StillPaisleyCat

For those unfamiliar, every month Simon and Schuster offers an array of Trek ebooks at a promotional discount price.

In the US and Canada, they are $ 0.99, in the UK £ 0.99z, through the major ebook platforms. Not sure about other countries.

It’s a great way to dip into Treklit at an affordable price. Even better, the authors get their full residuals for each book. It’s a win-win for readers and writers.

This month’s offerings include a trilogy of Q-focused stories from Greg Cox as well as several TNG books from a diverse group of writers, including Diane Duane. There are also some TOS stories from Greg Cox and Lee Corey. This group will be available until September 3rd.

Swallow is the author of several well received Star Trek tie-in novels, both for the new shows and the Relauch novelverse (as well as for some other fandoms).

He’s also one of a few British authors writing for Trek.

Hope it’s ok to bring a link to a deeper dive article here. It seems a Daystrom Institute kind of analysis, and the background on Gene Coon’s shared script credit is worth documenting. (It’s new to me.)

TL;DR: Coon unintentionally mirrored plot lines from a June 1944 Astounding Science Fiction piece by Frederic Brown when he wrote an episode to fill a gap. The similarity was caught during a legal review so that the story’s author received co-credit.

Here’s the database synopsis of Brown’s novelette:

An advanced alien entity intervenes to stop a catastrophic war between humans and Outsiders. The entity chooses a champion from each side to decide the fate of the two races by fighting to the death in an arena designed to test their intelligence and courage.

Credit to Ryan Britt for this deep dive for Inverse. I’m not sure that I would go with his assessment that TOS is the only one that gave us the reflective version given that we’ve only seen the first part of Hegemony. The SNW season finale seems to be set up as a test of Pike that yet to come to a head. Spock and Chapel’s defeat of the environment-suited Gorn on the Cayuga’s saucer seems likely to be a set-up, to be expanded upon and mirrored in the second part yet to be seen.

Could it be possible that Pike might yet have his own toe-to-toe face off with the Gorn? Actually, or metaphorically as he takes on the Gorn’s leadership?

And like both Kirk and the protagonist of the original story, might Pike keep his learned, deeper understanding of the other species somewhat secret?

That would resolve the Gorn arc in SNW while preserving Kirk’s understanding of the Gorn as monsters for Arena. It would also be consistent with the theme of the personal cost ‘keeping secrets’ that has been running through the show.

While my preference isn’t to link to a vendor site, Round 2 (AMT’s parent) doesn’t seem to be posting these forthcoming releases on their own website yet. (Hope this is cool with community rules.) This vendor apparently saw these at a fair and booked supply. Credit to them for getting the information up.

Suggest folks outside the US contact their local/regional independent AMT stockists to see if they can preorder. Round2/AMT seems to be planning to have a presence at a series of toy fairs and trade events through the fall, so it sounds like there will be opportunities for other vendors to carry them.

Winter 2023-2024 seems the expected release time for these new models.

The TMP and Undiscovered Country Ktinga battlcruisers are newly rereleased along with the Enterprise D and the TOS K-7 space station.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.projectsegfau.lt/m/moviesandtv@lemmy.film/t/26728

As picketers gathered in front of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery locations, outgoing WGA East president Michael Winship said the AMPTP is different than in 2007-2008: "It's just gonna take a little while longer."

I had been curious to see what the Trekyards guys’ first-look analysis would be based on the preview clip shared at STLV. Thought others might be too.

As usual, I find they can be overly rigid on some points, but can agree that for a new, large science vessel that would carry families, Voyager-A seems to be lacking windows.

Paramount Global is often characterized as late to the party and at best an underdog.

It’s helpful perspective to compare then to how mammoth Disney is managing through its transitions.

By all accounts it’s continuing to flail, and Bob Iger’s tone-deaf mid-July public statements seem to be pouring accelerant on a reported dumpster fire of internal morale.

The adage regarding bad strategy executed by “generals fighting the last war” comes to mind. Bob Iger’s attempt to turnaround Disney is seeming a lot like Wellington’s infamous disasterous Crimean War strategy in the mid 19th century.

Many of Disney’s problems come with the territory of running a sprawling media conglomerate in 2023: The once-lucrative tent pole of linear TV is rapidly crumbling, while its theoretical replacement, streaming, is burning through cash. Interest rates are taking their toll. Audiences are growing bored with the seemingly unending number of superheroes, spinoffs and sequels from the vaunted studio…

Iger was already getting called out for attending the Sun Valley conference, a confab known as the “summer camp for billionaires,” after laying off some 7,000 people across the company to save money. But instead of laying low, Iger went on TV and, against the backdrop of idyllic Idaho mountains under a pink sky, absolutely wrecked his comms team’s week.

In the interview, Iger told journalist David Faber that Disney’s non-ESPN linear assets, which include ABC, the Disney Channel, FX and National Geographic, “may not be core,” and that the traditional TV business model was “broken.”

I found this Hollywood Reporter scan of investor reactions well done.

It addresses many of the points of speculation swirling around the Star Trek franchise. (It also gives me pause, as there’s a strong implication that Paramount and other AMTPT members are using the WGA and SGA-AFTRA strikes to cooldown excesses in competitive streaming production at the expense of the creators and talent.)

It covers Paramount Global’s quarterly earnings report, CEO Baklish’s statements around direct to consumer (DTC, i.e. streamers and Pluto) strategy, and the sale of Simon and Schuster.

TLDR: Don’t put credence in firesale narratives that would see the Star Trek IP sold off to another streamer / content producer - but expect tighter constraints and more careful playing of market niches/segments in greenlighting and scheduling new franchise content.

Here are some key points/excerpts…

1. Paramount Global got most of the bad news out to investors last quarter, taking the price punishment in one go. Between the strike and the sale of Simon and Schuster (as well as the debt restructuring announced last quarter) is now in a better cash position, able to lower its relatively high leverage (debt ratio). Its streamers are also expected to be closer to profitable.

… the second quarter saw the conglomerate beat Wall Street estimates and “speak to ‘significant growth’ in earnings for ’24,” the Wells Fargo expert noted. “Paramount is also expecting accelerating direct-to-consumer (DTC) ad revenue in the third quarter, better second-half free cash flow due to the strikes and should see more than 20 percent DTC global average revenue per user (ARPU) growth in ’24.”

2. Don’t expect the Redstone family to break up Paramount Global to achieve a sale.

Steven Cahall, the Wells Fargo analyst also shared his take on what he described as some investors’ “M&A dream.” Mentioning a value of around $25 billion on Paramount’s studio and content assets, Cahall shared: “We can think of five well-heeled buyers for content/studios in isolation, but only one to two (and maybe zero) if networks/DTC are part of a deal.” While “M&A works with a break-up,” he believes that Shari Redstone-controlled owner National Amusements wouldn’t go for that option, writing: “Unfortunately, we think NAI would only consider a deal for the whole.”

3. Paramount Global’s doing a reasonable job of managing the hand it was dealt (in terms of selling off assets) and is moderating its streaming strategy.

MoffettNathanson analysts Robert Fishman and Michael Nathanson, “Although we remain skeptical, Paramount believes DTC can ultimately turn into a meaningful profit driver,” they noted. “Management seemed to concede that it had narrowed the scope of its DTC ambitions, saying it is rejiggering its content strategy to focus on the demographics that have already flocked to the platform with an eye towards increasing engagement and thus reducing churn.”

4. Paramount is doing better in curbing the free fall of linear television

Beyond Wall Street, Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley also commented on Paramount’s latest financial and operating update. “In an environment where traditional TV is under increasing pressure, Paramount brought some stability to its TV Media segment with revenue dropping just 2 percent,” he noted. “However, our experts caution that what’s important to see is the fall season given the degree of impact that the writers and actors strike will bring to Paramount’s lineup.”

David Mack, a tie-in Treklit author well known for tense drama, sometimes darker but strong portrayals of legacy characters, will be bringing us the tale of Seven’s journey to the Fenris Rangers. Mack’s consistently been nominated for the award for best genre fiction tie-in novels, and has recently won. He seems to be exactly the right author to take on this one.

From his @davidmack@wandering.shop presence on Mastodon:

Rejected by Starfleet Denied by the Federation SEVEN IS A WOMAN WITH NO HOME

Two years after Voyager returns from the Delta Quadrant, ex-Borg Seven of Nine embarks on a long-overdue journey of self-discovery — one that leads her to join the Fenris Rangers … but this choice might herald the end of her friendship with Kathryn Janeway.

COMING FEBRUARY 27, 2024 Available Now for Pre-Order in Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Mack’s books are on my autobuy list so I preordered when the book was first announced. I can recommend.

It’s Mack’s first hardcover tie-in Trek novel, but that seems to be a thing now for all new books tied to the ongoing streaming series. Simon and Schuster know who their best, established tie-in authors are and they are matching them well with books for the new shows. There hasn’t been a lemon in the bunch.

$1.62 billion is less than Paramount Global was seeking for Simon & Schuster, but a $200 million cancellation payout on the last court-blocked deal, and several years of profitability from the publishing arm, makes for a bit of a wash over 4 years of attempted divestment.

As a Treklit fan, I’m sad to see the franchise publisher going separate ways, but Paramount never seemed inclined to make anything of the possible synergies with its publisher. And Paramount will always own all the rights for its licenced tie-in fiction whatever the relationship.

Hopefully, this influx of cash will help Paramount reduce its overall debt without making it a target for a takeover funded with its own money.

The article is making a lot of a brief response by Waltke to a question following up on a mysterious pre-STLV tweet on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

That said, it strongly suggests that the Lamarr-class Voyager-A and the Doctor won’t be the only ties to other Star Trek series.

SUMMARY

Prodigy season 2 of Star Trek will connect with every other show in the franchise, including a possible tie-in with Starfleet Academy.

The upcoming season promises to be even bigger than season 1, with elements from all previous shows and interesting storylines.

The return of beloved characters, such as The Doctor and the USS Voyager-A, deepens the connection to Star Trek: Voyager and expands the sequel potential for the entire Star Trek universe. #SaveStarTrekProdigy.

On Mastodon @GoodAaron@GoodAaron@mastodon.social has tooted that Prodigy season two has ‘New ships. Familiar faces. Starfleet legends…’

It seems the pitch for a ‘new home’ for Prodigy rolls on.

What I still can’t figure is why all those ‘familiar faces’ weren’t sufficient to make Prodigy a fit with Paramount’s 3 F ‘Franchises, Familiar Faces & Fandoms’ streaming strategy.

Oh to be a fly on the walls of Paramount.