So What Are you Reading?: Generations

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by captcalhoun, Dec 22, 2011.

  1. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Knowing Mike Ford, it's entirely possibly that he was just amusing himself . . . .

    Also, this was back before TNG, right? Back when David Hartwell was editing the books? I'm not sure how stringent the licensing restrictions were back then . . .
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Mar 15, 2001
    It came out in October '87. I think Hartwell was long gone by then -- that was around the time when Karen Haas or David Stern would've been editing.

    But October '87 was the same time that TNG premiered, and nine months before the first original TNG novel. So it definitely came from before the Roddenberry/Arnold crackdown on continuity. Heck, it came out right between The Romulan Way and Bloodthirst, and just six months before Time For Yesterday, so that puts it right in the heart of the most continuity-heavy period of the '80s. And there were definitely books published after HMFJTP that did make use of Ford-style Klingons, as late as Rules of Engagement over two years later.

    So I'm sorry, Kertrats47, but there's no way your interpretation of the book can work. Paramount absolutely was not cracking down on Ford-style Klingons or anything else in Trek-Lit continuity at the time -- heck, there was no reason to, because TNG hadn't even premiered yet when the book was written. I think you're going to have to rewrite your review.
     
  3. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm currently reading Matched by Ally Condie. I just got too bogged down in Cold Equations and ended up grinding to a halt. Decided a break was called for. I might try to finish the last book after I've read a couple palate-cleansing, non-Trek stories. So far, I'm enjoying Matched.
     
  4. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Thanks for your guidance in this issue, Christopher. Based on reading a number of online reviews and opinions concerning How Much for Just the Planet?, I had come to the erroneous conclusion that Paramount had nixed the idea of a sequel to The Final Reflection due to artistic differences. I have edited the review to reflect the fact that this is not the case, and I've also added an acknowledgement for your feedback, which helped me to learn that. Thanks again. :)
     
  5. Garrovick

    Garrovick Commander Red Shirt

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    Jul 10, 2012
    Location:
    wallowing in a pool of emotion
    Currently reading:
    Shell Game (TOS #63) by Melissa Crandall
    A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
    Kahless by Michael Jan Friedman
    Love's Labour Lost by William Shakespeare
    Metamorphoses by Ovid
    Legacy: Forgotten Son by Warren Murphy and Gerald Welch

    Over the last week, I completed:
    Relics novelization by Michael Jan Friedman
    Crossover by Michael Jan Friedman
    SCE #2: Miracle Workers (various authors)
    Nightshade (TNG #24) by Laurell K. Hamilton
    A Choice of Catastrophes by Michael Shuster and Steve Mollman
     
  6. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Derbyshire, UK
    How do you find it so far?

    I loved it for the Heroic Age stuff (was reading Beowulf in parallel) and descended upon The Left Hand of Destiny afterwards.

    TLHD was epic and I enjoyed both action and characterisation (including new characters like Pharh) though I was disappointed somewhat that there was no reference to the revelation of Kahless.
     
  7. Garrovick

    Garrovick Commander Red Shirt

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    Well, as of today, I am a little shy of halfway through the book (which I have never read before), but I'm quite enjoying it so far. The Heroic Age sections are definitely more interesting than the "Modern Age" sections, which to me, so far, seem to be yet another version of the "Picard and Worf have to team up to save the Klingon Empire from itself" scenario which has been done a little too often for my taste. That having been said, I do reserve the right to change my mind as I get further in ;)

    It's definitely an improvement over the previous Friedman novel I read, Crossover - I found that one to be just a bit disappointing.
     
  8. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In the Joel Zone, identifying as Sexually Fluid.
    Finished reading:
    • "Cat & Mouse" by James Patterson....(*ugh*)
    • The two Batgirl graphic novels: "Reflections," and "Knightfall Descends." (The second one was an improvement over the first, but it ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, so, someday, I'll have to read the entire 52 series - Batgirl related - to give a review of the entire series).
    • The third "Judge Dredd Case Files" book. He is pretty much one-dimensional and many times unlikeable, the women are usually blond, beautiful, and killed in some manner (especially if they're judges). The one black character, Judge Giant, speaks in 1970s jive. The future environment, overall, is bleak. Still, I'm curious to see what future issues bring.
    I'm looking to read "Star Trek" by Alan Dean Foster to get ready for the awesomeness that is coming later on this year with the sequel to the 2009 film. I am also looking to read the next Alex Cross novel "Pop Goes the Weasel" even though Patterson has been batting 1 out of 4 with me, currently.
     
  9. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

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    Brooklyn NY
    Finished Foundation by Issac Asimov. I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more in the series. Now for Greg Cox's new book The Weight of Worlds.
     
  10. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    Yorkshire
    Just finished Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, which was a pretty good retrospective/behind the scenes study of Hitch's pivotal movie. Nicely told, if a little over-sycophantic in places. It makes me want to see the movie again, and indeed makes me want to see the "Hitchcock" movie that was based on the book.
     
  11. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Almost done with Revenge of the Sith. Way better than the movie. Its a toss up with Darth Plagueius, but I think this could be the the best Star Wars novel I've read to this point in my chronological read threw the EU.
     
  12. Use of Time

    Use of Time Commodore Commodore

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    Finished up Perry's Planet. Starting Michael Jan Friedman's Legacy. I always like a good Christopher Pike story.
     
  13. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Legacy is a great book. I just finished reading that novel a week ago. I also have read Polaris by Jack McDevitt, Rings of Tautee by Dean Wesley Smith and Children of the storm by Kirsten Beyer.
     
  14. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Isn't it fantastic? I was totally shocked.
     
  15. indianatrekker26

    indianatrekker26 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Currently reading TOS: The Weight of Worlds, TNG: A Time to Die, and Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. I recently started reading Star Wars A New Hope, and will continue chronologically from there, all the way up to the upcoming Crucible. I plan to read all the hardcover/paperback star wars books, to enjoy them one last time before they are forever altered by Episode 7.
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^Why does it have to be the "last" time you enjoy them? I mean, it's all equally unreal whether it's consistent with the movies or not, so why should consistency matter to whether you find it enjoyable to read the story? I mean, did people stop watching or reading 2001: A Space Odyssey after the real year 2001 arrived and contradicted the events of the movie/book? Did libraries throw out all their copies of 1984 once 1984 arrived? Is War of the Worlds impossible to enjoy now that we know there's no civilization on Mars? And those are things that are contradicted by reality. Who cares if one work of fiction is contradicted by another work of fiction? If it was a good story before, it'll still be a good story.
     
  17. indianatrekker26

    indianatrekker26 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    oh, don't get me wrong, Chris. I will still always enjoy them. I guess it has more to do with how its been beaten into fans heads that these post-Jedi books were meant to be THE official post-jedi cannon. For instance, even though Federation by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens no longer meshes with what's on tv/film, I still immensely enjoy the book. I guess i'll just see these post-jedi books in a different light, than how I used to personally view them. Also, I guess I've always had this personal chronology of star wars events wrapped up in my head for the past 20+ plus years.
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I guess that's the difference -- I never took those claims of Star Wars tie-in canonicity seriously. I mean, there were plenty of inconsistencies between the early novels and comics from the '70s and '80s and the later works under the "Expanded Universe" rubric, so the pretense that they could all be crammed together into a consistent whole always felt disingenuous to me. Even if I had continued to read SW tie-ins in that era (I lost interest about 2/3 of the way through the Thrawn trilogy), I wouldn't have given too much weight to their alleged canon status.
     
  19. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I totally missed that memo. Any such "understanding" was always contingent on there being no films set after ROTJ, right? It's not like there was always only one answer to the question of whether any such films were coming, even while Lucas was at the helm. And GL was known to change his mind....

    By the way, just for my future reference, is this thread for discussing any SF&F we are reading, or only Trek Lit?
     
  20. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Wasn't Haas let go after the Killing Time and Ishmael debacles? So wouldn't it have been Stern?