It's always a disconcerting feeling when there isn't a Star Trek show on. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter if the Star Trek is good; I just feel better knowing it's there.
Well, we're going to have to get used to it, I guess, because the future isn't looking bright for fans of the final frontier. Strange New Worlds season 4 — AKA all the gimmick episodes you can handle — has wrapped up, and we've got to wait until March 2027 for Starfleet Academy season 2.
That six-month gap isn't the issue, though; the problem is that — after Starfleet Academy S2 — there is no confirmed Star Trek at all. Paramount's recent merger with Warner Bros. (and all the politics and alleged Elon Musk involvement that go along with that) doesn't make me optimistic for the future of Trek either, so it looks like we're heading into another dark time for Trekkies.
On the plus side, though, The X-Files is getting rebooted, and Blade Runner 2099 is coming out in November, so it's not all bad for sci-fi fans. I can get behind that, and if it comes to that, I'll just rewatch old episodes of Red Dwarf and remember all the times it beat serious sci-fi shows to the punch in covering sci-fi concepts.
If I thought Star Trek's future prospects were depressing, here comes the entire games industry to say, "Hold my beer." Between Microsoft having no idea what to do with sci-fi icons like Halo and Gears, and EA shelving the Mass Effect franchise to chase infinite profits with an open-world football game, things are looking equally bleak over here too. Ah well, perhaps Exodus will scratch the Mass Effect itch when it drops next year.
OK, enough wallowing in the pits of despair, because we've had some great articles on Space this month. We chatted to Matt Dinniman, author of the excellent Dungeon Crawler Carl series, about his inspirations and the upcoming Peacock show adaptation. We spoke with sci-fi legend Alan Dean Foster about his latest sci-fi novel, Lost on Paradise.
Another way to escape the misery of modern existence is to dive into the nostalgia well, and you better believe we took a splash or two this month. We looked back at Star Trek: Enterprise for its 25th anniversary (the definition of "I'm glad the Trek is here, even if it's mostly bad"), and we celebrated Galaga's 45th anniversary, and we even did a deep dive on the UFO level from Tomb Raider 3. Where else are you going to find that kind of reporting? Nowhere; that's where.
OK, I'm off to play Galactic Racer and smash Biddy Blas into a canyon wall. Have a great weekend, folks, and I'll see you out there.
Ian Stokes, Entertainment Editor, Space
P.S. Got any feedback for us? Drop us an email at community@space.com. Be nice, or we'll get EA to close you down
