StillPaisleyCat

For those unfamiliar, every month Simon and Schuster offers an array of Trek ebooks at a promotional discount price.

In the US and Canada, they are $ 0.99, in the UK £ 0.99z, through the major ebook platforms. Not sure about other countries.

It’s a great way to dip into Treklit at an affordable price. Even better, the authors get their full residuals for each book. It’s a win-win for readers and writers.

This month’s offerings include a trilogy of Q-focused stories from Greg Cox as well as several TNG books from a diverse group of writers, including Diane Duane. There are also some TOS stories from Greg Cox and Lee Corey. This group will be available until September 3rd.

Swallow is the author of several well received Star Trek tie-in novels, both for the new shows and the Relauch novelverse (as well as for some other fandoms).

He’s also one of a few British authors writing for Trek.

Hope it’s ok to bring a link to a deeper dive article here. It seems a Daystrom Institute kind of analysis, and the background on Gene Coon’s shared script credit is worth documenting. (It’s new to me.)

TL;DR: Coon unintentionally mirrored plot lines from a June 1944 Astounding Science Fiction piece by Frederic Brown when he wrote an episode to fill a gap. The similarity was caught during a legal review so that the story’s author received co-credit.

Here’s the database synopsis of Brown’s novelette:

An advanced alien entity intervenes to stop a catastrophic war between humans and Outsiders. The entity chooses a champion from each side to decide the fate of the two races by fighting to the death in an arena designed to test their intelligence and courage.

Credit to Ryan Britt for this deep dive for Inverse. I’m not sure that I would go with his assessment that TOS is the only one that gave us the reflective version given that we’ve only seen the first part of Hegemony. The SNW season finale seems to be set up as a test of Pike that yet to come to a head. Spock and Chapel’s defeat of the environment-suited Gorn on the Cayuga’s saucer seems likely to be a set-up, to be expanded upon and mirrored in the second part yet to be seen.

Could it be possible that Pike might yet have his own toe-to-toe face off with the Gorn? Actually, or metaphorically as he takes on the Gorn’s leadership?

And like both Kirk and the protagonist of the original story, might Pike keep his learned, deeper understanding of the other species somewhat secret?

That would resolve the Gorn arc in SNW while preserving Kirk’s understanding of the Gorn as monsters for Arena. It would also be consistent with the theme of the personal cost ‘keeping secrets’ that has been running through the show.

While my preference isn’t to link to a vendor site, Round 2 (AMT’s parent) doesn’t seem to be posting these forthcoming releases on their own website yet. (Hope this is cool with community rules.) This vendor apparently saw these at a fair and booked supply. Credit to them for getting the information up.

Suggest folks outside the US contact their local/regional independent AMT stockists to see if they can preorder. Round2/AMT seems to be planning to have a presence at a series of toy fairs and trade events through the fall, so it sounds like there will be opportunities for other vendors to carry them.

Winter 2023-2024 seems the expected release time for these new models.

The TMP and Undiscovered Country Ktinga battlcruisers are newly rereleased along with the Enterprise D and the TOS K-7 space station.

I had been curious to see what the Trekyards guys’ first-look analysis would be based on the preview clip shared at STLV. Thought others might be too.

As usual, I find they can be overly rigid on some points, but can agree that for a new, large science vessel that would carry families, Voyager-A seems to be lacking windows.

David Mack, a tie-in Treklit author well known for tense drama, sometimes darker but strong portrayals of legacy characters, will be bringing us the tale of Seven’s journey to the Fenris Rangers. Mack’s consistently been nominated for the award for best genre fiction tie-in novels, and has recently won. He seems to be exactly the right author to take on this one.

From his @davidmack@wandering.shop presence on Mastodon:

Rejected by Starfleet Denied by the Federation SEVEN IS A WOMAN WITH NO HOME

Two years after Voyager returns from the Delta Quadrant, ex-Borg Seven of Nine embarks on a long-overdue journey of self-discovery — one that leads her to join the Fenris Rangers … but this choice might herald the end of her friendship with Kathryn Janeway.

COMING FEBRUARY 27, 2024 Available Now for Pre-Order in Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Mack’s books are on my autobuy list so I preordered when the book was first announced. I can recommend.

It’s Mack’s first hardcover tie-in Trek novel, but that seems to be a thing now for all new books tied to the ongoing streaming series. Simon and Schuster know who their best, established tie-in authors are and they are matching them well with books for the new shows. There hasn’t been a lemon in the bunch.

The article is making a lot of a brief response by Waltke to a question following up on a mysterious pre-STLV tweet on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

That said, it strongly suggests that the Lamarr-class Voyager-A and the Doctor won’t be the only ties to other Star Trek series.

SUMMARY

Prodigy season 2 of Star Trek will connect with every other show in the franchise, including a possible tie-in with Starfleet Academy.

The upcoming season promises to be even bigger than season 1, with elements from all previous shows and interesting storylines.

The return of beloved characters, such as The Doctor and the USS Voyager-A, deepens the connection to Star Trek: Voyager and expands the sequel potential for the entire Star Trek universe. #SaveStarTrekProdigy.

On Mastodon @GoodAaron@GoodAaron@mastodon.social has tooted that Prodigy season two has ‘New ships. Familiar faces. Starfleet legends…’

It seems the pitch for a ‘new home’ for Prodigy rolls on.

What I still can’t figure is why all those ‘familiar faces’ weren’t sufficient to make Prodigy a fit with Paramount’s 3 F ‘Franchises, Familiar Faces & Fandoms’ streaming strategy.

Oh to be a fly on the walls of Paramount.

I often consider Screenrant clickbait, but kudos to Mark Donaldson for getting one of the first analyses of the beauty shots and the Doctor’s description from the Prodigy 2 x 01 sneak peak made available at STLV.

SUMMARY

The USS Voyager-A, unveiled in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, has undergone noticeable upgrades including increased staffing levels, advanced technology, and a larger shuttle bay.

The Voyager-A is a Lamarr-class science vessel, honoring real-world female scientist Hedy Lamarr, in line with the legacy of Janeway as a female leader and scientist.

While the Voyager-B and Voyager-J also feature upgrades and unique technologies, the Voyager-A stands out with its larger size and alternative warp drive.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/715805

Thanks again to all who joined in the creative fun on Canvas. It’s been great getting to cooperate with you in this midsummer enthusiasm.

Our efforts have stood up fairly well, despite a touch of final hours encroachment by an enthusiastically growing flag of Ireland and what seems to be an extension of the Trans flag. I guess a wordmark in violet was too great a temptation for them to resist interacting with.

Edited: TIL the colours of the Trans flag. My bad for not knowing them already

Thanks again to all who joined in the creative fun on Canvas. It’s been great getting to cooperate with you in this midsummer enthusiasm.

Our efforts have stood up fairly well, despite a touch of final hours encroachment by an enthusiastically growing flag of Ireland and what seems to be an extension of the Trans flag. I guess a wordmark in violet was too great a temptation for them to resist interacting with.

Edited: TIL the colours of the Trans flag. My bad for not knowing them already.

Didn’t see this coming. Prodigy EPs the Brothers Hageman have dropped a scene from season two, episode one.

And it’s on the official StarTrek.com site.

My spouse is muttering ‘makes no sense at all…’

I’m enjoying just having gorgeous new Prodigy animation to see. And those of you who love a great flyby of a new ship - get ready!