Something I’ve noticed in the last few months at the local Barnes & Noble (and Borders): Where have all the Star Trek books gone?
I mean, for the past decade, an entire columnar bookshelf or more of Star Trek novels — from every era of every show (and in-between and beyond) have been a staple at major bookstores.
And now? Two, three shelves only. Hell, there are more Star Wars books there than Star Trek.
In general, I always found most ST books dreck (Peter David’s being a noteworthy exception), but it’s sort of shocking to see the selection implode like that. A major publisher’s decision? Bigger profits from manga? New strategies from Paramount? A collapsing market? No idea. But it’s … well, as someone would say, “Fascinating.”
27 view(s)
I seem to recall reading in Locus a few years ago that Pocket and/or Paramount was imposing some pretty nasty contract terms on author’s of ST books. So a whole slew of the established folks packed up and left.
It could be that the “next generation” got tired of those contract terms and have also left.
Or, it could be that the fact that “Enterprise” would suck even in a Category VI hurricane…that the last ST movie did not do so well…and there is no other “new” ST on the air could mean that the books are imploding from lack of interest.
My personal favorite: “The Final Reflection” by John M. Ford.