Spoilers KEL: The Unsettling Stars by Alan Dean Foster Review Thread

[Elwro]

Finished! I liked 'the trick', it was a classic case of, hehe, Chekhov's gun :-) Overall, it gave me a nice and cozy feeling of a proper ST episode, with the crew -- or at least some its members -- properly stepping up to the task.

I didn't enjoy the bits where the narrative perspective changed to that of the Perenoreans. This detracted from the mystery, such as it was, and was fully unnecessary for the reader to comprehend what was going on.

Looking forward to more Kelvin Universe books!

 

[Damian]

I just completed my reading of "The Unsettling Stars" and rated it above average.

I was curious what a book based on the Kelvin-verse novels would be like. But I can say I never had any issues visualizing the crew as they appeared in the Abrams films. I wasn't sure if at times I would revert to seeing it through the lens of the original series. But I never did. Everything felt right for the ship and crew based on the movies.

Overall I liked the story. It was interesting to read a story about a 'villain' who all they wanted to do was 'help.' And the alien species, the Perenoreans, SiBoronaans and Dre'Kalak were all truly alien species. I thought Foster did a good job with the characters as they appeared in Star Trek (2009). I liked the chapter when Kirk is waiting to hear from the Admiral and he's visualizing receiving accolades and medals. And you knew what was coming was going to be anything but. This Captain Kirk had not had the same experiences of the prime-Kirk, who came up through the ranks and learned some important life lessons along the way.

I also liked that Foster addressed the inexperience of the crew from the get-go. He didn't sugar coat it or poo-poo it away. H even noted there were some in Starfleet who even indignant about the rapid-fire promotions.

So overall the story, characters and aliens were well done.

The only things I didn't care for were the rather quick resolution. The Perenoreans were getting ready to infiltrate Starfleet and voila, it's resolved and the story over in less than 10 pages. It was all rather sudden I thought.

The other is the Dre'Kalak disappeared without a trace after the initial encounter. I kept waiting for them to make a reappearance. They were adamant about how dangerous the Perenoreans were. I half expected them to assemble a larger force and come calling again. And we never learned just how the Perenoreans earned such ire. I mean, we know in general it was their 'over-helpful' nature. But I kept waiting for the Dre'Kalak to show up at some point and give more details about what happened that caused them to nearly go to war over it, and maybe even help the Enterprise at some point and coming to some compromise. But instead, they showed up, got beat up and disappeared for the rest of the book, except for the occasional name drop and at the end Kirk's hope that maybe they can be contacted again for diplomatic relations.

So that brought it down just a bit and I rated it above average.

 

[Damian]

No, they absolutely did not. That is nothing but a fan conjecture that refuses to die even though it makes no damn sense. Nobody has ever cancelled a novel because it might contradict future productions. They either rewrite it or they just let it get published despite the contradictions. It's happeened countless times with previous Trek books, so it bewilders me that anyone would fall for such a ridiculous speculation in this case.

The books were not cancelled because of their content. That had nothing to do with it. It was because of larger issues of company policy. Basically, Bad Robot preferred to generate tie-in content in-house under its close supervision, which didn't mesh with Pocket's creative approach (or its location on the other end of the country).

I know this is rather late to respond to this, but I just completed this book and was reading some of the other comments and came across with that.

I have to admit I was guilty of thinking that myself initially. I was still a regular reader on trekmovie.come at the time and I remember when this announcement was first made. The announcement was what you basically noted in the 2nd paragraph. Bad Robot more or less wanted more supervision of tie ins. I think the S&S announcement was basically something along the lines that they wanted to give Bad Robot the opportunity to tell the stories in their movies or something to that effect.

Fans, myself included initially, thought that meant the books were inconsistent with what they were thinking about for future movies and were put on hold until that was figured out. But that was reading things into what was not there. It wasn't really about consistency with potential future movies, it was about Bad Robot wanting closer supervision over tie ins.

I admit I do wonder sometimes did Bad Robot want a tighter continuity and were worried the novels would not be consistent with their new emerging universe? They didn't have the same supervision I guess over Pocketbooks that they did over their comic book stories and I wondered if that was an issue. And this was a new production team so maybe they had a different philosophy than the prior PTBs in the franchise had about books and tie ins and their continuity. But that being said nothing official has ever come out about that so it is as you noted, conjecture. Unless someone at Bad Robot someday comes out and says that, there's no way to know.

 

[Christopher]

I admit I do wonder sometimes did Bad Robot want a tighter continuity and were worried the novels would not be consistent with their new emerging universe?

If that were all it had been, they could've worked with Pocket to bring that about, like the Discovery/Picard team is now doing. It's not like it's somehow an impossible problem to solve. The issue was deeper than continuity alone. To put it roughly, it was more about differing philosophies of how to achieve that, a top-down approach versus a more decentralized one.

 

[Damian]

If that were all it had been, they could've worked with Pocket to bring that about, like the Discovery/Picard team is now doing. It's not like it's somehow an impossible problem to solve. The issue was deeper than continuity alone. To put it roughly, it was more about differing philosophies of how to achieve that, a top-down approach versus a more decentralized one.

I guess that's true enough. And it's in line with some other things I've heard over the years. And you're right, with Discovery and Picard it seems the show runners have done just that. Not 100% but unlike past Star Trek 'regimes' this one does seem to want to have a tighter continuity with its tie ins, as opposed to largely ignoring what tie ins do. The Bad Robot team could have pretty easily done something similar in that respect.

In any event I'm glad 2 of the 4 novels finally saw a release, and even parts of the other 2 made it out in a way as original series novels.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I gave it average. This felt like the Kelvin universe crew featuring in a season one Enterprise episode.

Nothing could live up to a decade of hype. Still it was great to finally get a novel with this crew. The Spock/Uhura stuff was the most interesting since we never get much of a look into their daily lives in the movies.

The Voyager probe bit reminded me of the tribble in Into Darkness. It was so random you knew it was going to matter a lot, and of course it sorta ties into the very end of TMP which ADF has a "story by" credit for. The wrap up was very quick, I think it's only the last ten pages?

The idea that Earth was "days away" at warp was very old school Trek, since it was never more than a few moments away in ST'09 and ID. And there's one bit where the Perenoreans cover "the length and breath of the engine room" and I was like, dude are you sure? That place is ridiculously enormous

I was wondering where Keenser was, or any of the other colourful aliens seen in the movies until I realised the crew being mostly human was integral to the Prenoreans' scheme/the writing, which is kind of a cheat. I guess they were all on leave or something.

 

[Damian]

This felt like the Kelvin universe crew featuring in a season one Enterprise episode.

Yeah, that's probably a good descriptor of the novel. Still, not necessarily a bad thing. It gives us an idea of how the crew in the Kelvin Universe would handle something the prime-crew would probably deal with. And it's nice to have a story without serious galactic consequences beyond the local area and issues. I think it's even pointed out there are no significant strategic interests in that area.

The Voyager probe bit reminded me of the tribble in Into Darkness. It was so random you knew it was going to matter a lot, and of course it sorta ties into the very end of TMP which ADF has a "story by" credit for. The wrap up was very quick, I think it's only the last ten pages?

Yeah, I couldn't help but think of TMP with the Voyager probe. The only problem is the timing I don't think would work out. It sounded like more than 15-20 years passed between when Voyager was found by the machine planet and when V'Ger returns to Earth to find it's creator. It doesn't seem like enough time to do all it supposedly did. But still, I got the impression that's what Foster was getting at. And yeah, you are left with the impression the probe would play a later role, then is largely forgotten until the very end. It was like "oh, yeah, the probe...I forgot all about it".

And yeah, I found the ending way to rushed. Everything was going to Hell and I was starting to wonder how it would be resolved because I was clearly running out of pages. And all of a sudden the problem is solved. And I thought for sure the Dre'Kalak would reappear at some point, if for no other reason than to have an "I told you so moment"

 

[Christopher]

It sounded like more than 15-20 years passed between when Voyager was found by the machine planet and when V'Ger returns to Earth to find it's creator.

Indeed -- V'Ger traveled the universe during that time, scanning all the weird cosmic objects Spock observed in its interior, which he said encompassed whole galaxies. In Ex Machina, I had to posit that the black hole flung Voyager 6 back in time thousands of years, since that was the only way to accommodate the journey implied in the "Spock Walk."

 

[Damian]

Indeed -- V'Ger traveled the universe during that time, scanning all the weird cosmic objects Spock observed in its interior, which he said encompassed whole galaxies. In Ex Machina, I had to posit that the black hole flung Voyager 6 back in time thousands of years, since that was the only way to accommodate the journey implied in the "Spock Walk."

Yeah, honestly 200-300 years is even implausible.

So I suppose you could argue that could have happened in here as well. That the probe fell into the black hole sometime after the time "Unsettling Stars" takes place, it gets flung back in time thousands of years and becomes V'Ger. I don't recall that the Enterprise did anything to alter the probes course (though I guess it's possible they did something that will ultimately prevent the events of TMP from occurring here).

So in a way "Ex Machina" makes it possible that the Voyager probe in "Unsettling Stars" is the same one that becomes V'Ger (which I get the distinct impression is what Foster intends).

 

[David cgc]

So in a way "Ex Machina" makes it possible that the Voyager probe in "Unsettling Stars" is the same one that becomes V'Ger (which I get the distinct impression is what Foster intends).

Maybe, but there's enough trouble with that (as we've said, even with the workarounds and handwaves we're discussing) that it seems obvious why the final book doesn't specify which Voyager probe it was (and, conversely, implying it would've become V'Ger if the Enterprise hadn't picked it up seems the only reason not to mention specifically that it was Voyager III or whatever).

 

[Damian]

Maybe, but there's enough trouble with that (as we've said, even with the workarounds and handwaves we're discussing) that it seems obvious why the final book doesn't specify which Voyager probe it was (and, conversely, implying it would've become V'Ger if the Enterprise hadn't picked it up seems the only reason not to mention specifically that it was Voyager III or whatever).

Yeah, it's left vague. I got the impression he wanted us to think it was the same probe that would become V'Ger, but it's not actually specified so the reader is free to assume it could be one of the other Voyager probes. I wouldn't be surprised either since Foster had a hand in the story of TMP that he would want to tie it to that movie as well.

I also figured he didn't say which Voyager probe it was since in fact there is no Voyager 6 probe. Sometimes it's best not to highlight an anachronism like that if you don't really have to.

 

[Valin]

It will. MBTD is a story that could only be told in the Kelvinverse of Star Trek; it would not work as a regular Original Series adventure.

I've been away from trekbbs for a few years. When I was last "here" , the new post-ST09 novels had just been canceled, and people were asking the authors who had already completed their novels, if they thought the owners of the franchise would ever uncancel them.

 

[Christopher]

I've been away from trekbbs for a few years. When I was last "here" , the new post-ST09 novels had just been canceled, and people were asking the authors who had already completed their novels, if they thought the owners of the franchise would ever uncancel them.

I believe all four of us completed our novels, at least as far as manuscript stage. At that point, we really had no idea whether they'd ever be published, though it eventually became clear that it was vanishingly unlikely. But a lot can change in a decade.

 

[Valin]

But a lot can change in a decade.

That is so true!

 

[Damian]

I've been away from trekbbs for a few years. When I was last "here" , the new post-ST09 novels had just been canceled, and people were asking the authors who had already completed their novels, if they thought the owners of the franchise would ever uncancel them.

I would add that the other 2 novels that aren't going to be published have appeared in some form in other novels.

I believe parts of Christopher's story were adapted for "The Face of the Unknown" and Greg Cox's for "No Time Like the Past". So all was not lost in those 2 unreleased novels.

I was kind of surprised the two that were released ended up being released. After a few years passed I figured they were DOA. I'm glad to see they saw a release. I'm not sure if that's rare or not, but at least in Star Trek it seems usually when a novel is pulled or cancelled it never sees the light of day.

I wonder also will this be it for the Kelvin-verse novels? Or will there be future novels? Time will tell I guess. It'd probably help if the 14th film ever gets off the ground.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I wonder also will this be it for the Kelvin-verse novels? Or will there be future novels? Time will tell I guess. It'd probably help if the 14th film ever gets off the groun

I voted with my wallet and pre-ordered both. Hopefully enough people buy them that they'll comission more (and release them in < ten years)

 

[Valin]

I voted with my wallet and pre-ordered both. Hopefully enough people buy them that they'll commission more (and release them in < ten years)

They may wait 15 years and have them take place during the K-verse's version of The Undiscovered Country time period.

 

[David Weller]

I would add that the other 2 novels that aren't going to be published have appeared in some form in other novels.

I believe parts of Christopher's story were adapted for "The Face of the Unknown" and Greg Cox's for "No Time Like the Past". So all was not lost in those 2 unreleased novels.

I was kind of surprised the two that were released ended up being released. After a few years passed I figured they were DOA. I'm glad to see they saw a release. I'm not sure if that's rare or not, but at least in Star Trek it seems usually when a novel is pulled or cancelled it never sees the light of day.

I wonder also will this be it for the Kelvin-verse novels? Or will there be future novels? Time will tell I guess. It'd probably help if the 14th film ever gets off the ground.

IIRC, it was mentioned that the reason the novels went on hiatus was over difficult licence negotiations to use characters and situations from the Kelvin timeline. Would S&S have done that just to publish two novels that were written a decade ago.

 

[Christopher]

IIRC, it was mentioned that the reason the novels went on hiatus was over difficult licence negotiations to use characters and situations from the Kelvin timeline.

I don't recall it ever being reported that that was a factor in the delay. It was part of the negotiations, and there was a delay in the negotiations, but that doesn't mean there's a causal relationship between those two facts. The delays were for a number of reasons, including some leadership shuffling at Simon & Schuster, with the new boss wanting to review negotiations in progress before signing off on them. I think it was also partly because the arrival of Discovery created a lot of new work that CBS Consumer Products had to deal with before they could get around to dealing with the book tie-in contract. So there were various factors conspiring to prolong the delay. It certainly wasn't exclusively about Kelvin, if that was even a factor at all.

 

[Desert Kris]

I, too have been quick to get the two Kelvin books, in hopes that it will help sales and encourage the commissioning of additional novels. I'd love to see authors have a chance to open up on the alternative version of Star Trek. Embrace and accentuate the differences, while still keeping it fundamentally Star Trek, for the modern day. Develop the relationship between Spock and Uhura. Develop the relationship between Scotty and Keenser. Explore the culture that Keenser comes from. Define Vulcans after the loss of their homeworld. Joke about whether or not Chekov is TOS Chekov, or was born a few years later and is a different person with the same name. Showcase Security Guard "Cupcake" Hendorff on landing parties. Introduce a regular security chief that all the authors can use (if they want) like Tomson from the 80's novels (but done with a unified direction in mind). Delve into how Kirk is different before and after Into Darkness. Explain the comings and goings of Darwin, Carol Marcus, 0718, Nurse Chapel, Zahra, and Madeline. I'm sure the comic series has done some of this, but novels can take inspiration from them yet go in different directions. There's lots of room in between the bracketing movies.