Star Trek Fiction

A walk through the science fiction section at a Barnes and Noble last month reminded me of the strength of the world of Star Trek fiction. The Original Series premiered in 1966 and almost fifty years later those characters are still so vivid, so compelling that the market allows new adventures to continue for fans well after the deaths of the key productions members, including series creator, Gene Rodenberry; Dr. "Bones" McCoy, DeForest Kelly; and Scotty, James Doohan. It is a testament to the skills and work of the actors, writers and directors. I am old enough to remember a time when no Star Trek movies or series were on the horizon. Before and even after the movies and The Next Generation, I found the Star Trek novels enjoyable. Diane Duane, Vonda N. McIntyre, J. M. Dillard, and James Blish, among others, led fans on fantastic adventures in the Star Trek universe. They kept interest in Star Trek going and helped build the fan base. The Lost Years saga nicely filled in the gap between the end of the original five year mission and The Motion Picture. Novelizations of the movies provided important backstory about the crew. That the characters can be so vividly pictured for fans could allow the fiction market to continue indefinitely as long as an "official" storyline can be preserved, after all, we can't have writers just killing off main characters and someone else bringing them back a little later ;). Law & Order and NCIS are two long running series, well actually multiple series for each franchise, that would seem to lend themselves to a profitable publication of new adventures after the production of new episodes ceases. The relaunch of the The Original Series movie franchise in 2009 was handled so well that we may see several new cinematic stories involving Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the Enterprise crew. I look forward to that and to the books those films will undoubtedly inspire. March 31, 2013