Essential Star Trek Novels That Even Non-Trekkers Should Read

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by JWolf, Dec 10, 2012.

  1. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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  2. Jarrod

    Jarrod Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    I think that this article would be more successful if it were not primarily consisted of novels which have not seen the light of day, let alone publication, in over a decade.
     
  3. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

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    It doesn't feature even a single book published in the last 11 years. I guess it's true what one angry fan wrote in a review of my novel A Time to Heal — I killed Star Trek fiction.
     
  4. bfollowell

    bfollowell Captain Captain

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    David, if you killed Star Trek fiction, then I wish you were a serial killer!

    - Byron
     
  5. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    There's a couple on there that I'd put amongst the best of Treklit, and a few I wouldn't.

    Either way, I don't think any of them would find an audience (or appreciation) outside of Trekkies/ers, regardless of quality.
     
  6. Sky

    Sky Captain Captain

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    What? No Strangers from the Sky? No Spock's World? And instead Stephen, the laughing Vulcan man of magic?
     
  7. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    I am a cereal killer.
     
  8. Bishop76

    Bishop76 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I still like current Trek fiction, but it is a little bit tough to get into for casual readers. I can see why they cut it off once it started getting more serialized.
     
  9. WarsTrek1993

    WarsTrek1993 Captain Captain

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    The Buried Age is a novel that should be on that list! I'd say it should be read by anyone who's just starting to watch TNG.
     
  10. Sho

    Sho Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I don't really think an age cut-off is much of an issue with an article like this. It's natural that you end up listing "time-tested" stuff.
     
  11. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    But 11 years is a bit much, isn't it? Even Destiny is old by now, Imho.

    BTW, are you going to open a rate/review thread for Federation: The First 150 Years? :drool:
     
  12. bbailey861

    bbailey861 Admiral Admiral

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    I forced myself to read both the article and this thread a couple of times. My initial reaction was 'how could you leave out X and X and X', essentially mirroring Mr. Mack's thoughts. Perhaps though, the biggest issue I have is that I just think the list is too limited. There are just too many books out there, spanning decades of work, to keep it at a dozen. I don't believe there was any malice in the choices, any desire to leave out or disregard any current author's work. While picking a dozen books out of hundreds is a daunting task, I think for a Star Trek novice, the choices represented are not bad ones and I certainly respect Anders reasoning that she gives for choosing those particular reads. There are simply many more books out there that could be added to the list.
     
  13. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    My first reaction to the list was, "This list is awful." Then then I thought hard about the question the headline asked, and I rephrased it in a way that took into account the target audience -- "What Star Trek book do you give to a non-Star Trek fan?" Once I internalized that, the reasoning behind some of the choices made sense to me -- they're either historically significant books (like Spock Must Die!), books by authors people outside the Star Trek ghetto have heard of (Ford, Duane, Haldeman, PAD), books for Twihards (Imzadi), or books set in the present day (Eugenics Wars). On those terms, the two I found most questionable were Prime Directive and A Stitch in Time. I still don't really like the list, but the list isn't for me -- nor anyone reading this thread. It's for the Not-We, and in those terms, it's serviceable.
     
  14. Sho

    Sho Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Oh hm ... not to hijack the thread, but: Should I? I guess I wasn't really going to because I figured I missed the boat already, with there being a vibrant discussion thread already, and I'm not really sure it fits into the ranking comparison-wise since it'd be the first non-novel ... ho-humm. Need more opinions!
     
  15. Daddy Todd

    Daddy Todd Commodore Commodore

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    I vote no. Keep the polls exclusively for novels (possibly other fiction, like anthologies, if Pocket ever gets back into publishing some.)
     
  16. KRAD

    KRAD Keith R.A. DeCandido Admiral

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    Leaving aside the fact that it ignores everything published since 2001 -- and the notion that "everything is serialized now" is categorically not true -- there's also the fact that it's supposed to be a list of Star Trek fiction, yet has only one TNG book, only one DS9 book, and nothing representing any other part of the franchise. The lack of TNG novels beyond Imzadi is particularly absurd given TNG's great popularity.
     
  17. Drago-Kazov

    Drago-Kazov Fleet Captain

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    The Never-Ending Sacrifice should had been on the list. Also one klingon book which tells stuff from their point of view.
     
  18. zarkon

    zarkon Captain Captain

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    ?

    The Final Reflection is on that list...
     
  19. Drago-Kazov

    Drago-Kazov Fleet Captain

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    Sorry, i never read that, but are those klingons consistent with the klingons from DS 9?
     
  20. zarkon

    zarkon Captain Captain

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    Nope, it was written in 1984. You should give it a read it though, for me it's the best trek book going