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Originally Posted by bill_mchale
I tend to not read media based fiction. I know, I am probably developing a rep for tilting at windmills, but my general impression has been that it erodes the midlist. I.e. fewer original works are published because the media based fiction is a sure thing. The basic problem ultimately is that said works constrain an author's imagination.
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I sympathize, but you can make a case that media-based fiction
is mid-list.
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In addition, the work also removes a certain amount of suspense. If I am reading a Star Trek novel, I know most of the major characters (i.e. essentially anyone from one of the TV series) have predestined immunity. No author is going to be allowed to kill Kirk or Spock. Also 90% of the time, the universe essentially resets... the status quo is restored.
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Precisely. The drama is confined to individual episodes, not the series as a whole.
The major exception I can think of offhand was Babylon 5, where Joe Straczynski had a five year story arc and major characters
did get killed off. And he also tried to tell the story in several different formats, so that parts of the story would be told in books and comics, as well as the TV series. I ultimately don't think the attempt was wholly successful, and the tie-in novels and comics largely didn't approach the quality of the TV show, but I deeply admired the fact that he tried to do it.
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Dennis