Picard's 'middle' years

[arch101]

Please forgive if this has been discussed before. Are there any novels that cover what Captain Picard did between the loss of the Stargazer and he construction of the Enterprise? While it would seem normal for a Captain who lost his ship to have to do 'shore duty' for awhile (provided that the Court Martial exonerated him of responsibility for the loss), I would think someone with Picard's stellar record on the Stargazer would have gone bonkers. I'm curious how someone like him would be challenged during the several-year break.

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ See The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett.

 

[Idoliside]

^ See The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett.

And to further on that, it's a fantastic book. I read the book and then watched "Encounter At Farpoint" and was amazed at how well it fitted to picard's narrative and emotions at the beginning of the journey.

 

[JD]

The Buried Age. Here's some info on the book if you want to check it out.

 

[avsherwood1]

I've already raved about The Buried Age but I suppose I can rave again - GREAT BOOK!

 

[D Man]

The Buried Age is the best Trek book I've read since Orion's Hounds, no-so-coincidentally also by Cristopher L. Bennett. It fills in those "middle years" and does so in a spectacular fashion.

A related question: are there any books dealing with Picard's time BEFORE he was on the Stargazer? Something post-"Tapestry" perhaps?

 

[Thrawn]

I also have to say The Buried Age is one of the best Trek books ever written. It almost makes TNG 1st season work, though sheer weight of fantastic characterization and backstory. Highly recommended.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

I coincidentally finished The Buried Age this morning, and as such can only say buy it! Buy it NOW!

 

[BryanSorensen]

I agree, this book was awesome and filled in a lot of gaps or questions that i had about Picard and all other factors that went into the loss of the Stargazer

 

[avsherwood1]

Just saw "The Measure of a Man" today... Picard and Phillipa's interactions we much more enjoyable after reading Buried Age.

 

[arch101]

Thanks, All. I will pick it up.

 

[Saga]

now i feel bad for passing up 'The Buried Age' in favor of King's 'The Regulators'.

 

[Leandar]

You must have priorities straight. Trek before everything else, especially horror! LOL!!

 

[Saga]

^ lol. i'm not much for horror aside from King. my cousin got me into Stephen King a year or so ago, its nice to take a break from Trek every once and awhile (right?). I'm going back to the book store Wed. and i'll (most likely) purchase 'The Burried Age'.

 

[arch101]

OK, finally read 'The Buried Age". It was a masterpiece. I should come here for all book recommendations. Thank You all again!

 

[Thrawn]

Glad you enjoyed it; a masterpiece indeed.

 

[Timo]

Although I didn't find the book too bad, either, I'd like to point out that we can think of alternate stories for that time period as well.

Outside the novels, we don't really know that Picard had a stellar career aboard the Stargazer. By onscreen references alone, it could be that Picard only commanded that vessel for something like three years, and never achieved anything of importance before the Battle of Maxia deprived him of the ship - perhaps his third command, even though the first at Captain rank.

It might be that at the time of the loss of the Stargazer, Picard was a virtual nobody, and now carried the stigma of having lost his ship as well. However, he would then go on to command two other vessels in glorious adventures and triumphant military campaigns, scoring diplomatic victories and scientific breakthroughs left and right, and this is what would earn him the command of the Federation Flagship in 2363. Anybody who dared bring up the fact that this was Jean-Luc "Stargazer" Picard, the infamous loser, would be quickly beaten up by the crowd that cheered the Captain's heroic record of 2354-63.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Christopher]

It might be that at the time of the loss of the Stargazer, Picard was a virtual nobody, and now carried the stigma of having lost his ship as well. However, he would then go on to command two other vessels in glorious adventures and triumphant military campaigns, scoring diplomatic victories and scientific breakthroughs left and right, and this is what would earn him the command of the Federation Flagship in 2363.

Won't work. There's never been any hint that Picard commanded any ships between the Stargazer and the Enterprise. That's why I had to structure The Buried Age in such a way that the only ship command he had in those 9 years was classified. And in "All Good Things," in the past segments when Picard was acting in a way that seemed erratic to the crew, Worf asked, "Are you certain this is the same man who commanded the Stargazer?" That makes it pretty explicit that Picard's command of the Stargazer was the basis of his reputation as a worthy captain.

 

[Timo]

There's never been any hint that Picard commanded any ships between the Stargazer and the Enterprise.

But there wasn't any hint that Spock could mind meld until he did, or that the Klingon Empire lacked an Emperor until it suddenly and retroactively did. Omitting references to a few starships that Picard commanded would be much less of a failure, as commanding of starships is Picard's day job and something we should take as granted.

How many references were there to the Stargazer, really? The big story in "The Battle", then two side mentions of missions in "Allegiance" and "The Wounded", and then the "Relics" bit about how Picard looked fondly back at his youth. "Measure of a Man" merely recouped the stuff from "The Battle", with a negative tint to it.

It would by no means be difficult to drop in two or three additional ships, the way the Okinawa was suddenly dropped into Sisko's backstory.

"Are you certain this is the same man who commanded the Stargazer?" That makes it pretty explicit that Picard's command of the Stargazer was the basis of his reputation as a worthy captain.

Hmm... Good point. OTOH, if Picard really is principally remembered as the commander of the Stargazer, that's all the more reason to think that his possible other commands would go unmentioned. He need not be a one-trick pony for Worf and some others to see him as one: the inventor of the Picard Maneuver could suffer from obscurity of the rest of his career the same way Gus Grissom's Marine piloting would come as a surprise to most.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[William Leisner]

And in "All Good Things," in the past segments when Picard was acting in a way that seemed erratic to the crew, Worf asked, "Are you certain this is the same man who commanded the Stargazer?"

Is that line from the final aired episode? That doesn't sound at all familiar to me. (Which does not, of course, negate the larger point being made.)