I did notice some nice little tidbits involving this long rumored future story were dropped into Articles of the Federation by KRAD, very slyly.
But that part of the time line was "The Lost Years" - and there have already been four of those! See the works by JM Dillard, Brad Ferguson and LA Graf. The "Lost Era" is the period between the end of ST VI and TNG's "Encounter at Farpoint".
Christopher, I'm not sure that what you and I are saying are incompatible. Pocket can't assume that the audience for Spirit Walk is still there. (Are those books even still in print? I can't remember the last time I saw them in bookstores.) As it seems to me, the book would have to appeal to two audiences -- fans of the Christie Golden books who haven't moved on, and fans of Destiny who have had their Voyager itch scratched and are intrigued. The book would have to appeal to both groups, and it can't assume audience familiarity with Golden's books. Whatever direction Christie Golden and J.J. Ordover had in mind may not be applicable any more; an influence, if not exactly a roadmap. That's what I mean by "something that acknowledges the past without being slavishly beholden to it." The past happened. It's a starting point, not the whole picture. I'm not sure that we're talking different things.
Why on Earth not? It's only been a few years (2004, and yes, they're still in print). By your logic, Pocket shouldn't have bothered releasing The Empty Chair in 2006.
I just assumed, Keith, that Star Trek fiction is subject to the same audience erosion as other entertainment options in the marketplace.
^ Except Star Trek fiction hasn't gone anywhere. And the Voyager fiction that has been published since Spirit Walk has done just fine (String Theory and Distant Shores). And Spirit Walk did well, for that matter. And if four years is too long for any kind of sequel to be worth while, then Pocket wouldn't have published The Empty Chair -- or Time for Yesterday (five years after Yesterday's Son), or Imzadi II (six years after Imzadi), or Before Dishonor (sixteen years after Vendetta). Okay, that last one was cheating, but you get the point. You're right that it would be good if the book appeals to both fans of Christie's work and fans who don't like or are indifferent to it, but the line "Pocket can't assume that the audience for Spirit Walk is still there" just doesn't ring right. Spirit Walk sold quite well, and Voyager has a following. (It helps that I've read Kirsten's outline for Full Circle and been blown away by it. )
You mean The Empty Chair which had the omnibus of its predecessors republished in lockstep with it, helping to rebuild any lost audience? And the Imzadi II that the author didn't want called that? Yeah, it probably would.
The author's wishes are wholly irrelevant to what we're talking about here. Pocket published it as a sequel and didn't think the fact that the original was published six years earlier was an impediment. (And that same author was the one who made Before Dishonor a sequel to a sixteen-year-old book... )
Nice to Hear Micheal Friedman is writing again I really liked his Stargazer series. Also his other books too.
(Nah, it works for me.) Most of these sequels were along the lines of "Because you demanded it!" The first book comes out, is highly acclaimed, and so a sequel is developed. Picking up from "Spirit Walk" isn't without precedent.
Wasn't there supposed to be a LE book focusing on Sisko at some point? Also, is A Singular Destiny a TNG book or just another seperate thing?
I'm not answering that question until you go back and read the post in this topic that explains what A Singular Destiny is, Marc.
Meaning is it Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager or is it just plain Star Trek set in one of those timelines?
Marc, your answer -- "Meaning is it Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager or is it just plain Star Trek set in one of those timelines?" -- has already been given elsewhere in the thread.