By GustavoLeao / 08:42, 9 December 2009 / Trek Books

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Unreality SF posted a new interview with Star Trek author David Mack (Star Trek Destiny) and here are few excerpts.

Regarding his 2010 novel More Beautiful Than Death which will be set in the new alternate timeline from J.J. Abrams movie, he said:

"The Enterprise crew is ordered to escort Ambassador Sarek to a dilithium-rich planet called Akiron, which has sent out a planetary distress signal. When the Enterprise crew reaches Akiron, they find that the planet is under siege by dark-energy creatures that some of the planet's more religious denizens believe are demons. In short order, one calamity after another puts our heroes in jeopardy. Sarek begins trying to pull diplomatic rank so he can pull the plug on the mission, and young Captain Kirk must fend off this unexpected challenge to his still-fragile command authority.

"As Kirk sinks himself, his crew, and his ship deeper into danger with each passing minute, he finds his own beliefs in a rational universe challenged by a mystic who insists it's no coincidence that has brought Kirk to Akiron but rather the alien equivalent of a Karmic debt. Meanwhile, one of Sarek's young Vulcan aides has a sinister agenda - and its chief objective appears to be the cold-blooded murder of Spock."

The novel features familiar, yet unfamiliar characters, so how hard was it to not fall into the trap of relying on what he knew about those characters from the "Prime" universe? "Actually, it proved much easier than I had expected. I had a lot of fun watching the new film, and I saw it several times on the big screen. Consequently, when I sat down to channel its characters and its attitude onto the page for More Beautiful Than Death, it was easy to hear Chris Pine's incarnation of Kirk, or Zachary Quinto's version of Spock, etc. I also kept myself in the right frame of mind by listening to the film's score repeatedly while I was working.

"As for unlearning what I had learned of the original, ‘Prime' Star Trek universe, that also was easier than I had expected. For once I didn't need to worry about each bit of trivia or history. As long as I stayed true to the film I had just seen, I knew all would be well. It was actually kind of liberating, to be honest," he admits. "All the fun of Star Trek with none of the minutiae."

There will be four novels set in the new movie's alternative reality - Alan Dean Foster's Refugees, Christopher L. Bennett's Seek a Newer World, David's More Beautiful Than Death, and Greg Cox's The Hazard of Concealing - published back-to-back between June and September. Was there any communication between the authors to keep the characterisations and details as cohesive as possible? "I've had some limited communications on the subject with Greg Cox and Christopher L. Bennett," David says, but he insists there was no need for any overly close cooperation between them. "We've not really had to worry about coordinating our efforts on these books as we have on other series. There isn't supposed to be any interbook continuity between these four novels. Our marching orders were to make each one a standalone adventure and to put all the toys back in the box just the way we'd found them. All we had to be mindful of was staying true to the tone, characters, and continuity of the new film."

Despite the fact that the makers of the movie are working for Bad Robot, a company which is independent from CBS (who own Star Trek), there won't be another step in the approval process. "To the best of my knowledge, the approvals process for these books remains the same as for all other Star Trek books: it has to pass muster with its editor and the licensing executive, currently John Van Citters, at CBS Television Consumer Products. No one affiliated with Bad Robot is currently involved in the tie-ins approval process, so far as I know."

The full interview is here.