Quote:
Originally Posted by ATDrake
Normally I don't recommend tie-in fiction, but I've found that Diane Duane is one of the rare writers who can come up with an original and imaginative story that fits into the existing framework without seeming like you're reading an episode re-run script, and actually does something interesting and believable with the setting and characters.
Sadly, even some of my other favourite writers who otherwise do excellent and highly recommended solo work (*cough*Barbara Hambly*cough*) have not managed this trick.
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It's doubly hard in the case of ST novels, because Paramount owns the rights and licenses the characters and settings, and has final approval over the books that are published. People active in writing for Trek all have stories about dealing with Paramount, like the case where a book got rejected because "The Federation would never
do that!", and the folks involved thought for about 5 minutes, and rattled off half a dozen
produced scripts from TOS where the Federation did
exactly that.
Given the circumstances, it's sometimes surprising good ST tie-ins appear at all, but Duane is one of the writers capable of transcending the form and doing very readable work.
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Dennis