (when I remembered to watch it).

So anyways, going through the first season it's really a mixed bag. There are a few gems but there's also a lot of sub-par episodes. Though since I really love these characters the sub-par episodes are fun for me (something that Enterprise was never able to do for me). I do hear DS9 picks up the pace as it goes on, so I really can't wait for season 2...and I definitely can't wait till Worf joins the show (yes I know, not until Season 4) because I really liked the dynamic he brought to the cast.

[iBond]

I'm a Star Trek fan indeed. Now, as to which type of Trek, it would have to be the original show and movies. But, I like all of Star Trek. To be honest, the one Trek that I have never liked and to this day still don't, would have to be Enterprise.

[j7wild]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

[Monkeyfoahead]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Hmm, this is very interesting. My favorite Trek series has to be Voyager. It was soooo campy. Every episode had something to do with the Borg, Time Travel, or the holodeck.. My favorite episode was the one where they're fighting the borg in the holodeck during a WWII scenario.

[hcmv007]

Finished reading Bloodthirst by JM Dillard. Miss Dillard wrote the adaption of ST 5 and showed the inner mind of Sybok, and Kirk making it an interesting read. The story is good-a remote Federation outpost sends out a distress call, and Enterprise answers. What they find is a lone survivor who may or may not be a vampire-I know this may repel some of you but this aint Twilight. When Kirk suspects the lab may be a bioweapon facility, the story takes off. What helps this book instead of hurting others is the lower characters-Jon Stanger, Lisa Nguyen & Lamia a female Andorian are all security officers who have subplots in the story, and their interaction with Ingrit Tomson who is the Security Chief for this novel. Dillard lets McCoy be the central figure with Kirk and Spock in supporting roles. A big mistake for some Trek novels is to let their created characters take over, but not here. It's a good mix, and offers insight into Bones that makes you remeber why he is such a good character.


Bloodthist-4.5 on a 5 point scale-Read it!

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

The top two almost happened.

[Mr. Blofeld]

This might be of interest, concerning the long road for Gene Roddenberry's original conception of the Star Trek movie from script to pilot to novel, and, finally, to a long-unpublished rumor; it's all documented on here: Gene Roddenberry's The God Thing

[JimmyBond]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Hmm, this is very interesting. My favorite Trek series has to be Voyager. It was soooo campy. Every episode had something to do with the Borg, Time Travel, or the holodeck.. My favorite episode was the one where they're fighting the borg in the holodeck during a WWII scenario.

At the risk of sounding like a nerd here, it wasn't the Borg they fought. In the two parter episode they're overtaken by the Hirogen and forced to battle it out in a WWII scenario on the Holodeck.

[Monkeyfoahead]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Hmm, this is very interesting. My favorite Trek series has to be Voyager. It was soooo campy. Every episode had something to do with the Borg, Time Travel, or the holodeck.. My favorite episode was the one where they're fighting the borg in the holodeck during a WWII scenario.

At the risk of sounding like a nerd here, it wasn't the Borg they fought. In the two parter episode they're overtaken by the Hirogen and forced to battle it out in a WWII scenario on the Holodeck.

Ok, that's totally what I was thinking, but I was thinking Jem'Hadar for some reason. Are you sure there wasn't Borg in there.

[Professor Dent]

So anyways, going through the first season it's really a mixed bag. There are a few gems but there's also a lot of sub-par episodes. Though since I really love these characters the sub-par episodes are fun for me (something that Enterprise was never able to do for me). I do hear DS9 picks up the pace as it goes on, so I really can't wait for season 2...and I definitely can't wait till Worf joins the show (yes I know, not until Season 4) because I really liked the dynamic he brought to the cast.

It does get better. TNG was still on the air when DS9 premiered so I think they tried harder to differentiate it in the beginning. The Dominion war story arc is interesting because it spanned seasons versus just a few episodes like the typical story arc.

For those that may have missed it, here is William Shatner's wake-up call to the Space Shuttle Discovery Crew. Quite a nice tribute during her final mission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP4U6ZMicBw

[JimmyBond]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Hmm, this is very interesting. My favorite Trek series has to be Voyager. It was soooo campy. Every episode had something to do with the Borg, Time Travel, or the holodeck.. My favorite episode was the one where they're fighting the borg in the holodeck during a WWII scenario.

At the risk of sounding like a nerd here, it wasn't the Borg they fought. In the two parter episode they're overtaken by the Hirogen and forced to battle it out in a WWII scenario on the Holodeck.

Ok, that's totally what I was thinking, but I was thinking Jem'Hadar for some reason. Are you sure there wasn't Borg in there.

Pretty sure, that was one of my favorite Voyager two parters. Though Voyager did use the Borg a whole lot, this was one of the few times they didn't.

[jaguar007]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Very interesting with the Bond connections.

I knew that Sean Connery was the first choice for Sybock but did not know about some of the others:

Dr. Kananga as Catp Picard! As cool as that could have been, Patrick Stewart was so incredibly awesome, IMO he almost single handed made TNG as good as TOS.

Steve McGarret...I mean Felix Leiter as Capt. Kirk. Sounds like he lost out on that role for a similar reason he never played Felix again.

[hcmv007]

this is interesting

http://www.toplessro...uldve_impro.php

Steve McGarret...I mean Felix Leiter as Capt. Kirk. Sounds like he lost out on that role for a similar reason he never played Felix again.

If I remember right he wanted to own part of the show.