When the lights went down in the theater in 1998, we all sat there with trepidation. We hoped that the new Star Trek movie would live up to it’s predecessor First Contact and when it didn’t, many of us wondered what had gone wrong. Jonathan Frakes had directed and Michael Piller had written the script, this should have been a dynamic duo.

In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunter are joined by Larry Nemecek and Daniel Proulx to discuss Michael Piller’s unpublished book Fade In. We wonder why Trek is always trying to relive it’s glory days, talk about the first story idea Star Trek: Stardust, what happens after Rick Berman and Patrick Stewart see the script, the stripping away of the Star Trekness, Ira Steven Behr’s thoughts, what the studio wanted, as well as ask the questions of whether fans really know what’s best and if this book helps us feel better about the movie.

In the news segment we judge a book by it’s cover as well as look forward to James Swallow’s newly announced Five Year Mission novel.

News

Judging a Book By It’s Cover (00:02:27)

James Swallow’s New Book (00:06:06)

Feature: Fade In

Fade In (00:07:79)

Trek Trying to Trek Itself (00:10:12)

Star Trek: Stardust (00:22:16)

Herman Gets the Story (00:31:57)

Stewart Gets the Story (00:35:13)

Stripping Away the Star Trek (00:52:42)

Ira’s Response (00:55:07)

What the Studio Wants (00:57:55)

Do Fans Really Know Best? (01:01:15)

Better Feeling for the Movie? (01:10:55)

Ratings (01:16:00)

Closing (01:29:28)