Are there any Star Wars EU books with a "Star Trek" feel?

[trekky0623]

This is something I've been wondering for a while. There are a few Star Trek books I can think of that put the "science" in "science fiction" on the back burner in favor of a good story. I was wondering if there are any Star Wars books that take more of a "sciencey" feel and delve into how things work in the Star Wars universe while still telling a good story.

[Elheru Aran]

There aren't very many, if any, that I can think of apart from a few art-books like 'Animals of Star Wars' or the 'Worlds of Star Wars' one (that one that was illustrated by McQuarrie).

The two universes do have somewhat of a difference in outlook. Star Wars is more of a mythic arc (with innumerable side episodes); Star Trek is more day-to-day regular life (with added adventure). There might be a side discussion here and there in Star Wars about technology, but it's never a primary driver of the plot like it can be in Trek.

Now that I think about it there's the Medstar (?) books, prequel EU stuff, a duo about Jedi and Clone medical corps. Vaguely reminds me of Starfleet Corps of Engineers, at least in the basic concept. You could try those, I guess, though I've never read them so I can't say what they're like, just seen them in the stores.

[Pelranius]

This is something I've been wondering for a while. There are a few Star Trek books I can think of that put the "science" in "science fiction" on the back burner in favor of a good story. I was wondering if there are any Star Wars books that take more of a "sciencey" feel and delve into how things work in the Star Wars universe while still telling a good story.

You mean in-universe science of Star Wars?

The Black Fleet Crisis sort of does that, minimalism aside.

[Adam Reynolds]

I haven't read it as it was beyond awful, but didn't The Crystal Star have something of a Star Trek feel?

[Pelranius]

I haven't read it as it was beyond awful, but didn't The Crystal Star have something of a Star Trek feel?

I don't think Waru should count as "Star Wars science", even if said concept operates on a mostly fictional and sometimes contradictory internal logic.

[Elheru Aran]

I haven't read it as it was beyond awful, but didn't The Crystal Star have something of a Star Trek feel?

I don't think Waru should count as "Star Wars science", even if said concept operates on a mostly fictional and sometimes contradictory internal logic.

Yeah... Waru wasn't so much a scientific thing as just a really fucked up deus-ex-machina. Of course, in a sense that fits perfectly with Trek

[Irbis]

Well, there was this:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic ... fe_book%29

Sort of combines science (linguistics) with in universe story. It's kind of short, though.

[Adam Reynolds]

I haven't read it as it was beyond awful, but didn't The Crystal Star have something of a Star Trek feel?

I don't think Waru should count as "Star Wars science", even if said concept operates on a mostly fictional and sometimes contradictory internal logic.

Have you seen Star Trek? They have traveled through the event horizon of a black hole and frequently give the command "full stop" in space. I was saying that the type of threat was closer to that of Star Trek, not that it had anything to do with science.

For the science of Star Wars the only really good resources are people like Mike Wong or Curtis Saxton who have actual educations in science. Star Wars stories generally don't really care about how the technology should work, as they should. When most popular writers attempt such things you end up with what Star Trek does, where it pretends to have science while completely ignoring reality.

[Chris Parr]

Well, that's why they call it science fiction, isn't it?

Anyway, for straight up sci fi Star Wars adventure, without the mystical stuff, I'd recommend the Han Solo Adventures trilogy by Brian Daley: Han Solo at Stars' End, Han Solo's Revenge and Han Solo and The Lost Legacy.

[Simon_Jester]

Parr, good science fiction can do a great deal to make scientific concepts clear and does NOT need to play fast and loose with them. "That's why they call it science fiction" is an infantile wisecrack.

However, doing this requires a certain amount of respect for (and understanding of) the physical facts about our world and our universe. Star Trek, by its nature, sometimes undermines that because most episodes are written by people who are scientifically illiterate or semi-literate.
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On the other hand, I will say that Star Trek tends to portray factual knowledge and correct reasoning about the surrounding world as important, useful things. Many of the sympathetic and effective characters are scientists and engineers, even if they are portrayed as Hollywood versions of their own professions.

Most of the plots are resolved in large part because the protagonists learn something, or invent something, as a result of their improved understanding of the situation. So while it may not be fiction about science as actually practiced in a lab in real life, it is on some level fiction about science, and about a world where continuing to do science matters.

By contrast, Star Wars stories are generally not about science or engineering- you don't triumph through a deep knowledge of the underlying principles of how your technology works, or how your world works. You triumph through the sort of tactical cunning or positive spiritual traits that would work equally well in almost any setting imaginable.

I think that's the difference the original poster is getting at. They want the "science matters, technology matters, exploring matters, seeking to understand matters" attitude that Star Trek usually captures rather well.

[Chris Parr]

All right.

[Adam Reynolds]

Parr, good science fiction can do a great deal to make scientific concepts clear and does NOT need to play fast and loose with them. "That's why they call it science fiction" is an infantile wisecrack.

However, doing this requires a certain amount of respect for (and understanding of) the physical facts about our world and our universe. Star Trek, by its nature, sometimes undermines that because most episodes are written by people who are scientifically illiterate or semi-literate.
________________

On the other hand, I will say that Star Trek tends to portray factual knowledge and correct reasoning about the surrounding world as important, useful things. Many of the sympathetic and effective characters are scientists and engineers, even if they are portrayed as Hollywood versions of their own professions.

Most of the plots are resolved in large part because the protagonists learn something, or invent something, as a result of their improved understanding of the situation. So while it may not be fiction about science as actually practiced in a lab in real life, it is on some level fiction about science, and about a world where continuing to do science matters.

By contrast, Star Wars stories are generally not about science or engineering- you don't triumph through a deep knowledge of the underlying principles of how your technology works, or how your world works. You triumph through the sort of tactical cunning or positive spiritual traits that would work equally well in almost any setting imaginable.

I think that's the difference the original poster is getting at. They want the "science matters, technology matters, exploring matters, seeking to understand matters" attitude that Star Trek usually captures rather well.

This is generally a nice summary of the philosophical difference between the two. . And this is largely what is wrong with the Trek remake films, they are getting away from that to the point of virtually being an attempt at Star Wars films with Star Trek characters and technology(though they use pulse rather than solid phaser beams).

It was the only book in the NJO series that I read, but now that I think about it, Vector Prime had this element(though it wasn't good). Because the threat was something from outside the SW galaxy, it was something that had to be understood in a different manner. And the finale featured Han and Leia's children using their science knowledge to stop the Vong(though the science is as bad or worse than most of Trek from what I remember).

This element really doesn't fit the mature universe of Star Wars. Fitting with a mature civilization, I almost feel that Star Wars is more pro-engineering than pro-science. Because it shows amazing technology that just works, rather than technology that must be tinkered with and constantly fixed(exempting the hotrod Millennium Falcon), it actually shows a possible future in which technology is omnipresent and simply works as designed.

[Simon_Jester]

Mm. I don't know. Technology "just works" in a LOT of movies of all sorts of different genres. Basically, technology always works in fiction unless that particular genre derives most of its drama from people being rendered helpless or being forced to improvise when the technology fails.*

So just having technology that works doesn't make you an advertisement for good engineering. It's showing engineers working, showing people thinking about how technology operates, how to design and build new things, how to maintain existing things under difficult circumstances... and having all that work pay off.
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*e.g. horror movies- how often do cell phones work in a horror movie, compared to how often they work in real life...

[Tychu]

Outbound Flight was about exploration. There were discussions on the designs of the ship(s) and how they would work as a unit or individuals. The crew members also had to learn about the species and cultures of the space that they would be traveling to

[Lord Pounder]

I haven't read it as it was beyond awful, but didn't The Crystal Star have something of a Star Trek feel?

I don't think Waru should count as "Star Wars science", even if said concept operates on a mostly fictional and sometimes contradictory internal logic.

Yeah... Waru wasn't so much a scientific thing as just a really fucked up deus-ex-machina. Of course, in a sense that fits perfectly with Trek

Wasn't The Crystal Star written by Vonda McIntrye who also wrote a few Star Trek novels?