Doomsday World is the twelfth numbered TNG novel, written by a whole host of authors: Carmen Carter, Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Robert Greenberger. Carmen previously wrote The Children of Hamlin, which I quite liked; David has already authored two TNG novels by this time (#5, #10), and his proclivity for (and style of) humour comes through in a notable Monty Python reference early on; Friedman has also got a TNG title under his belt by this time (#9); and finally for Greenberger this appears to be his very first Star Trek novel.
And with that out of the way, some words on the plot: the Enterprise arrives at the artificial planet Kirlos, where Geordie, Worf, and Data off-load in order to assist in some excavation. The original inhabitants and creators of the planet are no longer present, and the planet is split between Federation territory and K’Vin territory, the two sides separated by cold tensions. A spate of attacks leaves both sides more cautious than usual.
Comments: For the most part, this felt like a strong set-up: political tension, notably directly involving the Federation (cf. the traditional story involves the Federation assisting the tension faced by other species or organisations) and an ancient mystery relating to the purpose of Kirlos’ being built. Having the Federation be a player in a minor territorial dispute was a fresh angle, as was the idea that some groups (in this case the K’Vin) might have decided to leave the Federation.
Beyond that, however, there were a few weak points. (1) The Surrlah (a species native to Kirlos) are presented as being suspicious in a heavy-handed manner (so much so, that it remains a possibility for portions of the novel that they are being willfully splashed around as red herrings). (2) Events unfolding on Kirlos after the attacks depend on the actions of the “Mob”, or the “Merchants”. There’s nothing technically wrong with these, but I am not a fan of these Platonic social units which often appear in fiction as homogenous and clearly delineated forces. Similarly simple, is the use of a conspiracy-theory driven crowd. (3) Picard leaves a planet which had been raided to return to Kirlos on account of a hunch he has about the nature of this raid. His beliefs end up being justified, but their reasonings are more than a little vague, (what one might call a tv hunch).
I was curious from the get-go and wanted to know whether the number of authors was planned from the beginning and whether there were any plans for this to be some sort of major novel. Members of the TrekBBS (including two of the authors) were kind enough to address this point:
The project came out of a picnic attended by Dave Stern, then editor of the Trek imprint, Bob Greenberger, then editor of the DC Trek books, and a bunch of writers at Christopher Morley Park on Long Island. After the softball game, we talked about a lot of things, one of them being the possibility of a shared novel. Peter David, Bob, Carmen and I were the ones most interested.
We divvied up the work thusly: 1) we had a brainstorming session at Pocket; 2) Bob outlined the thing based on that session; 3) we assigned character points of view to the outline and then divided the writing on that basis (so one writer would handle Geordi, Worf, and Data, another Picard and a significant alien character, another Riker and Troi, and so on); 4) after everyone turned in their work, I gave it a once-over to iron out [inconsistencies] and the biggest variations in style. The result? Doomsday World.
MJ Friedman*
In Doomsday World, Peter handled much of the material with Worf. I got Geordi and Data.
R Greenberger*
These authors (excepting Carmen who was more interested in writing TNG novels), went on to collaborate on another Star Trek novel: The Disinherited. And the motivation?
The upside of group authorship, when it goes well, is that you’re working with real, live people instead of just concepts and characters. Writing is a lonely business. Any time you can make it less so, it’s worth a try.
MJ Friedman*
Putting it in context, it grew out of some envy over the Thieve’s World and Wild Cards shared world anthologies which were pretty hot back then.
R Greenberger*
External links: Here are the Star Trek wiki pages, here & here. The latter at this time has some good lists and a timeline.
