SCE Authors Chat With Fans

Four of the authors involved with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers novels were on hand Sunday to talk to fans about their work on the books and future plans for the series.

The concept for the series, which features an original crew of Starfleet engineers, was created by Pocket Books executive editor John J. Ordover and author Keith R.A. DeCandido. Currently only available as eBooks, the first paperback edition, 'Have Tech, Will Travel', debuts in January 2002.

DeCandido provided some details on the stories included in this first edition. "'Belly of the Beast' is about the salvage of an alien derelict that goes horribly wrong," he said (via the Trekker Newsletter). "'Fatal Error' is about the attempt to fix a broken world-running computer that goes horribly wrong. 'Hard Crash' is about an exploration of living ships that goes horribly wrong. 'Interphase' is about the rescue of the hundred-year-old USS Defiant from interphase, which goes horribly wrong."

Although an original series, a couple of familiar faces have appeared, including famed engineer Montgomery Scott. "Scotty is a recurring character," DeCandido said. "Officially he is the liaison between the SCE and the admiralty. He appears in many of the stories, but not all of them."

'Foundations,' a new three-part story written by Kevin Dilmore and Dayton Ward, will trace Scott's history with the SCE and is expected to be released next summer. "'Foundations' is three different stories set in three different times," Ward said. "The first book is set before Kirk assumes command of the Enterprise," Dilmore added. "The second is during the first season of TOS. The third is set between the first two films. And it shows the rational behind the formation of SCE."

The writers are adamant that technobabble shouldn't detract from the characters. "Avoiding technobabble (if you'll pardon the pun) is a paramount goal of SCE," DeCandido said. "That's a very conscious choice on our part."

And the number one reason to try out the SCE books? "It's a whole new series - not even just a new starship book, but a whole new branch of Starfleet," said author Christie Golden. "That makes it really fresh."

A full transcript can be found here at the Trekker Newsletter.

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