This is a concept that we've been having a lot of fun with over on the various Trek tv show boards, and I thought it might be cool to try it here as well - we'll relive the memorable moments, and maybe inspire others to pick up the book as well.

So: What do you consider the most memorable moment/line/plot development in printed Trek?

1. Captain Kirk can never permanently die (Odyssey Trilogy, Preserver Trilogy).

2. Starships and centuries may come and go, but Meyer and Boyajian are immortal (any of Peter David's books).

"Eyebrow on stun, Mr. Spock." (UHURA'S SONG)

4. Tangerines (I think that what they were...) are the meaning of the universe. (Q-In-Law)

5. "I came to keep a promise: To meet a bard named Sunfall and to share songs." (Uhura's Song)

6. Someone really WILL invent the 'Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator'...but it won't be Marvin the Martian! (The Rift)

7. Blue OJ, and pink milkshakes. (How much...?)

Lwaxana Troi taking on Q--and winning!

"What should we do?"
"Sell tickets."

D.K., the "Q-In-Law" audiobook, though missing some parts, is great if just for the fact that Q himself is reading it (and doing a GREAT job!)!

Now if only I can FIND it....

Kagen's Law: Y.N.K.= You never know! "Uhura's Song"

If there's a ferengi on the cover, for god's sakes drop it and run!

Merat, it was nectarines.

"Heir *kick* to the Holy *kick* Rings *kick* of Betazed!" Lwaxana is just too funny for words.

Can't remember the novel but...

The fact that Khan blew up Afghanistan.

I've been thinking about that a lot lately.

Omnipotent beings really like one-letter names.
God is a woman. (both: "I, Q")

King Mob, I think it's "The Eugenics Wars, Vol I".

McCoy's line in 'The Great Starship Race' when Kirk mentions it'll be good to do a less serious mission for a change:
"Me too Jim; I'm tired of trying to negotiate a peace with the warring Birdbathians as they clash with the Knobheads of New Wherever..."

BTW, "Kagan's Law of First Contact" from Uhura's Song is actually "You'll surprise you more than they will."

Funny stuff.

I can't remember the title, but there was a passage in a TNG novel, which had Data revealing that a minor character was actually a surgically altered Romulan, due to the fact that Romulans have an extra small bone in their hands, which is absent in Vulcans. Can anyone confirm this?

BTW, I'm glad I'm not the only Q-in-Law fan here!

The novel you're looking for is War Drums. It was written in 1992 by John Vornholt.

Thanks Tim!

You're welcome.

V117 wrote:

And once the third and final Coda book comes out Old Trek is officially dead.

Can't say I'm surprised. Seven years ago, when The Mouse assimilated Star Wars, they decreed that the decades of novels that had come before, no longer counted for anything. Now fans of the 24th Century Trek novels are in the same place as fans of the SW novels were in 2014.

First, a little background.

When Star Trek Nemesis bombed in 2002, it seemed that we were done with the 24th Century. At the time, the only Trek TV on was Enterprise, which was set some 200 years earlier.

This gave the 24th Century series novels (TNG/DS9/VOY) a great deal of creative freedom. The infamous Reset Button was being dismantled and the Status Quo was no longer God. So things happened that couldn't before. Picard and Beverly finally get together (and have a son), Data was brought back, and, of course the massive Borg Invasion that nearly wiped the Federation out.

Even when the first of the new movies came out, the novels were not affected, as that movie, and those that followed, were essentially happening in a totally different universe.

The beginning of the end was the Kurtzman Abominations, that arrived in 2017 with STD. Of course, at that time, it might seem that the 24th Century novels might be able to survive. However, when new shows set in the 24th Century, such as Picard and Lower Decks showed up, the writing was on the wall. The freedom that the 24th Century novels have enjoyed for nearly 20 years is being revoked.

The Reset Button is back, the Status Quo is once again God. The Kurtzman Taint has finally reached the novels.

Unlike Doctor Who or Star Wars, Star Trek has embraced the notion of the multiverse and alternate timelines. It is therefore immune to the effects of a reset button, you can always say that contradictory storylines happen in parallel universes.

They why is the creative freedom of the 24th Century novels being rescinded?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'rescinded' Tim? The ST novels have always been in a separate continuity than the shows and movies, except for perhaps the novelizations... haven't they? I did get confirmation that even the regular authors (Bennett, Cox, Mack, etc.) are now only to focus on the current films/series, which is a shame since it couldn't be further from ST if it tried, but timelines in Trek have always been all over the place.

Francois: Unlike Doctor Who or Star Wars...
With the introduction of the "world between worlds" in Rebels, SW is now primed to delve into alternate timelines. I'm hoping that they don't, since I for one don't have faith the current crop of writers can do it well, but what they can do is continue stories under the Legends banner and finish the story lines left open since the EU was decannonized.

I mean that, when the 24th Century shows were on the air, the novels were restricted on what they could and couldn't do. The massive Borg invasion, in the Destiny novels, for example, would never have been allowed.

When Nemesis bombed, and it seemed that we were done with the 24th Century onscreen, those restrictions were loosened. Now they will be reimposed.


I did get confirmation that even the regular authors (Bennett, Cox, Mack, etc.) are now only to focus on the current films/series

WHAAAAT!?

Yeah

Recall when I mentioned that there were no plans to continue the Rise of the Federation series on those boards? I straight up asked Bennett about it and that was his answer; that they were almost exclusively going to concentrate on the new stuff going forward.

With SW I at least gave the new books and comics a chance before concluding they weren't for me. I saw the pilot of DIS when it aired for free on CBS and knew nu-Trek was for a different audience... however I did hear Lower Decks is mildly entertaining (mostly from this site)

So that's it then. More than fifty years of canon is being trashed to make room for Nu-Trek!? Nu-Trek is garbage.

This is one big F**k you from CBS to loyal fans everywhere.

Thankfully, this rumour has been proven false, the Roddenberry/Berman Trek novels are not dead.

Greg Cox himself informed me (we're in the same Facebook group devoted to Star Trek: TOS). And David Mack has released a new TOS novel, Harm's Way, which ties back into his Vanguard series.

And it seems that any future TNG/DS9/VOY books will once again take place during the run of their respective series.

So CBS/Paramount finally realized not enough people were watching their new shows and buying the merch related to it? Hmm, I wonder who could've predicted that!

This is promising news if it isn't a temporary shift. With all these big companies coming to terms with the bubble bursting for underperforming streaming services (D+ lost an estimated 4 million subscribers in first quarter 2023 for example), not to mention the writer's strike, they can't afford to overlook what the majority of fans actually want to spend their money on any longer.

Could be, I guess.