So What Are you Reading?: Generations

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

  1. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    1222 by Anne Holt - Not a bad Norwegian Agatha Christie homage. Mostly fun, but with a couple of niggles that are probably down to it being a translation (for example, a vital clue is over what someone said being misheard, but in English the two phrases are far too different, unlike, I presume, their Norwegian originals) and the fact that it's actually the 8th book in a series, which somebody decided should be the first in English... There is some soapboxing that's irritating, and the last page implication would have been silly in 2007, and is more silly in 2012...

    Still, despite that, a fairly entertaining little romp, and I'd be curious to read earlier books in the series.

    Not sure what's next - torn between two or three options...
     
  2. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

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    Reading River of Blood, while I wait for Allegiance in Exile to be released on the 29th.
     
  3. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Finished Star Trek: Deep Space 9: Invasion! Book 3 of 4: Time's Enemy. Even by today's standards this 90s book has been a thrill ride, with the characterisation spot on. Also, it was full of surprises and the solution only became apparent sufficiently late.

    I wonder what happened to the ancient Defiant? I think the epilogue provides the clue that it ceased to exist but I'm not sure.

    Now on to Book 4: The Final Fury!
     
  4. Fer

    Fer Commander Red Shirt

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    I finished Star Wars: Shadow Games today. Not bad. It was nice to have a full Dash Rendar story again, and I'm enjoying watching the events leading up to A New Hope all coming together.

    Also today I bought (and have now started reading) the first in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary eBook series, A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer. It's very short and I expect to be finished with it by bedtime.

    So tomorrow I expect to be starting on the last pre-Episode IV novel on my list, Death Star.
     
  5. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    I think The Cruel Sea next...
     
  6. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I finished Raise the Dawn the other day, and since I promised a couple comments...

    Overall I liked the stories. I have to say I was disappointed by the end of Vaughn's life. His condition was dragged out for so long that I kept expecting him to come back. I really hated to lose the character.

    I'm glad to see Ben and Kasidy back together. Looking forward to their development, and would really appreciate seeing them happy for a while. LOVED getting to see Miles and Nog again. And I'm tired of all the Julian torture. Let's clear up whether Sarina is good or evil and let him be happy for a change. That poor man has been through enough.
    I found all the recapping rather frustrating, and this is something I'm starting to notice in the current batch of Trek novels in general. Authors seem to feel the need to give a paragraph synopsis of two or three episodes at least per novel, and then throw in "by the way, this happened in the last novel to feature this character" bits as well. I would much prefer content like this be either a preface or just left out entirely. Sometimes I felt like I was revisiting old stories every other chapter. If I'm reading new Trek books at this point in the franchise's life, I know all this stuff already.

    Now I'm reading Fallen Gods, which in addition to the recapping disease also suffers from "look I have a thesaurus and I know how to use it" syndrome. As a word nut myself, I understand the desire to broaden vocabulary and use interesting words, but the ones I'm encountering always seem to pull me out of the narrative. I get it. The author knows a lot of neat words. The meaning is usually at least implied by context. It just feels forced, like the author is reaching for variety for its own sake instead of to serve the storytelling.

    While I'm on a bit of a rant, I get it. Keru is a "hulking" unjoined Trill. Ree has sharp teeth. Troi is an empath. People, at book number 7 in the series, you don't need to tell us these things every single time the characters appear in a scene. Titan suffers the most from this need to define each character's species and/or appearance nearly every time they appear.

    One more thing, and I'll quit. This alien culture is written really annoyingly. There has to be a better way to communicate alien-ness than merged pronouns and thesaurus-izing body parts and other general terms. The whole "they're alien because they use different words for things than we do" approach gets tiresome quickly. Every "hir" or "s/he" I hit is like a speed bump for my brain. And "heartlaps" for years? Really? "Grandbegetter"??? Insect cultures are hard to make relateable. Stuff like this doesn't help, at least it doesn't help me.

    I'm sorry, I know I'm being cranky. I just ... I felt the same way about the Gorn in Sieze the Fire. I liked the insight into the intricacies of the species, but the language and terminology used threw me right out of the rhythm of the story.
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Any book has the potential to be some reader's first book in the series. Since Titan is just about the most episodic of the 24th-century series, that's particularly the case there. Writers shouldn't assume that every last person who reads a particular book is familiar with the earlier ones. Even people who have read the earlier ones may need a reminder about who's who, especially in a cast this diverse.
     
  8. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Reading Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk, the recent Sherlock Holmes novel that was authorized by the Conan Doyle estate.
     
  9. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I've been eying that one on the shelf for a while now. Definitely interested to hear if it's worth picking up. I enjoyed some of Horowitz' YA fiction years ago, and this is the guy that created Foyle's War, so hopefully it's good.
     
  10. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    To the point where I am (seventy-five pages), I have mixed feelings.

    It's very well written. The characterizations ring true (though I keep hearing Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke behind the dialogue). But it's so derivative in places that it feels more like a caricature of a Sherlock Holmes story than the genuine article. That said, something happened about ten pages back of where I am that I suspect is going to spin the novel off in a new direction, which leads me to think that the derivativeness of the first third of the book was deliberate, to ground the reader in the sense that they're firmly in Holmes' world so that Horowitz can do something original with it. Yes, that's optimism speaking. :)
     
  11. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Very true. In fact, your own Over a Torrent Sea was the first Titan novel I read (with the exception of Destiny). I really appreciated being introduced to the characters in a way that didn't make me feel lost. It was that positive experience reading Over a Torrent Sea that made me go back and read the rest of the series. The re-introductions may seem tedious and unnecessary to long-time readers, but from both a creative and marketing standpoint they make a lot of sense.
     
  12. Spike730

    Spike730 Captain Captain

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    I'm catching up on the DS9 relaunch.
     
  13. trash80

    trash80 Commander Red Shirt

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    I've just started "How much for just the planet?" and its wonderful
     
  14. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Yesterday I received Die Welten von Star Trek Deep Space Nine No. 6: Das Dominion: Fall der Götter (The Dominion: Olympus Descending) and read it in one go before continuing with The Final Fury.

    It was good to see what the Dominion is doing after the war and after I finished the book I reread some passages of Raise the Dawn to see its up-to-date status. It is heartening to see Odo's efforts yielded limited results but nice that the Dominion isn't belligerent anymore, at least. Hopefully there'll be a follow-up sometime that brings the Dominion back without the constant threat of war.
     
  15. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's a really fun novel some of the sceneswith Kirk's crew and the Klingons are so funny I won't spoil the story for you, except just to say this is a classis TOS book alot folks here really like alot.Your going to enjoy this book.I started reading Section 31 Rogue By Andy Mangels and Mike Martin.I really like this book so far.
     
  16. WarsTrek1993

    WarsTrek1993 Captain Captain

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    So I just finished Resident Evil: Underworld by S.D. Perry. It wasn't all bad, but to me, it felt more like Jurassic Park than Resident Evil, with the whole plot of an underground base that has some weird creatures, such as Pterodactyls, Giant Scorpions, and even a T-Rex offshoot.

    Next: Instead of Mosaic, I've decided to halt my chronological reading and read Avatar: Book One for the first time, before resuming.

    ...I have to say, I'm only fourteen pages in, and I wonder: why the hell haven't I picked this up sooner?!
     
  17. Cap'n Crunch

    Cap'n Crunch Captain Captain

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    I finished Mere Anarchy: The Blood-Dimmed Tide and am now in the middle of the final story in the book, Its Hour Come Round.
     
  18. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Just finished up The Persistence of Memory. Thought about diving right into the next Cold Equations book, but I'm going to take a break from the post-TNG era and get caught up on Vanguard. About to start Open Secrets.
     
  19. USS Firefly

    USS Firefly Commodore Commodore

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    Bond, James Bond in "Moonraker"
     
  20. Killie

    Killie Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    Just finished and reviewed.. Starfleet Academy: Aftershock. This is one of the 1996 novels and it is rather basic due to to the YA Target audience.

    Anyway interested in reading my review can find it here