May 10, 2020
Alan Dean Foster: The Unsettling Stars.
The J.J. Abrams film Star Trek was released over a decade ago now,
and as expected, novels featuring the new "Kelvin Timeline" crew of
the U.S.S. Enterprise were solicited. Four novels were originally
scheduled, but none of them were released... until now!
Newly-minted Captain James T. Kirk leads the Enterprise on a rescue
mission to save a ship of refugees. Settling them on a nearby
planet, all seems well. However, the refugees and their new
neighbors are soon at odds for what seems to be the strangest of
reasons.
In this episode of Literary Treks, hosts Bruce Gibson & Dan Gunther welcome legendary author Alan Dean Foster to the show to discuss his new novel, The Unsettling Stars. We talk about the long path to publication for this novel, the experience of writing the alternate Trek characters, the two major alien races in the novel, the unique problem presented by the Perenoreans, Alan Dean Foster's contributions to the legacy of Star Trek, and wrap up with what he is working on now and where he can be found online.
At the top of the show, we report on the newly-released cover
for the newest Star Trek Little Golden Book. We also review a DS9
comic, "The Rules of Diplomacy," written by Aron Eisenberg, Nog
himself! And finally, we discuss listener feedback from The Babel
Conference for Literary Treks 301: Sing a Song of Sixpence.
News
Star Trek Alphabet Book Cover (00:03:23)
DS9: The Rules of Diplomacy Comic Review (00:06:04)
Listener Feedback (00:15:32)
Feature: Alan Dean Foster
Kicking Off the Kelvin Timeline (00:18:56)
Writing the Alternate Characters (00:24:14)
The Perenoreans and the SiBor (00:30:36)
Being Too Helpful (00:36:25)
No Flaws, Then No Drama (00:39:19)
Making People Think (00:44:09)
Identifying With Aliens (00:47:22)
Contributions to Star Trek (00:51:45)
More From Alan (01:00:09)
Final Thoughts (01:03:08)
Hosts
Dan Gunther and Bruce Gibson
Guest
Alan Dean Foster
Production
Bruce Gibson (Editor and Producer) Dan Gunther (Producer) C Bryan
Jones (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Matthew
Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Associate Producer)
Brandon-Shea Mutala (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate
Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Greg Rozier (Associate
Producer) Jeffery Harlan (Associate Producer) Casey Pettitt
(Associate Producer)