Offensive Star Trek novels!

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   Betting that some progheads would admit to reading these things, I decided to post this here.

Now, mind you, I think most non-believers are much more respectful to religious believers than the people I'm talking about in this letter I recently sent to the publishers of the Star Trek novels--but I wanted to get the word out about what happened at the boards I post to.

Here's what I said:

I'm writing to complain about the plotline of a novel published by Simon & Schuster subsidiary Pocket Book, something that has me very upset. But beyond this one novel there has been an ongoing pattern of events that have greatly displeased me...I have tried to be forgiving of them, but enough is enough.

After 13 years of being a loyal fan of the Star Trek novel series by your subsidiary Pocket Books, I have finally had enough of the way they have abused and offended the fans, not to mention making a complete hash out of the Star Trek universe. I am not some lunatic Trekkie who goes around wearing Spock ears 24-7, but that doesn't mean I don't care about the quality of your output--which has been slipping progressively over the years and finally has hit its nadir.

The first offense occurred years ago when Pocket Books changed over from releasing individual novels to releasing every novel as part of a miniseries. This began with the "Invasion!" series. This was a paper-think marketing ploy and everyone knew it. I decided to give it a chance, though, even knowing what it was, in hopes that the expanded plotlines would lead to superior quality stories. That was the first time I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I was perfectly willing to let that matter drop because for awhile, there were indeed some quality stories such as the Millennium series which I still hold in high esteem.

The second time Pocket Books ill-treated a segment of the fans was when they allowed Peter David entirely too much free rein in the creation of the New Frontier series. In the first place, he shouldn't have had the freedom to create an entirely new crew...but that didn't have to be the utter disaster it was. David succeeded in making a disgusting, farcical soap opera out of the Star Trek franchise--and for awhile, I was willing to bear with the series, hoping it would get better. But David drove the final nail in the coffin when he decided to engage in a rather nasty mockery of religious believers that seemed aimed at Christians in particular (the plotline involving the Redeemers). I was quite disgusted that the editors allowed that to get through. I happen to be a Christian--but I imagine many non-Christians would have seen through what David was doing and been disgusted with the mockery he made out of some people's closely held beliefs. I decided to solve this problem simply by ignoring all New Frontier-related products; I figured that if I simply ignored the author I didn't like, that would be enough. That was the second time I gave Pocket Books the benefit of the doubt.      

But the third offense has confirmed to me that there is a serious, systematic problem with Pocket Books' approach to the Star Trek fandom--and it is this offense has finally (after 13 years of purchasing these novels) driven me to never purchase a Star Trek novel again. At first, I appreciated the Deep Space Nine relaunch series, appreciated the clear effort going into making a single coherent "canon" among the Star Trek novels. But just recently, it went all wrong. The novel that so disgusted me this time was the Worlds of Star Trek Deep Space Nine book containing the stories of Ferenginar and the Dominion. The Ferenginar portion was interesting and that author deserves commendation--but the one who wrote the Dominion component of the novel absolutely ruined the series. For starters, he killed a main character, which USED to be one of the biggest no-no's given to authors of Star Trek novels. But as if that weren't bad enough, this author decided to follow in Peter David's footsteps and make a disgusting mockery of faith and religion--using the worst Nietzchean "God is dead" clichés. Doesn't he realize some of his fans are genuinely religious? In many ways, this was even more offensive than David's work, because at least his novels could be treated as a farce. This, however, was worse than a farce. I was incredibly revolted.

As if the author's judgment weren't bad enough, the editor's judgment was even worse, because he failed to reject the manuscript and tell him to come back with something worth publishing. He should have realized that the author's obvious contempt could present a problem for the company if not curtailed. I respect that writers have the freedom to write what they wish--but your editors have the right to control what does and does not get out. I gave you YEARS of second chances. But I will not make that mistake again after this third offense--without some SWEEPING changes, there will be no more chances. And I'll tell my friends what happened. Remember that for every dissatisfied customer there are even further losses thanks to word of mouth.

Here's what I'd like Simon & Schuster to do: I want you to censure the author responsible AND his editor, and issue a public apology. I also want you to stop suppressing authors outside your little cabal who want to write individual novels. Give up this Deep Space Nine relaunch farce, which you've managed to foul up beyond recognition. Otherwise, you can bet I will never purchase one of your novels again. Even if you publish something of interest, believe me, I know how to use a library or how to use a large bookstore AS a library. I am also familiar with the vast supply of fanfic available for free on the Internet, some of it meeting and surpassing the quality of those novels Pocket Book offered.

So, congratulations on alienating a long-time customer who probably paid hundreds if not over a thousand dollars over thirteen years for Star Trek novels. Unless the apology and other steps are forthcoming, it will remain that way.      