Charting the Novel-verse

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Turtletrekker, May 26, 2010.

  1. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Here is the terrifying answer the last person who asked that question got:).

    EDIT: Fixed the link. These things weren't meant to be done on a phone.
     
  2. milo bloom

    milo bloom Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I've just given this thread a somewhat thorough skimming, specifically looking for one answer, so please forgive if I missed it (and just point me to the right post#), but is there a "starting point" for the current "all-in" Trek novel-verse? The first few pages are great for pointing out where each of the series went and how they're related, but is there a basic list that says where the (fairly new) concept of tying the novels together started and in what basic order they go?

    I've been kinda wanting to know for myself, and then recently on one of my other forums, someone was discussing which you prefer: the SW prequels, or the TNG films, and someone brought up how the current Trek novels are tied together and such, and of course somebody else asked "which" novels and I had no idea where to tell them to start.

    thanks
     
  3. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    ^That's a really hard thing to define. Probably the best place to start in regards to a "starting point", the closest thing I would say to one would be the Avatar duology, the start of the post-finale DS9 books or maybe even the SCE.

    But realize that New Frontier, Stargazer and SCE all actually pre-date the DS9-R in terms of release date. Also, the TNG novel Diplomatic Implausibilty pre-dated Avatar but provided foreshadowing for the DS9-R.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yeah, there's no real cutoff point, since a lot of the books published before the modern continuity emerged have been retroactively included in it, even while others have been contradicted.
     
  5. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Avatar (pretty much) began the modern, integrated continuity. But the DS9 stories kind of petered out in 2377, and the continuity is much MORE integrated around the time of Nemesis, so the other good starting point is the A Time To... series mentioned in the Core TNG Continuity on the first page.
     
  6. milo bloom

    milo bloom Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Okay, the A Time To... series has been on my backburner for a while, I may have to get those moved up in my personal queue.

    One other, where does the big Borg battle thing start? Again, I've tried to read the first two pages, but I'm not sure if it would be under TNG or Titan.

    thanks again
     
  7. LightningStorm

    LightningStorm The Borg King Commodore

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    ^Depends on how you look at it.

    Endgame (the Voyager finale) is what "pissed off" the Borg
    The TNG Novel Resistance is where they first start to appear and cause problems after that.
    The TNG Novel Before Dishonor is where the first really big thing occurs.
    The Destiny Trilogy is the whole big event -- and likely is the more direct answer to your actual question. :)
     
  8. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Coming late to the party . . . .

    My Gary Seven books also contain a tip of the hat to some earlier Gary Seven stories written by Howard Weinstein for DC Comics. I lifted Howie's name for Seven's unseen sponsors, "The Aegis," from the comics . . . .
     
  9. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    You left out Greater Than the Sum, which ties up the loose ends from Before Dishonor and shows the beginning of the Borg invasion from Destiny.

    What's potentially misleading here is that the Borg incidents in Resistance, Before Dishonor, and most of Greater Than the Sum are actually unconnected to the big invasion that begins in the epilogue of GTTS and continues through Destiny. To all indications, it's pure coincidence that they happen so close together. But the earlier Borg incidents are important in setting up certain character arcs, particularly Picard's.
     
  10. milo bloom

    milo bloom Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Thanks all. I got out of Trek lit for many years, and have been dipping back into it in the past couple of years, but without any kind of game plan.
     
  11. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    To be specific, TNG: Resistance and TNG: Before Dishonor depict a single cube that has been cut off from the rest of the Collective attempting to invade the Federation. They're followed up by TNG: Greater Than the Sum, which features the Enterprise crew chasing down the last remnant of that cube's crew, who had assimilated a Starfleet vessel and escaped Federation space.

    Destiny, on the other hand, features the full Collective itself invading the Federation. The Collective never even knew about that single rogue cube, so far as we know.

    As for the A Time To... series, I'd recommend only reading the last three: A Time to Kill by David Mack, A Time to Heal by David Mack, and A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido. From there, read Articles of the Federation by DeCandido, and then, from there, if you'd like, read TNG: Resistance and TNG: Before Dishonor. However, if you're looking to cut off a book, skip those two and move straight to TNG: Greater Than the Sum.
     
  12. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'd also recommend Q & A between Resistance and Before Dishonor. While it is disconnected from the Borg story it does introduce one recurring and one new regular (or recurring we don't know how long the character will be around yet) character. It's also a really fun Q adventure that ties most of his appearances together into one big story.
     
  13. Paris

    Paris Commodore Commodore

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    Agreed :techman:. Q&A is a fantastic book. A quick read and it's not tied down by all the Borg stuff that happens around it . KRAD did a great job on that one ;).
     
  14. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Two questions about points made in the first few posts. Which story in The Brave in the Bold referenced which story in The Badlands? And which story in the Voyager relaunch referenced Isabo's Shirt?

    Thanks for the help.
     
  15. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    ^ I don't know about the former, but the latter is Full Circle.
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I don't know for sure, but I'd guess that it was the Voyager stories in each, because they were both set in the same narrow timeframe between Voyager's launch and its abduction to the Delta Quadrant.
     
  17. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Ok thanks, working on a new trek lit related project and wanted to get those specific points of info.
     
  18. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hmmm, it seems the Voyager Brave and the Bold story happens before the Voyager Badlands story. So I don't think that's the solution since the first story can't reference something that hasn't happened yet.
     
  19. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    I might have made the connection based on the historians note.
     
  20. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I haven't read either book since they came out, but it could also be a matter of character names or backstories.