Prequel Problems: Star Trek Federation vs First Contact

[Gary Oswald]

Discuss this article by @Thande here

 

[cikka]

fun article!

it's always nice when people talk about obscure franchise novels, a lot of fun to read.

 

[Thande]

fun article!

it's always nice when people talk about obscure franchise novels, a lot of fun to read.

Agreed, it's a neat rabbit hole - though (I was a little surprised to learn) Federation is one of the best-selling Star Trek novels of all time. I know you meant obscure from the POV of the average person not invested in said franchise, though.

 

[M_Kresal]

I read Federation back in 2012, having had the paperback for awhile at that point. It’s a novel that’s hard not to adore if you’re a Trek fan, and in many ways it’s what everyone wanted Generations to be that it wasn’t. Indeed, that film still feels like a middling quality TNG two-parter with a TOS prologue and epilogue to bring it up toward the two hour mark.

I will say that novels being superseded by on-screen events didn’t stop either Federation or the earlier alt-first contact novel Strangers From The Sky getting reprinted in paperback as part of the Trek 50th in 2006. Nor stopped them from selling well on Kindle even now.

 

[varyar]

It's been a long time since I've read Federation but I remember liking it, especially the near-future bits, most especially the ones that take place in Britain.