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Question: Where are all the old Star Trek novels!?
I remember going into bookstores up through the mid 90's and there would be tons of Star Trek novels covering all the major television series up until that time!. They were always near the Star Wars novels and could give them a run for the money as far as sheer quantity was concerned!. Now I can walk in a store or look online and only find maybe 5 -10 star trek novels at a time and they always seem to be part of a Story Arc rather than a Stand Alone!. I would figure with all the trekkies and fans out there, they would still publish more!. Am I missing something!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
They're still around!. Check out used bookstores!. If they've got a halfway decent sci-fi section, they should have a bunch of Trek paperback novels!. I see Pocket Books novels from the 80s and 90s all the time in used bookstores; even some Bantam novels from the 70s!.
Another place to check is online book exchanges such as paperbackswap!.com!. My g/f is a member on that site and she sees Trek books on there all the time!.
Another good online source is powells!.com!. The store is located in Portland, Oregon, and if you're in the area it's a must-see stop for ANY book junkie!. However, Powell's has a lot of their inventory online, and they'll ship anywhere!. And of course, as practically the world's largest used bookstore, they've got EVERYTHING!.
Star Trek novels are still being published, but you're correct that there tend to be more books that are part of a series or story arc than there are one-off (that is, stand-alone) novels!. The 90s was the heyday for the stand-alones; now it's the story arcs having a heyday!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
One of the problems that I've run into with that and other series, is that fiction is almost always listed by author, not series!. Libraries and bookstores mix "series fiction" in with other fiction, so if you want Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books you're OK, but if you want all of the Star Trek books, you're screwed because there are so many authors!.
Good luck, and keep looking!Www@QuestionHome@Com
The big problem was they overdid it!. They published so much drek just to fill a hole in the publishing schedule that a lot of readership declined!.
ST is HARD to write for!. It's nearly impossible to come up with a plot that puts the characters in jepordy!.
Not to mention that most plot contrivances really got old!. Just how many planets does Kirk visit that you can't use the Transpoter a big chunk of the time!. I read more than one novel that had this as the major stumbling block!.
Guess what there is something called a shuttlecraft!.
ETC ETC ad infinitum!.
There was a good deal of nice stories!. in the older books!. But a directive came down that the story HAD to focus on the Hero/Villains!.
(A Great story from before that was Dreadnought!. (It had a couple minor problems!. But over all was an excellent story!.) It was basically you seeing Kirk from the perspective of a newly commissioned officer!. Kinda like the Lower decks episode in TNG!.)
The poor quality led to decline in readership and things went to series after series!.
Some Classic recommendatiosn if you can find them in used book stores!.
TOS:
Dreadnought
Uhuras Song
Ishmael
Strangers From the Sky
Three Minute Universe
Price of the Phoenix (Old Bantam book)
TNG
Measure of a Man
DS9
34th Rule
All of these are good stories that have a good plot and don't have huge gaping wholes in what the characters could do!.Www@QuestionHome@Com