I was under the impression Disney did do something similar with Star Wars and
it's 'Expanded Universe' soon after Lucas sold the rights. The Expanded
Universe was no longer considered canon, or at least a part of the continuity
of the Star Wars stories. Though I don't think they wrote such a deliberate
change into the novels and other written properties.
Having not kept up with the growth and expansion of the Star Trek novels, I am
not as invested in this change as I might have been 20 years ago. I
appreciated that the books often tried to tackle stories that weren't just
book-length versions of a typical episode. I didn't like all of the stories or
directions they took, but that's more often than not a matter of my taste.
I also find this action unnecessary (though I might enjoy the books where it
played out), as it seemed pretty well understood that most, if not all Star
Trek fiction books are not considered canon, except maybe the novelizations of
films and the occasional television episodes. Even those would diverge from
what appeared on screen as the books were typically written well in advance of
broadcast/theatrical premiere and could not account for late script changes and
would often go beyond what was shown on screen to fill the space required for a
mass-market book.
I guess it comes down in some quarters to a question of how intermingled
various entertainment forms can or should be. Maybe it's just a power move by
CBS (or Disney), or maybe they think their work needs to be produced like the
Marvel Cinematic Universe. For as much as Marvel seems to be an example of
single integrated narratives, there are still plenty of different universes at
play when you include Marvel's comic and animated properties in addition to the
film and TV work.
David
On Monday, December 20, 2021, 03:39:20 PM PST, Kevin M.
<[email protected]> wrote:
I typically buy maybe one or two Trek novels every couple of years… I’m
overdue if I’m honest. As the author of this article points out, the books
are/were nice to have around when genuine Star Trek stories were lacking on
both the big and small screens. Since roughly the “lost era” novels, the books
have maintained a continuity distinct from the TV shows and movies, developing
characters and creating new characters unique to the books. The most recent
trio of novels revealed the novel universe was, in fact, an alternate universe…
the result of actions taken by the Borg during the brief period in the movie
“First Contact” when the timeline had been altered and the Borg had
appropriated Earth. Long story short, this trilogy ended the novel timeline…
all the characters and stories never existed… any future novels will be built
on the existing canonical setup of the various TV shows and movies. I suppose
it is akin to DC rebooting all their comic book characters, but Trek very
specifically/deliberately set up the ending to wipe out/eliminate all of what
happened in the books from time and space… no possibility of a parallel
universe or continuation of events in the books. It’s their intellectual
property, and I admire the writers chosen to write the final novels, but it
seems rude to the fans, the authors, and the characters. The Star Wars films
sent the characters on different paths than their series of novels and video
games, but they didn’t take the drastic step that Trek has taken. I can’t help
but wonder why it was done.
https://blog.trekcore.com/2021/12/review-star-trek-coda-oblivions-gate/
--
Kevin M. (RPCV)
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