Reading an old Bantam novel by Kathleen Sky called Vulcan! It kind of has a fanfic kind of vibe which kind of puts me on a two book streak of these kinds of novels after reading Killing Time. I got Dwellers in the Crucible up next.
I read the comic ST Early Years omnibus over the weekend. It's pretty good, a nice detailed look at Pike and his crew. It ends with a big cliffhanger with more than just Pike in peril, but the ending still worked well as a finale. On a roll with Pike, I'm re-reading Margaret Wander Bonnano's Pike novel Burning Dreams, which is very good. I am re-reading it. There's a lot with Pike's difficulties in adjusting to life of illusion after the Cage episode, which is interesting and thought provoking, and a lot going on with flashbacks to Pike's early life.
Last night I finished Supernatural: Carved in Flesh by Tim Waggoner. It was a pretty enjoyable read. I then read the (very) short story "Memory" by H.P. Lovecraft. I'm now reading Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack.
Just finished Underworld: Blood Enemy. I haven't seen much of the movies (not because I think they're bad, I've just never caught more than parts of them on TV) but I liked the book. I didn't feel like my lack of movie knowledge messed up my enjoyment of the book. Now I'm on to the last Lost Fleet book: Lost Fleet - Victorious.
I just finished Michael Jan Friedman's Stargazer novel Gauntlet. I enjoyed the book but the ending was very odd. I mean Picard just accept's White Wolf and Greenbrier's word as the gospel? No backlash from McAteer? I suppose some of this will be answered in the next book.
Glad you liked the book. You should probably know, just in case you ever watch the movies, that Blood Enemy no longer fits into the continuity of the movie series. I wrote it right after the first movie, when they were just getting started on writing the script for the sequel, and, at the time, it was consistent with everything we learned in the original film. But the third movie, Rise of the Lycans, pretty much renders Blood Enemy apocryphal. (Ironically, I ended up writing the novelization of Rise of the Lycans, too, so I got to contradict my own earlier book!) I like to think Blood Enemy is still a good read, but it's off in its own alternate universe now . . . .
As a tie-in author, do you ever get the opportunity to revise an earlier novel to put it back into continuity for re-release, or is the market too limited to make it worthwhile ? Would it be any different with a franchise that has managed to continue well past the end of the show(s) like Treklit ? Some novels probably wouldn't take much revision, but one that I'd love to see revised is the Reeves-Stevens' Federation and that would take a major rewrite.
Generally, that doesn't happen since it wouldn't really be cost-effective. But I did make one little change when my Q Continuum trilogy was reissued as an omnibus volume. I changed all the references to "the original Enterprise" to "Kirk's Enterprise" since we'd found out about Archer's ship since those books were first published . . . .
That is a nice touch, that you were able to switch to Kirk's Enterprise. Those little details are things fans appreciate, or at least I do.
As I said, some novels wouldn't take much work to be aligned with the relaunch continuity ! Might be a 'nice little earner' for S & S and the authors too - maybe a regular reprint schedule with 'improved' covers (i.e. in keeping with the current releases). Four or six per year ?
I recently read Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and Brilliance by Markus Sakey.
Finally downloaded the Mere Anarchy e-book series onto my phone. I basically read this when I am stuck somewhere waiting for something, take out, appointments, etc. The first entry by Ward and Dilmore has been very good.
I am reading a space opera, Tour of The Merrimack: The Myriad By R.M. Meluch. Anyone read this one yet?
Jeff Mariotte's "The Folded World". An excellent stand-alone TOS novel (we need more stand-lones from the other series.). And Ignition by Kevin Anderson and Doug Beason. A kind of "Die Hard" (admittedly, loosely) story involving the space shuttle.
This is where I shamelessly brag that Jeff is currently writing a weird western novel for Tor Books, based on the "Deadlands" role-playing game . . . .
Finished The Sleep Room, by FR Tallis. Pretty decent evocation of spookiness at a remote 1950s hospital. The writing style drips with 50s British reserve, and overall comes over as having a real vibe of the TV adaptations of MR James stories - Tallis admits the writer's influence in the interview at the back, but IMO it's definitely more evocative of the landscapes portrayed in the classic BBC versions - especially the bleak opening scenes of Peter Vaughan on his bike in the TV version of A Warning To The Curious. On the downside, the main character turns out to be an arsehole of sorts, and there's a spectacularly predictible epilogue. My advice is to read this cos it's generally wonderful, but absolutely definitely skip the epilogue letter. Now for Stephen King's Doctor Sleep...
Just posted my review of S.C.E. #8: Invincible, Part 2 by David Mack and Keith R.A. DeCandido. Currently reading the newest Fall book, The Poisoned Chalice by James Swallow. Very gripping so far!