So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Garrovick]

Currently Reading:
Titan: Fallen Gods by Michael Martin
Best Destiny by Diane Carey
Contamination (TNG #16) by John Vornholt
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Over the last week, I finished:
Typhon Pact: Raise the Dawn by David R. George III
New Frontier #2: Into the Void by Peter David
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Home is the Hunter (TOS #52) by Dana Kramer-Rolls
Fortune's Light (TNG #15) by Michael Jan Friedman

[kirk55555]

Finished The Black Shore. It was a decent early VOY story. The aliens were interesting. A few things were probably a bit too predictable (a starfleet officer who is given a name and some lines but was never in the TV show? I called her death after about the second time she was mentioned) but the story overall was entertaining. Right now I'm reading SW - Allegiance, then I'll go on to ST:TNG - Dragon's Honor then the Kahn book To Reign in Hell.

[Christopher]

kirk55555 wrote:

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A few things were probably a bit too predictable (a starfleet officer who is given a name and some lines but was never in the TV show? I called her death after about the second time she was mentioned)

Actually, a lot of the books over the years have added new characters who weren't just there to be killed off. All of Christie Golden's VGR novels featured a recurring character named Lyssa Campbell, who wasn't killed off until Kirsten Beyer took over the series. Similarly, all the Enterprise novels by both Dave Stern and (Andy Mangels &) Mike Martin featured a recurring night-shift watch commander named Donna O'Neill, named after a Pocket Books staffer. Then there are the security guards Meyer and Boyajian who show up repeatedly throughout Peter David's Trek fiction (in two centuries!). And much earlier, J.M. Dillard's TOS novels gave us security chief Ingrit Tomson, security guard Lisa Nguyen, and other recurring characters, with Tomson even showing up in other authors' books from time to time.

Even a lot of the one-shot novels have added supporting crewmembers just for the sake of fleshing out the crew, something that's more feasible and often more necessary in a novel-length story where you have a lot more room to go into depth.

[kirk55555]

Yeah, you're right. Two excellent TOS numbered novels (Dreadnought and Battlestations) basically starred a woman named Piper, who was created for the books and survived both of them. The Titan books that I've read have Commander Vale (who, looking on memory beta, wasn't created in the Titan books but was book created), who I thought was an interesting character. I also remember Ingrit Tomson as TOS security chief in several books, including Demons, which was very good. Thinking about it, while it wasn't really common there were a lot of books that had made up characters that had important roles, and some even made multiple appearances. That has seemed to become more common in time. Still, there have been several characters like the maquis woman in TBS, were they seem to be created just so someone the reader kind of knows can die, and not just a random red/gold shirt. Thats not a bad thing, its just something i've noticed. I guess the character in The Black Shore just stuck out to me as someone who was going to die.

[Greg Cox]

Well, The Black Shore is basically a vampire novel in Star Trek drag, so somebody had to go the way of Lucy Westenra . . .

[kirk55555]

I had to look up Lucy Westenra. I guess I should read Dracula some day

As far as Star Trek vampire novels go, it was an interesting take, although Bloodthirst will always top my list of Star Trek vampire stuff. It beats out The black shore and TOS episode The Man Trap, since actual vampires beat psionic and salt vampires any day (It is actually a very good book, and one of the most memorable TOS books I've read).

[Greg Cox]

kirk55555 wrote:

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I had to look up Lucy Westenra. I guess I should read Dracula some day

As far as Star Trek vampire novels go, it was an interesting take, although Bloodthirst will always top my list of Star Trek vampire stuff. It beats out The black shore and TOS episode The Man Trap, since actual vampires beat psionic and salt vampires any day (It is actually a very good book, and one of the most memorable TOS books I've read).

I remember enjoying Bloodthirst years ago.

[Relayer1]

kirk55555 wrote:

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Yeah, you're right. Two excellent TOS numbered novels (Dreadnought and Battlestations) basically starred a woman named Piper, who was created for the books and survived both of them.

Would that be Mary Sue Piper ?

I really enjoyed both Dreadnought and Battlestations - particularly Dreadnought which is probably my favourite of the early(ish) TOS novels.

I also remember a character named Mandala Flynn of Hunters Squadron (in the Vonda N. McIntyre adaptations ?) who I liked - does anyone know if she was seen again ?

[Christopher]

Relayer1 wrote:

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Would that be Mary Sue Piper ?

I keep hearing that, but Carey's Piper novels were actually more about doing the same sort of thing TNG's "Lower Decks" did -- showing Star Trek from a fresh perspective, letting us see how our familiar heroes looked to the people who served under them. It was also a bit like the original, abortive idea for the animated series, focusing on younger counterparts to the established leads (Piper/Kirk, Sarda/Spock, Merete/McCoy, Scanner/Scotty). You could also make an analogy with the Young Justice animated series, which is sort of a "Lower Decks" version of a Justice League series.

I guess you could say it's similar to the Mary Sue phenomenon in that there's an element of wish fulfillment in the first-person perspective -- "Imagine you were a crewperson serving under Kirk and got to learn from him and have adventures with him!" But strictly speaking, I think what makes a Mary Sue is that it's badly handled wish fulfillment that aggrandizes the author-surrogate character at the expense of the leads. Piper and her friends are several steps behind Kirk & co. throughout the books and are much more naive, needing to learn from the veterans. So I think it's ungenerous to apply the Mary Sue label.

I also remember a character named Mandala Flynn of Hunters Squadron (in the Vonda N. McIntyre adaptations ?) who I liked - does anyone know if she was seen again ?

Mandala Flynn was introduced in McIntyre's The Entropy Effect, the first original Trek novel from Pocket books back in 1981. She was the Enterprise security chief and Sulu's love interest. Hunter was the captain of the border patrol ship Aerfen and a romantic interest for Kirk, as well as a captain Sulu admired. Flynn and Hunter were referenced but not seen in McIntyre's movie adaptations; I believe that one or both of them were serving aboard what was called a Galaxy-class ship (not to be confused with the TNG version), designed for intergalactic travel.

[Relayer1]

Thanks Christopher !

Yeah, maybe 'Mary Sue' wasn't best used as I did love the novels...

[USS Firefly]

Just finished James Bond: The man with the golden gun, a terrible book, Bond can't kill in cold blood?
Ridiculous for a 00 agent.
Next book Star trek: Dominion War

[Kertrats47]

Just published my review of Enterprise: Last Full Measure by Martin and Mangels.

Currently reading Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti for a book club. His writing is quite good, but I'm having a lot of difficulty with the perspective he writes from... I feel that his agenda is very much being pushed on almost every page. That said, the prose is compelling. Ergh. I'm really torn about it.

When I get disgusted with Piercing the Darkness, I turn on my phone and read a bit more of SCE #s 6 & 7, Invincible by David Mack and Keith R.A. DeCandido. And I also spend my time cursing the fact that Chapters here in Calgary didn't have Devil's Bargain in stock today!

[Patrick O'Brien]

I finally fell victim to the ads in the back of many Trek books and subscribed to the Azimovs Scifi magazine. I am enjoying the shorts story The Other Gun by Neal Asher.

[flavaflav]

Just started "Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm". I gotta say, I've really dug the Enterprise books I've read, starting with "The Good that Men Do". The characterization is spot on and the stories very interesting, though at times maybe a bit slow. I've loved the Trip arc thus far. It seems these books are not that well thought of, and I can't really see why.

[Reanok]

flavaflav wrote:

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Just started "Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm". I gotta say, I've really dug the Enterprise books I've read, starting with "The Good that Men Do". The characterization is spot on and the stories very interesting, though at times maybe a bit slow. I've loved the Trip arc thus far. It seems these books are not that well thought of, and I can't really see why.

I really enjoyed reading all of the Enterprise novels.I agree with you about the Trip arc was one my favorite perts of the Romulan war book series. I can't wait for the new Enterprise novel coming out in a few months.I want to see more Enterprise novels being published!