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Kansas_Jones

Trek Fiction Novels

Trek novel preference   32 members have voted

  1. 1. Which era/series do you prefer?

    • Classic
      8
    • Classic Movie
      1
    • Next Generation
      8
    • DS9
      5
    • Voyager
      3
    • Enterprise
      0
    • New Frontier
      4
    • Other
      3
  2. 2. Do you use the novels as role playing references?

    • Yes
      5
    • No
      11
    • Sometimes
      16

Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.
26 posts in this topic

I know we have readers floating around these boards. :D

 

I myself prefer the Classic Trek novels, so that gets my vote. But I have dabbled in all the novel eras depending on if a novel series/particular novel caught my eye. I don't read every single novel produced, nor do I want to, but I've checked out novels ranging from the "Mission to Horatius" (1966) to the novelization of the "Starfleet Academy" PC game, New Frontier, to the crossover books (Section 31, New Earth).

 

The hardest novels for me to get into are the DS9 ones. Not meant as an insult, but the characters and DS9 era/ stories just dont do anything for me, and in some ways that must extend to the novels. I did enjoy the "Left Hand of Destiny" novels, but that was because it centered on the Klingons, which can lead me into my next plug. The "IKS Gorkon" novels are a real treat, centering totally on a Klingon crew.

 

Reference wise I fall under the sometimes. Example: Janet Kagans "Uhuru's Song" (1984) is based on a felinoid race of beings called Sivoans that are darn sure the closest thing to Caitians starring in their own novel that us Kitties are going to get, so I do consider it a good source, if not just for the cat behavior highlights.

 

Special mention goes to the Next Gen "Titan" series of books, starring Riker and Troi. These novels darn near scream "Agincourt" to me when I read them. Explantion wise, the crew interactions and plots/adventure in the novels just remind me of how the 'Courters interact and the interesting adventures that the command team throws at us.

 

Likewise, even though it is set during the Original era, the "Harbinger" space station novels I enjoy since I RP on the Aegis. The books help with an overall picture of the complexities that can involve station life, at least in my minds eye.

 

And again, any novels that delve into any kind of tactical (TNG: A Time To Heal- the character of Vale was great, and she eventually takes a posting as the Titans first officer) or Section 31 (novel series crossover - check it out!) type adventure I tend to go for.

 

Have at it y'all. >^..^<

Edited by Kansas_Jones

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I've read "a stitch in time", the Garak life story one. It was pretty good. The sexual ambiguity of Elim was always interesting to me. (I still think he always wanted to get in Bashir's pants). And his idea of trying to shed light on the Obsidian order was very nice.

 

I tried reading a couple of the other trek books but the writing felt I dunno, a bit sloppy, which has probably made me cautious about reading another even though there are likely other good one's out there. What really grinds my gears though, is the overall shoddiness of the graphic novels. The artwork is incredibly poor given the importance of the franchise. You'd think that with the amount of admitted trek fans in the comic writing community you'd find one of the greats who'd try to add to the canon in their own unique way.

Edited by Images

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Though I can't consider myself an avid TOS era fan, I do enjoy a lot of the novels written in that era, though I still prefer TNG. I would say that J.M. Dillard is my favorite author that dabbles in the Trek universe for novels.

 

The range of style and quantity is fascinating to me, which leads me to suspect that there isn't a great deal of oversight involved. I've read some that even I, Mr. Book Lover, have considered burning in a bonfire, and others that have made me feel that I'm actually in the Trek universe.

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I only started reading the novels about a year ago. That was 'cos I was at my dad's and I couldn't bring enough books for the three months that I stayed with him. So, he gave me some of his books and one of them was a Star Trek novel (TOS era and translated into German). I still wonder how I managed to read the whole thing because the translation was so bad that I sometimes had to translate things back into English to make sense of a sentence.

 

Then I decided to buy me some more novels, in English this time to see whether it was really just the translation or whether the novels were just generally badly written.

 

I found that most of the books I've read are actually quite good. So, I spent 100+ bucks on Star Trek novels. That resulted in a little problem because they wouldn't fit into my (huge) backpack.

 

Anyway, since then I've found out that it is extremely difficult to get Star Trek novels over here and it's almost impossible to get them in English :D . I guess that's just another good reason to move.

 

My favourites were some of the Voyager novels. I've also read some TNG and TOS era ones but overall (style, storyline etc.) I must say that I liked the Voyager ones best. I have to admit though that I'm a fussy reader and I hardly ever find anything that I really like.

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If you want to read pocket books that are REALLY WELL WRITTEN, pick up any copy written by Michael Jan Friedman. Lately, he has been doing XMen series, but his books before were mainly about ST:TNG. They are AWESOME. I think he had written some for TNG episodes, or helped to anyway. When I used to goto Shoreleave Star Trek conventions in Maryland, he was a major player behind the scenes. I imagine he still is. He is very approachable and holds forums to get ideas for new books. I know, my opinion of him is biased, but he is really neat. =0]

Edited by knlwtchr

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Although if you want sometimes lighthearted, and an excellent portrayal of Q, I highly recommend any of Peter David's works. And he's also fairly approachable as well. I once cornered him at ICon at Stony Brook University and picked his brain about an idea i was contemplating sending to Paramount for a new series. He liked the suggestion, and gave me some rather good advise.

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I would say that J.M. Dillard is my favorite author that dabbles in the Trek universe for novels.

 

The range of style and quantity is fascinating to me, which leads me to suspect that there isn't a great deal of oversight involved. I've read some that even I, Mr. Book Lover, have considered burning in a bonfire, and others that have made me feel that I'm actually in the Trek universe.

 

JM Dillard! She is so on my top five favorite author listing.

 

Favorite authors: Dillard, LA Graf, both Dianes (Duane and Carey) and Keith RA DeCandido.

 

Top five novels: Bloodthirst (Dillard), Shadows on the Sun (Friedman - hey Andrea!), Time for Yesterday (Crispin), Shell Game (Crandell), Ice Trap (Graf).

 

Incidentally LA Graf? Has McCoy down cold in the novels, excellent characterization. And, quite a few throw the spotlight on Uhuru, Chekov and Sulu as well.

 

And I can understand Riko's bonfire thing. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I read a Trek novel and I think to myself "this must have started out as another novel and it got turned into Trek...thats it."

 

Anyway, since then I've found out that it is extremely difficult to get Star Trek novels over here and it's almost impossible to get them in English :D . I guess that's just another good reason to move.

 

My favourites were some of the Voyager novels. I've also read some TNG and TOS era ones but overall (style, storyline etc.) I must say that I liked the Voyager ones best. I have to admit though that I'm a fussy reader and I hardly ever find anything that I really like.

 

The few VOY novels I have delved into, I did enjoy. But, thats a shame you dont have good access to the novels Nick - would ordering the books on line help with that?

 

 

Although if you want sometimes lighthearted, and an excellent portrayal of Q, I highly recommend any of Peter David's works. And he's also fairly approachable as well. I once cornered him at ICon at Stony Brook University and picked his brain about an idea i was contemplating sending to Paramount for a new series. He liked the suggestion, and gave me some rather good advise.

 

Peter David is considered the Grand Poobah by the New Frontier fans as well. I like the New Frontier novels I have read, and hey, MVess the ultimate Caitian makes an appearance, but I just cant get into it enough to check out all the NF novels.

Edited by Kansas_Jones

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Even if you don't care for the New Frontier concept, you should check out Peter David's books. Before NF, he was best-known for writing THE definitive Riker-Troi history, Imzadi, and then for his Q novels. His Next Gen works are definitely on the Must-Read list. Q-in-Law (TNG #18), Imzadi, and Q-Squared (both major novels) are the three best, IMO, but Rock and a Hard Place (TNG #10) has one of the best original characters in it.

 

But my recommendation definitely has to go to Christie Golden. She is one of the handful of authors whose work I will read on the strength of name alone; the only other one writing in Trek fandom is Peter David. She started her Trek work in Voyager books, but has branched out since. Murdered Sun (VOY #6) was her first Trek book. It was good enough that she got an open invitation to pitch scripts to Voyager on the strength of it. Frankly, I thought it was better than about 90% of Voyager's first season. She's also done Marooned (VOY #14), Seven of Nine (Voy #16), the Dark Matters trilogy, Gateways Book 5, Double Helix: the First Virtue, Hard Crash (S.C.E. #3), The Last Roundup, Homecoming&Farther Shore, Old Wounds&Enemy of My Enemy (Voyager relaunch books), as well as frequently getting tapped to provide the Voyager entry in any multi-series anthology.

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But my recommendation definitely has to go to Christie Golden. She is one of the handful of authors whose work I will read on the strength of name alone; the only other one writing in Trek fandom is Peter David. She started her Trek work in Voyager books, but has branched out since. Murdered Sun (VOY #6) was her first Trek book. It was good enough that she got an open invitation to pitch scripts to Voyager on the strength of it. Frankly, I thought it was better than about 90% of Voyager's first season. She's also done Marooned (VOY #14), Seven of Nine (Voy #16), the Dark Matters trilogy, Gateways Book 5, Double Helix: the First Virtue, Hard Crash (S.C.E. #3), The Last Roundup, Homecoming&Farther Shore, Old Wounds&Enemy of My Enemy (Voyager relaunch books), as well as frequently getting tapped to provide the Voyager entry in any multi-series anthology.

 

"The Last Roundup" was my first Golden novel; I didn't hate it, but I wasn't exactly thrilled with it either. Although, recently I've been considering checking out some of her VOY novels and the Gateway novel (possibly the whole Gateway series as well).

 

Random questions:

 

1.)William Shatners (Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens as well) Kirk novels? I've delved into a couple. While the Kirk novels are neat to read from *his* actors point of view, again, its not enough to keep bringing me back.

 

2.) What is the *worst* Trek novel that has ever graced your presence? I have had a few, but I wont torture you all and list them. One novel stands out - "Spock Must Die" by James Blish. I know, I know, its James Blish, keeper of the Episode Logs - and I'm picking on him! But, I didnt even finish reading the book, and thats rare; I'll finish a book I'm not liking just because I started it.

 

3.) What does everyone think about "Mary Sue" books? I know there were quite a few done back in the beginning days of the Trek novels, specifically the 70's and 80's (Vulcan!, Battlestations, Dreadnought, Mindshadow, and a novel I mentioned earlier, Uhuru's Song). Particularly, Mindshadow, Battlestations , Dreadnought and Uhurus Song I consider very enjoyable. But, I honestly don't think that the Mary Sue angle would fly now, which might explain why they aren't written any longer

 

**looks back at posting** Anyone else getting from this post I can be a picky reader? :-D Honestly, I dont pick apart every single author/novel that I read; I'm always thankful we have so much Trek fiction to check out.

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But my recommendation definitely has to go to Christie Golden. She is one of the handful of authors whose work I will read on the strength of name alone; the only other one writing in Trek fandom is Peter David. She started her Trek work in Voyager books, but has branched out since. Murdered Sun (VOY #6) was her first Trek book. It was good enough that she got an open invitation to pitch scripts to Voyager on the strength of it. Frankly, I thought it was better than about 90% of Voyager's first season. She's also done Marooned (VOY #14), Seven of Nine (Voy #16), the Dark Matters trilogy, Gateways Book 5, Double Helix: the First Virtue, Hard Crash (S.C.E. #3), The Last Roundup, Homecoming&Farther Shore, Old Wounds&Enemy of My Enemy (Voyager relaunch books), as well as frequently getting tapped to provide the Voyager entry in any multi-series anthology.

 

I definitely agree. I've read Homecoming and Farther Shore and really enjoyed reading both of them. As I said, I don't really have a choice when it comes to Star Trek novels. I have to read those I manage to get my hands on. So, I get to read a bit of pretty much everything.

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Well, it seems as if the novel votes are pretty much spread out.

 

Next Gen leading with 4 votes

Classic and DS9 tied at 3 votes

VOY and NF at 2 votes each

Classic movie at 1 vote

ENT with no votes ( I do recommend the books though; close second to the Classic novels for me)

 

The "Sometimes" role play reference category is in the lead with the "No" a close second.

 

I am curious though - 3 votes went to "Other" - any heads up as to what this book series/era is?

 

Thanks all! >^..^<

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I am curious though - 3 votes went to "Other" - any heads up as to what this book series/era is?

 

Maybe it is the HMS Enterprize of the 1800s.

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Maybe it is the HMS Enterprize of the 1800s.

 

......do I have permission to pounce Dumbass? :-)

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......do I have permission to pounce Dumbass? :-)

 

YES! =0]

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:: LE POUNCETH at the Dumbass :: :D

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*Opens up THE VAULT* When it comes to trek books, I have my few gold (Still in WoW mod, so bear with me) on when I think about it.

 

1) Peter David, Micheal Jan Friedmen, and Diane Carey are on the ball. The first two, I have yet to find a bad trek book by the first two.

I have Peter David's last 2 NF books in Hard cover, and pre-ordered so I has them before they hit the market.

Micheal, he did this great X-Men/TNG book, and despite TNG moving on from that point its great seeing how he lines up different X-Men with different TNG characters.

Diane, I feel sometimes goes too emtional, or off track as writer. Mind you as a specail note she did give me the idea for the Clan Ruian race (TOS #75).

 

2)I have yet to find a Voyager book I like. I sold off my collection of them years ago since they were so boaring. No real sense of being there. Then again this is from the guy who wanted to buy a Voyager model and have it run over with a steam roller, so take that opinion with a pinch of salt.

 

3) Some of the 'Pre-numbering' Trek books are also good. These go back to the 60s, so a used Bookstore is your best friend there. One of the bigger problems with 'modern' trek books is that Gene can't see them. Since anything from the 60s to early 90s, odds are Gene had a few cents on wiether it went gold or not.

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3) Some of the 'Pre-numbering' Trek books are also good. These go back to the 60s, so a used Bookstore is your best friend there. One of the bigger problems with 'modern' trek books is that Gene can't see them. Since anything from the 60s to early 90s, odds are Gene had a few cents on wiether it went gold or not.

 

Thankfully, most of these "non-Gene" cleared books are usually in keeping with what we know and love with Trek, IMO. However, as I mentioned earlier, every once and a while I read a Trek book that just has me like "What in the?"

 

One other thing I have noticed - I've been reading Trek novels for about seventeen years, and I've always enjoyed the later 80's to current novels more so then the 70's novels. I've enjoyed a couple of the 70's books, but there is just something that as a reader pulled me more so toward the "current" novels.

 

Anyone else have a certain "niche" area they fall into?

Edited by Kansas_Jones

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::Message Board Diving::

 

Wanted to recommend - Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion by Jeff Ayers (2006) I highly recommend this for the Star Trek reader in your life. Heck, get it for yourself! Covers all the book eras, with author commentary.

 

And, I just recently ordered an ebook by the title of "Security", one of the online Corps of Engineers installments. I had purchased the "Wildfire" paperback installment of the Corp, but this is my first ebook and I decided to check it out (I guess that whole security title thing helped huh?). I flipped through it, and it seems pretty interesting. Christine Vale, one of my favorite book characters, makes an appearance in the flashback portions.

 

The question is - is it better to actually hold a book in your hands and read it, or read an ebook straight off your computer? :P

Edited by Kansas_Jones

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In keeping with the holidays, I offer Spock, Messiah!, authored by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr. In one sentence: As a result of a cruel experiment, Spock renounced the Enterprise and became the most dangerous man on planet Kyros - the Messiah!

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In keeping with the holidays, I offer Spock, Messiah!, authored by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr. In one sentence: As a result of a cruel experiment, Spock renounced the Enterprise and became the most dangerous man on planet Kyros - the Messiah!

 

Now that is one of the very few books on my "I just couldn't get through the book" list. Just couldn't get into it, and never finished it.

 

Next Gen books are good for tech info. :P

 

Most of the eras have a fair share of technobabble in the novels. IMO it really depends on the author with how much tech gets in the plot. For example - the Corps of Engineering novels? I thought I'd be completely lost with the engineering technobabble, but I find the novels pretty darn enjoyable and no problem to follow even when they get into the engineering tech.

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Do I use novels as inspiration for my rpging or my writing? I'm sure I do. I've read too many of the books to not be influenced.

1.)William Shatners (Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens as well) Kirk novels? I've read every single one. Except for the most recent one, they were wonderful.

2.) What is the *worst* Trek novel that has ever graced your presence? Hmmmmm.... let me go look at my books real quickly. *walks away... trods back* "How Much For Just the Planet" is the worst one I've ever read yet. Even "Black Fire" was better than that. Also, I did NOT like the crucible books. They were clearly inconsistent with the other books that had already been written.

HUGE SPOILERS: Spock ends up with Saavik in most literature, not some human. McCoy does NOT die yet. And the third book with Kirk I couldn't finish because I was so disgusted with the first two.

3.) What does everyone think about "Mary Sue" books? I personally LOVED Uhura's song, and the Yesterday's Son books were amazing to me. Top notch. But as a general rule, my favorite books involve meeting a new civilization, or solving a problem without a lot of warfare. If there's fighting involved, it's not likely it's going to hold my attention span as well as learning about cultural differences in fun, silly and diplomatic ways. As for the numbering, I miss it very badly. It's much more orderly, and you don't have to worry about these side books - which are wonderful but you don't always know when to read them. I'm definitely for seeking out new lives and new civilizations but I'm not big on boldly going when it's just a shoot'im up fight. I like learning about culture!!!!

Is it better to actually hold a book in your hands and read it, or read an ebook straight off your computer?

Definitely books. They're far more portable for me and they smell better.

 

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The first time I jumped into Star Trek fiction was the Genesis Wave series, but I stopped after the second book, because I was reading them as they came out, but never ended up reading the next one.

 

If you like more than one series, the Double Helix books are wonderful. It's basically about a series of medical issues that stretch across all the series, even new frontier. There are 6 books, and each one is handled by a different series crew: TNG, TOS, DS9, VOY, New Frontier and then a Stargazer-ish novel with Picard, Tuvok and Beverly, I believe. It's well worth the read.

 

Also, the A Time to... series is great. I think some of the best writers from the series are in there. Plus, it connects with two other books: One is the first Titan novel. As a TNG fan, the Titan series is rather interesting. It's a good read.

 

But I'm also into Government, and the series also connects to Kieth R.A. DeCandido's Articles of the Federation. Outstanding Book. It basically profiles a year in the life of the new Federation President. I now know the names of nearly 120 of the 150 delegates to the Federation council. Someday I'm going to go through the book and make a list.

 

So check out some of those series.

 

Dr. Smith

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I didn't enjoy the "A time to" series, but that's a personal preference. I read them anyways. Although so far I REALLY enjoy the Titan books.

 

Anyone else into the comic books as well? I'm REALLY enjoying Star Trek: Year Four.

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I have only read a few of the books but I like the VOY (Thats the one I voted for) era but I also like the ENT and TNG, I havent read any of the DS9 so I cant really say as to if I would like them or not I dont really know (I Think I might because the DS9 series that aired is pretty good so far.). I only use them as a refrence if it stood out at me.

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