Book reading timeline

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by mindx2, Jul 14, 2011.

  1. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    Hello everyone,
    I've been reading these boards for many years and finally decided to join. I especially enjoy and respect the fact that many of the authors take the time to join in on discussions and patiently answer readers questions or comments.

    I've enjoyed the direction of Trek Lit since I began reading the DS9 re-launch. Previous to that I had read different and scattered bits of Trek Lit mainly focused on TOS/TNG with Yesterday's Son being my first Trek novel all those years ago :techman:. The direction Star Trek books have taken has really drawn me back into this wonderful universe. I am one of those who loves the idea of a "shared universe" that effects all the other novels. This makes me feel like the story doesn't end when I've finished one novel and that the "next chapter" is the book coming out next.

    I am very grateful for the Charting the Novel-verse created by Turtletrekker and am using it to complete a collection of Trek books based off of it. I am trying to purchase and track down only those novels that effect or are referenced in another book. Some of the DS9 books are harder to come by but I'm making steady progress.

    I do have a question however: Is there a reading timeline for the TNG era of books (TNG, CoE, Titan, Voyager, DS9) listed on the web somewhere based on Turtletrekker's list? One that shows which story (novel) comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. regardless of which series? I thought I might ask before I tried to figure it out myself (selfishly using the hard work done by others :devil:).

    Thank you very much for any help and I'm glad to have finally joined this most excellent board :D!!
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2011
  2. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    These are the important ones.

    First is the whole DS9 Relaunch. Publication order from Memory Beta, just search "DS9 Relaunch". You can skip The Left Hand of Destiny and all the comics. Typhon Pact comes later.

    Then, skip a year, and:

    VOY: Homecoming
    VOY: The Farther shore
    VOY: Old Wounds
    VOY: Enemy of My Enemy

    Then, skip a year (I think? More or less?) and the rest all flows from there:

    TNG: A Time to Be Born
    TNG: A Time to Die
    TNG: A Time to Sow
    TNG: A Time to Harvest
    TNG: A Time to Love
    TNG: A Time to Hate
    TNG: A Time to Kill
    TNG: A Time to Heal
    TNG: A Time for War, a Time for Peace
    TNG: Death in Winter
    TTN: Taking Wing
    TTN: The Red King
    TNG: Articles of the Federation
    TTN: Orion's Hounds
    TNG: Resistance
    TNG: Q & A
    TNG: Before Dishonor
    TTN: The Sword of Damocles
    TNG: Greater Than The Sum
    Destiny: Gods of Night
    Destiny: Mere Mortals
    Destiny: Lost Souls
    TNG: Losing The Peace
    A Singular Destiny
    VOY: Full Circle
    VOY: Unworthy
    VOY: Children Of The Storm
    TTN: Over a Torrent Sea
    TTN: Synthesis
    Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game
    Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire
    Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire
    Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony
    TNG: Indistinguishable From Magic

    There's also DTI: Watching The Clock, which you can read at any point after A Singular Destiny, really.

    That's pretty much it.

    Oh, also: feel free to skip the first 4 Voyager books and the first 6 A Time To... books.
     
  3. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    Thanks Thrawn. That helps quite a bit. However, what about all the "un-officiallly" connected books to the relaunches such as Vendetta, Q-books, Gemworld, etc.? The Charting the Novel-verse connects many more previous books that have certain characters or events that are later referenced in the relaunch books. Does anyone have a working reading order for these?

    I know some will say just read whichever ones you want in whatever order but I'm a bit anal about these things. Plus I want to order all the book chronologically on my bookshelf :hugegrin:!
     
  4. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    You want an exhaustive list?

    Okay, here's a possible answer to your questions above. Thrawn gave you the most important, but if you want to know what else is connected, I'll give a list of most of the post-series stories that form part of, or tie into, the mainstream continuity. This is deliberately extensive, basically overkill. Keep in mind you don't have to read anything (well, starting a particular series half way might be a bad idea ;). If you want to know what in particular to read, the others can give pointers. But here's the big one. In more-or-less in-universe chronological order:

    The Battle of Betazed
    Tales of the Dominion War
    Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances
    The Left Hand of Destiny, book one
    The Left Hand of Destiny, book two
    Gemworld, book one
    Gemworld, book two
    Diplomatic Implausibility
    A Stitch in Time
    SCE omnibus: Have Tech, Will Travel
    Avatar, book one
    Avatar, book two
    SCE omnibus: Miracle Workers
    Section 31: Abyss
    Demons of Air and Darkness
    SCE omnibus: Some Assembly Required
    Twilight
    The Brave and the Bold, book two
    SCE omnibus: No Surrender
    SCE omnibus: Foundations
    SCE omnibus: Wildfire
    This Gray Spirit
    Cathedral
    A Good Day to Die
    SCE omnibus: Breakdowns
    Lesser Evil
    Honour Bound
    Rising Son
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Aftermath
    Unity
    Enemy Territory
    Worlds of DS9: Trill: Unjoined
    Worlds of DS9: Bajor: Fragments and Omens
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Grand Designs
    Worlds of DS9: Andor: Paradigm
    A Burning House
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Creative Couplings
    Worlds of DS9: Ferenginar: Satisfaction Is Not Guaranteed
    Mirror Universe anthology: Shards and Shadows
    Worlds of DS9: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Wounds
    The Genesis Wave, book one
    The Genesis Wave, book two
    Worlds of DS9: Dominion: Olympus Descending
    Genesis Force
    Warpath
    Fearful Symmetry
    Vulcan's Soul: Exodus
    The Soul Key
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Out of the Cocoon
    Vulcan’s Soul: Exiles
    Vulcan’s Soul: Epiphany
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: What’s Past
    Voyager: Homecoming
    Voyager: The Father Shore
    The Never-Ending Sacrifice
    Voyager: Old Wounds
    Voyager: Enemy of my Enemy
    A Time to Be Born
    A Time to Die
    A Time to Sow
    A Time to Harvest
    A Time to Love
    A Time to Hate
    A Time To Kill
    A Time to Heal
    A Time For War/A Time for Peace
    Death in Winter
    Titan: Taking Wing
    Titan: The Red King
    Resistance
    Titan: Orion’s Hounds
    Q and A
    Titan: Sword of Damocles
    Before Dishonour
    Articles of the Federation
    Greater Than the Sum
    Destiny: Gods of Night
    Destiny: Mere Mortals
    Destiny: Lost Souls
    A Singular Destiny
    Losing the Peace
    Voyager: Full Circle
    Titan: Over a Torrent Sea
    Voyager: Unworthy
    Titan: Synthesis
    Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions
    Voyager: Children of the Storm
    Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire
    DTI: Watching the Clock
    Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game
    Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire
    Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony
    Indistinguishable From Magic

    If you want to be even more exhaustive, the above books sometimes reference the events of novels set earlier than the series. You might, if you're being a completist here, want to get the Lost Era series and a few books set alongside it:

    The Sundered
    Serpents Among the Ruins
    Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers
    The Art of the Impossible
    Well of Souls
    Vulcan's Heart
    Terok Nor: Night of the Wolves
    Deny Thy Father
    Catalyst of Sorrows
    The Buried Age
    Terok Nor: Dawn of the Eagles.

    And you might want the Vanguard series too, set before the above novels, during the TOS series.

    I think that's more or less an exhaustive list....
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2011
  5. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Lists like this are why I just pick books at random:ouch:
     
  6. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    :bolian:Thank you! Thank you! :bolian:That is certainly what I was looking for as well as the Lost Era, etc. pieces. I am a completest to the detriment of my wife who has to put up with me :rommie:!

    Can you expand this list to also include pre-continuity books that are referenced in main continuity such as Vendetta, Gemworld, Section 31, and all those others mentioned in the Charting the Novel-verse thread? ... not that I'm not extremely grateful for your list as is :biggrin:!

    As I stated I want to try and gather all these book into one collection. I've actually already read many of the "main-continuity" books from DS9 through A Singular Destiny. On the 2nd Beyer Voyager book and started the Titan series but was a little overwhelmed with the amount of VERY different species that make up the crew. Had a hard time getting into the first book for that reason.
     
  7. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    ^ Most of those are in there, actually. You can read the rest of the Section 31 and Gateways books where the DS9 entries appear on Nasat's list.

    And yes, VERY MUCH YES, read Vanguard first if you're planning on being completist, because it's AWESOME.

    And while you're at it, add Forged In Fire before The Sundered.
     
  8. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Actually, if you give me until this weekend, I can make a list that has absolutely everything. We're most of the way there already; I think it would sort of be fun to throw in there absolutely everything important. I've read almost all of it in the last two years; it'd be fun to get it all sorted out.
     
  9. Plaristes

    Plaristes Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    By "everything," will you include the comics and games that have been referenced as well?
     
  10. SPCTRE

    SPCTRE Badass Admiral

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    Welcome to the board :)
     
  11. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Other than the STO novel, Starfleet Academy, and Klingon novelisations , I don't think any of the games have ever had anything to do with the books. Those three are not part of the novelverse.
     
  12. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    I patiently await this list :drool:! I also love these type of list and it will help me sort out and find everything I need. Now it might take me a bit longer to actually read it all but that is the fun part!! Everything from Vanguard on would be awesome! I also think that the comics mentioned in the Charting the Novel-verse thread would be a nice bonus...?
     
  13. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    Okay, hold on to your sombreros, here's the really big version (hopefully saving Thrawn some work). All of these fit together, most link in with each other to some degree (minor or otherwise) and I've included a few that have no real overt connection but still fit comfortably in there. I've also included most of the New Frontier books, but I've underlined them - events and characters from that series are frequently referenced in the "mainstream" but it tends to do its own thing. So they're sort of blurred when it comes to linking in but worth including in a super-expanded list. Again, this is moving more or less chronologically from an in-universe perspective:

    Enterprise (22nd century):

    Rosetta (not of major importance, but fits fine and gets a reference or two elsewhere)
    The Good That Men Do
    Kobayashi Maru
    The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptors Wing
    (The second Romulan War book isn't out yet but it'll go here, of course).

    Original Series and Movie (23rd century):

    Vanguard: Harbinger
    Vanguard: Summon the Thunder
    Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind
    Vanguard: Open Secrets
    Vanguard: Precipice
    Vanguard: Declassified
    (Final two Vanguard books to come within next 12 months)
    (You might want to include the Errand of Vengeance and Errand of Fury trilogies; six books that are rather stand-alone but make a few references to aspects of Klingoness that feature in the mainstream, and are given a nod or two in the Vanguard series. Not by any means essential, but you did say you're a total completist...)
    (Maybe the two Eugenics Wars books, which have inspired a few later stories)
    Section 31: Cloak (Not important but gets a reference or two later, like in "Ex Machina").
    Troublesome Minds (No real continuity references, but nothing that contradicts; fits in fine)
    Ex Machina
    Unspoken Truth
    (To Reign In Hell, if you included the Eugenics Wars books)
    Forged In Fire
    The Last Roundup (Not important, but works fine and introduces a (very) minor race that show up elsewhere)
    The Captain's Daughter
    Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire
    The Sundered
    Mere Anarchy series (available as an omnibus)

    pre-TNG 24th century:

    Cast No Shadow (which is out either this month or next)
    Serpents Among the Ruins
    Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers
    The Art of the Impossible
    Well of Souls
    Vulcan's Heart
    Terok Nor: Night of the Wolves
    Deny Thy Father
    Catalyst of Sorrows
    The Buried Age
    Terok Nor: Dawn of the Eagles.

    Post-TNG, last few seasons of DS9, mid-Voyager:

    The 34th Rule
    Section 31: Rogue
    NF: House of Cards
    NF: Into the Void
    NF: The Two-Front War
    NF: End Game
    NF: Once Burned
    Immortal Coil (Not important, but fits in nicely)
    Hollow Men (Ditto)
    NF: Martyr
    NF: Fire on High
    Voyager: Cohesion (This Voyager trilogy isn't important but fits in fine):
    Voyager: Fusion
    Voyager: Evolution
    The Battle of Betazed
    Tales of the Dominion War
    Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances

    Post-DS9, late Voyager:

    The Left Hand of Destiny, book one
    The Left Hand of Destiny, book two
    Gemworld, book one
    Gemworld, book two (These two aren't essential but do get referenced later, worth including).
    Diplomatic Implausibility
    A Stitch in Time
    NF: The Quiet Place
    NF: Dark Allies
    SCE omnibus: Have Tech, Will Travel
    NF: Requiem
    NF: Renaissance
    NF: Restoration
    (There's a New Frontier anthology, "No Limits", which offers links to the rest of the list in a few places as well as to New Frontier. The last story is set here on the timeline, so if you include the anthology you might read them all here)
    Avatar, book one
    Avatar, book two
    SCE omnibus: Miracle Workers
    Section 31: Abyss
    Demons of Air and Darkness
    NF: Cold Wars
    SCE omnibus: Some Assembly Required
    Twilight
    The Brave and the Bold (Two books, with four stories set in various series - this is the chronological position of the last of the four; you can read them all at once here).
    SCE omnibus: No Surrender
    SCE omnibus: Foundations
    SCE omnibus: Wildfire
    This Gray Spirit
    NF: Being Human
    NF: Gods Above
    NF: Stone and Anvil
    Cathedral
    A Good Day to Die
    SCE omnibus: Breakdowns
    Lesser Evil
    Honour Bound
    Rising Son
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Aftermath
    Unity
    Enemy Territory
    Worlds of DS9: Trill: Unjoined
    Worlds of DS9: Bajor: Fragments and Omens
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Grand Designs
    Worlds of DS9: Andor: Paradigm
    A Burning House
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Creative Couplings
    Worlds of DS9: Ferenginar: Satisfaction Is Not Guaranteed
    Mirror Universe anthology: Shards and Shadows
    Worlds of DS9: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Wounds
    The Genesis Wave, book one
    The Genesis Wave, book two
    Worlds of DS9: Dominion: Olympus Descending
    Genesis Force
    Warpath
    Fearful Symmetry
    Vulcan's Soul: Exodus
    The Soul Key
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: Out of the Cocoon
    Vulcan’s Soul: Exiles
    Vulcan’s Soul: Epiphany
    Corps of Engineers omnibus: What’s Past

    Post-Voyager:

    Voyager: Homecoming
    Voyager: The Farther Shore
    The Never-Ending Sacrifice
    Voyager: Old Wounds
    Voyager: Enemy of my Enemy
    A Time to Be Born
    A Time to Die
    A Time to Sow
    A Time to Harvest
    A Time to Love
    A Time to Hate
    A Time To Kill
    A Time to Heal
    A Time For War/A Time for Peace
    NF: After the Fall

    Post-Nemesis:

    Nf: Missing In Action
    Tales From the Captain's Table (For the Riker story, though most of the others (set at earlier points) tie in to the mainstream too, and you can just read them all here)
    Death in Winter
    Titan: Taking Wing
    Titan: The Red King
    Resistance
    Titan: Orion’s Hounds
    Q and A
    Titan: Sword of Damocles
    Before Dishonour
    Articles of the Federation
    Greater Than the Sum
    Destiny: Gods of Night
    Destiny: Mere Mortals
    Destiny: Lost Souls
    A Singular Destiny
    Losing the Peace
    Voyager: Full Circle
    Titan: Over a Torrent Sea
    Voyager: Unworthy
    Titan: Synthesis
    Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions
    Voyager: Children of the Storm
    Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire
    DTI: Watching the Clock
    Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game
    Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire
    Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony
    Indistinguishable From Magic
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2011
  14. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    Now that's what I'm talking about!!!!!!!:bolian::bolian::bolian::bolian::bolian:

    I really do appreciate the time you took to compile this list (and to Thrawn and Turtletrekker as well). Thank you very much.

    edit: Looking at the Charting the Novel-verse thread again where do you think all the Q books go (David and Cox), Vendetta, the comics, Ship of the line, and others mentioned?
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2011
  15. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    The trilogy of The Q Continuum would slot in on that list around the time of New Frontier: Martyr and Fire on High, more or less. It's recently become a little bit iffy with the mainstream, mind.

    Vendetta you can place between Dawn of the Eagles and The 34th Rule.

    PS: I didn't mention the Stargazer series, which is only loosely linked in but, as with New Frontier, the characters and races it introduces are mentioned quite a few times.

    If you want to include them, put The Valiant, Gauntlet, Progenitor, Three, Enigma and Maker after Serpents Among the Ruins, put The First Virtue after Night of the Wolves and Reunion after Vendetta/before The 34th Rule.

    PPS: One of the stories in the Seven Deadly Sins anthology ties in to the Vanguard series. Most of the other stories work fine with the list, too. I think I'm more or less done...
     
  16. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Damn, I wish my site was ready to unveil. It is exactly what the original poster was wanting, a chronological reading list for each series, and for the entire Lit-verse. Can't wait til I get done with it. I'm about 1/2 done. TOS is so massive I've been stuck on it for a couple months. Plus my super slow work pace, what with real life and all getting in the way. The lists provided here so far aren't as complete as mine, which even has several stories not mentioned in the Charting the Novelverse thread.

    <Runs away to work on the site more.>
     
  17. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    ^ Looking forward to it :)

    And, Nasat, that's pretty fantastic; I still see a few I want to add, though, some in-series novels that are either in-continuity or worthwhile for other reasons.

    But at a certain point, I think everyone makes their own decisions about stuff like that, and yours are certainly valid. Great list.
     
  18. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    Well, I forgot the Prophecy and Change and Distant Shores anthologies (though The Calling in the former is probably best considered an alternate reality). Actually, there's several other entries I forgot - at least half the stories from Constellations and The Sky's The Limit, if not the whole volumes. Where Sea Meets Sky and Burning Dreams for some Pike goodness. Lives of Dax (oops!) Then there's the Voyager Gateways book No Man's Land, the Voyager Section 31 book Shadow, The Nanotech War (sorry, Voyager! You were neglected it seems...). Probably still a few more.:lol:

    For what it's worth, I personally consider all the "maybes" on my list to be "yeses", but I wanted to leave it a bit less absolute for the OP.

    And of course, Myriad Universes is an odd case by the very nature of the series - it's definitely not part of the continuity, yet it still draws on that continuity's bank of contents and is perfectly compatible in its way by virtue of its setting(s). So it's basically part of the idea of the modern shared 'verse even as it exists deliberately outside it.
     
  19. mindx2

    mindx2 Commander Red Shirt

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    Nasat, I'm looking for an "as complete as possible" list so throw in as many as make sense :techman:! I'm actually less interested in any TOS stuff and looking mainly at Vanguard and everything in TNG timeline that fits the current continuity. I'll try and go back to TOS later but am enjoying the novel continuity quite a bit and want to get any novels (or comics) that are referenced in, and don't contradict, this new novel continuity.
     
  20. JWolf

    JWolf Commodore Commodore

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    I look forwarded to it. The site based on the timeline in Voyages of Imagination came to a sudden halt.

    http://sites.google.com/site/stvoti/Home/
    http://sites.google.com/site/stvotitimeline/Home

    I think those are different versions of the same site.