Star Trek: Deep Space Nine celebrates its 25th Anniversary in less than a month, and to celebrate the space station’s silver anniversary, we’ve teamed up with our friends at FanSets to get one lucky reader a full set of their DS9 crew pin collection!
All current members of the current Deep Space 9 character collection — Sisko, Kira, Jadzia Dax, Odo, Quark, Gul Dukat, a Jem’Hadar, and their brand new Garak — will also beam down to your sector to help commemorate the milestone.
In addition, FanSets will also include their special Deep Space 9 and USS Defiant pins, along with the series’ classic logo — bringing this to a full eleven-pin collection!
To enter for your chance to win this Star Trek: Deep Space Nine prize package is to think about the wide range of characters we met over the seven years of the series, and answer the following in our comments below:
From Admiral Ross to Kai Winn, dozens of memorable characters made their way through the corridors of Deep Space 9, and we want know who you rank at the top of your list!
Sound off in the comments below — and then watch your email for one of our winner notifications on December 23, with shipment planned to the winner for around January 1.
Add TrekCore.com to your ‘safe senders’ list so we don’t go to your spam folder!
Contest Rules
Giveaway open to residents of the United States only.
Contest runs through 11:59 PM Eastern on Friday, December 22.
Only one comment per user; users with multiple comments will be disqualified.
Must be a registered user of the Disqus comment system with a valid email address.
Star Trek: Discovery won’t be back until early January, but today promotion for the series continues as several new photos from the filming of “Chapter 1” arrive, as well as a preview of composer Jeff Russo’s first soundtrack release which becomes available tomorrow.
Over at Entertainment Weekly, a series of ten behind-the-scenes photos spanning production from “The Vulcan Hello” through “Into the Forest I Go” debuted (though one or two have been seen previously via Discovery team social media):
1 of 10
Martin-Green and Jones on the Shenzhou bridge during pilot filming. (CBS)
Wilson and Martin-Green goof off during "Madness..." (CBS)
Emily Couts, Sara Mitich, and Jones off camera. (CBS)
Isaacs with "Choose Your Pain" director Lee Rose. (CBS)
Klingons resting between takes. (CBS)
Wilson, Rose, and Isaacs on the Klingon prison ship set. (CBS)
Joining the away team on Pahvo. (CBS)
Filming a stunt for "Madness..." (CBS)
Rapp and Martin-Green shoot party scenes for "Madness..." (CBS)
Martin-Green sprints during the "Into the Forest..." conclusion. (CBS)
In addition, Lakeshore Records has put out their first preview of Jeff Russo’s “Chapter 1” soundtrack, available for digital download tomorrow.
We’ll have our review of the soundtrack in the coming weeks, and of course will continue our coverage of Star Trek: Discovery as news breaks!
We’ve still got a few weeks to go until Star Trek: Discovery returns for the final half of its first season, but today CBS rolled out the names of the last six episodes of the year for us to ponder over in the meantime!
We already knew about “Despite Yourself,” the title to episode 10, but here are all the new ones revealed today.
No idea yet as to what these titles refer to, but we’ll certainly have a better idea when Star Trek: Discovery returns on January 7.
IDW Publishing’s first run of Star Trek: Discovery comics is ongoing now — check out our review of Discovery #1 if you missed it! — and today they announced that this spring, a special 48-page Annual release will be coming, centered around the backstories of Lt. Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber.
Star Trek Discovery Annual 2018
Cover A: Angel Hernandez; Cover B: George Caltsoudas Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson (w) • Angel Hernandez (a & c)
The U.S.S. Discovery is a ship unlike any the galaxy’s ever seen, developing tech based on an unstable mycelial network… and it is all in the hands of Science Officer Lt. Stamets, tasked with perfecting it to win the war against the Klingons.
Who is Stamets, and how did he, with his old partner, Straal, come to discover the mycelial network?P lus: Learn how Lt. Stamets met his significant other, Medical Officer Hugh Culber, and came to know fan-favorite Cadet Sylvia Tilly!
Here are the two covers, from longtime Trek comic contributors Angel Hernandez and George Caltsoudas:
13th Dimension also revealed the cover art and logline for March’s “series finale” of the ongoing Boldly Go Kelvin Timeline comic series, which concluded the current “I.D.I.C.” cross-dimensional storyline.
Star Trek: Boldly Go #18 Covers by Josh Hood and Eoin Marron (not yet available); variant cover by Yoshi Yoshitani Mike Johnson (w) • Josh Hood (a & c)
“I.D.I.C.” Part 6 of 6! It’s the series finale of Star Trek: Boldly Go, and the climactic final chapter of the epic “I.D.I.C.” saga! James Tiberius Kirk faces the greatest challenge of his life… and the fate of infinite realities hangs in the balance!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 3/14/18
We reached out to Gaydos today to follow up on today’s news, and she told us that while Star Trek comics will certainly continue in various forms past March, she confirmed to TrekCore that Boldly Go #18 will be the conclusion of the Kelvin Timeline story at IDW — and clarified that her comment during the IDW livestream (mentioned above) meant to reference writer Mike Johnson’s continuing involvement with Trek comics going into next year, not Boldly Go specifically.
As with all of their Star Trek tie-ins, if you’d like to see more of them in the future, be sure and reach out to IDW by email or on Twitter to let them know!
We’ll update you as we learn more about the ongoing Trek comic series!
One of this fall’s new Star Trek reference books — Chip Carter’s Star Trek: The Book of Lists — is in stores now, and while we’ll bring you our review of this new book in the coming weeks, we’ve teamed up with publisher HarperCollins Publishers to get a copy of this new hardcover into the hands of three lucky TrekCore readers!
This contest has ended. Congratulations to our winners Scott, Skylar, and Thad!
Check out our preview of this book from back in September, then enter to win your own copy by simply addressing the below in our comments:
It’s could be one of the most-asked question between Star Trek fans, and with the arrival of Star Trek: Discovery, the ranking permutations have gotten that much more complicated, with over 5,000 possible ranking arrangements!
Think about it a bit, and give us your seven-series rankings in the comments below — then watch your email for one of our winner notifications on December 16!
Add TrekCore.com to your ‘safe senders’ list so we don’t go to your spam folder!
Contest Rules
Giveaway open to residents of the United States only – three winners will be chosen.
Contest runs through 11:59 PM Eastern on Friday, December 15.
Only one comment per user; users with multiple comments will be disqualified.
Must be a registered user of the Disqus comment system with a valid email address.
Perhaps one of their lesser known craft, the Klingon D5-class warship popped up in Star Trek: Enterprise to no particular fanfare, appearing first as little more than a tanker in Season 2’s “Marauders.” Subsequent appearances would lose those tanks and give way to a much more streamlined finish.
The D5 has all the hallmarks of the Enterprise-era Klingon ships; a more pointed nose, more angular warp nacelles, a more fierce and deadly finish with more in common to a Romulan Warbird than a Klingon Bird of Prey perhaps.
As always, the Enterprise ships are a fascinating addition to the collection because of their attention to detail — these ships have everything, surface texture differences, precise panelling and subtle variations in paint schemes which make them a die-cast wonder to behold.
That nose has all the signs of theRaptor-class Somraw, with a sharp point and a bird-like appearance. It’s a smooth finish, which is unusual for a Klingon craft, and in this respect the D5 is their most streamlined vessel. That nose looks to be heavily armoured and sweeps majestically back into the neck of the ship.
There’s a touch of aztecing on here, but it’s almost undetectable because of it being such an oddly sleek finish. The joining of this nose “helmet” into the remaining section of the ship is clearly marked out but it all fits together cleanly. The neck, which protrudes back towards the engineering section, is a mass of detail.
There’s the different layers of tech and mechanisms on the hull, plus the distinct 22nd Century Klingon feature of exposed cabling, which runs along either side of the connecting section. These are very cleanly moulded and attached to the model — and while the paint scheme of green doesn’t alter, it’s important to have them there for continuity, though a darker shade might have helped show them to be more heavy duty and less plasticy.
Down the neck and into the rear section once again there’s a familiar Klingon feature in the red slatted/grille section facing to the front. It’s evident on both the Augment ship and the Somraw and has translated across onto this craft too. There are even two distinct “hump” structures either side of it which scream out ‘Bird of Prey’ in regards to its slatted mechanism for moving the wings.
While these don’t have that luxury, you can see where the design has been retroactively slotted into the design journey of the Klingon fleet.
There’s also that impulse engine structure in the centre of the hull, which seems to appear all over the ships of the period: the 22nd Century Bird of Prey, as well as the Somraw, among others.
Eaglemoss have also reproduced the feather-esque paneling detail on the wings creating a more organic and “natural” wing effect, and you can see how this will be “developed” into the more notorious D7 craft of the Original Series. There is an evident kink in the wing, and the way in which it has been formed to meet with the warp nacelle that shows it’s evolution.
I think the wing design from Star Trek veteran John Eaves here is beautiful and nicely finished on the model as well, drawing your eye gradually down from the larger body to its narrower end and then onto the warp nacelles. It’s an incredibly stylish ship for the Klingons with some very sharp angles in that wing structure but the nacelles are something else with their dagger-like poise and open detailing.
To the rear they open up in keeping with other Klingon ships of the era and to the front there’s more exposed tech that is meant to echo the design features of the nacelles on the later D7’s and K’t’inga classes. This does seem the most sleek of Klingon designs from the whole of the franchise and oddly one of the more threatening at the same time. The sharp edges, the dagger-like appearance and the scything warp engines all work massively in its favour.
The metal structure in this one stretches from the nose and then onto the underside of the belly of the D5 via the connecting neck. That underside is extremely detailed including the addition of the double cannon.
There’s also more vent grille work on the underside of the ship and this section is the highest quality section. Lots of hull mechanics, panel detail and also impulse engine exhausts.
It’s a familiar placement for the stand on the D5, with it slipping around the rear of the ship giving the usual “flying” impression. It does look more at home alongside the 22nd Century Klingon ships, as there’s only a few similarities to this and the later D7s.
The magazine continues to emphasise the killer nature of the predatory D5 with reference back to its sporadic appearances in Enterprise, with lots of good tech detail in here about its armament and maneuverability, as well as how it compared to the NX-01.
From reading this I’d forgotten quite a bit about the D5s, and seemed to remember the Somraw and the Bird of Prey from this era much more clearly. Must be time for a flashback and rewatch, I think!
It’s the Vidiians — and I’ve been waiting a long time for this one! The dangerous species were one of Voyager’s genius moments. The concept of the organ harvesters ravaged by the Phage worked on every level, making them Voyager’s creepiest and most unsettling foe, a position I think even the Borg struggled to challenge.
While their makeup was first class as was the backstory, their ships were something of an acquired taste. Admittedly I acquired one for Attack Wing and that seemed pretty big but the latest Eaglemoss version is far superior – as you would expect.
Filling out its packaging more than adequately, the Vidiian Warship is big. Easily as long as it is wide (to paraphrase the mag), you’re getting your money’s worth here. Now for note, the wider end is actually the front and just to reinforce that there’s a very clear bridge module marked out.
The colour scheme on this one is significantly less pink than I was expecting, but there’s still some hints of tonal differences plus some paneled highlights right across the surface of the Warship. These panel details are mirrored left to right, and then there’s the engine colouring which really lifts this ship out of the box.
At the front there’s a reaching pincer-like maw which arcs out and around the bridge module. That two tone paint finish is even evident on these areas of the ship and there’s even small panel colour differences as well as tiny porthole spots on the superstructure.
Along the metal spine there’s raised grille detailing and further aztecing, which stretches continuously to the almost-tapered rear that ends in another yellow engine housing. You do have to strain a little to see the shift in the paint scheme, but it’s definitely there. The Vidiian ship has a certain harshness to its finish with that very heavy frontal position.
It’s unusual for a Star Trek ship not to have a narrower front end — or something that is distinctly a front end — since you could think this flies either way round.
Out into the wings: these contrast materially to the upper hull being a central piece linked to the lower hull and totally plastic. As with the main hull, they feature highlighted sections to give them a more 3D and realistic finish. I love the sharp edges here and the “killer” finish to the design. The overall design is very aggressive, and looks ready to pounce with its forward sweeping wings and pincer maw.
They have a slight kink in them, giving a slight inverted “V” shape as well as having cut-out segments toward the back, and I think the choice of metal here might have been wiser given their width and flexibility. However, I don’t think it’s a massive problem.
The clip-together top and bottom hull segments fit extremely snugly, although it’s not a straight centre-line crease; it notches into the lower half around some of the side detailing. Again, a good choice to ensure those clean lines and markings aren’t broken up with some lazy fixing.
In fact, the top hull section, being metal, fits into the lower plastic hull which spreads out to the wings. The panel lines are more striking on the metal upper section and the yellow engine field grilles, plus the yellow highlights really do stand out proud against the dusty brown of the hull.
The plastic sections – the wings and lower hull – actually appear to be a slightly lighter shade of brown, by perhaps a shade, which is a little odd. I also spotted that on the underside there is zero two-tone when it comes to the base brown coat. It’s a solid shade on the belly, with the segmented panels being in the lighter brown shade.
To finish, we find ourselves tapering to the rear, and what I can only assume is the impulse engine, providing a wedge-like tail to the warship. Nicely, the aztecing continues on this small section of the ship and on both sides even though the bottom of the ship is a single brown shade on the plastic.
As for detail on the flipside, it is a virtual mirror of the top when it comes to the wings and the mechanical beige panelling sectioned out on both sides. The warp engine field grilles do have some slight variation, with yellow highlights, but are otherwise unchanged. Look closely, and you’ll spot that those beige sections are exactly identical to those on the topside.
Into the centre of the hull: as with above, there is more window detail around the central section indicating the overall size of the Vidiian ship. It is perhaps less complex than the more often seen upper section, yet we still have the evidence of panel detail, along with another yellow recessed section which I can only assume is the navigational deflector. It would make more sense for this to be it although it could be an intake of some form.
As for the join lines here, it’s a bit obvious with quite large gaps at the edges of the plastic and metal sections. Interestingly, the plastic bottom isn’t just a flat piece as it cuts around the tips of warp engine field grilles on the wings, as well as around some of the lower hull detail. In fact, it seems on inspection that the two lower halves of the grilles are actually separate pieces to the wings.
When you’re displaying this on its included stand, ignore the positioning suggested by the magazine, and go for the clip position as in the above pics. Going with the magazine position clips around the thinner wing sections, and isn’t very stable, while clipping to the central body gives a much firmer grip and stability.
The magazine recants the numerous encounters with the Vidiians during Voyager‘s early seasons. We get a good mix of images of CG ships, stills from episodes, plus a few of the Vidiians themselves thrown in. The plan views do show off the hull-wide aztecing a lot more than the model, and make the contrasting panels a lot more distinct than on the diecast item.
For my next review, I’ll be taking a look at a couple of Next Generation ships, and one I have waited for since day one: Scotty’s downed passenger ship, the USS Jenolan, from “Relics.” Paired with this Federation transport is the Smuggler’s Ship from “Unification.”
In Eaglemoss’ US store, TrekCore readers can use promo code TREKCORE at checkout for 10% off any ‘Star Trek’ collectible purchase $50 or greater (Starships, Plaques, Binders, Graphic Novels).
After the release earlier this year of their Picard Desk Crystal replica, December’s new Picard Isolinear Circuits are the second item in Roddenberry’s “Picard Desk Set” line of screen-accurate prop recreation from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
These isolinear circuits first made their appearance on Captain Picard’s ready room desk in Season 2’s “Where Silence Has Lease,” when they replace a set of different, larger isolinear circuits seen throughout Season 1. These curios would be a familiar object of Picard’s fascination up until their destruction, along with the rest of the Enterprise-D, in Star Trek: Generations.
As with other items in Roddenberry’s prop replica line, the isolinear circuits and their base come in a sturdy, custom-designed box that keeps them snug and scratch free during transit. Multiple foam rubber inserts separate the three pieces from one another, and getting everything out of the box feels like a special, almost ceremonial, event. Also included in the box is a certificate of authenticity printed on a small, gold-embossed card.
Roddenberry prides itself on the screen-accuracy of their prop replicas, and the isolinear circuits and their stand are no exception. Two unexpected results of this accuracy immediately stand out: the color of the circuits, and the material they’re made from. As noted by Roddenberry on the product page, the isolinear circuits are bright pink.
This may come as a surprise given that they tended to photograph as bright orange. Walking around with the circuits and viewing them in different lighting conditions and against a variety of backgrounds, I found that the circuits most often looked closer to the expected orange-pink, not the “pure” pink that I first saw when taking them out of the black box.
The second noticeable thing is the material the circuits and base are made from: acrylic plastic.
Despite knowing that the original props were made of acrylic, and despite having a collection of other acrylic isolinear chips and circuits, I can’t help but think that the acrylic nature of these isolinear circuits is a little disappointing; their light weight and the telltale plasticky clack of the two circuits bumping up against one another breaks the illusion that these are pieces of sophisticated technological equipment.
This is not to say that Roddenberry’s isolinear circuits are cheaply made; they just suffer from a common issue among authentic Star Trek prop replicas: the original props on which they are based are limited by production budget, and are designed to provide maximum visual impact when filmed on a professionally lit set.
Whether the prop feels in one’s hand like it can really do what it’s supposed to isn’t important, it’s whether the prop looks like it can do what it’s supposed to. The isolinear circuits on Picard’s desk look like they can be plugged into the Enterprise-D’s computer somewhere, and so do the Roddenberry replicas.
If the circuits had been made of glass (or transparent aluminum!), they may have been more satisfying to play around with, but they wouldn’t be screen accurate – and considering the price point, it’s worthwhile to ask yourself whether you’re more interested in accuracy or heft.
(I tried installing the isolinear circuits in my own computer but nothing happened; I guess they’re not compatible with 21st century technology. Oh well.)
Overall, the Roddenberry isolinear circuits are quite nice — and I’m happy to add them to my collection, and after displaying them in my home for a few days I’ve come to really like how they look.
I recommend placing the circuits on their base somewhere that they’ll catch and reflect light; from across a room they’re very striking.
This replica is the second of a three-part “Picard Desk Set” after last year’s crystal replica, so should we expect to see a Roddenberry-produced desk monitor next year? It would be the logical choice, but its size will certainly come with an increased price – but it may just be worth it.
Roddenberry’s Picard Isolinear Circuits Prop Replica set is available for sale now at their web store for $149 — and we’ll bring you news on their next replica once announced.
November saw the release of David Mack’s Star Trek: Titan — Fortune of War, but as we covered in our recent Trek publishing calendar guide,there have only been three Simon & Schuster Trek novels announced for 2018, an unusual gap after decades of regular, monthly releases from their Pocket Books line.
Star Trek: Discovery novels Drastic Measures and the just-announced Fear Itself are due in February and June — along with the rescheduled release of Kirsten Beyer’s Star Trek: Voyager — Architects of Infinity— but past that, the only print Trek storytelling known at present will be coming from IDW Publishing’s ongoing comic line, and the second two English-translation Star Trek: Prometheus novels, due in May and November from Titan Books, a separate publisher.
In addition, as far as we can tell, none of the regular authors that have been a part of the Star Trek publishing line in recent years including David Mack, Dayton Ward, Christopher L. Bennett, and Greg Cox are currently under contract for additional Trek books.
“I’ve fulfilled the requirements of my current contract,” Mack wrote in a post on the TrekBBS in back in March, “but it’s my hope to return to Star Trek (and other licensed universes) at some point in the future, simply because I enjoy doing so.”
In another thread speculating on the lack of book release announcements for 2018, Ward said in November that while he has a list of unannounced projects on his blog that include Star Trek projects, “None of the ‘unannounced tie-ins’ on that list are for Pocket.”
Ward’s February ‘Discovery’ title “Drastic Measures” wraps up his current ‘Trek’ slate.
It’s extremely unusual for Simon & Schuster’s Star Trek novel line that there are only three novels on the schedule, and has sparked concerns among fans. The company has held the license to publish Star Trek novels since 1979, and from at least 1995 — with few exceptions — has published at least one new Star Trek novel every month, with new titles announced months in advance of their release.
It appears the answer to this issue lies in renegotiation of the current license between CBS and Simon & Schuster, which expired this year. For months, Trek authors with an active presence online and in the fandom have indicated that the two companies are in the middle of renegotiating their agreements.
Simon & Schuster editor Ed Schesinger spoke briefly about the situation when we attended the publisher’s panel at the 2017 Star Trek convention in Las Vegas back in August — stating that despite this current situation, the Star Trek novel line would certainly be continuing.
As part of that renegotiation, Schlesinger revealed that Simon & Schuster had successfully expanded the license to include elements of the Kelvin Timeline film series, likely requiring additional conversations with Paramount Pictures and JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot which may have complicated the process.
Spock tries to outrun the Hobus supernova before being thrown into the Kelvin Timeline in ‘Star Trek’ (2009).
“It will let authors] finally [be] to show the destruction of Romulus and its Prime Universe aftermath, or being able to refer to/depict the [USS] Kelvin and [Captain] Robau in the 23rd century or the Franklin and Edison in the 22nd….
A number of CBS licensees, like IDW Comics and the Star Trek Online computer game, were able to use Kelvin content, and there were several YA Kelvinverse novels from Simon Spotlight. After all, CBS owns all of Star Trek. Paramount Pictures licenses the movie rights from CBS, as a legacy of their origins as a single company…. so all Trek tie-ins and merchandise, even Kelvin tie-ins and merchandise, have to be approved by CBS.
It’s just that Kelvin material also needs Paramount’s and Bad Robot’s approval, which makes it a little more complicated to license. For whatever reason, Pocket Books didn’t manage to get that license [originally] even though other licensees did.
In addition, Dayton Ward in mentioned that there has also been a change in leadership at Gallery Books, the division of Simon & Schuster that publishes the Star Trek novel line, which may have delayed the license negotiations.
“At last report, the deal was being finalized,” Ward wrote in the post dated November 6. “There was a change in leadership at S&S/Gallery Books a short while back… that likely interrupted whatever discussions were in process, for Trek as well as any number of other things.”
“All we know,” wrote Christopher L. Bennett last week, “is that the [contract] renewal was delayed because the new person wanted to review the agreement and have input, but that seems pretty routine and doesn’t necessarily mean anything will be changed. It doesn’t rule out some sort of change, but it’s impossible to guess what it might be. Eventually, hopefully soon, we’ll actually find out.”
(We reached out to Simon & Schuster regarding this story; the publisher declined to comment.)
Regardless of what happens, Star Trek fans will need to brace themselves for a break in the novel line, even if contracts were signed today, given the lead time necessary for new novels to go from contract to print. The wait may even rival or exceed the previous longest break in the Star Trek novel line in recent years, when several planned Kelvin Timeline tie-in novels were unexpectedly canceled and we were without new novels for four months in 2010.
The announced-then-cancelled Kelvin Timeline novels, once planned for a 2010 release.
But could we see at least one of those novels — which included works by Alan Dean Foster, Christopher L. Bennett, David Mack, and Greg Cox — as a result of this gap in the schedule? While story points from Cox’s The Hazard of Concealing and Bennett’s Seek a Newer World were recycled for use in post-2010 prime-universe books (like Cox’s No Time Like the Pastand Bennett’s The Face of the Unknown), Mack said in a recent podcast interview that there are possibilities his book might yet see the light of day.
“I’ve heard rumors that if and when the Star Trek guys get their book line going again… my book, which is titled More Beautiful Than Death, might actually get resurrected,” Mack revealed, but cautioned that it is still in the rumor stage right now. “That’s not confirmed. I’ve not seen it on a schedule, nobody has confirmed it to me. I’ve only heard the rumors. I’ve heard that they’re talking about it.”
As a big fan of the Star Trek novels who has been blessed with new books every month for as long as I can remember, it’s disappointing to be in a position where there are few new novels on the horizon, and we very much share fans’ concerns and dismay. If the end result, however, allows for the incorporation of the Kelvin Timeline — which not only could bring back one of the ‘lost’ novels, but also may allow the 24th Century storytelling to continue past the Hobus supernova event — it may just be worth it.
“Pocket has my number,” Dayton Ward wrote confidently last month. “They know where to find me when they’re ready.”
My reviews of Star Trek: Titan — Fortune of War and Star Trek: Prometheus — Fire With Fire will be along soon, so keep checking back to TrekCore for those and all the latest news from the world of Star Trek publishing!
Star Trek: Discovery‘s ongoing tie-in novel series, which began in September with Desperate Hours and continues in February’s Drastic Measures, has been extended to a third entry — author James Swallow will bring fans the Saru-centric Fear Itself, headed for bookstores in June.
There’s no cover art or preorder links yet available — we’ll certainly update you when they arrive — but the official synopsis was revealed today, thanks to StarTrek.com.
Lieutenant Saru is a Kelpien, a member of a prey species born on a world overrun by monstrous predators…and a being who very intimately understands the nature of fear.
Challenged on all sides, he is determined to surpass his origins and succeed as a Starfleet officer aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou. But when Saru breaks protocol in order to prove himself to his crewmates, what begins as a vital rescue mission to save a vessel in distress soon escalates out of control. Forced into a command role he may not be ready for, Saru is caught between his duty and the conflicting agendas of two antagonistic alien races.
To survive, he will need to seek a path of peace against all odds, and risk compromising the very ideals he has sworn to uphold….
On his blog, Swallow revealed that the book will be set chronologically between the first to Discovery novels:
“Fear Itself” follows on from “Desperate Hours” and “Drastic Measures” by m’colleagues David Mack and Dayton Ward and continues the theme of the Discovery novels by unfolding some more of the backstory of the show’s main characters – in my case, I’ve written a story that centres around the Kelpien science officer Saru.
The story is set after the events of Dayton’s book but before Dave’s (and also the events of the show itself), while Saru is a lieutenant serving with Michael Burnham under Captain Phillippa Georgiou aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou.
Watch for our review of Dayton Ward’s Drastic Measures this Spring, and for more updates on the Star Trek publishing world here at TrekCore!
Since then, Russo’s work has accompanied all nine episodes of “Chapter 1” of Discovery, and on December 15 the first soundtrack release from the newest Trek series arrives from label Lakeshore Records on digital download, followed by a debut on CD and vinyl album in early 2018.
We had a chance to spend some time with the composer to discuss both the impending soundtrack as well as his approach to scoring Star Trek: Discovery episodes from the early days of production through his current work finishing up the first season’s themes.
* * *
TREKCORE: At the premiere, you told us how you had enjoyed the score from the previous Trek shows and films, but you hadn’t really dug into them on a compositional level until you joined Discovery. Could you talk a little bit about the research that you did into Trek’s musical history, and how that has influenced your work on Discovery, if at all?
JEFF RUSSO: Well, I would say that the only true influence that I inserted into the Discovery score was the classic Alexander Courage fanfare from the opening title theme — but I think that the idea of what Trek sounds like is pretty apparent in all the scores, in terms of the instrumentation and how we go about doing it.
It’s so funny — we have a joke when we’re recording the scores for Discovery; I sometimes will record the strings and the woodwinds together, and then in a separate session record the brass. And I always sort of joke around that it doesn’t really become a Star Trek score until after the brass session — because once you add that brass to some of these big cues, all of a sudden you’re like, “Yeah, there it is, there’s the Trek sound.”
So while there’s a certain sound to the type of orchestration that I do to make it feel like it’s in the Trek world, I haven’t really inserted anything musically from any of the prior projects — though I did go back and study the scores for the Mudd episodes from the Original Series when I was thinking about what to do for Episode 7 [“Madness to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”].
In the end, though, none of what had been written or recorded for that original character was going to work in our context, because the Mudd character is being portrayed in such different a different way; it just didn’t really make much sense.
It was a lot of fun to go back to those Original Series scores and listen to the music. It’s interesting to hear just how over-the-top some of that score is, with a bit of camp sprinkled into the music, and how they played with that emotional content.
TREKCORE: Yes, it wasn’t always very subtle!
RUSSO: I think that I’m a lot more subtle when I go about trying to tell the story! [Laughs]
TREKCORE: While we’re talking story, we’re spending a lot of time in this iteration of Trek focused on the alien races — obviously the Klingons are a big factor in Discovery, we’ve spent time with Burnham and Sarek on Vulcan, and Episode 8 centered around Saru, a Kelpian, and the Pahvans.
Have you tried to take any influence from these alien cultures when writing the score for the those scenes, or do you try to stick more towards the story side of things to guide the music?
RUSSO: You know, I really try to do a little of both. I tend to want to tell stories, musically, from a character perspective. I’ve fashioned a couple of Klingon themes, themes for Burnham and her relationship with Georgiou — both in ‘reality’ and for in her memories.
There’s some also some bridge crew thematic material, and there’s definitely a Lorca theme, but overall, I would say all the different characters have a bit of their own theme, which mostly comes through in little motifs.
That mostly comes out a lot in Episode 8 [“Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum”], and that’s probably the most where I’ve done stuff that was more about Saru and the Pahvans, their story, and how that all came together.
But I think, mainly, I try to tell the story from a character perspective so I end up with themes for different characters and different relationships between those characters.
(Photo: CBS Television Studios)
TREKCORE: You’ve shared some photos of your scoring sessions on Twitter and obviously that’s done in post-production — but at what point in the process do you come in for scoring? Is it once the picture is locked from editing, or earlier while the episode is still being put together?
RUSSO: For scoring the individual episodes, yes, it’s after we have a picture lock. They send it to me and I spot the episodes with [executive producer] Alex Kurtzman. That’s when I actually start to look at it and score each episode — but in terms of thematic material, I tried to write that before the season begins.
With a show like Discovery, there’s just so much going on throughout the 15 episodes that it would have been impossible for me to come up with all of that thematic material before starting.
I had read four or five scripts before I started really getting into scoring, and I had read the first two [“The Vulcan Hello,”“Battle at the Binary Stars”] before I had taken a crack at the main title theme. Then I also started a Klingon theme, and started writing a theme for Burnham and Georgiou early on.
But mainly, it’s about two months after they shoot the episode that I will get that episode to start working on.
TREKCORE: We know each episode had an extensive post-production timeline for visual effects, but it’s interesting that you come in so far after the shooting period.
RUSSO: Yeah, except for the very beginning of production when I started writing material shortly after things got started — but not for specific episodes, just for that thematic material..
TREKCORE: During the editing process, is temp score being used to set the picture — and if so, is that a help or a challenge when it becomes your turn to start scoring?
RUSSO: Sometimes it’s a help — but sometimes it’s a challenge! [Laughs]
Temp score is used, yes, and that helps the production team make their edit, but they have been starting to use the material I’ve written for Discovery more and more, as there is more of that to pull from.But for the first three episodes or so, there wasn’t any of my score written yet.
A lot of times, I’ll just ignore the temp score and just try to do our own thing, though sometimes I’ll be told, “This temp score actually works emotionally, and does work in terms of how it’s working to picture – you may want to look at that as a reference.”
I tend to not like to do that, but occasionally, it does help.
RUSSO: It all depends, really. It depends on the cue, on the episode, on what’s going on at the time… sometimes I’ll be funny, or sometimes I just let my music editor pick the name.
There’s just so much music that it would be difficult for me to think about the title for every piece of music. Sometimes a title is important, though, if it has do with a line of dialogue that’s right at the beginning when the score begins, or about the scene itself.
But sometimes, it’s just about what I was thinking at the time, and nothing to do with the scene! [Laughs]
TREKCORE: Speaking of having “so much music,” this first soundtrack release is for “Chapter 1” of the season. Are all 9 episodes represented?
RUSSO: It’s a smattering of music from across all nine episodes, though I may have left one out, I can’t remember for sure. But really what I tried to do was give as much of a cross-section of the general feel of the score for the series to date, rather than try to fit everything in.
I come from a background of making albums that you can listen to straight through. Once you start packing 35 tracks onto long two-hour CD sets, nobody ever listens to everything.
And I’m sure there are going to be people who will say, “Well, where’s that ONE piece of music from that scene?” and really, it’s just impossible to put everything in. You can’t ever make everyone happy. [Laughs] But you try your best! Stuff that people are missing, like, at some point, will probably end up on my website or something.
I’m sure that everybody will be happy with what’s on there — I hope, anyway — and we will pick up with the vinyl release next year, where I’ll take some of the tracks from Chapter 1 off and replace them with score from Episodes 10 through 15.
TREKCORE: Oh, so the vinyl will be released after the season finale?
RUSSO: Yes, that’s correct. And then there’ll probably be digital-only “Chapter 2” release, which would just be music from Episodes 10 through 15.
TREKCORE: Regarding the vinyl release, it’s becoming somewhat of a trend in recent years to see movie and television scores coming to these special LP releases. What are your thoughts on these, at a time when many people go right to digital downloads for their music?
RUSSO: I think that it’s a collector’s item, you know? There are some people who enjoy listening to music on records — I know I’m one of them — and I think it’s always fun to have records to see the artwork that’s involved.
You get to see the credits and who’s done what to produce the album, you get special pictures, liner notes, and all that — it’s more about the whole item than just delivering the music, which these days is something that’s easier to do than ever.
That may be a much smaller percentage of buyers, but I still think, especially fans of a franchise like Star Trek, would be interested in something like that.
TREKCORE: There have been a few vinyl releases from the Trek feature films in the last few years, and for those who are really into the music side of fandom have definitely been excited about those sets.
RUSSO: I think that people enjoy the feeling of owning an album and all that goes with it, and I think that’s the real appeal of that.
(Photo: CBS Television Studios)
TREKCORE: From our perspective, one of the more unique episodic score moments was the music from the Burnham/Tilly jogging sequence in “Lethe,” that MIDI-esque take on the Discovery theme….
RUSSO: And that IS on the soundtrack! It’s titled “Persistence.”
TREKCORE: Oh, wonderful! It was certainly one of our favorite pieces of music from the season so far, but what about you — what’s been your favorite musical moment from the season?
RUSSO: You know, it’s a moving target. My first response was about to be “Oh, you haven’t heard it yet!”
Like, as I live with things, the new things that I’m creating for these episodes that haven’t aired yet become more fun and shiny, you know? [Laughs] So, like, there’s something at the end of Episode 10 [“Despite Yourself”] that I’m really super happy about, but I’m really happy about the end of Episode 9 [“Into the Forest I Go”] too!
I have no specific favorite part — there are a number of things that I’m really excited and happy to do, like the waltz between Stamets and Burnham in Episode 7. That was fun to do, and I really enjoyed that.
I had to write an opera and you haven’t heard that yet.
TREKCORE: Would that be Kasseelian opera, the favorite of Stamets and Culber?
RUSSO: The Kasseelian opera, that’s correct! And my saying that doesn’t reveal any story point whatsoever, other than there’s an alien race called the Kasseelians and one of them is an opera singer!
But that was really super fun to do and super amazing. I’ve just been so artistically thrilled to be able to do all of this different stuff with this show, and it’s hard for me to nail down just one favorite.
I’m partial to the main title, a I reference it a good deal in the episodic score, because it has emotional value to me. It has nostalgic value to me, meaning I can immediately bring someone back to the feeling of the show by just nodding a little bit to the theme.
I enjoy doing that because it makes it feel like it’s a whole picture.
TREKCORE: And you’re still working to score the last episodes of the season, right?
RUSSO: Yeah, I’m going to record Episode 13 on Friday, then Episodes 14 and 15 will be recorded and finished after the first of the year.
TREKCORE: And then on to Season 2!
RUSSO: Apparently so — I’ve been told that the story for Season 2 is being broken now, and at some point next year, I’ll be writing some more music!
To preorder Star Trek: Discovery – Season 1, Chapter 1 for digital download, head over to Amazon now, and you’ll get Jeff Russo’s music once the soundtrack lands on December 15.
Check back to TrekCore for our review of this soundtrack later this month!
S1 Soundtrack: Chapter 1
S2 Soundtrack
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