| ABOUT STAR TREK: SWIFTFIRE | THE AUTHOR | HISTORY OF THE SERIES | RETROACTIVE CHANGES |
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Star Trek: Swiftfire is a fan fiction series that follows the crew of the USS Swiftfire-A, an original crew on an original ship in a familiar setting. Set during the TNG era the series is currently in its third season, which the in-universe year being 2375. The major focus through the series so far has been seeing the ship cope with the ongoing Dominion War as shown in the final two seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space 9.
Canon and continuity
Something I never thought about talking about until I joined the Star Trek Expanded Universe wiki, what do I hold as canon and within the continuity of this series? Basically I go by the same rule as to what is canon in Star Trek, so that’s all the TV shows (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) and all the movies (I-XI) and I aim to be as consistent with canon as possible.
My series takes place in the original universe so the reboot films have little bearing on it. However, the parts that do take place in the “classic” timeline would be within my series continuity. All that really means is that I might mention a ship of the same class as the Kelvin or if I move far enough forward that Romulus would have been destroyed.
As for licensed products (novels, games, comics) I don’t count any of them as part of my continuity. However, I do pick bits of them like characters, ships and places and drop them in. For example I have some of the ship classes from the game Dominion Wars, but the events of the game are not part of my continuity. I did at one stage plan to include the DS9 relaunch, but I no longer plan to attempt to be consistent with it or the wider relaunch novel continuity.
The closest I have to other material being part of my continuity is my use of the RPG netbooks by Steven Long. A lot of the military structure I use is from his fantastic Dominion War Sourcebook and his Ship Recognitions Manuals are my go to for information on starships, particularly for the canon classes that were mentioned but never seen on screen. From all the non-canon materials I’ve used these pieces have had the most influence and impact on my series.
My series’ continuity doesn’t include any other fan works. Not something that really needs to be stated, but my involvement with Star Trek: Unity has created some questions in the past concerning perceived continuity conflicts between my series and the others involved. The events in the other series or their interpretations of canon outside Star Trek: Unity are not part of SWF continuity.
Reading order
For new readers SWF has a slightly confusing organisation. While it makes sense that the best place to start is with the first episode of season 1, "Deployment", I actually advise that you start by reading "The Darkness Within" followed by "Vengeance". These were the first stories I wrote (they have since been rewritten) within this fan fiction universe and lead up to season 1. Once you start the seasons I suggest reading them in the order they are presented.
As for the other stories, they can be for the most part read at any time. The only pieces that pretty much require some prerequisite reading are the drabbles and I’ve made a note with each one as to where I feel you should have read up to so to get the most out of them. The stories that do have a reading order are the Star Trek: Unity stories and "The Decisions..." and "...and the Consequences..." are the framing stories for an anthology and serve as a part 1 and 2.
So that's basically it. Hope that helps and if it doesn't drop me a line and I'll see if I can help.
