typhon pact

[dragon]

Was wondering if anyone has read the books in the new series and if they are any good.

[JME2]

I haven't read any of the novels, but I've been keeping tabs.

The Destiny trilogy set up major storytelling potential and geo-political fallout and from what I can see, the writers are taking full advantage of it.

[Ahriman238]

It's kind of hit-and-miss, to tell the truth. There are many good points, many bad points, and more than a few parts that rise me to utter a resounding 'meh.' So, kind of like NJO for Star Trek. Actually, I think if you liked NJO you probably will like these books.

Honestly, it's just so refreshing to see actual politics going on between the AQ powers.

[FaxModem1]

I've enjoyed the series so far, but I think its like Picard's comment in Insurrection. "Does anyone remember when we used to be explorers?"

Its pretty much cloak and dagger politics and the build up to a war. I miss the exploration.

[FaxModem1]

Actually, if I was going to categorize this novel series, its the Tom Clancy Trek series. Its a bunch of political thrillers stacked back to back.

[Steve]

I've read three out of four. It's mostly used to build up the Pact as a major threat, one that can strangle the UFP and Klingons in their post-Borg rampage states, with the Pact going 2-1-1 in the four books.
Spoiler

Their only real defeat was in the first book, "Zero Sum Game", where Bashir and Sarina Douglas successfully sabotage the stolen quantum slipstream schematics and destroy the Breen prototype. "Seize The Fire" was a stalemate, with Riker enabling the destruction of the super-terraforming artifact and neither side getting it. "Rough Beasts of Empire" was a clear-cut Pact victory, with Donatra's arrest and death and the reunification of the Romulan Empire under a pro-Pact government (aided by the Tsenkethi assassinations that put a less-ambitious Praetor in place of Tal'Aura). And though I've not read it, "Paths of Disharmony" is also a big Pact victory, with the Andorians withdrawing from the Federation - a major blow to UFP morale and prestige.

Now it remains to be seen where Pocket Books' editorial and writing staff is taking the Pact. Since one presumes they're going to have Hobus go kaboom in 2387 to fit Abrams-Trek, we'll see if they have the Pact survive that long or if something else brings it down beforehand.

[Joe Momma]

Now it remains to be seen where Pocket Books' editorial and writing staff is taking the Pact. Since one presumes they're going to have Hobus go kaboom in 2387 to fit Abrams-Trek, we'll see if they have the Pact survive that long or if something else brings it down beforehand.

They might not have the Hobus supernova occur in the Pocket Books. In the Star Trek Online novel tie-in The Needs of the Many one of the segments features a Temporal Investigations Agent suffering mental health issues because he has memories of several distinct time lines. Of specific interest in this case is that the recent events that occurred in the other Pocket Books series such as the Destiny Trilogy did not occur in the same timeline that led to the Hobus supernova. The timeline of the Trek reboot movie is also noted as another distinct timeline in that same story segment.

Among the already-existing contradictions are: Spoiler

The Borg were eliminated in the Destiny Trilogy, so thoroughly that even most of the drones and ships were disintegrated except for those few individuals who had left the Collective beforehand and even those people were purged of all Borg traces. However, the Borg are an active faction in the STO games and tie-in media, still as powerful and widespread as ever if not more so. It was also their technology that enhanced Nero's vessel. In the unofficial trilogy of books leading up to that Admiral Janeway was killed, but the STO game and novel both mention her being alive and investigating the Hobus supernova years after her presumed death in the regular Pocket Books series.

Based on those contradictions and the implication of separate time lines suggested in the Pocket Books' STO tie-in novel, my best guess is that Pocket Books will be treating the Hobus supernova and related media (the Star Trek comic tie-ins covering events leading up to Hobus, the Star Trek Online game and novel which takes place afterward, etc.) as a separate parallel universe from their standard series just as any novels following history established by the new movie would be. Still, I wasn't able to find any official statements to that effect. They might also feature an alternate version of the Hobus supernova with different versions of the events leading up and following it.

[Crazedwraith]

I hope so. STXI should just have been a reboot rather than slapping on the bullshit alternate timeline so its still alright bullcrap.

[Steve]

There's probably a limit to how much the Trek novels can "diverge" from the movie-canon. STO is its own continuity, with Paramount giving Cryptic permission to do "followup" on various Trek issues (like the whole "how the Klingons got their ridges back" thing and STO's storyline on the Hobus nova). At most, I imagine Trek EU will give its own origin for Hobus separate from STO.

(The Paramount-permission thing seems to extend to ship designs. They have a hand in the Ent-F contest that happened and Cryptic is seeking their permission to introduce the Vesta-class from the Trek novels).