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Monday, 14 April 2014

Book bits: Acts of Contrition cover, Foul Deeds blurb, and more

Loads of books news! Starting with the look at the cover for Kirsten Beyer's next Voyager novel, Acts of Contrition, which features the USS Voyager (still pretending she hasn't had a refit) in slipstream, looking all awesome. StarTrek.com posted this:


Acts of Contrition, the second book in a three-part story which started with Protectors, is out in October. Before that, the first two books in the new Seekers series are on the way, which don't yet have covers. The cover artist, Rob Caswell, posted a test cover he did, while waiting to work on the real things. So here's a hint of the flavour of things to come with Seekers. Rob's previous cover designs for an imagined series, The Seekers, actually inspired this new series; you can see that cover series in my previous report.

Later in the year we've got a TOS movie era book on the way from Greg Cox. Foul Deeds Will Rise is set shortly after The Final Frontier, and Simon and Schuster have now released a new blurb revealing the link to a TOS episode:
An all-new Star Trek novel, set in the popular and blockbuster Original Series movie era!

2288. The U.S.S Enterprise-A is on a vital peacekeeping mission in a remote solar system beyond the boundaries of the Federation, where two warring planets—Pavak and Oyolo—are attempting to end years of bitter conflict. Crucial peace talks are being conducted aboard the Enterprise, even as Starfleet weapons inspectors oversee the disarmament process. Losses and atrocities on both sides have left plenty of hard feelings behind, so Captain James T. Kirk has his work cut out for him, even as he unexpectedly runs into a disturbing figure from his past: Lenore Karidian.

Twenty years ago, the deadly daughter of Kodos the Executioner tried to kill Kirk, but she has since been declared sane and rehabilitated. Kirk wants to give her the benefit of the doubt and a second chance at life, but when a mysterious assassination threatens the already fragile peace process, all clues point toward Lenore–and the future of two worlds hangs in the balance.

Continue after the jump for more books news, including the first details of new books, schedule changes, and behind the scenes treats:

Also out this year is Jeffrey Lang's new Data novel, The Light Fantastic, which Lang has been talking about on the TrekBBS. Lang has previously mentioned Geordi will have a role, which he expanded upon:
Just so you know, we didn't approach the idea of Data being out of Starfleet casually. It felt like the right thing to do for now, especially given the changes in Data's circumstances AND the changes to Starfleet and the Federation since Data's "death." One of the items Margaret Clark kept pushing while I was developing the story is the idea that, for the first time in his life, Data is kind of coloring outside the lines, which makes Geordi very, very nervous. The friction between these two old friends is one of the main drivers of the story.
He also noted that the rest of the Enterprise crew will be showing up, but the Enterprise will only make a brief appearance. Thanks to Jens Deffner for pointing me towards these posts.

I've found a few additions and changes to the publishing schedule: Amazon have recently moved Scott Harrison's TOS ebook, Shadow of the Machine, to October 2015. The post-The Motion Picture novella was previously due for release in October this year, which itself was a rescheduling after initial listings suggested it would be out by December 2013.

Amazon also have a listing up for a new book, titled simply Untitled (Star Trek), and listing CBS as the author. The rather ambiguous listing suggests an 184 page hardcover book from Gallery Books, which at a suggested price of just over $23, I would imagine will be a new non-fiction book. It's a very similar spec to the forthcoming The Klingon Art of War for example. Whatever it turns out to be, Amazon think it with us by the end of October.

One other addition to the schedule comes from David Mack, who in a recent podcast mentioned that he will probably be following the forthcoming Section 31: Disavowed with another Section 31 novel. The focus of Trek Mate's Ten Forward podcast was actually The Fall, with four of the five authors discussing their work on the series - Well worth a listen.

Finally, Christopher L. Bennett has updated his website, with annotations for his recently released Enterprise novel, Rise of the Federation: Tower of Babel. These will give a glimpse of all the continuity references and real world science that Bennett drew upon, but best to read them after you've read the book, as they're spoiler packed.

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5 comments:

  1. BrandonH14 April 2014 at 16:08

    Thank you for posting this interesting book news. It is the main reason I visit the site regularly.

    I do wonder why you put the last part of the article after the jump. I've seen a lot of merchandise articles that were longer.

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  2. 8of514 April 2014 at 16:14

    I try and keep the pre-jump bits to the highlights and/or core of an article, so readers scrolling down the page can skip ahead to articles that interest them more with out having to scroll forever, while those interested in a particular article can easily enough click to get more.

    I don't have any fixed length pre-jump, it depends when it seems best to insert a break, and how important I feel any particular bit of news is. That means plenty of long pre-jump book articles as much as any other subject.

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  3. Unknown15 April 2014 at 08:24

    I still think Voyager looks the same as it's always been. We've had no descriptions in the books of Voyager looking different. The only thing new is the saucer separation which was designed into the original model but never seen or installed on Voyager apparently. Voyager obviously used slipstream before without drastic changes made to the ship so it is my belief it wouldn't need drastic changes to have it be capable of slipstream again.

    It's just my opinion but I think Voyager looks fine the way it is and I'm a little attached to the ship as Voyager was the series I watched growing up in the '90s.

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  4. Fox16 April 2014 at 03:23

    Er, the Voyager was never intended to have saucer separation. It's designed quite clearly to have a seamless hull. Maybe you're confusing it with the Constitution-class, which was designed to allow for saucer separation (though that was never shown).

    ....

    Anyway, I'm really digging these covers with illustrations of the ships. IMHO, every book cover should be like that. I really hate the covers with pictures of the characters on them, because they're often very poorly photoshopped from the various TV shows. It's particularly jarring when they take a picture of an actor from early on in their respective series for a book that takes place a decade or more later.

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  5. 8of516 April 2014 at 03:23

    I think Voyager looks fine, but I'm still looking forward to seeing the refit. I think there's a good chance Beyer has avoided describing the changes to give Mark Rsdemaker the freedom to do the design as he sees fit, and then we'll hear all about it. They seem to have worked closely with other ships.

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