I skipped Resistance and Before Dishonor due to the generally unfavourable reviews they recieved. However, I'm now interested in buying GttS and am wondering what information I missed out on with the 2 previous books. I know that Janeway is a bit of a pain in the ass and ends up dead, that the new Ent-E crew members lead a mutiny against the old guard because they think Picard's being reckless but that the Captain is eventually proven right, and that the Borg eat Pluto. Anything else I should know?
I am reading through Resistance right now... I've read the first 4 chapters and I must say that it is actually pretty good. I did read a review that said it started strong and that it ended weak, but I didn't want to skip it or any of the others in the line, so I am going to read them all.
Anything you need to know is recapped in the early chapters of the book. If anything, I probably recapped in more detail than I had to. And those past events have relatively little impact on GTTS, because it's more about moving forward with a new story. My father is currently reading GTTS, and he hasn't read any of the previous books (since the only Trek books he reads are mine), but he hasn't had any trouble following the story.
I do suggest you read Resistance and Before Dishonor. You will get more detail then the recaps. Plus, you'll feel better for having read them too.
^^I'd say Q&A is at least as important an antecedent for GTTS as RES and BD are. After all, GTTS is really more a novel about the crew of the Enterprise than a novel about the Borg, and Q&A features plenty of valuable character development for the members of the crew.
No, you didn't. Your opinion generally matched what I found when I read the reviews of Resistance on Amazon as well. But I wanted to press on a finish the book, because I have this sickness that only allows me to read books in chronological order. I know, its weird.... and sometimes I do stray from it, for instance I am now reading Death in Winter after finishing Resistance, but for the most part, I read them in order. However, I must say, that all those writing bad reviews on Resistance are quite wrong. This was a great book. It isn't the best TNG novel I have ever read, but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone was saying. It held true to the TNG storyline and has some nice plot twists that keep you hooked all the way through. I was also reading very quickly towards the end of the book during all the action, so it did well at keeping my interest.