I just read The Devil's Heart for the first time a few months ago, and while I wouldn't classify it as an all-time favorite, it was very good. :)
Fan fiction and tie-in fiction are not, to my mind, interchangeable -- setting aside issues of quality and editorial gatekeeping, I believe they serve similar and often overlapping, but ultimately different needs.
To me, the best tie-in fiction is basically plotty gen -- or, at least, has no more overt romance than the series it's based on, although that gives you a pretty flexible range depending on the series. And the character growth it has to be consistent with the series as well, and where the series is likely to go in the future (which is, I suspect, why the Discovery novels so far have all been prequels). But, at the same time, there has to be as much affection for and interest in the characters as you'd get from fan fiction, or else it's just ... flat.
I have nothing to add, but intense agreement, both on fic and tie-ins having similar but not idential purposes, and also what makes for the best tie in fiction.
Fic writing has a lot more freedom to get into the iddy stuff, to change everything, to ignore or alter details of canon that the author doesn't like, to focus entirely on one character (or one relationship) to the exclusion of all else. That's why it's so wonderful!
But sometimes, I a straightforward adventure with a lot of plot, and fic can't always provide that.
I was just thinking about this very thing as I was scouring another fandom for fic that's similar to a tie-in novel with a long and complex plot, and coming up nearly empty. Trek has kind of spoiled me with the quality and quantity of the tie-in novels. Most fandoms don't have that.
no subject
Fan fiction and tie-in fiction are not, to my mind, interchangeable -- setting aside issues of quality and editorial gatekeeping, I believe they serve similar and often overlapping, but ultimately different needs.
To me, the best tie-in fiction is basically plotty gen -- or, at least, has no more overt romance than the series it's based on, although that gives you a pretty flexible range depending on the series. And the character growth it has to be consistent with the series as well, and where the series is likely to go in the future (which is, I suspect, why the Discovery novels so far have all been prequels). But, at the same time, there has to be as much affection for and interest in the characters as you'd get from fan fiction, or else it's just ... flat.
I have nothing to add, but intense agreement, both on fic and tie-ins having similar but not idential purposes, and also what makes for the best tie in fiction.
Fic writing has a lot more freedom to get into the iddy stuff, to change everything, to ignore or alter details of canon that the author doesn't like, to focus entirely on one character (or one relationship) to the exclusion of all else. That's why it's so wonderful!
But sometimes, I a straightforward adventure with a lot of plot, and fic can't always provide that.
I was just thinking about this very thing as I was scouring another fandom for fic that's similar to a tie-in novel with a long and complex plot, and coming up nearly empty. Trek has kind of spoiled me with the quality and quantity of the tie-in novels. Most fandoms don't have that.